Self-employed home loans
Self-employed home loans are not a separate category of lending. If your business is established and profitable, you should be assessed on the same terms, at the same rates, across the same 30+ lenders as any PAYG borrower. The work is in presenting your income the way a credit assessor needs to see it. That is my job, at a $0 brokerage fee.
Being self-employed is not a lending problem
There is a persistent idea that running your own business makes you a second-class borrower. It does not. Roughly one in six working Australians is self-employed, and every major lender writes standard home loans for them at standard rates. What changes is not the product. It is the evidence.
A PAYG applicant hands over two payslips. A business owner hands over two years of tax returns, notices of assessment, financial statements and often a company and trust structure sitting behind it all. More documents means more places for an assessor to misread something, and more chance of a decline that has nothing to do with whether you can afford the loan.
My job is to read your financials the way the lender will, correct the picture before it goes in, and choose the lender whose policy actually suits how your business is structured. Most of my self-employed clients end up on ordinary rates with ordinary lenders.
The four things that decide a self-employed application
Almost every self-employed decline I see traces back to one of these four. None of them are about the business being weak.
Full doc is the default
With two years of tax returns and notices of assessment, you are a full doc borrower. Same rates, same lenders, same products as a salaried applicant. This is where most self-employed clients land, and it should always be the first option tested before anything else is considered.
Add-backs are where income is won or lost
Your taxable profit is not your borrowing income. Depreciation, one-off expenses, additional superannuation, interest on debts being refinanced, and the non-cash items your accountant claimed can often be added back. Lenders differ on which they accept, and the gap between the most and least generous can be tens of thousands of dollars of assessed income.
Company and trust structures
If you trade through a company, a trust, or both, some lenders will look through the structure to your share of retained profits and some will not. Choosing a lender that understands your structure is often worth more to your borrowing capacity than chasing the sharpest advertised rate.
Timing against the financial year
Whether your latest return is lodged, and which two years a lender will average, changes your assessed income significantly when the business is growing. Applying in the right window, or asking a lender to use the most recent year rather than an average, is often the difference between approved and declined.
Not sure how your financials will read to a lender? Send them over and I will tell you.
Book a Free ConsultationHow I handle a self-employed application
Read the financials first
Before any lender sees anything, I work through your tax returns, notices of assessment and business financials and calculate your assessable income the way a credit assessor will. You find out what you can borrow from the evidence, not from an online estimate.
Maximise legitimate add-backs
I identify every add-back your financials support and, where it helps, go back to your accountant for a written confirmation. This is ordinary lender practice, not creative accounting, and it is routinely worth a meaningful increase in assessed income.
Match the lender to your structure
Policy on trusts, retained profits, ABN age and income averaging varies widely across the 30+ lenders on my panel. I target the one whose policy fits your situation rather than applying broadly and collecting credit enquiries.
Submit with the story attached
Self-employed files are declined for unexplained variances more than for anything else. A drop in one year, a large one-off expense, a change of entity. I explain each of these in the submission notes so the assessor is not left to guess.
What Clients Say
I had a great experience working with Shane. He was professional, knowledgeable, and always quick to respond to any questions or concerns I had throughout the process. His communication was excellent, and he made everything straightforward and stress-free. I really appreciated his reliability and dedication, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking for a trustworthy broker.
You won't find a better Broker in Sydney!! Shane got us the best deal and went well beyond the call of duty to ensure our deal went through without a hitch. Thank you for all your help Shane, we couldn't have done this without you!
Finding the right mortgage broker can be daunting, but save yourself the time and go to Shane from Finance Craft. He is experienced, responsive, and patient with all questions. Shane acted promptly to remove any blockers and challenges, ensuring a smooth and stress-free process. He was always available for questions and calls, demonstrating his commitment and dedication, guiding us every step of the way and making the entire experience seamless. We will use his services for future property finance matters. Highly recommended, thanks Shane!
Shane has been absolutely amazing. His professionalism and availability at every step made this whole process so much easier. He answered all our 1,000 questions with such patience and expertise, which gave us the confidence to take this big step. We truly recommend him.
Shane is absolutely amazing. He makes the whole process so seamless and supports you every step of the way. He is honest and very approachable. Would definitely recommend.
Shane's knowledge, expertise, efficiency, communication & customer service is top tier. He was super helpful in explaining things I didn't understand & in a timely manner. Kept us informed at all times as to where our application was at etc. Would definitely recommend. 10/10. Thanks Shane!
A rejection from one lender doesn't mean the answer is no. Let's explore your options together.
Talk to ShaneWhen a specialist lender is genuinely the answer
Sometimes full doc is not available yet. A new ABN with only six or twelve months of trading. A latest tax return that is not lodged, in the year the income finally looks good. Income that is real and serviceable but will not verify through standard financials. In those cases an alt doc or low doc loan, verified on BAS, business bank statements or an accountant's declaration, is the right tool.
These loans carry a rate premium, typically in the range of 0.25% to 0.75% above standard pricing and more at the low doc end. That premium buys you the property now, and once you have two clean years behind you I can usually refinance you onto a mainstream rate. It is a stepping stone, not a destination, and it is not where most self-employed borrowers should start. If that sounds like your situation, my specialist and non-conforming lending page covers it in detail.
Self-employed home loan FAQs
For a standard full doc loan at standard rates, most lenders want two years of tax returns and notices of assessment. Some will accept one year where the business has a longer trading history behind it, or where you were previously employed in the same field. Below that, you move into alt doc and low doc territory, which carries a rate premium. Two years of returns is the threshold worth aiming for, but it is not an absolute barrier if you do not have them yet.
No. If you qualify on a full doc basis, you access exactly the same rates and products as a PAYG borrower. There is no self-employed loading. A premium only applies if your income cannot be verified through standard financials and you need an alt doc or low doc product instead. Being self-employed does not put you there by itself, and I would test the full doc path first in every case.
An add-back is a non-cash or one-off expense that reduced your taxable profit but did not actually reduce the money available to service a loan. Depreciation is the most common. Others include additional voluntary superannuation, interest on debts being refinanced, one-off business expenses, and in some cases a portion of directors' remuneration. Lenders vary in which ones they accept, so the same set of financials can produce quite different borrowing capacities at different banks. Identifying and evidencing add-backs is a large part of the value in using a broker for a self-employed application.
Often yes. Some lenders will assess on the prior year if you are within the ATO's lodgement window. If the missing year is the one that shows the income growth, an alt doc option verified on BAS or business bank statements may produce a better result than waiting. There is a real trade-off between lodging first and borrowing now, and it depends on your timing and the size of the difference. That is a conversation worth having before you decide either way.
It adds documents, not obstacles. Lenders will generally want financial statements for each entity, the trust deed, and confirmation of your beneficial interest. The important difference is policy. Some lenders will look through the structure and count your share of retained profits as income, and some will only count what was actually distributed to you. Where a lender sits on that question can change your borrowing capacity substantially, which is why the structure should drive the lender choice rather than the other way around.
The same as anyone else on a full doc basis. 20% avoids Lenders Mortgage Insurance, and you can borrow with less and pay LMI, or potentially avoid it altogether if you work in a profession that attracts an LMI waiver. Alt doc and low doc loans generally require a larger deposit, commonly 15% to 20% as a minimum, because the lender is carrying more assessment risk.
Your local Sydney Eastern Suburbs broker
I specialise in helping clients across Coogee, Clovelly, Bronte, Bondi, and all surrounding Eastern suburbs.
Send me your financials and find out what you can actually borrow
I will read them the way a lender will and give you a real number, at no cost and with no obligation.