How much can you actually borrow?

Simple question. The honest answer: it depends, mostly on your income, your existing debts, your living expenses, and crucially, which lender you ask. The same couple can be offered wildly different amounts by two different banks on the same day.

Here's the 30-second version, then the full weekend read below.

Why does every lender give a different number?

Because they're all playing by their own rules. Every bank and lender has its own calculator, its own income policy, its own view on your living expenses, and its own appetite for risk. Feed identical numbers into two lenders and you can get two very different answers.

It also matters whether you're self-employed or an employee. Lenders assess those incomes differently, sometimes dramatically so.

This is where a broker earns their keep. A bank can only offer you its own shelf of products, which means one borrowing capacity. A broker compares across many lenders, so you see the range, not just a single lender's opinion of you.

Can a broker really find you more?

Sometimes, yes. We've had plenty of cases where looking a bit deeper, often at a non-bank lender a customer had never heard of, surfaced extra borrowing capacity that made their offer competitive. That difference can be the third bedroom, or the second bathroom.

We're not promising a specific figure. Nobody honestly can, and your situation drives the result. But last financial year alone we used 25 to 30 different lenders, precisely because each one has different objectives and requirements. The right fit for you might not be the household name.

How can I improve my borrowing capacity?

There's no magic formula. But there are levers you can actually pull, and these are the big three.

1. Go easy on credit cards. Even if you clear the balance every single month, the limit still counts against you. Lenders assess the whole limit as if it's maxed out, so a card with a $15k limit can quietly trim tens of thousands off what you can borrow. That's a chunk of house for a rewards program you might barely use.

2. Avoid personal loans where you can. Pay for things from savings if that's an option. Even a modest repayment of a few hundred dollars a month can reduce your borrowing capacity by a surprising amount, because lenders subtract that commitment before they get to your home loan.

3. Make a budget, and actually stick to it. Contrary to popular belief, banks don't sit there trawling through your coffee habit line by line. So the budget isn't really for them, it's for you. We all work too hard for our money to have no idea where it goes.

(A small clarification, because we can't help ourselves: the exact dollar impact of any card or loan varies by lender and by your circumstances. The figures above are illustrations of how the maths tends to move, not a quote. We know. We couldn't leave it un-caveated. It's a condition.)

So what's my next move?

Choosing where to get your home loan is one of the bigger financial calls you'll make, and comparison is the whole game. That's the bit we genuinely enjoy. It's an afternoon well spent for us, and a chore taken off your plate.

If you'd like to know your actual range across a spread of lenders, we'll do the comparing and give you a recommendation on who fits you best. No pressure, no jargon, just your numbers, sorted.

Know the numbers, or find someone who does.

This is general information only and doesn't take your personal circumstances into account. Borrowing capacity, lender policies and interest rates change, and your own situation will determine the outcome, so let's have a proper chat about yours.

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