At Open Finance we have many years of experience working with both self-employed individuals and commercial entities. We have the knowledge and expertise to recommend safe finance structures to meet current and future cashflow scenarios.

Home loan secrets for the self employed

Self-Employed people are easily scared off by the thought of trying to get a loan from a bank.
They want tax returns, notices of assessment and then letters from your accountant, making applying for a loan incredibly difficult.

Luckily, we know that different banks have different requirements for the self employed.

How long do I need to be self employed for?

To get a home loan, the majority of lenders need you to be self employed for at least two to three years, however some will consider people who have been self employed for only one year.

What if I’ve been self-employed for less than a year?

If you’ve been self employed for less than one year, then unfortunately there aren’t many options. Most banks won’t lend to you because you don’t yet have tax returns to prove your income and because new businesses have more financial uncertainty.

We can look at your salary from your last job to assist, because it’s highly likely you could return to a salaried position on the same income. On that basis, we could be able to help you borrow up to 80% of the property value, but overall your options are quite limited if you’ve been self employed for less than 1 year.

What if I’ve been self-employed for one to two years?

Our lending panel may to able to approve loans for people who have been self employed for between one and two years as long as they have been in the same line of work for some time and have at least one year’s financials for the new business. So if you’ve had a carpentry business for just over a year, and used to be salaried in a carpentry position, all is not lost!
For complex loans we make extensive notes, and if need be, call the assessor and walk them through the financials to ensure that they assess the loan correctly.

Even inside the banking/finance industry there is ambiguity in relation to self employed home loans. We know which lenders understand your situation better than anyone else.

Lenders always have the view that self employed home loans represent a higher risk because their income isn’t as stable, fluctuate, and depending on your industry, will know what the typical levels of default are within your industry.

Talk to us, we can help you navigate the world of lending one step at a time.

Daniel Farthington, Self Employed Business Owner

Use the variety of calculators below for easy things like budget planners, savings goals calculators and income tax calculators; or to work out the stamp duty on your next property purchase, or browse our borrowing power and loan repayment calculators.