She's On The Money - Want to Buy Property in 2025? Here’s How to Get Prepared

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Feel like buying a home in 2025 seems impossible? We’ve got the plan to make it happen! This week, Victoria teams up with expert mortgage broker Jaclyn Walsh to arm you with the ultimate guide to turning your property dreams into reality—and saving thousands while you’re at it. From when to call a mortgage broker to insider hacks that could cut years off your loan and tens of thousands off the cost, this episode is bursting with tips from our industry expert. Wondering if your Uber Eats habit might hurt your chances? Or whether paying off HECs early is a good idea? Don’t worry, we’ve got answers. Whether you’re saving, planning, or just starting to dream, this is the episode to help you crush your property goals. If you want to enquire with Zella Money you can find them here.The National Debt helpline is a free resource you where can speak to financial councillors about your debt. Call 1800 007 007 or visit https://ndh.org.au/ Gambling Help offers free, confidential advice via phone [phone] or online https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/ FREEBIE ALERT: Join the She’s on the Money 30-Day Reset—your step-by-step guide to refreshing your finances, setting achievable goals, and starting the year strong! Sign up for free here. Join our 300K+ She's on the Money community in our Facebook Group and on Instagram.  Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that's about making your financial goals a reality, and today we're going to be tackling what's often seen as the holy grail of adulting, buying a house. Now, I really do get it. Buying property in 2025 feels like climbing a mountain that just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Between the cost of living, housing prices, and interest rates, it's so easy to feel like owning a home is completely out of reach. It's easy to feel really overwhelmed and completely stuck. And let me tell you, if that's how you're feeling, my friend, you are not alone. But here's the thing, if owning a home is your dream, I want to help you feel empowered to get there no matter where

you are starting from. I'm Victoria Devine, finance expert and owner of mortgage broking firm Zella Money. And in this episode, we're here to guide you through the steps you can take right now to put yourself in the best possible position and get you closer to turning that dream home into a reality. And to make sure that you're getting the very best advice, I've brought in an absolute powerhouse in the world of home loans, someone who's helped thousands of Australians unlock the door to their dream home. Meet my friend and co-worker, Jacqueline Walsh. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited about this. I feel like the whole team have been get Jack on the show for actually years. Jack, to introduce her really quickly,

is a mortgage broker with what? More than 15 years experience, I would say, working in the industry. We actually got her from the dark side. We brought her from one of the big four banks over to work for Zella Money. And I feel like you have an absolute gift of simplifying all of the tricky bits for our clients. And I would say that you have a very proven track record of saving people some serious money, some serious time and getting them into their dream homes faster. Are you going to like agree or disagree with that? It's always awkward when people introduce you, right? I agree. I did do that. I did do that, Victoria. I did. So tell me a little bit about you and your journey before we get into it. Like, do you like working in finance? Do you like being

a mortgage broker? I absolutely love it. I know that sounds so strange, but I cannot see myself doing anything else. Like you said, I've done this for 15 years now. I think about it every day. What else would I be doing if I wasn't doing this? And I just can't see myself stepping outside of finance. I feel like I know it like the back of my hand. So it's just something that I feel really passionate about, really. I adore it. And that's probably why we get on so well. And I mean, you're preaching to the converted right here. Like, oh yeah, I'm not that interested in finance. It's just not for me. Like it is, I live it. I breathe it. I love it. And I feel like one of jointly, our favorite things about working at Zella Money is getting people into their first

home. So like, don't get me wrong. It's so fun to like meet clients and do a refinance or like meet clients and they're buying like a multimillion dollar property. Like it's always fun, you know, looking up the house prices on realestate.com and being a little bit pervy, right? Like not going to lie, but there is something so insanely special about holding the hand of a first home buyer who, you know, maybe wasn't sure or wasn't even in a position 12 months before to even get into their first home. And I just know that you're as passionate about that as I am. Now, if you're listening and you're just starting to save, or you already have a deposit, but you feel really unsure of what is going to come next, or if you're just feeling like you're entertaining

the idea that property might be for you and previously you were like, oh, I don't think it is. I'm telling you right now, you are absolutely in the right place. And I have dragged in the big guns to help us here. This episode is going to be jam-packed full of practical tips and advice to guide you through one of, I would say, your biggest financial decisions. Like, I don't know, you and I were talking about this the other day. Your first home is the hardest to get into because you're like starting from scratch. You have no equity. You have no ability to leverage anything. And knowledge. Literally don't have any. Like if you've never done it before, how do you know what you don't

know? Exactly. So stick around because even in a tough market, there are a heap of steps that you can take to feel more in control and then move closer to getting into your dream home. And I think that we can definitely do it together. Jack, let's dive straight in. I've got to start with the question that I think is on everybody's minds. I've been trying to predict this. When's the best time to see a mortgage broker? Definitely the most asked question, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I wish I could be like, oh, I thought of this myself, but the reality is I just gave you one that everybody asks. It's got to be from the moment that you even think about your home buying journey. Even if that's going to be two years away, whether you just want to find out

what the current interest rates are and if that's competitive in your mortgage, I really think that you need to be speaking to a mortgage broker upfront just because they're going to be able to guide you in terms of all areas of the home buying process. You might think that you're five years off from buying, but once you speak to a mortgage broker, you can find out that you actually can purchase maybe a house tomorrow if you wanted to. I feel like one of the biggest obstacles when I talk to our community about, oh, I really want to talk to a mortgage broker, but I have no savings. Am I wasting their time? If I don't want to buy yet, maybe let's say I want to buy in three or five years. Do you feel like I'm wasting your time if I booked an appointment?

I think you still need to be making that appointment. There's just other factors that come into it as well. You might be eligible for a scheme right now. That could be for the next financial year. You might tell me that you're expecting a pay increase over the next 12 months. that's going to ring alarm bells in my head that maybe that's going to push you over the threshold for that scheme. So that might be something that I guide you and say, look, you're eligible for the scheme up until, you know, June 30 of this financial year. But after that, you're banking on it. Yeah. Might push you over that threshold. Therefore you might not be eligible. And it's a whole nother scenario. So you really need to, the second you start thinking about that home

buying journey and what that looks like, get in touch and we can just have a chat and then put it all in the process, like working out next steps, next touch points and what that looks like. Yeah. Cause I feel like there is this idea in the industry that mortgage brokers are scary or that mortgage brokers are overwhelming or that I probably, I don't. And I mean, maybe you are a little bit like I've seen you on the phone when you're like backing a client and you're going into a bat for them and you're yapping at the bank. And I'm like, I would not want to be on the other end of that phone, but you know who I would want on that phone, the person that is my mortgage broker. But I feel like there's this misconception that like,

oh, you've got to like save up all your deposit and then talk to a broker. And in reality, you could be doing yourself a disservice. And I wanted to get that up front because I think a lot of people don't want to waste people's time. Like our community are so kind and so generous and so thoughtful. And we're all the type of people that are like, oh, I wouldn't want to bother Jack with that. And in reality, we spend so much time in meetings with clients who, if I'm being honest, don't convert right now because we know that they're going to be clients for life. And it's about building that relationship. You don't know what you don't know. So when people come to us, you know, we've had a bunch of clients that will say, oh, I've been looking forward to this meeting.

You know, I've been thinking about it for two years. I've paid off all my debts. I've paid off my hex I'm now ready to look at purchasing when in reality maybe their hex didn't need to be paid down and closed immediately where those funds could have gone towards the deposit to purchase their property earlier yeah and you'd never say that like you don't sit in a meeting with a client and go oh my god like you didn't have to do that you kind of go oh good job like amazing but like in the background as a broker and like as the business owner I'm always like oh I wish you'd kind of like not done that because I could have like leveraged this and done this got you in and you wouldn't have had to stress as much. And so you don't need to be making changes

before you speak to us, you know, come to us, tell us the scenario now, what your goals look like, and then we can sort of guide you into what you should be doing or focusing on really. I think my favorite part of that is even if you come in and you're not going to be a client for the next five years, you kind of fall into the Zella ecosystem and like, we just pester you like in a nice way. We're like, Oh, Hey, how's that going? Like in six months or like you get our newsletters and our updates so like you kind of fall into the ecosystem of being kept in the loop of that dream and that goal and we find that a lot of people say like oh my gosh like I feel so motivated because like you know I get an email from Jack a couple of months after our meeting

going oh hey how did that thing go tell me about that though because there's a lot of work in the background when it comes to the business and I'm sure people are going to send messages and we'll craft some episodes in the future around answering those as clearly as possible but like when a client comes in for an initial meeting what does the journey look like do they you know them by house the next day or do they you know stay in contact with you are you just contacting them because you're like oh this is a client I should follow up like they're on my list I'm asking because I know you're real pervy and you get so emotionally invested I do anyone that's had an appointment with me will know that I tend to speak to you as if we are best friends we are

I get carried away and we'll speak to you as if I've known you for a lifetime so I do get I guess, invested and I do want to check in and things like that. So at the end of the conversation, whether that, you know, they're saying that they want to purchase in five years, I will always say to them, if anything changes throughout that timeframe, like if you change jobs in six months time and you want to see what that looks like, if you ended up saving more in a shorter period of time and you just want to see what that changes and where that sets the goalposts, like get in touch, shoot me through an email whenever you want. We can touch base as many times as you want. It doesn't matter. Yeah, no. And I love that. Now there are going to be some people who are like,

oh, that actually sounds so good. I thought I'd have to save or be a really big investor before I actually have this conversation. I've decided I want to book. How much is it going to cost me? Nothing. Let's talk about that. I'm going to book an appointment with a mortgage broker. To be very clear right now, we're talking from our experience from our business, but some mortgage brokers are going to charge an initial fee and that doesn't mean that they're that. Like we're not here to say, oh, this model is better than that. We don't charge initial fees because we just don't want to. I don't know. I want to be accessible. I don't want people to have to jump through hurdles and come up with 500 bucks cash. Complete side note. It's why I got out

of financial advice. Like I adored it. I loved doing what I did, but it was so prohibitive when it came to cost. Like if you couldn't afford my advice, what you don't get to be in a better financial situation. I didn't like that. And so we've carried that into Zella Money, but some people do charge an initial fee. Like that does not change that. Some brokers rebate it. So like you might pay your $500 fee upfront. And then when you finally do settle a mortgage, you get the cash back. Fine. How does it work with us and with most brokers? Because I feel like our model and the way that you work with us is the same as most. Yeah. So you can come to us, make an appointment, like we said you know free of charge up front there is some circumstances where we will need

to charge fee but we're going to be really up front and honest with you from the get-go if we even see that as a possibility why would we do that though so if you're coming to us to obviously get a better interest rate and looking at refinancing but you're telling me up front that you're wanting to get a better interest rate but you're actually going to be selling that property within six months yeah to us as a broker we will get 100% clawback in that first year what's Clawback. Clawback is where the banks do pay us a commission as a thank you for bringing you on as a client.

Yeah. So it just means that they may not necessarily have gotten you as a client had you not come to our brokering services and we've shown you all the nitty-gritty and details behind the scenes. Yeah. So in terms of charging an upfront fee, it would be, yeah, if you were open and honest about that, saying that you're going

to look at selling, we just obviously need to recoup the funds that we were going to lose because no one's working for free. Yeah. At the end of the day, like we are getting paid. We're not saying, oh, we're a charity. Yeah. And that's why, I don't know, in the first half of this episode, I wanted to be super clear about how that works. But then let's dive a little bit deeper. The word commission can be a pretty dirty word. Talk to me about that. Yes and no. I can't talk for everyone else. Obviously, I'm talking

specifically for Zella and how we work. We are very, very, very upfront on how we get paid and what we get paid. There is a document that you will receive that outlines exactly to the cent what we are receiving as an upfront commission based on this loan and also what the trail looks like going forward for as long as you hold that loan. Like I said, no one's working for free. This is how we get paid. It's not a new structure by any means. This has been going on for years and we're not hiding it. But it used to be a little bit dodgy, right? I feel like it used to be some banks would have better commissions than others yeah now they're across the board the same yeah I think it's an interesting concept because I get it like before I worked in this industry

before I had the financial literacy that I am privileged to have I was very much like ew like mortgage brokers work for commission and now I'm the broker with the business that works for commission and I mean I'm not brokering the loans you guys do the hard work and the hard yards I just sit in the background and wave and go, anything you need, sweetie, you're doing a great job. I think it used to be this dirty word, but now post the Royal Commission, everything has been smoothed across. We don't get the bonuses and the benefits. No, but you're right. 15 years ago, I've definitely seen it. Do you remember seeing 15 years ago in the industry, the conferences that people would go to? I remember brokers would go on conferences and as a financial advisor,

I was very privy to it. I remember one of them going on a helicopter to Macau to go to the casinos there and the bank was funding it. Yeah. Like, let's be really honest, it used to be cooked. That's illegal now. Like that can't happen anymore. And I feel like if you're talking to your mom or your dad and they had that historic experience and they're like, oh, that's exactly right. Don't talk to a broker. Oh, I know you've got this meeting with Jack. Like they're not going to put you in the best possible position. What do you even say to that? Well, I mean, for us, the way that we work we obviously outline to you you know we put together a product comparison we'll send it through you we'll put our recommendations in there but we outline it

for you so visually that you can see the benefits in each way there's no hiding behind the fact like we aren't going to place you with a lender that you know we think is paying more in commission if it's not going to benefit you and the reason that we can't do that is there is actually you know laws in place for best interest duties that we have to adhere to as to why we are placing you with that lender. And again, you will see that information as to what we've put in there and why. So there's no hiding or being sneaky anymore at that. But yeah, I definitely see from talking to your parents or many, many years ago, people used to place, I guess, you with maybe a not so favorable lender because they may have been getting paid more in commission, but that's

just not what's happening. It's not the reality anymore. And it just across the board doesn't happen. I don't know. I feel like I want to be pervy and give people some insight into our business because like we're really proud of it and the way that we work. But even the brokers that work for Zella, it doesn't matter if you're doing what $100,000 refinance or you're, you know, helping a first home buyer buy like a $950,000 property. You individually as a mortgage broker get paid the same, right? Correct. Yeah. So like it doesn't actually change it. And I think that that's a really important factor and why it sounds like a Zella like spokesperson area, but why our clients have a consistent experience.

Yes, such similar experiences regardless of your situation and where you're sitting, 100%. Because, like, sometimes you might go to another broker who maybe is an independent and that's fantastic and they'll have access to everything that we do. And they don't see the benefit. But they're like, oh, I can't be bothered working with that client because, you know, I've got this other client.

And they do have to do a cost-benefit analysis and make the right decision for their business and no shade, but that is not how I wanted to run the business. Yeah. Not to support us. Anyway, moving on, I feel like I've got questions about schemes and grants and they're different things, but like, how do you know the difference? And I mean, while in Australia we have access to these things, how do we familiarize ourselves with maybe what we might be able to

access and how that works? Like, where do we even begin? I mean, talking to a mortgage broker? Let's pretend I don't want to talk to you, Jacqueline. Let's pretend I want to do my Own your research. You can obviously jump on Google, you know, jump on the internet, start having a little research, seeing what you can find out. But, again, obviously, you know, you might not find ones that are 100% applicable to you and that's why we do say, you know, get in touch with a mortgage broker because we're going

to have a wide range, you know. There's different schemes that are available to you in each state. Yeah. So it's not just a blanket rule across Australia. There certainly are ones that, you know, our most common ones First Home Guarantee Scheme, First Home Owner's Grant and First Home Super Saver Scheme. They're probably the most common ones that we do see, but there is particular ones to each state. So knowing what's available to you, I guess, in your hometown and where you're purchasing.

Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like you can do that research yourself. And like, I like the idea that we empower people to do it on their own, but if you don't want to, we can do it for you. That's fine. But what's your favorite scheme? Like, do you have a favorite that you're like, oh, Yeah, what is it? I do. I feel like it's like everybody kind of has their own favourite and I want to know why. I do.

First-time guarantee scheme. I mean, it's just purely there, you know, for our first-time buyers to sort of give them a leg up. Like, obviously not everyone. What do we get from it? So if I've never heard about this scheme, what does it provide me with? I mean, there is no LMI charge.

So first-time guarantee scheme, no LMI. Sexy. Because LMI can be expensive. It's so expensive. I've honestly seen $50,000 before in LMI and people have paid it. And, I mean, no shame to pay it. It's going to get you into the house. You know, if that's what you've got to do, that's what you've got to do.

But if you can avoid paying $50,000 in LMI, why not? Yeah. So you need to have 5% deposit as a minimum. Obviously, you can have more. You know, if you've got 6%, 7%, 8%, obviously, perfect, we can put that down as well, but a bare minimum of 5%. But the one thing that I really love about this scheme is obviously the interest rates. Most lenders, if you took this exact scenario outside of this scheme and

place it with another lender that wasn't within the scheme, you're going to get charged LMI like we've spoken about, but you're going to get charged really, really hefty interest rates. Yeah. They're really high. And they have to hike them up because they're hedging their bets and their risk. And like it makes sense from a business perspective, but that ends up impacting you significantly financially. Definitely. So with the first time guarantee scheme, Most lenders, I'm not going to say all, most lenders will price your rates at 80% LVR. So loan to value ratio. And is that good? Is that bad? I mean, I know, but like, I feel like as a broker, you're like, yeah, 80% LVR, fantastic. What is that, Jacqueline? Well, it just means

80% LVR. So I'm talking, you know, the banks are looking at you as if you had a 20% deposit. So obviously- And that's a good thing, right? So you're saying that I can have a 5% deposit, but the bank is going to lend money to me as though I had a 20% deposit. That is very sexy. Yeah. We love to see that. I know. It's so good. So how do I access that if I wanted to? Do I just apply for it? Are there caps on who can have it? Like, is there a purchase price limit? Can I spend $6 million? Can I buy a whole apartment complex? Like I said, it's definitely not available to everyone. So you've got to fit within, I guess, the criteria. So you've got to be a permanent resident or an Australian citizen. There is property price caps in each state.

They actually set those property price caps based on the average purchase price in that state. So, if it's like Sydney, you actually have a little bit more leeway than you might in Tasmania. Yeah. And you do find that they do increase, I guess, over time. There's no guarantee that they will definitely increase every financial year, but going in line with the property prices, you should see them slowly increase as well. But there's property price thresholds in there. There's income thresholds. So, we're talking $125,000 for a single applicant. and $200,000 for a couple. Dual income. Yeah. And I feel like that's fair. Like at the end of the day, it's helping the people that are usually in a situation where pulling that deposit together

is far more of a stretch than if you had a joint income of more than 200 grand. I'm not saying that that makes it super easy. No. And I feel like we talk to clients all the time who are like, we own $205,000 and you're just like, oh, I wish you earned $6,000 less. How do we do that? But that's also where a broker can come in handy and we can talk to you about lowering your taxable income in that particular situation. And not advice, but you could potentially make a superannuation contribution so that then that becomes a lower taxable income situation for you. and I think these are things that you just don't know unless you know and you need to talk to the right people and be in the right situation and I think the biggest thing here that I want to get

across is that if getting into property is your dream just talk to a mortgage broker yeah and I mean the way that we work is that we do like an online kind of form we want to know as much about you before we pick up the phone to make sure that we're not wasting your time yeah and so you might fill in a form and be like, Hey V, I'm in, you know, personal debt of like $30,000 and I want to get out of it. And I want to buy property in this, that, the other, we will often reply and be like, okay, cool. So like, we don't even need to see you to give you some advice to put you in the best possible position. Here are the resources that you need and come back in six months and we can book that appointment because you're going to be in a far better position to be moved along

the process and get you going. And so, I don't know, I just get so excited about getting people into their first homes. Let's go to a really quick break. But if I were you, I would probably stick around because when we come back, we are going to be unpacking what banks really look at when they are assessing loans and how to make yourself a stronger candidate. And I'm going to be asking Jack for her top tip to save you literally thousands of dollars on your home loan. Guys, you're not going to want to miss this one. All right, my friends, we are back and I feel so privileged. I've got Jacqueline, who is one of the Zella Money brokers here in the studio with me. It took a little bit of convincing to be like, will you come on my show?

You've asked me a few times. I know. And I am so excited that you are finally here because do you know what all our clients say? They're like, oh, why hasn't Jack been on the show yet? She'd be great. I'm going to send this to everyone who's ever asked me just so you know. But I want to know, one of the other questions that we get apart from like, when should I see a broker is, Jack, what do banks actually look at? Like when they're assessing a home loan application and we're going through that process, I feel like it's kind of, one, it's the wild west, but then it also feels like a really big secret because, you know, you submit all your information and you kind of know, oh, they want to

look at my bank statements and then they want to look at my pay slips and then they want to know, you know, what my intentions are. And if I have any dependents and like, what does my boyfriend and do for work and like it can be really pervy but I want to know how do we know if we're ticking the right boxes or doing the wrong thing? I mean banks will look at obviously a range of things there's so much to take into account but it really is quite specific to your scenario what the bank's going to ask for someone that is a individual purchasing on their own going through like I said first home guarantee scheme is going to be completely different to someone who's as a couple, as a dependent, has a larger deposit. There's just different documents that's needed.

So whilst there is a lot that the bank can look at, they're not necessarily going to look at absolutely everything. And I mean that because someone that's going to go through the first home guarantee scheme, we need to show a minimum of 5%, which is classified as genuine savings. So the bank's going to need to see three months worth of statements on your savings account to show that that's sort of been sitting there and growing over time. But someone that's got a 20% deposit, just doing an 80% lend against that property, we're not necessarily needing to show any of that genuine savings. So that sort of document gets pushed aside. It's not something that we need to see. Obviously, we need to know what the funds are to complete and how you're

doing that, but the bank's not needing to be like with a fine tooth comb saying, how long has this been in your account for? Do we have 5%? Things like that. So it is very specific to your situation on what's needed. And that's so annoying. Like not for the individual, but just for the client experience, right? Because I might go, hey, my friend Alicia, she used Jacqueline as a broker and she got this loan with this criteria and this rate. I'm going to go see Jacqueline because that's what she got Alicia and I want that. Jack, give that to me. Yeah, I know. How do we deal with that? Because I feel like so many of us, like,

I want you to ask your friends and family for referrals like to me that is the best way to find someone legitimate yeah and find someone who's going to care about your situation someone that you're going to resonate with but that doesn't mean that the situation will be the same like even if it's your co-worker and you earn the same amount of money it comes back to people saying you know but my friends on this rate with the same bank why aren't I on that rate and it's heartbreaking as well because you're like babe if I could get you that right I promise you I would it doesn't change my outcome. I don't make less money or more money based on your rate. I actually would love to give you the lowest possible rate. Yeah. Like I said, there's so

many factors that will come into it. How much deposit you're putting down, what your loan to value ratio looks like, your employment types and, you know, credit scores is a big one too. Oh, credit scores are something that scare so many people in our community. How seriously are they taken when it comes to getting your first home? Yeah. Very. Yeah. Pretty seriously. Yeah. How do we get a good credit score? good conduct would be the number one. Any credit in your name as well as rental leases, that goes against your credit score as well. Whether you've had a phone in your name before, things like that gets taken into account. The credit scores side, it does have a huge impact. Obviously, again,

I feel like a broken record, but it comes down to- But you've never been on the podcast yet, so you can say that next episode. So it comes down to your scenario. I mean, if there's, you know, a valid reason as to why your score is so low and it's been rectified and we can show that, you know, that might be something that we can get across the line. But if you just come to us with, you know, a poor credit rating because your conduct's been really poor because you've just forgotten to make your repayments on your personal loan or whatever it looks like, just because you were lazy or forgetful for a multiple period of time. I'm talking like you've really sort of let that sit there.

Like you've defaulted and all of that jazz. Yeah, that's going to definitely hinder your credit score. And it's also going to hinder what options are available in terms of the lender options. And I think that something that you could do today as well as a listener or someone who's thinking about property, or you might not even be thinking about property, is investigate your own credit score. So if you don't know what that number is, you can for free request a credit score report at work. We use a company called Equifax. You can get them literally from so many different suppliers, but they will send you an email report of your

credit score after you've, you know, gone through a few hoops and proven your identity. And that can be a really powerful way of seeing like what that might look like before you talk to a broker and what that might look like in case there is some dodgy credit in your name that isn't yours. One of the best finance tips that I have for people who are like, oh yeah, but what else can I do? Like, you know, obviously pay down your debts, all of that other fun stuff, but like be aware of your credit score because heartbreakingly we have had people come to us, Jack, who you're like, yep, cool. Like you're brilliant. No worries. And then we look into their credit score and what do we find? Like we find an absolute mess and you go, oh, hey,

so we actually can't work on this loan at this point. Cause like you've got this personal loan Yeah. And they go, I don't have a personal loan. And then we're going down a whole scam and fraud situation. Yeah. I've actually had that before. Yeah. Someone's been scammed. It's ruined their credit rating. Like I said, that's why I'm saying it's specific if we can prove and there's. And we can actually help you in that situation. Like we actually, thankfully, have all the contacts to get that cleaned up. And like, if that is legitimately not your issue and not your thing, we can have it removed from your credit score. Fair for your hoops to jump through. But my friend, we have done it before. Jack, I feel like for a lot of our community, they just feel like

property is out of reach. Like it is still so far away. Like I feel like so many of us are, I don't know, close to 30, just over 30 and still thinking like, oh my God, I thought that I would have achieved this by now. Like we are living in a different time and the goalposts are so different to what they used to be. Can you talk to me about what we could do to put ourselves in a better position if we're like, we really want to buy property, but it just feels so far away or I just, I can't save or I can't, you know, seem to get ahead. Where are we going? What are we doing so that we can still create the life that we deserve? Yeah. I mean, get in touch with the broker, obviously, like I've said, once you start even thinking about that, whether that

is five, 10 years off, if that's what it feels like. There's obviously resources available online. You've got the national debt helpline that you can reach out to. I know one of, she's on the money's favorites. Honestly, the people there are so kind. And like, I always say this, but I'm always going to say this. When you call them, you're not like calling the CEO of a bank and being like, oh my God, I have no money. Like you're going to think I'm so silly. No, they're people just like you who actually have chosen to work at the National Debt Helpline because they are so empowered when they help people in situations like yours. I promise when you pick up that phone, the person who's going to answer it is going to be like, oh my gosh, Jack, I'm so

glad you called like you'll be shocked at how supported you feel yeah I think there's this massive misconception that they're gonna I don't know crucify you like yeah right and like they're not and like is a broker gonna judge you no like because we just want the best for you and we might give you some hard truths like we might have to sit you down and go hey if you don't change your spending habits this goal of yours isn't actually achievable yeah but like I think that that's the beauty of having a good relationship with a broker because we're going to give you the tough love, but it's because we want the best for you. Yeah. We'll obviously, like I said, hold your hand throughout that process. Like step by step, we can mark in our calendars to follow up in six

months time. Let's talk about it. Where are we at? Have we done a new budget? How much are we saving now? Are we on track? Things like that. Yeah. I love it. But let's move on to income and expenses. Jack, I want to know if a bank is looking at financial health, obviously they're having a look at your credit score. They're having a look at your income. What are the spending or saving habits that people could implement to make themselves look like really shiny to a bank? Because there's some information flying around. I saw a TikTok the other day. A girl was like, four months before I got a loan, I had no Uber Eats. I deleted the app off my phone and I did this and I did that. From a broker's perspective, what are your hot tips and tricks

to make yourself, let's pretend six months out from purchasing your first home, look, like a very respectable human being that they definitely want to lend hundreds of thousands of dollars to. Yeah, obviously, rainy and splurging, banks are going to have a look, you know, three months back into your statements. That's why I was starting six months. Yeah, I know. But they're only going to request that three months generally.

They will have a look at your sort of spending habits. But, I mean, the banks and lenders aren't these big, scary companies. Yes, they need to do their due diligence and look at- I'm still scared of them. No, you need to look at your spending habits and what that's being spent on. But everyone spends at Christmas. This is not a new thing. We all buy presents for friends and family.

So that's not abnormal. So you're saying that a bank is actually going to use their initiative and they're like, now? Look, I don't know. Yeah, some of them need a little bit more convincing. A little bit more fine tuning. Yeah. Yeah, that's okay.

But, I mean, it's common sense, isn't it? Yeah. And as a broker, you kind of know what those banks are. And to be honest, you probably would avoid it for that client. I mean, big one to avoid would be gambling. Oh, 100%. Everyone says, oh, no, no, no, no, I don't. But when you look in the bank statements, it's there a few times.

So that's just one thing I would be definitely cleaning up, you know, in the lead up to purchasing. And small amounts, big amounts, like obviously it's going to be a massive issue if you have a gambling addiction and we'll pop some information in the show notes to the gambler's helpline to make sure that if you are going through that, literally no judgment, call, get it sorted out so that you can live the life that you deserve. And get what you want to get. Exactly. But if sports bet comes up a few times, a bank's going, oh, you're a risky human being. What's that look like? Because, you know, the races come around, the tennis is happening. Like, I don't know, it's Australian culture to have a bit of a punch. So talk to me about what's

reasonable use versus not very good at all. Look, the reasonable is again, common sense. Yes. You know, cup day. Do people have a bet on cup day? Yes. It's very common. The main events, you know, you do see there and there's no sort of real red flags there. It's the ongoing monthly spending, the weekly habits, the pattern. When you see a pattern there, it's not just the odd one every three months, every six months. I wanted to bring that because I didn't want the community to be like, oh, like, are you saying I need to delete that? Because like my partner and I, we put 10 bucks either way on cup day. Like we're not saying that that's the bad thing, but when we request the three months of bank statements and it goes to the bank, like patterns are very

easily identifiable. They basically print it out and go through with a highlighter and highlight all the same things. And if there's just a lot of pink, that is a habit. That is something that is impacting your ability to pay back a mortgage. And they're going to take that into consideration and see you as a higher risk client and we just don't need that for you no lead up to purchasing your first property obviously we've spoken about spending habits but savings pattern as well you know showing that you can put some money aside and that you're making regular savings into your account sort of shows that you have the ability to make that mortgage repayment back even rental I was about to say, Jack, this has changed in the last few years.

Let's pretend I want to buy my first home and, you know, I live in a city. Like I'm living with my partner, so personally I'm only paying like $1,500 a month rent, but like I'd still $1,500 a month rent. My partner and I, we've done the maths. We reckon between us, three grand a month. We could probably afford a mortgage, but like it's all going on rent right now. Can we still get a mortgage? Yeah.

So are you saying that the bank might see that as savings? They do. Maybe that's what I was getting at. Yeah, they do. If you are currently renting, they look at that rental ledger as a savings pattern to show that you've got the ability to sort of make that mortgage repayment. You're already sort of doing it, you know, in some sense.

So, yeah, that definitely can be looked at as your sort of savings. And I love that and I think that not many people know that. Like if you don't know, you don't know because historically when you paid your rent, they also wanted to see you saving on top of that. But that was a different time. That was when people had so much more disposable income and should have been saving on top of that because you had that leeway. But now we're seeing people come through our business and people in our community, 50, 60% of their income is going

on rent. And I remember when I started this podcast, Jack, like back in like 2020, insane, so weird to talk about. We used to talk about that, you know, what's reasonable to spend on rent. And I remember I'd do the research and work it out. And this is like pre-COVID, right? So like 2020, 2019, let's call it 2018, early 2019, just pre-COVID, right? It was very normal for financial advisors and mortgage brokers to have the expectation that, oh, it's actually reasonable for you to be spending 30% of your income on rent. Any more than that's actually impacting your lifestyle. And so that advice is now completely outdated. But people still think that. People still think that. They still come to me and saying, but I've done the math and it's

more than 30% of my total income. And I'm like, that is outdated advice because it's a different market. It's a different situation. And I think it's good to bring that up. Are there other things that have changed in the industry since like 2018, 2019? Definitely. I don't know if you've seen interest rates, but it's. Yeah, but interest rates have changed. Like people's incomes have not increased. Everything has changed. Everything. You know, that's why you talk to a mortgage broker. Yeah. A hundred percent. All right. Jack, I feel like I have taken up heaps of your time and I really want to finish on a big one because I know that this is what everyone really wants to know, I suppose. Do you have an ultimate money saving tip? Like I know you're

financially savvy, so I've kind of set you up. Like you are really good with money, but I want like one piece of advice that could save potential buyers thousands on the life of their loan i guess no pressure i hope you've come prepared oh one tip i'm gonna have to probably give you a few okay all right you know what like less is more more is less whatever what's your first one i'm gonna have to say using offsets correctly yeah so offsets big one can save you thousands so offset we can do more episodes like diving into the different specifics of different types of loans and stuff. But Crash Course and Offset is a bank account that's attached to your mortgage that offsets the amount of interest that you have to pay every single month. And you're saying

that people don't use them correctly, like they set up their offset and then don't use them? Some banks have only got the ability to have one offset or some banks will have multiple. So, people might park the bulk of savings into their offset thinking that's great. but if you've got a large income you know and you're getting paid every month or every week it's calculated daily so it's in your best interest to sort of have you know your income going into an offset as well you know you might also have another account that's just got bills which in your mind has only got two thousand dollars sitting in there just for you know my bills that are going to come out but again calculated daily it's better off being in an offset sitting against

your mortgage so you're not paying any interest on that and is that something that every mortgage has and we just need to use them. That's something that you need to obviously let us know that you want or the bank that you're with that you would like to have an offset and see what the options are there, but not every bank will offer it now. Yeah. And I think that's important because some people go into a loan, like they might just go and sign up for that and go, oh, I'll just set an offset up later. Like it's just bank account, right? But it has to be specifically tied to the mortgage. It's a part of that mortgage product. Yeah. Needs to be linked to it. So is that something that you would bring up with a client? Are you going to be like, hey, so what we're

going to do? And are you talking cashflow post settlement of the property? Or are you just getting them into the property and being like, wham, bam, thank you, ma'am, catcher? What's the process? No, there's definitely things that will come into play, whether or not even an offset is worth it for you. You might be someone that's not going to have a large bulk of funds left over after settlement, after you move into the property, you might be worried about the interest rates increasing. So a variable rate might not even be best for you. You might be sort of leaning towards more of a fixed interest rate, knowing that you're going to be having the same set repayments each month that you can sort of tackle. Like a lot of clients are our first home buyers.

They don't know how much a water bill is, an electricity bill is. They don't know all the other costs that come involved. So having a set amount that they can picture in their mind and it's not going to change for a period of time can be quite comforting. Yeah. And I love that Because we then use the data from She's On The Money and the data that we get through all of our mortgage broking systems and software has to go, okay, in this location, your average water bill is going to look like this. Did you know that? And they go, oh my God, no, but that's so helpful. And I love giving the pervy little details that you get as a bonus, but you didn't even know you needed. Yeah. Other factors that people don't

take into account, I mean, I'm detouring, but you're talking like strata insurance, body corporate, that's on top of expense on top of your monthly repayment. That's not included it in your mortgage repayment. So, people get caught out. If that's another $500 a month, you've got to factor that into your spending on top of your monthly repayment. Yeah. And I feel like we get very excited about budget and cash flow in our office. And like, we love sitting down with clients being like, okay, got the mortgage there, but like, let's talk budget after you've settled, because we just want you to be in the best possible position. Because, and I think a lot of people don't realize this, like you use your mortgage broker to get

into your first home. Fantastic. But that relationship from my perspective is a lifelong long relationship. Like you're going to meet with Jack or you're going to meet with Charlotte or you're going to meet with one of our brokers or any broker really. And their role is to support you to get into that house, but they're going to, or they should be checking in on you every six months, checking your rates, making sure you're in the best possible position. Like if you have a major life change, you should be like, Oh, Hey Jack, I just wanted to check. Like I'm having a baby. Like this is my favorite thing. Like when clients get engaged or when clients, and I know you've had this as well you have this like whole meeting with a couple and you're like talking

about the financial life and like you know really basic really standard hang up no worries you're like putting your file notes together and you get a call on your mobile and you're like hey what's up Jordan and he goes I didn't tell you but I have this secret savings account for an engagement ring it's like so fun but like we get to go through that journey with clients and when your situation changes sometimes your mortgage does as well so I think fostering a relationship where your broker is on the front foot. And they're on your side. They're there to bat for you. And it's fun batting for you too. Like I'm not saying that we always want it to be tricky, but when it gets tricky, the whole office is behind you. I promise. Believe me. Believe me.

We are all like, hey, have you had this before? If not, what are we doing? How are we doing it? Oh, Alicia's done that before. No worries. Alicia, can you call your contact and see if your contact can do this for me? Like it becomes a game to get the best outcome for a client. Jack, I've adored this thank you so much for joining us today sharing your wisdom having a chat about mortgages we'll ask the community we'll be like do you want jack back what do we want to know like i do want to add one thing what is it going back to the hot money tip so okay sorry you've got more money tips you have to get this out nope i love this let's go what is it you have to have your mortgage rate frequently reviewed there's so many people out there that are just sitting on high interest

rates that haven't had it reviewed and they're just paying thousands of thousands of extra dollars that you just can't get back. How do we do that though? Like when you say frequently, was that even mean, Jack? After you settle, I would be sticking in your calendar to sort of follow up with the bank to see if we can bring that interest rate down for you. There's just so many clients, like I said, that come back that are sitting on a high interest rate. It sort of sits in the same category as having your home and contents reviewed or your private health reviewed. It's something that you don't do regularly enough to make sure that you're saving. Something that it's probably worth mentioning is that Zella actually has a dedicated team purely for pricing

reviews. So from the moment that you actually settle, we will diarise it for you. Yeah. You don't have to do that. But like, this is advice for people who aren't with Zella. Yeah. Like not all brokers do this. No. Because honestly, if they're an individual broker, it's crazy because people go, what type of broker do I want to see? And like, I'm so nasty with this. I love all brokers, I think that they do a great job, but I would never see a broker that works specifically for a bank. Because if you're seeing a broker that only works for the bank, that means that they are still a beautiful human being, but they only have access to that bank's products. They can't like, you know, get you a better rate with a different bank or a credit union or a different

lending option. They can't wiggle things in the same way as an independent broker. So we love an independent. But then most independent brokers don't have the resources behind them to do pricing reviews because they're always seeing brand new clients and building their book. And that's fantastic. So you might need to diarize it and call your broker and be like, hey, can you review my pricing? Or even just call your own bank and do it yourself. But we definitely have it. Which is, I don't know, big flex. Worth mentioning. Yeah. We have a whole pricing team, but that's because we're a bit of a bigger business. We still have a credit license, but we're not bank aligned. And I think that that's a really

important delineation between different brokers. And like, if you're weighing up what you want to do, maybe that's the type of thing you want, but you want to see someone in person in Queensland. Like, okay, well, you know, Zelle is not the one for you, but like, these are things that I would want you to look out for and be aware of because you are building that lifelong relationship and you are putting yourself in a position where, you know, a broker could help you create your wealth or it could just be a service that you have once off. And, like, I mean, I want to create wealth. I don't know about you, Jack.

Any other hot tips before I try and wrap you up? No. No, no, we're done. I love that. Jack, this has been amazing and I know that the community is going to want to get you back on the show at some point. So if you guys have questions or queries for Jack, shoot them through because I'm just going to collate them all

and put together new episodes and then be like, oh, I'm so sorry, Jack, you have to come on the show because, like, the people have asked what they've asked for. but with that said if you guys have found this episode helpful I would adore it if you shared it with your family and friends who are thinking about purchasing their first home or a home in general it could be honestly exactly what they need to feel more prepared and more confident in that journey and put themselves in the best possible position to make their property dreams a reality and guys do not forget to hit follow and subscribe so that you never miss an episode

It actually helps us grow our podcast so that we can keep bringing you the content that you know and love. My friends, until next time, keep dreaming big, taking small steps in the right direction and working towards smashing your money goals. My loves, see you on Friday. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives of Money

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