ANZ Home Loan Pre-Approval: How It Works and What to Check

ANZ calls it Approval in Principle. It gives you a lending amount to work with while you search, but it is not final approval for a particular home.

ANZ Buy Ready brings together tools and information to help you prepare to buy, including calculators, property reports and document checklists. Using those tools does not mean your loan has been pre-approved.

For pre-approval, you need to apply and meet ANZ’s requirements. ANZ then tells you how much it may lend and what still needs to be checked before you buy.

Our buying at auction guide has the wider checklist.

What you need depends on how you earn your income. Getting the paperwork together upfront can save you going back and forth with ANZ.

You can generally use either option, so you shouldn’t need both payslips and 3 months of salary credits. ANZ generally wants 3 months in your current permanent job. A recent move may still work if the gap between jobs was under 28 days, and probation does not automatically rule you out.

Our client returned to the same employer after travelling for 14 months. She had resigned before leaving, so ANZ treated the new role as a fresh start rather than continuous employment.

ANZ generally wants at least 18 months of ABN or ACN history. One recent year of lodged tax records may be enough when LMI does not apply. If income comes through a company, ANZ normally asks for the company tax return, profit and loss statement and balance sheet.

Our self-employed home loan guide explains why the same income can produce a different answer with another lender.

These are ANZ’s target times for reviewing a complete application from your broker. Allow extra time if ANZ needs more information before it can approve your loan.

The clock starts once ANZ has your application and all the documents it needs. Turnaround times can change, and a valuation or unusual property may take longer to check.

ANZ pre-approval generally lasts around 3 months if your circumstances stay the same. Check the expiry date and conditions in your approval letter.

Pre-approval is most useful when you expect to make an offer within the next 3 months. Apply once your income is stable, your deposit and buying costs are ready, and you have a realistic price range.

If you are more than 3 months away, expect to change jobs or still need to build your deposit, it may be too early. Applying too soon can mean repeating the process before you are ready to buy.

If you borrow more than 90% of ANZ's property value, ANZ generally wants at least 5% of the purchase price to come from your own money and normally asks for a 3-month savings history.

Gifts, grants, borrowed funds, gambling winnings, builder rebates and personal-loan redraw do not normally count as genuine savings. For some first-home buyers, 3 months of clearly identified rent paid on time can replace the 3-month holding period. It does not replace the cash you need.

See our genuine savings guide for the wider explanation.

Scheme loans are normally principal and interest with a maximum 30-year term. You cannot combine the Scheme with an ANZ family guarantee, and it does not cover a company or trust borrower, bridging loan, owner-builder or a mining-town property. Vacant land by itself does not qualify.

Compare the wider rules in our 5% Deposit Scheme guide.

ANZ currently advertises $3k for eligible first-home buyers with an eligible loan of at least $250k. It cannot be combined with a government guarantee or ANZ LMI waiver. The cashback comes after settlement, so it cannot fund your deposit or buying costs. Check the current ANZ offer and conditions before relying on it.

An eligible parent, step-parent, grandparent, sibling or child can use part of the equity in their property to support your purchase. You still need to show that you can afford the repayments.

Our guarantor home loan guide explains the risks, how to limit the guarantee and how it may be removed later.

Eligible doctors, dentists and registered specialists may qualify to borrow up to 95% of the property value without LMI when total debt stays below 6 times ANZ's accepted income. Selected allied-health, legal, accounting and finance professionals may qualify up to 90%.

The occupation list is narrower than many people expect. Nurses, midwives, pharmacists, psychologists, engineers and several other health roles are not automatically included. Compare the full list in our LMI waivers guide.

ANZ uses the compulsory repayment from the ATO calculator. It does not add an extra allowance to that repayment or include the HELP balance in its debt-to-income calculation. The repayment can still reduce how much you can borrow because it leaves less income for the home loan.

See how this compares in our guide to HELP debt and home loans.

ANZ can approve your finances and still reduce the loan or decline the property. Check the address, building and title before you make an unconditional offer.

ANZ can check the application again before final approval. Tell your broker before changing anything that affects your income, debts, deposit or property choice.

For the wider product, pricing and policy comparison, read our ANZ Home Loan Review.