Mortgage Choice South Melbourne

Mortgage Choice South Melbourne Everyone has their thing. Ours is finance. Your broker will advise whether they are a credit representative of Mortgage Choice or Smartline.

Mortgage Choice Pty Limited (ABN 57 009 161 979, Australian Credit Licence 382869) and Smartline Operations Pty Limited (ABN 86 086 467 727, Australian Credit Licence 385325) are owned by REA Group Limited.

16/09/2026

Tell us we're cool 🫠🫠

15/09/2026

While most banks accept gifted money with a simple signed gift letter, some lenders will still want to see 5% in genuine savings (money you’ve saved yourself over 3+ months), especially if you're using a First Home Owner scheme.

The good news? Every bank has different policies, and some are much more flexible with gifted funds than others. It just depends on what you need (and we'll find it for you).

👉 Follow for more FAQs about buying your first home.

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This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice.

14/09/2026

The money in your offset account 'offsets' the interest you pay on the loan, so every dollar you have sitting in it is saving you money. And it acts like a normal transaction account, so you can pull money out easily.

A savings account might pay you 5%, but that interest gets taxed. Money sitting in an offset isn't "interest earned," it's interest avoided - so there's nothing to tax.

If you have a $600k loan and $60k in your offset, you are only charged interest on $540k. At a 6% interest rate, that's $3,600 you're not paying in interest every year.

The strategy behind an offset is to maximise the amount of money you keep in there. Get your salary paid into it, keep your emergency fund and your buffer in there. Every dollar is saving you money.

👉 Follow for more tips to save money on your home loan.

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*This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice. Not every loan product comes with an offset account and there can be a cost.

10/09/2026

1️⃣ The 5% Deposit Scheme (First Home Guarantee):

You can buy with just a 5% deposit and skip Lenders Mortgage Insurance entirely. The government guarantees the rest, which can save you anywhere from $15k to $35k depending on your loan size. No income caps and no limited spots anymore, it's open to every eligible buyer.

2️⃣ The $10k First Home Owners Grant:

We get asked about this all the time! It is only available when you're building or buying a new home (not established properties) under the relevant price cap. It's a straight cash contribution toward your first place.

3️⃣ Stamp duty savings for first home buyers:

In Victoria, you pay zero stamp duty on properties up to $600k, and a reduced rate between $600k and $750k. On a $600k purchase, that's about $31k back in your pocket before you've even moved in.

Stacked together, these schemes can be the difference between years of extra saving and getting the keys this year.

👉 Follow for more FAQs about buying your first home.

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*This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice. Eligibility criteria apply.

09/09/2026

But.. we wouldn't be doing anything else.

08/09/2026

The major banks use different criteria to the smaller lenders, and the gap in what they'll actually lend you can sometimes be 10-15% apart.

That difference isn't small. It can be the gap between a second bathroom or not, or the suburb you end up in versus the one you wanted.

It's a different number at every lender, which is exactly why the right match matters.

👉 Follow for more FAQs about buying your first home.

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This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice.

07/09/2026

1️⃣ $41k meant she qualified for the 5% Deposit Scheme - no Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which straight away gave her more cash to spend on the property.

2️⃣ She walked in thinking she could only borrow around $550k. Once we ran her full numbers with the bank, she was actually approved for up to $750k.

We didn't talk her into spending the lot. She was more comfortable spending around $650k, so that's what she's aiming for.

3️⃣ We talked her through the extra costs- things like stamp duty.

As a first home buyer on a property around $650k, she was only looking at about $8,000 thanks to the concession, instead of the $30k+ it would've been without it. Huge savings.

4️⃣ We compared her everyday bank against what other banks were offering her. Another bank offered her a better deal - so that's who she went with instead.

5️⃣ Once her pre-approval came through, she started looking for her new home within the $650k range.

👉 Follow for more stories about buying your first home.

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This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice.

07/09/2026

No wasting time and energy on properties you can't afford.

Pre-approval on his first loan meant that this guy could look in his price range, know his upper limit and use "finance already sorted" in negotiations.

It's given him time back. Good advice dad. 👍

👉 Follow us for more stories on buying your first home.

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This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice.

14/08/2026

Unacceptable.

14/08/2026

Pre-approval isn't a "use it or lose it" deadline that resets everything if you miss it.

Most people don't end up buying within that first 90-day window, it's more common than not.

If nothing's changed, extending it is usually simple: an updated payslip or two and a recent bank statement to show you're still working and everything's current.

If a bit of time has passed since you got your pre-approval, it's worth checking in to see if there's a better option available.

👉 Follow for more tips about buying your first home.

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This is for general education purposes only and is not intended to constitute specialist or personal advice.

Address

Level 5, 111 Cecil Street
South Melbourne, VIC
3205

Telephone

+61396818182

Website

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