The information contained in this article is of a general nature only. It doesn’t take account of any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, you should consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and seek independent legal, financial, and taxation advice.
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Home loan applications and expenses: Preparation 101
Whether you’re a first home buyer or you’re looking to refinance, you’ll most likely have to fill out a loan application. While the thought of doing so can seem a little daunting, with the right info, it doesn’t have to be and you could be collecting your new house keys or saving big with a better interest rate in no time.
Our home loan application can take just 4 minutes to fill out if you’re prepared – that’s less time than it takes to drink your morning coffee. From there, we’ll phone you for a pre-suitability call to make sure we’re right for each other. It’s your chance to ask any burning questions, and our chance to make sure you fit our basic requirements for a home loan*. If we’re a match, we’ll set up a time for the full-suitability call – and an important part of this will focus on your expenses.
* Some of our requirements include: being at least 18 years-old and an Australian permanent resident and borrowing a maximum LVR of 80%.
Knowing your expenses is as important for you as it is for us. It helps show you have the ability to pay off the loan you’re planning to borrow and gives you comfort the loan amount is right for you. The more accurate you are about your expenses, the easier it’ll be for us to find the best loan for you and the more comfortable you’ll be with your repayments.
Generally we’ll ask for your monthly expenses, however, you can provide us your expenses on a weekly, fortnightly or yearly basis and your friendly UBank Advisor can help do the sums for you.
How to get ‘phone call ready’ for your home loan full-suitability call:
- Housing and property expenses is number one on the list. For first home buyers this means keeping note of your rental payments, gas and electricity. For those looking to refinance, you’ll need to account for rates, strata, water, gas and electricity.
- Whether you prefer to drive, ride a bike or catch the train, remember to make note of travel expenses like fuel, parking fees, tolls, bike rentals and travel cards. Any Uber, Ola or Lyft fans out there? Better pop those on the list too.
- There’s no denying communication and media plays a huge role in our everyday lives. All mobile devices, internet, TV and your monthly streaming subscriptions – looking at you Netflix, Stan, Spotify – need to be included.
- Next up: food and groceries. Whether you’re a fan of the weekly shop or prefer going out with family and friends (and no judgement if you prefer Uber Eats to home cooking), it’s a good idea to note down what you average on a weekly basis.
- And those nice-to-haves, filed under ‘recreation and entertainment’? That’s anything from, money you spend on regular travel, magazines, books, gifts or a trip to the movies.
- Clothing and personal care is all about those regular appointments like haircuts and massages, alongside the clothes and products you’re likely to stock up on each year.
- Medical and health? It’s important. And when it comes to insurance, gym and doctor/dentist appointments, it can add up. Don’t forget to include regular chemist purchases like Panadol, prescriptions, and your cold and flu arsenal in winter.
- If you’re supporting a family, you’ll need to factor in education expenses like school fees, books, uniforms as well as child care expenses.
- Finally, it’s those safety net items: home and contents, life insurance – even extra super contributions count.
It may feel like a lot to stay on top of, but it’s essential to be in control of your spending when you’re saving for your dream home. Spreadsheets are a great way to stay on top of budgets, but it’s quite a manual process. For customers with a USaver or a USaver Ultra Transaction Account, a super handy way to keep on track is with our real-time budgeting tool, Free2Spend. When it comes to the full-suitability call, you’ll have all the info you need right in the palm of your hand. Too easy!
At UBank, we’re here to support you in your home loan journey, from start to finish. In fact, our super simple UHomeLoan Tracker will be with you through every step of the application process. Just one of the many ways we’re taking the pain out of the home loan process.
UHomeLoan info: Govt charges may apply. The comparison rate is based on a secured loan of $150,000 over the term of 25 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given & may not include all fees & charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.