Firstmac Home Loan Review 2026

Firstmac is not a household name, but it is a long-running Australian non-bank lender based in Brisbane. It can be a useful option when a mainstream bank does not use enough of your regular variable income, or when you need a specialist product that fits Firstmac's rules.

We’ll compare how much Firstmac could lend, the cash you need and the full cost against your other options.

Firstmac does not take customer deposits or run a branch network. It funds home loans through wholesale markets, including residential mortgage-backed securities, and services the loans itself.

For you, the day-to-day loan still looks familiar. You make repayments, use the available online services and contact Firstmac or your broker when you need help. The practical difference is that there is no everyday banking relationship or local branch attached to the loan.

Firstmac and loans.com.au are related, but they are not the same application channel. Firstmac's broker products, policy and pricing can differ from the direct loans.com.au range. We compare the actual loan available to you, not the group name.

Firstmac can lend above 80% of a property's value, but the route matters. It may charge its own Lender Risk Fee on an eligible loan, or use an external mortgage insurer. The fee protects the lender, not you, and it can usually be added to the loan within the permitted limit.

The 1a and 1b labels are Firstmac location categories. They are not a simple city-versus-country rule, so we check the actual postcode before quoting a deposit or fee.

Firstmac does not offer professional LMI waivers for doctors, lawyers, accountants or other selected professions. If your work may qualify you for a waiver elsewhere, compare our LMI waivers guide before paying a risk fee.

Read our Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme guide if that is how you plan to buy.

Firstmac can produce a very different answer from a bank because it does not treat every type of income the same way. Your payslips and income history help us check how much Firstmac will count.

The standard maximum home-loan amount is $2m. Firstmac may consider up to $3m when the loan is no more than 80% of the property value and all security is in a Category 1a postcode.

This is important for investors. Firstmac changed how it treats a property loss when working out borrowing capacity, effective 18 June 2026. The date you acquired the investment property now matters.

Firstmac generally wants at least 2 years of ABN and GST registration where GST registration is required. Its income formula uses the lower of 100% of the most recent year's taxable income or 120% of the previous year's taxable income.

It does not simply add back company net profit. That can make Firstmac a poor fit when the business is profitable but the personal taxable income or permitted add-backs do not show the full picture. Our self-employed home-loan guide explains why another lender may reach a different number.

One of our clients already owned two investment properties and wanted to buy a third. His income was steady, but the way other lenders treated his existing loans and income left him well short of the amount he needed.

The estimates we received elsewhere ranged from about $430k to $500k. Under Firstmac's policy at the time, the position was closer to $900k. That allowed him to use equity from his existing property for the purchase instead of contributing more cash upfront.

In this case, Firstmac’s income and debt assessment gave our client more borrowing room. We still compared the property, repayments, fees and loan structure before proceeding.

Firstmac's current broker range is easier to understand if you start with the purpose of the loan rather than old product names or a headline rate.

We’ll compare a current Firstmac broker quote with other suitable loans, including the rate, upfront and ongoing fees, offset and repayments.

If your loan uses Firstmac’s Lender Risk Fee, include that fee in the comparison. It is a cost, even though it replaces external LMI on an eligible loan. If the fee is added to your loan, check the resulting loan balance and repayments as well as the cash you need at settlement.

Firstmac can fund a licensed builder through progressive payments as work is completed. Owner-builders are not accepted, and Firstmac can require a valuation at each stage. Lending may reach 90% with external LMI, but construction is excluded from Firstmac's own lender-risk-fee option.

Our construction finance guide explains progress payments and the cash buffer to allow for.

Firstmac's current product page lists residential SMSF lending as refinance only. It may consider a dollar-for-dollar refinance of an existing complying residential SMSF loan, including eligible refinance costs, where the original property remains in place. It is not a way to borrow for a new residential purchase.

This follows the broader change from 10 August 2026. New limited recourse borrowing arrangements generally cannot be used to acquire residential real estate. Existing borrowing and qualifying refinancing remain possible, and a transitional exception may apply to a binding acquisition arrangement entered into before that date. Your SMSF adviser and solicitor should confirm whether an arrangement qualifies.

Firstmac continues to list commercial SMSF lending. A corporate trustee is required, and the maximum is generally 70% to 80% of the property value depending on the security category.

Firstmac may lend to Australian or New Zealand citizens who live and work overseas, using 90% of accepted foreign employment income. It does not accept a non-resident self-employed applicant, non-resident guarantor or cash-out request. FIRB approval may also be needed depending on the applicants and purchase.

See our Australian expat home-loan guide for the wider checks.

You can also compare our ANZ Home Loan Review and Westpac Home Loan Review for mainstream-bank alternatives.

Our Brisbane mortgage brokers can compare Firstmac with other lenders based on your income, deposit and plans.