Build Your Home through an Owner Builder Mortgage

Building a home from scratch is no easy task!  There are so many items to think about, the design of the home, the materials to use, the suppliers to use, the permits to obtain and so on and so forth.  With all this in mind, the last thing you want to worry about is financing and paying for the construction of your home.

How to get approved for a mortgage

Applying for an owner builder mortgage is quite different to applying for a regular home loan. You will need to provide additional documents & meet additional lending policies which are stricter than normal.

Follow these simple tips to give yourself the best change of getting approved:

• Have a detailed cost assessment with a significant contingency.
• Check your figures, many lenders can’t increase the loan limit once construction has begun.
• Provide all of your documents in one go, this will allow the lender to give a quick answer.
• Apply with a bank that accepts owner builders, most do not accept owner builder applications.
• Seek the help of specialist mortgage brokers such as the Home Loan Experts for your owner builder mortgage.

A good mortgage broker can provide you with a variety of home loan products from fixed rate, variable rate and capped rate loans. Their expertise can be used to find the loan package that will suit your needs, leaving you to think less of your finances and more about building your home.

Do you have construction experience?

People who have worked as a tradesman or in the construction industry are considered to be a lower risk by the banks, and in some cases this means the banks can be more flexible when approving your owner builder finance.

In particular if you are a licensed builder and are building your own home, then this will be seen very favourably. It is still considered to be an owner builder loan, as the builder is not a completely separate entity to the land owner / borrower. Even if your construction business is run through a company, it will still be seen as a related entity and your application will be assessed using owner builder policy.

Learn more about building your own home

Do you know how the process of building your home will work? Take the time to learn how the process works, speak to people you know who have completed an owner builder project and read some of the publications available for owner builders. In particular we recommend the Owner Builder Guide which can guide your through the process, saving you a significant amount of time and money.

Apply for an owner builder mortgage

You can either call the Home Loan Experts on 1300 889 743 or enquire online and then one of their mortgage brokers will complete a full credit assessment on your project and let you know how you can qualify for a home loan.