lostkiwi

hi all,


I would like to know what evidence is required to obtain a mortgage in Oz based on oz income (i.e. - you arrive in the country start a new job ) - is the offer letter from the employer enough - or maybe a letter confirming employment - or is it a case that you need to show 3 months worth of pay slips (i.e. you need to wait 3 months) ?

Any advice would be great thanks.

P.s. I know you can get a Oz morgage based on foreign income (i have one), but I'm keen to know about one based on local income.

cheers!!

dawn kirbyshire

i wish someb ody would reply to this. i've been wondering myself if i will be able to go straight for a mortgage as soon as i get a job.

The Bloke

The most info you can give them the easier it makes things. It depends on the institution what amount of proof of income you need but a letter from your employer confirming income and any payslips you have is a requirement for credit now with most institutions. They also look at length of time in employment to see if you are reliable or if you change jobs frequently over a period, so any evidence from your work history would be advisable to have on hand. Sounds like DIMIA doesn't it.

It also depends on what visa you are on and the size of the deposit. Usually NO PR - NO LOAN (even if you are married to an Australian) , however, some will lend to non-PR residents for a minimum of 20% deposit which on average prices is between $40K-70K. This non-PR restriction even applies to credit cards (even from Commonwealth, who have special migrant facilities). We have found that some require you to be a Aust citizen before they will let you apply for a mortgage. If you have PR straight away or the cash, no problem.

Best idea is to shop around. Everyone suggests using a mortgage broker rather than running around yourself.

JAJ

Are you really suggesting that some mortgage providers insist on Australian citizenship, as opposed to permanent residence? Which ones?

Jeremy

MrsDagboy

Plenty of people have gotten credit cards while on temp visas, us included. You just have to be able to show that you can pay it back.

Similarly, you can normally get a mortgage on a temp visa if you can show some sort of "ties" to the country ie stable job, marriage to an aussie etc & are able to repay the loan. We did happen to have 20% deposit when we got our mortgage, but they were quite willing to lend to us even if we had had less than 20% (which we thought we may have at one stage).

As for the OP question, I guess it does depend on the bank, your job & if you earn enough money that the bank doesnt think of you as high risk.

The Bloke

Sorry, should have clarified.

Commonwealth, NAB, Aussie Home Loans, Wizard, Westpac the list goes on (spoke to reps of just about every institution). Did all the wage calculations with them, PASSED no problem and when I mentioned that Pollyana had only Temp residency, they ALL said you needed at least PR or 20% deposit.

Heritage Building Society told me that she needed to have citizenship. I quiried that with the girl on the phone and she checked with her supervisor and came back and comfirmed citizenship was needed.

Heritage gave Pollyana a credit card though only having a Temp Visa after the local branch manager ok'd the application, after finding out extra details from both me and her.

Also marrying an Aussie, according to the people at the institutions is no guarantee, even though I have banked with some of them for decades.

Maybe all the people I spoke to don't understand the needs of people on visas.

NickyC

Can't assist with mortgages but I do know about Credit Cards (particularly automated application systems).

Banks here will score your application to determine risk. Scoring criteria varies from bank to bank - but is usually based on the obvious things like occupation, time at employment, time at address, amount of savings, etc. Being here a short period of time does not mean you automatically get a low score - if you have decent savings and a high-score occupation you can still score high enough to qualify.

They will also check your Credit Report (in Australia) - obviously not a problem for new arrivals. Anything bad on it is no-go.

They also work out if you can afford any more credit (they have a legal requirement not to lend more to people who are unable to fulfil current obligations - which is why they want to know about your current repayment amounts). If you can't afford the credit you already have (in their eyes), then
it's a no-go.

They do ask on application forms if you're a permanent resident of Australia. My understanding is that they just want to know if you live here or not - they are not enquiring about the status of your visa. When you collect the card, you usually pick it up from a bank branch and have to provide identification information (of which a passport can be one - but doesn't have to be). If your bank teller even checks for a visa (let alone can tell the difference between one visa and another) - then they're a lot smarter than the ones in my bank.

The Bloke

Can only repeat what we are told as consumers, but it is strange that they have all given us the same answer to the question after telling the amount(yes we can afford it) we can borrow. Have just had a request to increase our card limits from two banks ( not that we asked for it and rejected increase).

JAJ

Neither the girl on the phone, nor her supervisor, may have understood the concept of a permanent resident visa. A suprising number of Australians don't - this is why citizenship often makes getting a job easier in a small company.

That said, there is no excuse for a financial institution saying something like this - I'd take it up directly with the MD or CEO or whatever the man/woman at the top has for a title.

Jeremy

Merlot

That is interesting one and probably a nice loop hole for those on a temp spouse visa.

M

pako

So can someone get a mortgage if they are on a temp. (stage 1) marriage visa?

Pollyana

Thats what I'm on, and what we have been discussing above! Our position - no-one will lend to us without 20% deposit and/or PR. If you can find a company that will, please let us know.
ABC Diamond has suggested a few but they have all come up blank.
390 days to go!

pako

I've never really though about problems with getting a mortgage and visa status...I guess all the skilled migrants have the same deal?

Oh well I'll have to wait a little over a year from being in Oz to get that home! Or buy a 2 bed unit in the meantime!! Roll on the PR visa

debsy

Any luck with the Bank of Queensland - we found them to be very accommodating.

The Bloke

As far as I understand it , people who come out here on skills visas automatically get their PR straight away.