Links Property Finance · Home loans for first home buyers: Home Loan Pre-Approval Checklist

• Documents to have ready
• Photo identificationUsually a driver licence and passport, or an alternative combination. Both applicants need it.
• Income evidenceFor salaried applicants, recent payslips and usually a PAYG summary. For self-employed applicants, two years of tax returns and financials, or one year at some lenders. The document centre covers each situation.
• Bank statementsTypically the last few months on your everyday and savings accounts. Lenders read spending patterns here, not just balances.
• Evidence of your depositSavings history, or a gift letter and transfer trail, or estate documents for an inheritance. Assemble this early rather than at the last minute.
• Details of all debtsCredit cards with their limits, car and personal loans, buy-now-pay-later accounts and HECS. Limits matter more than balances.
• Living expense figuresA realistic monthly picture. Lenders compare what you declare against what your statements show, so guessing low tends to backfire.
• Before the application goes in
• Check your credit file yourselfFree once a year. Old defaults and errors are far better discovered now than by an assessor.
• Reduce unused credit limitsAssessed as though fully drawn. Reducing them can lift borrowing power meaningfully, but model it first.
• Pause any new creditA new car loan or a buy-now-pay-later account opened mid-application changes the assessment and can undo it.
• Choose the lender before applyingEvery application leaves an enquiry on your credit file, and a cluster of them reads badly. One considered application beats three hopeful ones.

• What the lender is checking
• Whether the income is stable and evidencedNot just the amount. Probation, contract work, overtime and bonus are each treated differently and vary by lender.
• Whether you can service the loan at a buffer rateLenders test repayments at a rate above the one you would pay, which is why the figure is lower than a simple repayment calculation suggests.
• Your credit conductMissed payments, defaults and recent enquiries. Explanations help where there is a genuine story behind an event.
• The deposit's originWhere low-deposit rules apply, lenders look for savings accumulated over time rather than a recent lump sum.
• After pre-approval is issued
• Read the conditionsPre-approval is conditional, usually on valuation and final verification. Knowing which conditions apply tells you what could still change.
• Note the expiryCommonly around 90 days. If your search runs longer it can usually be renewed, which is a process rather than an automatic extension.
• Keep everything steadySame job, same debts, same spending. Changes between pre-approval and formal approval are the most common cause of a file falling over.
• Send the contract as soon as you exchangeFormal approval runs against the specific property and the valuation is ordered from that point.

Pre-approval is not a guarantee of finance. It is a lender's conditional indication based on the information provided, and it remains subject to valuation, final verification and the lender's policy at the time. That is why the subject to finance clause matters when you exchange.