Apply for a Mortgage Online With Australia’s Zero-Fee Broker

After years of dreaming about owning a home, you’ve finally decided to get a mortgage to fund the purchase of your dream home. But by now, you might’ve stumbled upon the fact that the home loan market in Australia is too complex to navigate.

It shouldn’t be if you’re a legal or financial professional. But for the average Aussie, mortgage can become a headache.

If you’re that person, you need to carefully read this guide. This will not only make applying for a mortgage easier, but might also help you save a good chunk of money. 

That said, even though we’ll promote our own mortgage broking service here, we aim to keep this guide more informational than promotional. That means you’ll learn:

• How to search, compare, and find the most suitable mortgage.

• The requirements to apply.

• How to apply for a mortgage online.

• And how we’ll do all of this for you for free.

Let’s start with the basics then.

Search, Compare, and Find the Perfect Mortgage

The mortgage market in Australia is vast and chaotic. There are the 4 major banks, other smaller banks, and thousands of home loan options that you might find too overwhelming once you dip your toes in.

Especially if you got work, family, and other commitments, the searching process for the right mortgage will alone drain you out. 

Even online, where you might think it would be easier, takes significant time and efforts, as you’ll:

• Scroll through multiple lender websites.

• Fill out preliminary forms.

• And keep track of various interest rates, fees, and features.

It gets even worse when you do it offline, as transportation and appointments will cost you money as well!

Use Comparison Rates

Every loan has a comparison rate, which is a percentage figure that tells you the true cost of a home loan by combining the loan’s interest rate plus most of its fees and charges.

Fees added to the comparison rate, in addition to the interest, includes:

• Application fees.

• Valuation fees.

• Settlement or establishment fees.

• Monthly account-keeping fees.

• Annual package fees.

• Admin fees, etc.

With this, if you have multiple loan options in your hand, you can use their comparison rates to find the one with the lowest total cost compared to others.

But keep in mind that it only includes fees you’d definitely pay. Costs like government fees, LMI, etc., are not calculated, so the comparison rate does not capture 100% of the cost of a home loan.

It’s rather a tool that helps you find a more accurate cost of a home loan, solely for comparison purposes, as the name suggests.

Requirements for a Home Loan in Australia

There’s a basic eligibility criterion to get a mortgage in Australia. That is, you must be:

• At least 18 years old.

• An Australian citizen or a permanent resident.

  • If not an Australian citizen or a permanent resident, you must be in a de facto relationship with or married to an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Fitting this description makes you eligible for a mortgage. To check if you qualify for it, these are the required documents lenders will ask for:

• ID proof: Passport, driver’s license, birth certification, citizenship certification, etc.

• Property details: Value of the property, the type of property, its location, the age of the property, and the property’s size.

  • If no property has been chosen, you can still submit your application without property details.

• Proof of employment: Last three months of payslips or tax returns.

• Total income details: Documents proving all your sources of income.

• Assets & liabilities: You’ll disclose your assets and liabilities, so that the lender can assess if you have the capacity to manage a new mortgage.

How to Apply for a Mortgage Online in Australia?

Now, the application part alone may not be that hard. 

Many lenders provide simple online application portals where you can enter the basic info required to process the loan, like details about your income, expenses, employment status, and the property you’re interested in. 

Even during the application process, lenders will often guide you by stepping in when you need clarity or when a particular document is required.

Here’s how the application process typically goes:

• Initial submission of basic data.

• Uploading supporting documents.

• Credit assessment (often beginning with a soft check).

• And, if everything aligns, issuing a conditional or pre-approval indicating how much you can borrow.

If you have the required documents and stable, verifiable income, the process will be pretty smooth and straightforward.

However, there are cases of exception. Your relationship manager or financial advisor from the lender may not be experienced enough to process complex applications. 

For example, if you are self-employed, have multiple sources of income, or applying for a specialised mortgage (like a balloon payment mortgage), they may find it too complex or process details inaccurately to the point your application could even get rejected.

In these cases, you would benefit a lot with a mortgage broker. They can file the application on your behalf, and even guide the lender through complexities, ensuring you don’t miss your home buying opportunity even when your files are complicated.

What Happens After You Apply for a Mortgage?

Behind the scenes, lenders will do the necessary background check to ensure your application meets regulatory requirements, as stated in ASIC’s Responsible lending conduct (RG 209).

Once the documents are verified, the lender will arrange a valuation (sometimes an automated valuation model or a physical inspection) to confirm your dream property’s suitability.

After the valuation and confirmation that your circumstances remain unchanged, you move to full approval and receive a formal loan offer.

7 Important Things to Consider When You Apply for a Mortgage

1. Lenders May Push Loan Products That Are Best for Them

A major con of applying for a mortgage directly with a lender is that they won’t necessarily consider your best interests. 

They have the freedom to promote loan options that are most beneficial for them, which may not always be the best for you. This makes dealing directly with lenders a potential financial disaster.

But ASIC has a Best Interests Duty issued for mortgage brokers, which mandates them to act with the borrower’s best interests at heart. So, even if a lender decides to push you loans that aren’t fit for you, an experienced mortgage broker could outplay their unfair practice.

This is why banks vs. mortgage brokers is always a hot topic in Australia.

2. Lenders May Not Process Complex Applications Accurately

We mentioned this before, but it’s worth revisiting. 

An inexperienced financial professional processing applications from the lender’s side may not have the experience required to process complex applications. For example, it’s hard to process documents of self-employment, multiple sources of income, specialised applications (like balloon payment mortgages), etc.

In such cases, the inexperienced professional may not process your application accurately, potentially resulting in a rejection for the mortgage.

Again, a mortgage broker will work with the lender to process such complex applications, ensuring you don’t miss your opportunity at getting your new home funded.

3. Lenders May Not Always Guide You Through the Application Process

A lender’s guidance is only as good as your application. The more simple and straightforward your profile is, the more helpful the lender will be.

However, they may not always have the resources to assist an applicant through an entire process of getting a mortgage, especially if the application is complicated.

This is where you’ll immensely benefit from the help of a mortgage broker, as they exist primarily to help you through this process. They can do the heavy lifting for you, saving you from all the stress and time commitment.

4. There Are Helpful Government Schemes

The Australian Government has rolled out an initiative to help eligible home buyers buy a home sooner. This is called The Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS).

There are three types of guarantees within this scheme:

• First Home Guarantee (FHBG): Helps eligible home buyers to buy a home with a deposit as little as 5%.

• Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG): Helps eligible regional home buyers to buy a home sooner, in a regional area, with a deposit as little as 5%.

• Family Home Guarantee (FHG): Helps eligible single parents and eligible single legal guardians of at least one dependent to buy a home sooner, with a deposit as little as 2%.

Basically, you are guaranteed a lower mortgage deposit with this scheme, given that you fit the eligibility criteria. So, do look into them to potentially save a few thousands on your mortgage.

5. Watch Out for Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)

If your deposit for the mortgage is below the minimum 20% required, you’ll have to pay for LMI. It’s an insurance premium you pay for the lender, which financially protects them in case you default on the loan.

However, you can avoid LMI by:

• Bringing in the minimum required deposit.

• Using a Guarantor.

• Using the benefits of a profession, like LMI waivers for teachers in Australia.

6. Loan Features for Extra Flexibility

You can benefit from added financial flexibility if you opt for mortgages with features like an offset account or redraw facility.

An offset account is a transactional bank account linked to your mortgage. The balance in this account offsets your mortgage balance, resulting in lower interest overall.

And the redraw facility gives you the flexibility of withdrawing (or redrawing) the extra funds you pay into a mortgage in advance.

These are nifty features associated with a mortgage, and a lender may not always inform you about it. So, make sure to ask for it if you’re approaching them directly.

7. Refinance Opportunities

With time, your lender, or another one, might have better deals available. You should do a periodic review of your mortgage (every year, for example) to potentially explore and discover any better deals on the market at that time.

If you do find something, pitch in with your refinancing request.

We’ll Do All of This for You, for Free!

Imagine how easy life would be if you had an experienced financial/legal professional to apply for a mortgage and take care of the process from A–Z on your behalf. That’s essentially what we do.

But on top of that, we keep your best interests at heart. We work like a part of you to search, find, compare, and apply to mortgage solutions that suit you the best. 

Even better, we do all this for free! The entire service is free to you, since we make money in the form of commission from lenders only.

But by carefully following ASIC’s Best Interests Duty, we make sure to deliver an unbiased service that helps you not only apply for a mortgage, but to apply to one that suits your unique circumstances and even save hundreds or thousands in the process!

Our extensive panel of 30+ top lenders and 2,000+ mortgage options across Australia give you one of the best chances of getting a mortgage that’s perfect for your goals.

Interested? Contact us today!

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