Weekly Kath's Credit Crunch 26th May and it's a doozy!!

👩‍🏫 Teachers Mutual Bank

✅ Applicants employed in education and essential services:
No minimum time in employment required for Full Time or Permanent/Regular Part Time roles.
Great news for teachers and essential workers!

🏢 Advantedge

📅 Effective Friday 23 May:
Owner Occupied Body Corporate / Strata fees will now be included within the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) as a basic expense, instead of being treated separately.
This means a more streamlined approach to expenses.

🏦 Commonwealth Bank (CBA)

📅 Effective Friday 30 May 2025:

🔹 LVR Increase for Specified Temporary Australian Residents:
✅ Now up to 80% (previously 70%)

🔹 Construction Loans – New LVR Tiers:
• 95% for securities up to and including $3M
• 80% for securities valued between $3M–$6M

🔹 New LVR Segments for easier readability:
• ≤ $3 million
• > $3M to ≤ $6M
• > $6M to ≤ $12M
• > $12M to ≤ $24M
• > $24M
Easier to assess, clearer to explain to clients ✅

🧓 Macquarie Bank

📈 Exit Strategy Minimum Age Increase
The minimum age for requiring an exit strategy has been increased from 50 to 55.
Better alignment with modern retirement planning 🧠

💜 Beyond Bank

💰 Negative Gearing
✅ Now officially acceptable!

🏘️ Investment Loans
• Rental income used for servicing increased from 80% to 90% for Category 1 & 2 properties, and Category 4 in metro areas.
• All other categories remain unchanged.

📊 Investment Expenses
• Minimum monthly investment property expense has increased from $230 to $500 (per property).
• The higher of declared or $500 will be used in servicing.

🧮 Adjusted HEM Calculation
HEM is now considering the net benefit of negative gearing.
📌 Example:
If a client earns $100K PAYG + $50K rent – $25K deductible expenses, the HEM band will be based on $125K.
💻 This is now automated in Apply Online + servicing calc.

🎓 Let’s Get Educated – Coming Up This Month!

We’ve got a cracker of a session lined up for brokers wanting to boost their knowledge in commercial lending. Don’t miss this opportunity to sharpen your skills and learn directly from the experts.

☕️ Coffee & Credit is Back – Let’s Talk Dual Occ!

🗓️ Starting June 10th, your favourite bite-sized education session returns — and this time, we’re diving deep into Dual Occupancy Construction!

🏗️ What We’re Covering:

Not just lender policy (although yes, we’ll cover that too!) — I’ll be sharing real-life experience from the trenches.
I’ve worked on so many knockdown rebuilds, dual occs, and multi-dwelling projects — and let me tell you, there are things you need to know upfront before submitting a deal.

This session is all about helping you:
✅ Avoid the common pitfalls
✅ Understand lender quirks
✅ Get those one-touch approvals

💡 Why You Shouldn’t Miss It:

• Learn how to structure these deals right the first time
• Understand where most brokers go wrong
• Get the tools to guide your clients with confidence
• Ask questions in real-time

📌 These sessions are designed to make your life easier.
Know your client. Know your lender. Know your hurdles — before they become problems.

👉 Click here to register – and get your coffee ready, we’re going in strong!

🏢 Brighten Commercial Webinar

With Ben Mckell – Head of Commercial Lending at Brighten
🗓️ Date: Coming soon
🕒 Duration: 30 mins
📍 Location: Online

Join Ben for an exclusive session where he’ll unpack Brighten’s Commercial Lending Suite – a streamlined, flexible range of options to suit almost any business client. Whether you’re writing your first commercial deal or your 50th, there’s something in this session for everyone 💼

💡 What we’ll cover:

• Commercial Full Doc – For property purchases/refis with full income docs
• Commercial Alt Doc – Great for self-employed clients who don’t have traditional docs
• Commercial Lease Doc – Based solely on lease income – simple and effective
• Brighten Lift® – Short-term, asset-based lending with no income docs required 🚀

Select a time that works for you:

27 May 2025, Tuesday - 10:30am - 11:00am (AEST)

27 May 2025, Tuesday 14:30pm - 15:00pm (AEST)

🌾 NAB Commercial Broker Webinar – Regional & Agri Focus

As regional and agribusiness markets continue to evolve, brokers are perfectly placed to guide clients through emerging opportunities. Join NAB’s top specialists for an insightful session packed with actionable strategies and local market intelligence.

🧠 What to Expect

Hosted by Chris Thomas – Executive, Commercial Broker and Equipment Finance – this session dives into:
✔️ Latest regional insights
✔️ Smart year-end strategies for Regional & Agri (R&A) clients
✔️ How NAB’s local expertise can help brokers deliver better outcomes

🎙️ Hear from NAB's Experts:

• Khan Horne – Executive, Business Regional and Agribusiness
• John Shillington – Head of Commercial Broker Equipment Finance VIC/TAS
• Lisa Fletcher – Regional & Agri Senior Business Banking Manager
• Adam Hall – Senior Specialised Banking Manager, Trade & Working Capital

📅 Event Details

🗓️ Date: Wednesday 11 June 2025
🕝 Time: 2:30 – 3:30pm (AEST)
🔗 REGISTER HERE

🧮 Westpac Weekly Webinars – Policy & Calculator Deep Dive

Want to stay sharp on policy updates and get the most out of Westpac’s servicing calculator?
🧠 Join the Westpac Broker team (Vic/Tas) each week for a live webinar refresh!

💼 What’s in it for you?

Each week, Westpac will present two hot topics covering:
✔️ Policy refreshes to keep you up to date
✔️ Live calculator demonstrations to sharpen your scenario skills

📆 Multiple dates available!
Westpac is offering these sessions on different days to suit your schedule – so you can pick a time that works for you below:

💬 Whether you're a new broker or a seasoned pro, these sessions are a great way to stay current and confident when working with Westpac deals.

💚 UBank Deep Dive – Lending, Loanapp & Live Q&A!

Got questions about UBank? Want to get across their latest updates without digging through a pile of emails? Join us for a hands-on webinar where we’ll unpack everything you need to know.

🧠 What’s on the Agenda:

✔️ Latest lending policy updates
✔️ How to navigate the servicing calculator
✔️ Tips for using Loanapp efficiently
✔️ Pricing insights to help you sharpen your deals
✔️ Live Q&A session – bring your scenarios!

📅 Sessions running this week
🕓 Choose a time that suits you – multiple slots available!
🔗 Register in advance to secure your spot

• Tues, May 27, 12:30 PM
• Tues, May 27, 03:00 PM
• Wed, May 28, 12:00 PM
• Thurs, May 29, 12:00 PM
• Thurs, May 29, 01:30 PM
• Thurs, May 29, 03:00 PM

 🔍 Member Scenario Highlights – What a Week!

It’s been a massive week for our members at The Brokers' Bible 💥 We’ve seen brokers diving into the policy library AND tapping into our exclusive scenario support to crack some seriously tricky deals. Here’s a sneak peek at just some of the scenarios we helped out with last week:

🚀 Real Broker Wins:

1️⃣ Family Guarantee + Granny Flat Construction 🏡
2️⃣ Portable Home Construction – thinking outside the (tiny) box!
3️⃣ Low Doc Purchase of a Regional Pub 🍻
4️⃣ Self-Employed Director using ATO Income Statements Only 🧾
5️⃣ Reverse Mortgage for asset-rich retirees 🕰️
6️⃣ A 56-year-old NDIS contractor (with tax debt!) securing their OO home 💪
7️⃣ LMI Waiver for an IT Professional 💻
8️⃣ Land Subdivision + Multi-Dwelling Construction – complex, but we got it sorted 🏗️
9️⃣ Private Loan Refinance 🔁
🔟 Banking Staff LMI Waiver + refinance combo win 💼

🧠 How Did They Do It?

✔️ They searched the policy library to get instant guidance
✔️ They reached out for scenario support when things got curly (using our exclusive email address)
✔️ And they got answers quickly, from experts who speak broker

👊 Need help like this?  - Join The Brokers Bible for just $37 + GST/month.

📚 Access the full policy library + expert scenario support.⏱️ What’s your time worth?