May 7, 2026
Self-employed income is assessed on a 2-year average, not current earnings — and documentation structure matters as much as the income itself. Here's how lenders approach it.
Read More →May 6, 2026
Joint applications combine both incomes — but also both sets of debts, HECS, and credit cards. Here's how lenders calculate borrowing capacity for couples and what affects the outcome.
Read More →May 5, 2026
An unused $10,000 credit limit can reduce borrowing capacity by $50,000–$80,000. Closing cards before applying removes that liability — here's the timing and what it doesn't fix.
Read More →May 4, 2026
HECS reduces borrowing capacity through the compulsory repayment, not the balance itself. Here's how lenders treat it, the repayment rates by income, and whether paying it off first makes sense.
Read More →May 3, 2026
Online calculators consistently overstate what lenders actually approve. Here's why — the serviceability buffer, credit card limits, HECS, BNPL accounts, and the HEM benchmark explained.
Read More →March 10, 2026
Most people walk into this question thinking the answer is about their salary. It partly is. But for many borrowers, the bigger variable isn’t how much they earn — it’s…
Read More →March 10, 2026
The same applicant — same income, same deposit — can be approved for $100,000 more or less, depending on which lender assesses the file. That gap is real, and most…
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