News & Insights

Parental leave changes your income for a while. It does not need to derail your home loan plans, but the timing of when you sort your finance makes a real difference. Before You Go on Leave This is where the actual planning happens, and it is the part most vets do not think about until it is almost too late. Lenders ask whether your circumstances are likely to change in the near future, and if they are, that needs to be declared as part of the application. If you are planning

Most vets know HECS debt affects their borrowing power. Very few know by how much, or why the number moves so much depending on which lender is doing the sums. Why HECS Reduces Borrowing Capacity Lenders treat your compulsory HECS repayment as an ongoing financial commitment, the same way they treat a car loan or a credit card limit. It gets factored into your serviceability, the calculation that determines how much you can borrow. A relatively small annual repayment can redu

The interest rate is the number everyone talks about. It is rarely the whole story. What the Interest Rate Actually Tells You The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the money itself. It is what your repayments are calculated on, and it is the number lenders lead with because it is the most attractive figure to advertise. What the Comparison Rate Adds The comparison rate takes the interest rate and folds in most of the standard fees and charges that come with the loan, the

Two incomes does not mean double the borrowing power. That surprises most couples, and it surprises vet couples more than most, because veterinary households often look strong on paper and then land somewhere well short of what they expected when a lender runs the numbers. None of that is bad news. It is just a different set of rules than the one most people assume is being applied. Here is what actually changes when two of you buy together. Two incomes, but not double the bo

If you have recently changed jobs, or you are thinking about it, you have probably wondered what that means for a home loan application. Some vets assume a recent job change is a problem. In most cases, it is not. Which lender you use makes the difference. What Banks Actually Look At Some lenders do not care how long you have been with your current employer. They care how long you have been in the profession. If you moved from one clinic to another, or from employed work to l

Your income and the market have likely both changed since you took out your loan. Here is how to know if a switch makes sense. If your home loan has been sitting untouched for a few years, there is a reasonable chance it is no longer working as hard for you as it could be. Refinancing is not always the right move, but for vets specifically, there are a few situations where it is worth a serious look, and a couple of traps worth knowing about before you do. Why Vets Are Often

Practice ownership changes how lenders see your income. Here is what to know before you commit. Buying into a veterinary practice is one of the biggest financial decisions in a vet's career, and it almost always overlaps with another one: your home loan. Whether you are about to take on equity in a practice, or you already have, here is what you need to understand about how that decision can affect your ability to borrow for a home, and what to think about before you commit t

Many vets pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance without knowing they likely did not have to. Here is why. Lenders Mortgage Insurance is one of the most misunderstood costs in property buying, and for veterinarians, it is also one of the most commonly overpaid. Plenty of vets pay LMI without ever being told they likely did not have to. This article explains exactly when LMI applies, when it does not, and why the answer depends far more on which lender you choose than most people real

Your income does not fit a standard bank form. Here is how different lenders actually assess it. Vet income rarely fits neatly into the boxes a standard bank application form expects. You might be salaried at one clinic and locuming at two others. You might be a contractor invoicing on an ABN. You might own a share of the practice you work in. Each of these situations is treated differently by different lenders, and the difference can be the gap between an approval and a decl

If you’re thinking about buying a property, this is usually the first question. The short answer is that borrowing capacity depends on your income, expenses, existing debts, and the lender’s policy. The more useful answer is how those factors are assessed in practice, and what you can do to improve the outcome. How Lenders Work Out Your Borrowing Capacity Lenders don’t just look at your salary. They assess whether you can comfortably afford repayments over the long term, incl

When Shelley and I were building our veterinary clinic, we made a lot of financial decisions under time pressure. For our home loan, we went to the bank we used for the clinic. It was the easy choice, but it cost us. What we didn't know then is that working with a broker who understands vet income and clinic ownership would have given us a better outcome. And it wouldn't have cost us anything. So how does it work? When you use a mortgage broker, you do not pay them a fee. The

Recent changes to government schemes mean buying sooner may be more realistic than you think. If you are a new graduate vet thinking about buying your first home, you are probably assuming it is years away. A HECS debt, a starting salary, and not much saved up can feel like a combination that rules you out for a while yet. The reality is more encouraging than that, and recent changes to government schemes have made it considerably easier for first home buyers, including new g

The rules changed in 2025. Here is what it actually means for how much you can borrow. If you are a vet with a HECS debt sitting in the back of your mind every time you think about buying a home, you are not alone. Almost every new graduate vet carries one, and almost every lender treats it as a reason to lend you less. The good news is the rules changed in 2025, and they changed in your favour. The better news is that once you understand how HECS actually affects your borrow

If you have ever sat across from a bank lender and watched them stare blankly at your payslips, you are not imagining it. Banks are built for simple salaries. Your income is anything but simple. Most veterinarians earn their income in ways that standard bank assessment tools were never designed to handle. Mixed locum and salaried shifts. Clinic distributions. HECS repayments chewing into your take-home. Overtime that is real and recurring but gets dismissed. The result? Banks

Buying your first home in Australia can feel overwhelming, especially with rising property prices and changing lending rules. But getting on the property ladder is possible with the right approach. If you’re a first time buyer in 2026, knowing where to focus your efforts can save you time, money, and stress. Here are five practical tips to help you secure your first home and build a strong foundation for your future. Modern suburban house ready for first time buyers Understan