Self Employed Non Resident Home Loan mortgage finance page for Australian citizens living and working abroad overseas ( Australian Expatriates ) who are self employed running their own business abroad

'Australia's Experts in Temporary and Non-Resident Home Loans'

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Home Loans for Self Employed Australian Non Residents

Self employed temporary residents please click here

MAP is often contacted by self employed Australian citizens living and working overseas ('Australian Expats') who would like to buy property in Australia and arrange home loan / mortgage finance. Often they have already approached their own bank and perhaps one or two mortgage brokers and been told they do not qualify at all or will be restricted to 70% LVR.

This page is for those non resident self employed applicants (Australian citizens and their partners only) and is designed to provide some guidance as to why getting approved is difficult and what options are available to get your home loan approved.

If you are a self employed temporary resident of Australia please click here

If you are an Australian citizen living abroad working on a contract basis please click here

What is the issue?

Many lenders do not like self employed applicants at all. Simply, they prefer wage earners who get paid a fixed salary every week which gives the bank comfort that the applicants are going to be able to continue to make the repayments on the mortgage going forward.

Self employed applicants are considered more risky by the banks as they do not have this certainty of income. If you are self employed AND are also living in another country, this adds another layer of complexity and risk which results in most lenders refusing to assist self employed non resident applicants.

Can I get Approved as an Australian Non Resident?

YES! It is possible to get your home loan approved as a self employed Australian citizen working abroad. While most lenders will not assist, MAP has 2-3 lenders that will look at assisting self employed applicants overseas without any loading on the interest rate or higher fees.

The key to getting your home loan approved is simply going to the right lender with expat and self employed friendly policies.

How will my income be worked out?

The lenders will request a minimum 1-2 years personal and business (ie, company) tax returns and financials to confirm income. Generally they will also want to see 3-6 months of business and personal accounts and a letter from your accountant confirming the information contained in the financials and confirming no significant change for current financial year. The lenders will then convert this income to AUD and discount for currency fluctuations.

Self employed expats still have the same issues as self employed applicants in Australia when it comes to working out income for borrowing capacity. If you have many deductions which reduce your taxable income – whilst this is great for paying less tax, it is bad for getting a home loan. Non cash deductions like depreciation can not be added back when you are a non resident so borrowing capacity will be based solely on taxable income. Low taxable income = low borrowing capacity.

If however you are on a working on a contract basis, please see our page for Australian citizen contracting overseas home loan.

How much can I borrow?

Self employed non resident applicants can borrow up to 90% of the purchase price.

Why use MAP Mortgage Brokers

Lending policy for non residents varies widely with every bank having their own unique policy and requirements. This difference in lending criteria can result in one bank approving your home loan application whilst another would decline the application or require you to jump through hoops before deciding to approve.

For example, some lenders will decline an application from a self employed Australian non resident because;

1) They do not lend to non residents at all (very common),

2) The bank does not lend to self employed Australian citizens living abroad,

3) The lender requires 2 years financials and tax returns (when another lender would only require 1 years worth), or

4) The lender requires a 20-30% deposit (when another lender would only require a 10% deposit).

This is where MAP Mortgage Brokers can help. MAP knows the complex home loan lending policy for self employed Australian expats because we specialise in home loans for non residents.

Do not risk a decline (or another decline) on your credit file. We do not charge you for our services so give us a call or enquire online for a no obligation assessment.