Self-Employed & Low Doc Home Loans
Andy made it straightforward and simple and represented us in a way that put our best foot forward.
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For the entire process Andy was a wealth of knowledge and provided excellent support, guidance and timely information.
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Top bloke, great service and locked in a great deal for us. Walked us through each step and had everything finalised really quickly.
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Andy made our refinancing and purchase of a new home seamless and within our guidlines.
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Low-Doc vs Full-Doc: Which Loan Structure Suits Your Business?
A full-doc loan uses your lodged tax returns (typically two years) and your accountant’s financials — it’s what the majors prefer when your declared profit is strong and consistent, and it can go down to 5% deposit with LMI. A low-doc loan (sometimes called alt-doc) lets lenders assess income using BAS statements, accountant’s letters, or bank statements showing cash flow. It’s designed for borrowers whose tax position doesn’t reflect take-home reality. Low-doc usually needs a 20% deposit (sometimes 15% with LMI) and sits 0.3–0.8% higher in rate because the lender is working with less ATO-verified data.
Andy walks through your business structure — sole trader, partnership, company, trust — and matches it to lender policy. A carpenter trading as a sole trader for three years suits a different lender than a two-person IT consultancy running through a company structure for 18 months. The assessment method changes; the principle stays the same: prove you can service the loan from real income. See your full range of options on the home loans hub.
We query over 30 lenders to find an outcome that’s right for you
What Lenders Actually Assess When You're Self-Employed
When you’re on a salary, the lender multiplies your base pay by a serviceability factor and that’s your borrowing capacity. When you’re self-employed, the lender builds your assessable income from the ground up, and every lender does it slightly differently.
Full-doc lenders start with your taxable income, then add back deductions that aren’t actual cash expenses — depreciation, one-off losses, some motor vehicle costs. They average the last two years (sometimes weighting the most recent year), subtract drawings already taken, and calculate serviceability from what’s left. Company directors get assessed on salary plus dividends plus retained profit; sole traders on net profit after add-backs.
Low-doc lenders use your bank statements and BAS to estimate cash flow. They total your quarterly BAS declarations, apply a standard expense ratio (often 60–80% by industry), and assess on the remainder. Others accept an accountant’s letter declaring your income at face value if you’re putting down 20%+.
The difference in borrowing capacity between these two methods can be $80,000–$150,000 for the same borrower. Andy walks you through which method gives you the higher number before you pick the lender — because once you lodge, you’re locked into that policy’s assessment method for that application.
Most Borrowers Think They Need Two Years of Tax Returns — That's Only Half the Story
Most self-employed borrowers assume they need two full years of tax returns showing stable profit, and a lot of accountants will tell you the same thing. That’s not wrong for a big-four bank, but it’s incomplete advice when you’re working with a broker who knows which lenders accept 12 months of lodged returns, which will assess BAS statements for cash flow, and which have policies for ABN holders trading under 12 months if you’ve got a strong deposit and clean credit.
A plumber trading 18 months as a sole trader, taking home $95,000 after tax-minimised expenses, with a 20% deposit and no missed payments, gets approved under a low-doc policy that looks at his bank statements and BAS — not the return that shows $42,000 declared profit. Andy’s job is knowing which lender’s policy matches your specific setup. That’s pattern recognition from 24 years of lodging self-employed applications and watching which ones sail through.
Moved from a payslip to an ABN or day rate while working FIFO? See our FIFO home loans page for how that change is assessed.
Why Self-Employed Borrowers Work With Andy
Online calculators assume PAYG salary. Andy runs your real income through each lender's self-employed policy and tells you the borrowing range before you start house-hunting.
Lender Policy Knowledge You Can't Google
Some lenders accept 12 months of tax returns at 20% deposit; others assess two quarters of BAS for a newer ABN. Andy knows which policy fits your structure because he’s placed hundreds of self-employed loans since 2000.
Income Structuring Before You Lodge
If you’re planning to buy in the next 12 months, Andy walks through your structure before lodgement so your accountant knows what lenders will assess — and you’re not stuck waiting another year on a low profit number.
Real Scenarios, Not Online Calculators
Drawings, dividends, retained profit, add-backs — Andy runs your actual income through each lender’s self-employed assessment policy so there are no surprises at pre-approval.
He Picks Up the Phone for Clarifications
Credit assessors query accountant’s letters and BAS figures. Andy answers those same day* — you’re not waiting three business days for a generic email.
How a Self-Employed Home Loan Application Works
- Income structure call. Andy asks about your ABN age, business structure, how you're paid, and what your last two returns show.
- Document checklist. Full-doc: two years returns, notices of assessment, profit-and-loss, business statements. Low-doc: 12 months BAS, accountant's letter, bank statements.
- Lender shortlist and serviceability. Andy runs your income through 3–5 lenders' self-employed policies and shows you the borrowing capacity and rate trade-off at each.
- Pre-approval lodgement. Conditional approval typically takes 3–7 business days full-doc, 5–10 days low-doc. Andy answers assessor queries same-day*.
- Contract and formal approval. You sign subject to finance, Andy lodges the valuation, and formal approval adds another 5–10 business days.
Self-Employed Home Loan Questions Perth Borrowers Ask
Most full-doc lenders want two years lodged, but several accept 12 months if you’ve got 20% deposit, strong cash flow, and an ABN active 18+ months. Low-doc lenders often work with 12 months of BAS or even two quarters. If your ABN is under 12 months, a smaller pool of non-bank specialists will consider 6–9 months trading with a 25–30% deposit. Andy lodges these regularly across Mandurah, Baldivis, and Perth’s southern corridor.
That’s the exact scenario low-doc loans are designed for. Lenders assess your BAS income, bank statement deposits, or accountant’s declared figure rather than taxable profit. You’ll need 20% deposit (sometimes 15% with higher LMI) and a rate 0.3–0.8% above standard, but you’re not locked out because your deductions are aggressive. If you haven’t lodged this year’s return yet, talk to Andy first.
Yes — lenders assess PAYG income at 100% and add your self-employed income via tax returns or BAS. The combined serviceability often pushes your capacity higher than either stream alone. The catch: if your ABN income is under 50% of total income and you’ve only traded 6–12 months, some lenders won’t add it. Andy tells you which lenders count both from day one.
If you’re a contractor paid under your ABN from a single employer, some lenders treat that like salary and assess it on payslips and contract term. If you invoice multiple clients, they assess via tax returns or BAS. Andy works with contractors around Rockingham and Baldivis — labourers, sparkies, concreters on long-term site contracts — and knows which lenders handle contract income as salary-equivalent.
If your ABN income is in the same industry as your previous employment, several lenders accept 12–18 months trading because they view it as a continuation of proven skill. A project manager who went from a PAYG construction role to their own consultancy is stronger to a lender than someone who switched industries. Andy highlights your total industry experience alongside your ABN period.
On a full-doc application, yes — as low as 5% deposit with LMI if your returns show strong, consistent profit. On a low-doc application, the minimum is usually 15–20%. If you’re an existing homeowner, you can use equity as your deposit via refinance. Andy explains your low-deposit home loan options based on your actual documentation.
If you were approved as a PAYG borrower and you’ve been self-employed under 12 months, most lenders won’t refinance you yet. Once you hit 12+ months with one lodged return or 12 months BAS, you can refinance using the same full-doc or low-doc pathways — with the benefit that you’re already servicing your loan, which is evidence of capacity. See Refinancing for Self-Employed Borrowers.
The interest rate is the main difference — low-doc sits 0.3–0.8% above full-doc. Ongoing fees (annual package or monthly account-keeping) are typically the same as the lender’s standard products, usually $0–$395 a year. Some non-bank low-doc lenders charge slightly higher upfront fees, but there’s no ongoing penalty once you’ve settled.
Reviewed by
Credit Representative & Mortgage Broker
The information on this page has been reviewed for accuracy by Andy Iriks, a Credit Representative & Mortgage Broker at Wanna Finance. It is general information only.
