Check your home-loan documents before next week

Meeting a mortgage broker or lender next week? A useful document pack should clearly show who you are, where your income comes from, what you owe and how your household spends.

The goal is not to upload as many files as possible. It is to make the information easy to verify and discuss.

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  BV Finance graphic encouraging home-loan applicants to organise identity, income, debt and transaction files before meeting a broker or lender

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  Australian home-loan applicant organising original PDF files by identity, income, liabilities and household spending

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  BV Finance guide to supporting documents, proof of income, liabilities and transaction history for a home-loan application

Sort documents into four groups

• Identity and address — current acceptable identification and address evidence.

• Income — recent payslips, or relevant tax and financial records if self-employed.

• Assets and liabilities — savings, deposit source, existing loans and credit-card limits.

• Household spending — transaction history, recurring bills and ongoing commitments.

Use original PDFs and clear file names

Download original PDFs from the bank, employer or issuing organisation. Name each file with the date, applicant and document type. For a joint application, keep each applicant’s documents separate. Avoid relying only on cropped screenshots.

Confirm the required period first

Requirements vary between lenders, income types and applications. Before the appointment, confirm how many months of records are required and whether each document is still current.

Key terms

Supporting documents — formal records used to support the information in an application.

Proof of income — documents showing the source and amount of earnings.

Liabilities — existing loans, credit-card limits and other debt commitments.

Transaction history — a record of income, spending and transfers in an account.

Bottom line

Turn the files into clear answers, and next week’s home-loan discussion will be more useful.

General information only. This is not financial advice. Loan options and eligibility depend on your personal income, liabilities, assets and lender assessment criteria.