From professionals qualifying for LMI waivers to emergency services workers whose overtime counts as income -- Mankin Finance structures finance around how you actually earn, not how a bank's credit model expects you to.
Standard loan applications assume a standard borrower -- 9-to-5 PAYG income, two years of tax returns, and a 20 per cent deposit saved in a bank account. Most Australians do not fit that description. Our specialist lending team works with lenders that have purpose-built policies for occupations, income structures, and financial situations that standard credit scorecards undercount.
Select lenders waive Lenders Mortgage Insurance for borrowers in recognised professions, allowing them to borrow up to 90 per cent LVR -- and in some cases 95 per cent -- without paying the LMI premium that would otherwise add $15,000 to $30,000 or more to the cost of a loan. This means a doctor, lawyer, or engineer buying in Campbelltown or Camden can access a competitive loan with a 10 per cent deposit rather than waiting until they reach 20 per cent.
The waiver applies because lenders view these professions as low default risk, with strong, predictable career trajectories and earning potential. The policy is not available to everyone in a given field -- registration or formal membership, and in many cases a minimum income threshold, are required.
Professions that qualify at one or more lenders on our panel include:
Each lender maintains its own list of qualifying professions and eligibility conditions. LVR limits and income thresholds vary between lenders. Speak to a broker to confirm which lenders and policies apply to your specific situation.
Find Out If You QualifyDoctors, dentists, pharmacists, and allied health workers frequently have income structures that standard credit scorecards do not handle well. A base salary, overtime, on-call payments, locum income, or a mix of employed and self-employed earnings all appear differently in a tax return or payslip than they do in practice.
Junior doctors cycling through hospital rotations, medical registrars with limited history in their current role, and GP partners receiving practice distributions are three of the most common situations we manage. Each requires a lender with a specific policy for healthcare income, rather than a standard credit assessment that will simply decline or severely restrict borrowing power.
Mankin Finance has placed loans for medical professionals with as little as six months of employment history in their current role, and for specialists transitioning from an employed to a practice-ownership model. The key is matching the borrower to the lender whose policy fits the income type, rather than attempting to fit the borrower into a standard assessment.
We cover:
Emergency services workers -- police officers, paramedics and ambulance officers, and firefighters -- frequently earn a significant proportion of their income beyond their base salary through shift allowances, overtime, and penalty rates. For many, this additional income is not discretionary; it is a structural feature of their employment.
Many standard lenders shade or exclude this income in their credit assessment, which can dramatically reduce borrowing power. A police officer on a base salary of $95,000 who regularly earns $30,000 to $40,000 in overtime will find that a standard lender may assess them on their base pay alone, cutting their borrowing capacity by a significant margin.
Select lenders on the Mankin Finance panel assess 100 per cent of regular overtime for emergency services workers, and some will accept one year of overtime history rather than the standard two. This can meaningfully increase borrowing power for officers in the south-west Sydney region, where property prices in Campbelltown, Camden, and the Macarthur corridor have risen substantially.
Casual teachers in NSW face a problem that does not reflect their actual employment security: their casual loading and variable hours make their income appear inconsistent in a standard assessment. A casual teacher working steadily across several schools in south-west Sydney may have been earning above the median wage for years, yet find their income treated the same as any casual worker.
Some lenders require 12 months of employment at the same school before they will count casual teaching income -- which is rarely achievable given how the NSW education system allocates work. Specialist lenders recognise that teaching is a highly employable profession with structured pay scales and consistent demand, and assess casual income more favourably as a result.
This policy also applies to school counsellors, student learning support officers (SLSOs), education support staff, and TAFE NSW employees on casual and fixed-term contracts. We work across borrowers employed by the NSW Department of Education, Catholic Education Diocese offices, and independent school systems.
Self-employed borrowers often earn considerably more than their tax return reflects. Standard lenders assess taxable income from the last two years of tax returns -- after all business deductions have reduced the figure. For a sole trader or company director who legitimately claims depreciation, vehicle costs, and business expenses, the taxable income number can be a fraction of actual cash flow.
Specialist lenders offer several approaches depending on the length of trading history and the nature of the business. Matching the right product to the situation -- rather than defaulting to low doc when it is not needed, or forcing a standard application that will fail -- is where a specialist broker adds real value.
We work with sole traders, company directors, contractors, partnership members, and borrowers who earn both PAYG and ABN income.
Discuss Your Self-Employed SituationFly-in fly-out workers in mining and resources earn a significant proportion of their income in allowances, site pay, and overtime. The challenge is that a roster-based work pattern -- two weeks on, one week off, for example -- can be misread by a standard credit assessment as casual or intermittent employment, when in practice the worker is employed on a permanent roster with a reliable total income.
Select lenders have FIFO-specific assessment policies that treat the total gross income inclusive of all allowances, rather than looking only at the base rate. This can substantially increase borrowing power for a worker based in south-west Sydney who commutes to a Queensland or Western Australian mine site.
The same issue arises for maritime workers on rotating vessel deployments, long-haul truck drivers on contract pay, and other employees whose total income is reliable but whose pay structure includes variable components that standard lenders undercount.
A guarantor loan -- also called a family pledge or family guarantee -- allows a parent or immediate family member to use equity in their existing property to support a borrower's home loan application. The arrangement can enable a purchase with as little as zero deposit by effectively replacing the LMI requirement with a limited guarantee backed by the family member's property.
The guarantor does not hand over cash and does not need to be added to the title of the new property. They provide security through equity in their own home, which is held as additional collateral for the portion of the loan above 80 per cent LVR. Once the borrower has paid down enough of the loan -- or the property has grown in value -- to reach 80 per cent LVR, the guarantee can be released and the guarantor's property is returned as security to them alone.
Key points to understand:
A self-managed super fund can borrow to purchase investment property under a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA). The property is held in a bare trust structure during the loan term, with the SMSF as the beneficial owner. The recourse is limited to the property itself -- in the event of default, the lender can only claim against the secured property and cannot reach other assets held within the fund.
SMSF lending is more complex than standard investment lending and requires careful coordination between your broker, SMSF accountant, auditor, and trustee. Mankin Finance works with specialist SMSF lenders and manages the lending side of the transaction alongside your existing advisers.
Bridging finance allows you to purchase a new property while your existing property is being sold. The lender takes security over both properties during the bridging period, which is typically six to twelve months. At the end of the bridging period, the sale proceeds from the existing property are applied to reduce the loan, and the remaining balance transitions to a standard home loan secured against the new property only.
There are two main types: a closed bridge, where a sale date for the existing property has been confirmed and settlement is imminent; and an open bridge, where the property is listed and expected to sell but no contract has yet been exchanged. A closed bridge carries lower risk for the lender and is generally priced more competitively.
Bridging finance carries a higher interest rate than standard lending, and during the bridging period interest is often capitalised rather than paid. This means the total loan balance increases until the existing property settles. Careful planning is essential before committing to a purchase that relies on bridging -- speak to a broker before signing a contract.
Call us, send an email, or use the Rate Check tool. There is no standard intake form -- you tell us how you earn and what you are trying to do, and we listen.
We compare your income structure and situation against the policies of 30+ lenders to identify which will assess your application most favourably and offer the best terms.
From pre-approval through to settlement, we handle the paperwork, liaise with the lender, and keep you informed at each stage. There is no broker fee at any point.
"As a police officer, my overtime was always excluded. Mankin Finance found a lender that counted 100 per cent of it. My borrowing power went up by $180,000."
"I am a GP partner and my income structure is complicated. Michael and the team explained everything clearly and got us across the line."
"We used our parents' property as a guarantee and bought without a deposit. The whole process was handled professionally and we knew exactly what we were signing."
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is a premium charged when you borrow more than 80 per cent of a property's value. Select lenders waive this premium for borrowers in recognised professions -- typically medical, legal, accounting, and engineering fields -- allowing them to borrow up to 90 per cent or even 95 per cent LVR without paying LMI. Each lender maintains its own list of qualifying professions and income thresholds. A broker can confirm whether your profession and income level meet the criteria before you apply.
Yes. Standard lenders often shade or exclude overtime and allowances, which dramatically reduces borrowing power for emergency services workers, FIFO employees, and shift-based workers. Specialist lenders on our panel have specific policies for occupations where overtime is regular and predictable. Some accept one year of overtime history rather than the two years standard lenders require, and assess 100 per cent of regular overtime rather than discounting it. The difference can be $100,000 or more in additional borrowing capacity.
Possibly, depending on your circumstances. Some lenders accept a single year of ABN trading if you were previously employed in the same industry on a PAYG basis -- this demonstrates continuity of income rather than a new business venture. Other lenders offer low-doc products for established businesses using BAS statements and business bank statements. The right approach depends on your income structure, trading history, and the industry you work in. We can assess your situation and identify which lenders are likely to approve you.
A low-deposit loan means you are borrowing a high proportion of the purchase price -- typically above 80 per cent -- with LMI payable unless you qualify for a professional waiver or government scheme. A guarantor loan uses equity in a family member's existing property to support your application, which can reduce or eliminate the LMI requirement without you needing to have saved a deposit. The guarantor is only liable for the guaranteed portion, not the entire loan, and the guarantee can usually be released once your LVR reaches 80 per cent.
Yes. A self-managed super fund can borrow to purchase residential investment property under a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA). The property is held in a bare trust structure during the loan term, and only the property itself is at risk in the event of default -- other fund assets are protected. Key requirements include a minimum SMSF balance (typically $200,000 depending on the lender), a documented investment strategy, and compliance with superannuation legislation. No fund member or related party can occupy the residential property while it is held by the SMSF.
Tell us about your income structure and employment situation. We will tell you which lenders will assess it most favourably and what you qualify for. No cost, no obligation.