Weekly Kath's Credit Crunch 3rd February 2025 🌟

CBA

Overtime expansion for doctors.

From Thursday 6 February 2025, we will be expanding the use of our 100% overtime income policy for servicing to include doctors working in an eligible medical profession. Eligible doctors are outlined in the Professionals Offer list.   For more information, please speak to your Relationship Manager directly or refer to CommBroker from Thursday 6 February. 

On Friday 31 January 2025, we will digitise our rate lock consent process. This will allow eligible customers to provide their rate lock consent digitally during the application process.  

How to request a digital rate lock: 

• You will need to add the rate lock loan feature in ApplyOnline. Upon submission of the application, all customers will receive a push notification in the CommBank app if they are registered for NetBank. If the customer is not registered for NetBank, an email will be sent to you advising so and you will need to ask the customer to sign and return a rate lock form.
• Customer accepts the consent via the CommBank app.
• Once all customers have provided their consent, the rate lock request will be processed.
• If the customers are unable to complete the consent digitally, or prefer to provide consent via paper, please follow the current process of completing the rate lock form and sending the form in your submission.

REMINDER -Nurses LMI/LDP Offer.

In December last year we rolled out the limited time offer to support eligible nurses, where CommBank will waive the LMI/LDP premium cost for eligible nursing professionals. Please note: 

• The LVR including LMI/LDP (Total LVR) must not exceed 95% for purchases and 90% for externally refinanced loans.
• If the LMI or LDP premium cost is waived by CommBank, it's cost must still be included in the LVR calculations to ensure the application falls within general lending guidelines (i.e. 95% LVR for purchases and 90% LVR for externally refinanced loans).
• These LVR limits may differ from existing professional LMI waiver offers.

Bankwest

UPDATE IN FULL INCOME VERIFICATION:

Effective Friday 31 January 2025, applications containing Sole Trader, Partnership, Trust and Company income being assessed on the full verification method (i.e. using financial statements) will require a minimum servicing surplus of $2,400 per year. The Serviceability Calculator will be updated to reflect this change and will display a “Pass” or “Fail” outcome to indicate whether servicing is acceptable. We advise you complete the manual servicing calculator prior to submission to ensure servicing requirements are met.

Go Edge – Advantedge

Reminder of  the new policy released last month: One-year tax return , accompanied by confirmation that it’s been lodged to the ATO, to verify self-employed income for GoEdge applications with an LVR 80% or under.
For home lending applications with an LVR 80% or under:

• You can submit a one-year tax return, accompanied by confirmation that it’s been lodged to the ATO, to verify self-employed income for home lending applications with an LVR 80% or under.
• Over the coming months, we’ll update our credit policy and systems to reflect the change in policy.
• From March, tax returns will be the only document we accept to verify self-employed income for these applications.
• Until then, you can continue to provide two years of financial statements (profit & loss) to verify self-employed income for applications with an LVR 80% or under until further notice.

For home lending applications with LVR over 80%:

• There will be no change to the requirement to provide two years of financial information to verify self-employed income for home lending applications with an LVR over 80%.
• However, you’ll now be able to provide either two years’ tax returns or two years’ financial statements (profit & loss).

For home lending where financial statements are used to verify income:

• If you provide two years’ financial statements and want these to be assessed based on the most recent year, this option is still available when you provide commentary outlining why recent performance is a more appropriate indicator of future performance – as you do today.  

ING

New ING Green Upgrade Loan and the Home Energy Helper platform are now available to your Queensland customers. The Green Upgrade Loan provides eligible existing ING Home Loan customers with a competitive top-up loan option for funding energy efficient upgrades.

• 3.74% p.a. 5-year fixed rate. Comparison rate 5.16% p.a. for owner-occupiers or 5.24% p.a. for investors.^
• Principal and interest repayments. So your clients can pay down their loan faster than interest only.
• No upfront fees. That way more money stays in your clients’ pockets.
• Flexible loan amount. Applicants can borrow between $5,000 and $50,000.

Who's eligible?
Our Green Upgrade Loan is available to existing Orange Advantage, Mortgage Simplifier or Fixed Rate Loan customers only.
Your customers may be eligible to apply to increase their existing ING Home Loan (Mortgage Simplifier, Orange Advantage or Fixed Rate Loan) with a Green Upgrade Loan provided:

• Their existing ING Home Loan:

- has a total balance of $150,000 or more at the time of application

- the total loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of the existing ING Home Loan and the new Green Upgrade Loan is 80% or less once the Green Upgrade Loan is settled.

• It is for the purpose of funding the purchase and installation of one or more home energy upgrades on the security property for the existing ING Home Loan. Home energy upgrades are those arranged through the Home Energy Helper platform.
• The security property of the customer's existing ING Home Loan is in NSW, VIC, QLD or the ACT and does not exceed $2,500,000 in value at the time of application.
• Your customer holds an active Orange Everyday account in the same names as their ING Home Loan at the start of the Green Upgrade Loan application.

🥁Brand New Subscription Launching this Month!!

🌍 Connect, Engage & Grow – Speak Your Customers’ Language!

At The Brokers’ Bible, we believe that real connections start with understanding and embracing culture. 💬💙

Your clients come from diverse backgrounds, and now your social media content can too! Our brand-new multi-lingual social media subscription makes it easier than ever to engage with your customers in their language, building trust and stronger relationships.

Why This Matters?

✅ Speak to your clients in the language they’re most comfortable with – Build deeper connections & trust
✅ Showcase cultural inclusivity in your brand – Celebrate diversity & strengthen your community
✅ Expand your reach & grow your business – More engagement = more opportunities!

What’s Included Every Month? 🎯

🌏 Over 200 Social Media Tiles Each Month – Speak your audience’s language
🗣 20+ Instagram Tiles – Designed for mortgage brokers to educate & engage (in each language)
📲 20+ Instagram Story Tiles – Stay visible in your clients’ daily scroll (in each language)
✍ Curated Captions in 5 Languages – English, Simplified Chinese, Hindi, Sinhala & Nepali

🎨 Fully Customizable in Canva – Add your branding & make it your own!

Launching this month. Stay tuned!!

Free Education This Month:

NAB

30-minute webinar hosted by NAB BDM’s, chat through our highly anticipated enhancements to the Self-Employed Policy and introduce the formal launch of Multiple Offsets.

There are 2 options for dates, there is no need to attend both sessions.

Events in this message

NAB Self Employed Policy Changes / Offset Product Update (Thursday)	Thu 6 Feb 2025 10am – 10:30am (AEDT)
NAB Self Employed Policy Changes / Offset Product Update (Tuesday)	Tue 4 Feb 2025 10am – 10:30am (AEDT)

** Agenda:  
- Overview of the enhanced Self-Employed Policy.  
- Key benefits and eligibility criteria.  
- Introduction to Multiple Offsets and how it works.  
- Q&A session.  
** Why Attend?  
- Stay ahead with the latest product updates.  
- Gain insights to better serve your clients.  
- Be among the first to leverage these new features.  

Westpac Self Employed

Self-Employed Masterclass webinar series covering:

Self Employed Income Verification Policy & How to input SE income in the Westpac Serviceability Calculator

LAST CHANCE FOR BDM'S TO REGISTER! BDM Besties Brunch (Victoria): February 26th. A gorgeous brunch with a small group of BDMs for learning, networking, and a little fun. ONLY 3 SPOTS LEFT, so get in quick  here! 

Webinars Are Back: Starting February 18th. Join via THIS LINK

Industry Happenings: MFAA and FBAA events, PD days, and training sessions are all firing up in February as well as incredible  IWD Events. There’s something for everyone! 

BROKER TEMPLATES

Introducing the Lunch and Learn Downloadable Pack with you. What started as a simple template pack turned into something much bigger—over 100 templates/ designs for you to choose  from, ready to rebrand your own.  This template pack focuses on helping your clients invest in property and  includes  a number of  LMI waiver programs, to deliver into the workplace and educate your target market.  

The best part? It’s super affordable at just $97 + GST. You can download it instantly, rebrand it, and start using it straight away. Everything is done for you!

Running events like this was something I did when I was broking with Property Before Prada. It helped me:

• Build real connections with other businesses.
• Be seen as the expert mortgage broker in my community.
• Meet potential clients by speaking to groups instead of one-on-one.

Focusing on a specific niche or industry made a huge difference for me, and I’ve built that same strategy into this pack. It’s a great way to grow your reputation and generate leads, and it’s something you can easily add to your plan for 2025.

I know this works and I know this will help elevate your 2025 business year and help you achieve your goals!

Download HERE

As always, Members, I’m here to help you. If you’re stuck on a scenario or need a sanity check, drop me an email anytime (exclusively for members only).

Have an amazing week ahead!

Kath👋