Twenty per cent is the ideal, not the requirement
You can buy with five per cent, and in several situations you can do it without paying mortgage insurance at all. Which route is cheapest depends on your profession, your family and where you are buying.
Four routes to buying with less
They are not interchangeable. Eligibility, cost and lender list differ for each.
Government guarantee schemes
The federal guarantee lets eligible buyers purchase with five per cent and no LMI, with the government covering the shortfall. Places are capped and reset quarterly, so timing the lodgement matters as much as qualifying.
Family guarantee
A parent offers equity in their property as additional security for a limited, defined amount. It removes LMI entirely and is released once your loan falls below 80% of value.
Professional LMI waivers
Medical, legal, accounting and several other professions can borrow to 90%, occasionally 95%, with no mortgage insurance at all. Purely a lender policy decision — no scheme, no waiting list.
Paying the LMI
Sometimes simply the right answer. If prices are rising faster than you can save, capitalising the premium and buying now can cost less than waiting two years.
What the deposit routes actually cost
A $700,000 purchase, comparing the four routes on upfront cash required and insurance payable.
Indicative only, as at March 2026. LMI premiums vary by insurer, lender, loan size and LVR, and are typically capitalised onto the loan. Scheme caps, price thresholds and eligibility change regularly and must be confirmed at the time of application.
Why low-deposit files get declined
The mortgage insurer is a second decision-maker with its own rules. A lender can approve a file the insurer then refuses.
Real lender comparison, in writing
Your file is run against the pricing and credit policy of every lender on our panel — not the three a bank branch can offer. You receive a written shortlist with the rate, the fees and the reason each lender made the list.
A lending strategy built around your position
Offset versus redraw, fixed versus variable, split structures, ownership through a trust — the structure is chosen for the next five years, not just the first repayment.
Guidance from people who read credit policy
Every broker here holds a Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management and has placed files with the lenders they recommend. We know which policies bend and which do not.
We stay on the file until it settles
Valuations, credit queries, conveyancer timelines and settlement bookings are ours to chase. You hear from us before you have to ask.
- —The mortgage insurer declines even where the lender is comfortable
- —Genuine savings rules not met because the deposit arrived as a recent gift
- —Postcode or property type restricted for high-LVR lending by the insurer
- —Guarantee scheme places exhausted for the quarter before lodgement
- —Files matched to lenders with in-house insurance authority, avoiding a second assessor
- —Gift and savings documentation prepared and evidenced before submission
- —Postcode and security type checked against insurer policy before you make an offer
- —Scheme allocations tracked weekly so we lodge while places remain
Understand → Compare → Apply → Settle
Understand your goals
Twenty minutes, no forms. What you are buying, what you earn, what you owe and what you have saved.
Credit impact — noneExplore your options
The file is built properly, then run against all forty lenders. You receive a written shortlist with rates and fees.
Credit impact — soft enquiry onlyApply
A pre-qualified application to a lender whose policy you already meet. We order the valuation and manage the assessment.
Credit impact — enquiry recordedSettle
Unconditional approval, loan documents, settlement booked with your conveyancer. The rate review is diarised.
Credit impact — account reportedSee exactly where your LVR lands
The LVR calculator shows the deposit needed to clear 80%, and borrowing power applies the same buffer a lender will.
It depends on price movement against your savings rate. If your target market is rising five per cent a year, another two years of saving costs more in purchase price than the premium would have. If prices are flat, waiting wins. We model both with real numbers rather than assuming.
Generally funds accumulated in your own account over at least three months. Rent paid on time can count with some lenders, and gifts can qualify if held long enough or supported by a statutory declaration. A handful of lenders have no genuine savings requirement at all, which occasionally decides the whole application.
Yes — that is precisely what a family guarantee does. They offer a limited amount of equity in their property as additional security without becoming an owner or a borrower, and the guarantee is released once your loan reaches 80% of value.
Typically medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants and some finance professionals, though the list differs by lender and is occasionally extended. Eligibility usually requires membership of a professional body and a minimum income. It is always worth asking.
No, and this is widely misunderstood. Lenders mortgage insurance protects the lender against loss on default. You pay the premium, the lender holds the benefit, and if the property sells for less than the debt the insurer can still pursue you for the shortfall.
Find the cheapest way into your deposit
Tell us your profession, your savings and where you are buying. We will tell you which of the four routes costs you least.