Mortgage Brokers St Kilda & South East Melbourne

A broker takes on the research and paperwork that would otherwise fall to you. We start by looking at your income, expenses, savings, debts and plans, then compare home loans from our panel of lenders to find options that suit your situation. Once you choose a loan, we prepare and lodge the application, deal with the lender on your behalf and keep you updated through to settlement. Because lenders assess things like self-employed income, deposit size and property type differently, having someone who knows their policies can save time and help you avoid applying with a lender that is unlikely to suit you.

In Australia, mortgage brokers are generally paid a commission by the lender once a loan settles, rather than charging the borrower directly. Since 1 January 2021, brokers have also been legally required to act in their clients' best interests when recommending a loan, which means the recommendation has to be about what suits you, not what pays the broker more. Ask us at your first meeting and we will walk you through how it works.

EverLend compares home loans from more than 60 lenders. That panel includes major banks as well as smaller lenders, some of which have policies that suit particular situations, such as self-employed borrowers, investors with several properties or buyers looking at smaller apartments. Having a wide choice matters because interest rates, fees, features and lending rules vary a lot from one lender to the next. We narrow the field to the options that fit your goals and borrowing capacity, then explain the differences so you can make an informed choice rather than simply taking the first loan offered to you.

Our home base is St Kilda, and we help clients throughout Melbourne's inner south, bayside and south-east. That includes nearby suburbs such as Elwood, Balaclava, Windsor, Prahran and South Melbourne, as well as Brighton, Caulfield, Bentleigh, Oakleigh, Cheltenham, Glen Iris and the other suburbs listed above. You are welcome to meet us at our office on St Kilda Road, and we can also work with you by phone or online if that is easier. If your suburb is not on the list, get in touch anyway and we will let you know how we can help.

Pre-approval, sometimes called conditional approval, is a lender's indication of how much it may be willing to lend you, based on an assessment of your income, expenses, debts and savings. It is not a final approval, because the lender still needs to assess the specific property and confirm your details before formal approval. Pre-approval is usually valid for a limited period, which varies by lender. Having one in place helps you set a realistic price range and bid at auction with more confidence. We can gather your documents, choose a suitable lender and lodge the application for you.

St Kilda combines a beachside location with a short trip to the city, about 6 km from the CBD, and tram routes 12, 16 and 96 make getting around without a car realistic. Day to day, residents have Acland Street and Fitzroy Street for shopping and dining, plus the St Kilda Botanical Gardens, Catani Gardens and the foreshore. For investors, the 2021 Census found 60.4% of occupied homes were rented, which points to a large rental market. As with any purchase, the right choice depends on the specific property, your budget and how long you plan to hold it.

Apartments make up most of St Kilda's housing, with flats and apartments accounting for 79.0% of occupied dwellings in the 2021 Census, many of them one or two bedroom homes. Some lenders apply stricter rules to studios, very small apartments or units in large high-rise buildings, such as a minimum floor area or a lower maximum loan to value ratio. Before you make an offer, check the owners corporation records, the annual fees and any planned special levies, and consider a building inspection, particularly in older blocks. We check lender policy on the specific property early so you know where you stand.