Home Loans For Contract Workers
Possibly the most important consideration in granting you a loan will be your income. The bank has to make sure that you not only can afford to make payments on your loans, but that you will be able to maintain payments in the future. The last thing the bank needs is to make home loans to people who have a poor employment record. In fact, banks have been found liable in court for loaning money to people with less than stellar work history. Because of this, a bank will estimate the increasing difficulty of paying a loan, and whether or not you will be able to keep up with it.
If you are a contract worker you might think that certain bank loans are out of your reach. From builders to IT consultants, more and more professions are now offering short term contracts of anywhere between 3 months to two years to workers in different fields. Despite this, many of the major lenders still view contract workers as potentially risky borrowers, considering them unstable and a high risk in terms of loan repayment. That said, there is still a selection of lenders that are willing to offer competitive mortgage products to assist this growing group of workers. By finding the right lender you will be able to tailor your loan with the right features including additional repayments or redraw facility so you can keep your repayments flexible.
Contractors And Home Loans
Pay As You Go – This type of contractor typically has jobs that last for a short and fixed period of time. Their contract will have a set date that the job ends or will roll over into a new contract or new job. Sometimes they have benefits like holiday pay and sick leave as well as automatically having taxes withheld and contributions to their super made. It tends to be more difficult for the PAYG to get loans because their income is the most difficult to track. However, with the right lender someone who works pay as you go can get approval for a mortgage. It is very important to shop around to make sure that you get the best rates and terms available, regardless of your PAYG status.
If you are a Pay As You Go applicant, your salary per annum is analyzed, along with overtime pay. The overtime pay, however, must be proven to be a regular occurrence. If you do shift work, that to will be allowed, but once again, you must prove that this is typical of your employment, and not just a one-time occurrence. If you receive Centrelink payments, they will be considered as income. However, the loan will dictate that the children involved are eligible for Centrelink for 3 years into the loan. Therefore, income from children 15 years old or older will not be considered.
Featured Low Doc Home Loans
| Home Loan | Details | Interest Rate (p.a.) | Comp Rate^ (p.a.) | App Fee / Ongoing Fee | Max LVR | Min & Max Borrowing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 State Custodians Mortgage Company Lo Doc Loan |
A loc loan that still offers a competitive rate and flexible features. | 6.97% | 6.88% | $0 / $0 | 80% | $0 / $1,000,000 |
 
|
 ANZ Lo Doc Loan |
Borrow up to 60% of the property value with this low doc loan. | 6.45% | 6.40% | $ 0 / $ 0 | 60% | $20,000 / $0 |
|
 St.George Low Doc Home Loan <$500k |
Interest only repayment option and redraw facility offered. | 7.19% | 7.38% | $850 / $12 | 80% | $50,000 / $1,500,000 |
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Self Employed – Unlike PAYG, these contractors do not typically have benefits from the company with whom they work. They are traders themselves who register with ABN and invoice their employer for wages and any other expenses which they incur. These contractors have a less difficult time finding lenders willing to take a chance on them. Because they can track their employment just like any other self employed person they can prove that they have regular income and the lender can easily calculate how much they can afford each month. Most mortgage brokers are actually self employed contractors themselves, so they tend to know exactly how to get the right product for this type of worker. Self-employed contractors must a registered ABN for their current role two years prior to loan application.
Subcontractors – The subcontractor is unique in that he or she is employed by either the PAYG contractor or the self employed contractor. The most common subcontractors are in the areas of mining and information technology. Since it is well known that miners make excellent salaries and can easily find work they can usually get an approval without much hassle. Likewise, information technology workers tend to earn high salaries and there is a high demand for their job skills so they pose little risk to lenders.
Calculating Liability
When your income is firmly established, whether you are PAYG or self employed, your lender will balance your income with your expenses. These will include monthly bills for which you receive statements. Cost of living and HECS are also considered in these calculations. Your lender has several options in considering your estimated cost of living, which will include, among other things, utilities, clothes, loans, and insurance policies. The Bureau of Statistics has established the Henderson Poverty Line, which is used by some lenders to determine what your cost of living will be. Other lenders will use their own standards.
Now the bank has a clear image of how much you make, how much you spend, and how much you can afford to pay on a loan. From this point, the lender will consider the impact of the loan for which you’ve applied on all of these figures. The bank will recalculate your loan with a “shaded” interest rate of 1.5% to 2%. That means they will assume an increase in the interest rate to represent the increased cost of living.
Once all of these calculations have been made, the grand total is subtracted from your income. The amount of cash remaining must be enough to make regular payments on the loan.
Tips to Give Yourself the Best Chance of Approval
- Use a loan calculator to determine how much you can afford on your new home
- Work hard to save for your deposit. Showing your lender a strong deposit will give you a better chance of approval. Aim for about 25% of the purchase value.
- Show reliability with your credit score.
- Be honest in your application. Lenders will look very poorly on your application if they discover a loan on your credit file that you neglected to tell them about.
- Compare a range of different lenders willing to lend to low-doc borrowers. Most major banks have specialists who deal exclusively with the needs of both self employed and pay as you go contractors.
- Look for a mortgage that offers features like interest only, fixed rates, offset at one hundred percent, redraw, and extra repayments. Just because you are a contract worker does not mean your mortgage should be short on valuable features.
Related posts:
- Can Self Employed Workers Get A Home Loan?
- Things to Consider Before Signing Your Home Loan Contract
- Illawarra Home Loans Bank Beater Fixed Home Loan
- Unfair Contract Terms Law with a Home Loan
- Fox Symes Debt Consolidation Home Loans
- Home-Buying Contract Basics
- Different Kinds Of Home Loans For Different Income Levels
- No Doc Home Loans
- eChoice Interest Only Home Loans
- Home Loans for Those Who Do Not Work 9 To 5
Top Home Loans
| Home Loan | Details | Interest Rate (p.a.) | Comp Rate^ (p.a.) | App Fee / Ongoing Fee | Max LVR | Min & Max Borrowing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Loans.com.au - Dream Catcher | A home loan offer with a $0 application fee and one of the lowest available home loan interest rates. | 5.85% | 6.21% | $0 / $375 | 80% | $50,000 / $750,000 |
|
 Bankwest Online Home Loan | A low interest rate home loan with a $0 application fee and ongoing maintenance fees. This offer is exclusively available by applying online. | 5.97% | 5.97% | $0 / $0 | 80% | $100,000 / $1,000,000 |
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 Illawarra Home Loans Bank Beater Home Loan | A low variable rate, beaten down even further by 0.05% p.a. after 5 years. | 6.07% | 6.35% | $0 / $345 | 90% | $250,000 / $1,000,000 |
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State Custodians Mortgage Company Standard Variable Offset Loan | Awarded Mortgage of the Year 2012 – this multi-award winner features 100% offset and a loyalty 0.25% rate drop after 5 years. | 6.02% | 6.23% | $0 / $345 | 95% | $150,000 / $1,000,000 |
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