Healthcare professionals including nurses, midwives now qualify for a lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) waiver policy. This allows them to fast track their journey into the homeowners’ market and save thousands in the process.
With the recent announcement, nurses, and midwives (who earn over $90,000 per annum) have now become eligible to buy a home with just a 10% deposit and avoid paying LMI with a Westpac home loan.
It is an extension of the bank’s existing low deposit, no LMI home loan policy. Allied health professionals who also meet this minimum income threshold include:
- Hospital-employed doctors
- Veterinary practitioners
- Occupational therapists
- General practitioners
- Speech pathologists
- Medical specialists
- Physiotherapists
- Radiographers
- Sonographers
- Chiropractors
- Optometrists
- Psychologists
- Audiologists
- Pharmacists
- Osteopaths
- Podiatrists
- Dentists
Is it worthwhile? You bet!
With around 450,000 midwives and registered nurses throughout Australia, a large portion of Australia’s overall population may be eligible for this policy. That’s certainly ideal for individuals wanting to enter the homeowner’s market.
What is an LMI waiver?
Essentially, LMI is an insurance policy that protects the bank against any loss they may incur if you are unable to repay your loan.
Whilst applying for your home loan, if you have less than a 20% deposit, you may be required to pay for LMI because the bank see you as a higher risk.
An LMI waiver can save you anywhere between $8,000 and $30,000 (roughly) in LMI, or shave years from your efforts to save the typical 20% deposit amount.
But, what about those who are not in the healthcare industry?
If you feel like you’re missing out, there are government schemes that allow single parents and eligible first-home buyers to borrow high loan-to-value ratios with no LMI. In other instances, a variety of lenders have similar ‘no LMI loans’ for lawyers and accountants.
The first home guarantee supports eligible first home buyers to purchase their first home with a small 5% deposit.
The family home guarantee helps eligible single parents buy a home with a deposit as low as 2%.
And the good news is there are other government incentives (such as stamp duty concessions) that may be combined with no LMI home guarantee schemes to stack up the savings (subject to eligibility).
Keen to know more?
If you’d like to find out more about a no LMI home loan, contact me today. We can discuss available LMI waiver options for you to reduce the financial sting out of buying a home, including navigating the different price caps and application criteria.
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