The trick is to find someone you trust and enjoy working with, someone who is accredited with a wide range of lenders and can give you a comprehensive comparison of the market.

You also need someone with enough experience to know which lenders just aren’t going to be a fit for your circumstances no matter how great their rate is.

When you decide to apply for a home or investment loan, refinance your existing loan, review your existing loan arrangements, or obtain pre-approval for a property purchase, the first step is to have an initial discussion with one of our brokers.

Depending on your preference, the first meeting can be done in person, over the phone, or via video.

At your first meeting, the broker will introduce themselves and obtain further details about your objectives, financial situation, and timeframes.

These questions are designed to help us determine whether we are able to assist you or if your enquiry would be better directed to another financial professional (for example, an accountant or financial planner).

We’ll also answer any questions you have about buying a home, the loan application process or home loans in general.

NBS Home Loans will also provide you with a copy of our Credit Guide & Privacy Policy during, or as soon as possible after, the initial discussion.

Our Credit Guide & Privacy Policy document contains key information you need to know about the services we provide and the lenders we have access to. This document also provides information about any fees and commissions we may receive, how we collect and store your information, as well as information about dispute resolution.

Other brokers may have different fee structures, and they must disclose this to you upfront.

After your initial discussion, we will then complete a detailed ‘fact find’.

Most people prefer to complete this online at their own pace, so we can provide you with access to our NBS Home Loans Client Centre Portal for you to complete online.

Others clients may prefer to complete the questionnaire in person, and we are also happy to arrange this.

You will also need to provide supporting documents at this stage. These can be uploaded directly via our NBS Client Centre Portal if you complete the fact find online, or you can provide these documents directly to us if you are completing this step in person.

These documents generally include:

• Identification
• Six (6) months of bank statements, credit card statements and mortgage statements, if applicable (we can make this easy by providing a link for you to upload them electronically directly from your online banking)
• At least your last two (2) payslips for PAYG employees or financials and tax returns for self-employed applicants
• Statements for any other liabilities or income you may have (e.g. child support income, HEC/HELP debt, rental income, Buy Now Pay Later facilities etc.)
• Evidence of your deposit and sufficient savings if you are buying a new property
• Other documents specific to your individual circumstances (we’ll let you know if this applies)

Completing this questionnaire and providing supporting documents will allow NBS Home Loans to understand your financial situation better and be able to provide you with credit advice.

Once NBS Home Loans has gathered all the required information via the “Fact Find”, we can then calculate your indicative borrowing capacity (i.e. how much you can afford to borrow) and recommend one or more suitable loan options based on your requirements.

We’ll clearly explain each loan’s costs, rates, and features to help you make an informed choice, and we’ll provide you with a report containing this information called the “NBS Home Loans Preliminary Assessment & Product Recommendation“.

We’ll also talk you through your next steps and any other information you may need to consider.

Once you have considered all your options and decided to proceed, we will then provide you with a report called a “Summary of Requirements & Credit Proposal”.

Once you have considered the “Summary of Requirements & Credit Proposal” and decided to proceed, the next step is the loan or pre-approval application.

Fortunately, NBS Home Loans will do all the hard work for you by completing the application on your behalf.

This is all done in-house by your broker and the NBS Home Loans Sydney-based admin team.

In most cases, NBS Home Loans will already have collected enough information and documentation throughout the process to be able to complete the application in full. 

However, as each lender has slightly different requirements, your broker or our admin team will contact you if we need any additional information or documentation to complete the application.

If you are refinancing an existing loan, we will also help you complete a Mortgage Discharge Form to be provided to your existing lender at this stage. 

The Mortgage Discharge Form form lets your existing lender know you intend to move the loan to a new lender and gives them sufficient notice to prepare all the required documentation to allow this to happen.

Once the home loan application has been submitted to the bank or lender, they will assess the application and make a decision about whether to approve it.

If the lender is happy with the application, they will usually first issue a conditional approval. This means that the loan is conditionally approved pending more information or documentation, such as the completion of a property valuation.

It is quite common for lenders to request further information or documentation during the assessment stage.

Pre-approvals tend to have a much quicker turnaround time than full loan applications as most lenders do not ‘fully assess’ pre-approvals.

They will grant pre-approval up to a certain limit based on the information stated in the home loan application but usually do not fully check the applicant’s supporting documents or credit history.

This is why pre-approvals are a guide only and not a guarantee of approval.

If the lender is happy with your pre-approval application after application, they will issue a pre-approval letter, and you can then begin your property search in earnest. 

However, it’s important to note that once you find a property, you will need to complete another application – in other words, you go back to step 4!

Once the application has been fully assessed and any outstanding information or documentation has been provided to the lender, you will be notified of the outcome of your application by either the lender or us, depending on each lender’s own approval process.

Once your loan receives final approval, the lender will send you a loan offer containing details about the particulars of the loan and a loan contract for you to sign and return.

Many loan contracts can be signed digitally. However, some lenders do still require the contracts to be physically signed and witnessed.

You can seek legal advice before signing the contract if you wish to do so, and it’s important to complete and return it as soon as possible to avoid any delays at settlement.

You will also generally be asked to provide additional documents prior to settlement, including a copy of the building insurance on the property you are purchasing or refinancing.

Once the home loan has been approved, the contracts have been signed, and all the relevant documents have been received by the lender, the next step is loan settlement.

If you are buying a new property, a settlement normally occurs 42 days after property contracts are exchanged or as otherwise negotiated with the vendor.

The settlement date is the date your loan will become active, the remaining funds for your property purchase will be paid to the vendor, and you will officially own your new property!

NBS Home Loans will work closely with your solicitor or conveyancer to ensure that settlement goes smoothly and the lender has everything they require well ahead of time.

If you are refinancing an existing loan, settlement can occur as soon as the incoming and outgoing lenders have received all required paperwork. This will be the day when the incoming lender pays out your loan with the outgoing lender, and your old loan will be closed off.

We’ll also be here to answer any questions you may have at any time.

In addition to the information above, we’ve written an article with some helpful tips for borrowers feeling the pain of interest rate rises.

Click the link below to view.

With hundreds of loans from over 40 lenders and over 20 years of experience, NBS Home Loans take the hard work out of comparing loans to make sure you aren’t leaving any money on the table by missing out on other options.

For more information contact us today on 0434 103 326 to chat about the right home loan fit for your own circumstances.

For an up-to-date overview of the current rates on offer, visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/NBSHomeLoans