CAIRNS MORTGAGE BROKERS - HOME LOANS, MADE STRAIGHTFORWARD

We're at 14 Spence St in Cairns City, open weekdays 8:30 to 5. You're welcome to come in and plenty of clients do. Just as many handle everything by phone, video and email, including clients out on the Tablelands, up the coast and interstate. Either way works and you won't be treated differently for choosing one.

All of it. Our clients buy across Cairns city and the northern beaches, including Trinity Beach, Kewarra, Palm Cove and Smithfield, through the southern suburbs of Edmonton, Bentley Park, Mount Sheridan and Gordonvale, out to Redlynch and Freshwater, and up the coast to Port Douglas and Mossman. We also work with buyers on the Atherton Tablelands, in Mareeba, Innisfail, Tully and the smaller towns further out. Lender policy is not the same across all of those places, which is worth knowing before you fall in love with something.

Yes. You're assigned a broker at your first appointment and that's who handles your file through to settlement. You won't be handed to a processing team once the application goes in, and you won't have to explain your situation again to someone new. If your broker is away, someone who already knows your file covers for them.

Not usually in the way people expect. Lenders rarely decline a loan because of cyclone exposure alone. The bigger issue is insurance. Home and contents premiums in North Queensland are among the highest in the country, and lenders count that premium as an ongoing expense when assessing what you can afford. A high premium can quietly reduce your borrowing capacity by more than people expect.

The federal cyclone reinsurance pool, running since 2022, has brought premiums down in high risk areas. The ACCC found median premiums in Cairns fell by roughly 15 per cent after insurers joined. They're still well above the national average. Get a quote on any property before you make an offer, not after, and we'll factor the real number into your assessment.

Strata insurance in North Queensland is expensive for the same cyclone related reasons, and it flows straight through to levies. A Cairns unit block can carry noticeably higher quarterly levies than an equivalent building down south.

This matters because lenders treat body corporate fees as a committed ongoing expense, exactly like a car loan repayment. A high levy building reduces your borrowing capacity compared with a low levy one at the same price. Always get the levy figure and a copy of the body corporate disclosure before you commit, and we'll run it through the assessment.

Some do. A number of lenders apply postcode based restrictions to areas with a lot of high density or holiday let stock, which can mean a lower maximum loan to value ratio or a larger deposit requirement. Most also set a minimum internal floor area, measured excluding balconies and car space, which rules out smaller studio and one bed units with certain lenders. Buildings with an on site letting pool or management rights arrangement add another layer, because not every lender will lend into them at all.

Policy varies enormously between lenders on this, which is where a broker earns their keep.

Often, yes, and it comes up constantly here because so much of the local economy runs on tourism. Lender policy on casual and seasonal income differs widely. Some accept casual income after a relatively short period with one employer, others want considerably longer. Overtime, penalty rates and second jobs may be counted in full, partly, or not at all depending on who you apply to.

The wet season adds a wrinkle, because income in the quieter months can look inconsistent on paper even when the annual figure is solid. Some lenders average it out sensibly and some don't. We match your income structure to a lender whose policy actually fits rather than hoping for the best.

Most want a couple of years of tax returns and notices of assessment. If you've been trading for less time, or your most recent year is much stronger than the one before, there are lenders who'll work with a shorter history or accountant verified figures. We'll also look at whether add backs like depreciation, one off expenses or additional superannuation contributions can lift your assessable income before we choose where to apply. Cairns has a lot of owner operators, and how your accountant structures things has more effect on your borrowing capacity than most people realise.

Some will and some won't. Short term letting is common through Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Trinity Beach and parts of the city, and lenders take different views. Those that accept the income usually discount it to allow for vacancy, and will often want a letting agent appraisal rather than your actual booking history. If the property sits in an on site letting pool, the management rights arrangement can affect which lenders will lend at all, and on what terms. Worth a conversation before you sign a contract.

Usually, though it may not be a standard home loan. Once a property passes a certain land size or carries rural zoning, most lenders shift it into a different category with different maximum LVRs, and some won't lend at all. Where the land is income producing, whether cane, cattle or horticulture, you may be looking at agribusiness lending instead of residential.

Zoning, land size and how the property is used all matter more than the price. Tell us what you're looking at early and we'll tell you which category it falls into before you go to contract. See our farm loans and agribusiness refinance pages for the commercial side.

Yes. Lenders and lenders mortgage insurers classify locations by population and market depth, and smaller or more remote towns often attract a lower maximum LVR, tighter LMI terms, or a requirement for a larger deposit. Valuations can also take longer where there are fewer recent comparable sales and fewer valuers covering the area, which is worth building into your finance clause rather than discovering the week before it's due.

Serving members may be able to access the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme, which subsidises part of your mortgage interest depending on length of service, and there are separate allowances that can assist with a purchase. Not every lender participates in the scheme, and some offer additional concessions to Defence personnel on top. We'll check what you're entitled to and match it against lenders who actually accommodate it.

Possibly. A number of lenders waive lenders mortgage insurance for certain medical and health professionals borrowing at higher LVRs, and some extend it to nurses and allied health. Eligibility depends on your specific profession, your registration, your income and the lender's own list, which changes. It's worth checking rather than assuming, because the saving can be substantial. See our loans for medical professionals page.