Home loans for midwives: LMI waivers and deposit options

A midwife LMI waiver may let you buy with about a 10% deposit plus costs, instead of waiting until you've saved 20%. I'd start by checking your registration and how your pay is made up. Your base salary, extra shifts and private-practice earnings can be treated differently.

Then we can compare the repayments and how much cash you'll have left after buying. If you're changing jobs or planning parental leave, tell us early so we can work with the income you'll actually have.

Our LMI waivers guide explains the wider options, and the LMI calculator can help estimate the premium you might avoid. If you also hold nursing registration, our home loans for nurses guide covers those options separately.

Start with the deposit, then add stamp duty, transfer and mortgage registration, conveyancing, inspections and any lender fees. Your state, property and first-home concessions change the total.

For this illustration, say you have $200k saved and are buying a $900k home. The bank values it at the same amount. Both options below avoid LMI; the difference is how much of your savings goes into the purchase.

Buying costs still come out of the savings left in the last column. With the waiver, you keep $90k more in cash but borrow $90k more. That means higher repayments and interest if the rate and term are the same.

If you're comparing the waiver with another 90% loan that charges LMI, use our LMI calculator for an estimate and confirm a lender quote. The table above shows the deposit and debt difference, rather than assuming an LMI premium.

You need current midwifery registration and work that matches the lender's eligible category. A maternity-support role or a midwifery course doesn't, by itself, qualify you for a registered-midwife waiver.

Nursing and midwifery are separate registrations. If you hold both, give us both details so we can check the options available to you. We'll also look at any conditions or endorsements shown on your registration.

Westpac and St George publish a $90k annual minimum for their midwife waiver. I'd check the income the lender accepts for that test before treating your household salary as the qualifying figure.

Extra shifts may help if the lender accepts that pay. Your partner's income can help cover repayments, but the waiver minimum needs income from eligible professional work. How much you can borrow is a separate calculation that includes expenses, debts and dependants.

Two midwives can earn the same amount over a year and receive different borrowing estimates. One may have a fixed salary; the other may rely on extra shifts, a second employer or private practice. I'd want to understand what is likely to continue.

Your recent payslips, year-to-date earnings and employment history give us more to work with than an annual salary figure alone.

Westpac may count 100% of eligible overtime and allowances; it calculates casual income over 52 weeks. St George's separate treatment of 100% of overtime and allowances is for eligible employees, not private-practice income. It generally needs 6 months with the same employer; a shorter history may need referral.

If you run a private practice, I'd check the income assessment before relying on a 10% deposit. Westpac's 90% professional waiver cannot be combined with its Fast Track assessment. St George includes eligible self-employed midwives, but still needs to assess the business income.

Meeting the waiver minimum doesn't tell you how large a loan you can afford. Salary packaging, HELP debt, other repayments and living costs still need to be included. Send us the full breakdown and we'll compare how lenders assess your income before you apply.

Westpac and St George both name midwives in their public waiver criteria. I've included ubank's general no-LMI option too, so you can compare a loan that doesn't depend on your profession.

Not necessarily. An annual package fee or a higher rate can reduce the benefit of avoiding LMI. I'd compare the repayments and the features you'll use over the time you expect to keep the loan.

Include application, valuation, settlement, ongoing account and package fees. If you're refinancing, add discharge costs and any fixed-rate break cost on your current loan.

Being eligible as a midwife is only part of the decision. Check these points before choosing a bank or offering on a property.

If the midwife waiver doesn't fit, a general 90% loan without LMI may still work. It needs to suit your income, property and repayment plans, as the ubank example above shows.

A family guarantee may also reduce or avoid LMI. It puts your guarantor's property at risk, so we'd work through the amount guaranteed and a plan for releasing it. We can also compare saving more or paying LMI on another suitable loan.

On the same $900k purchase price, a 5% contribution is $45k and a 10% contribution is $90k. That means an $855k loan at 5%, compared with $810k at 10%, before costs. A smaller deposit means $45k more debt in this comparison.

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme is for eligible buyers who will live in the home. You must contribute as much of your savings as the participating lender requires. If you have a 20% deposit left after buying costs, you aren't eligible. I'd check that before treating 5% as a way to keep more cash aside.

The scheme currently has no income cap. Check the official eligibility rules and the property-price cap for your area. Check grants and stamp-duty concessions separately, because each has its own eligibility rules.

You do not need to organise an application for every bank. Start with the documents below so we can work out which options are worth pursuing.

If you are on leave or about to change jobs, include those details early. We can then check the income position before you spend time on a lender that will not fit.

A home-loan pre-approval can help set a buying budget. The property and its valuation still need to be accepted, and approval conditions should be checked before you commit.

The lender pays us commission, which we disclose before you proceed. We compare the waiver with other suitable loans so you can weigh up the repayments, features and total cost.