Podiatrist home loans: LMI waivers and deposit options

As a registered podiatrist, you may be able to buy with about a 10% deposit plus costs and have lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) waived. I'd start with your registration and where your income comes from. A salary from a clinic and earnings from your own practice can lead to different assessments.

Then we can work out the loan, repayments and cash you'll have left after buying. If you miss one lender's income requirement, it is worth checking the other routes before deciding you need to save a 20% deposit.

Our LMI waivers guide explains the wider options. Use the LMI calculator for a starting estimate and the deposit calculator to work through the cash you'll need.

For this illustration, you are buying a $900k home, the bank values it at $900k and you have $220k in savings. I've allowed $30k for buying costs in each option so you can see the cash left over. Your actual duty, legal costs and fees may be different.

The 90% loan leaves you with $90k more cash and $90k more debt. That cash difference is not the LMI saving: both options in the table avoid LMI. To measure the premium saved, we'd compare the waiver with a standard $810k loan on the same property and get the lender's LMI quote.

I'd check how much of the remaining cash you need for living costs and any planned clinic expenses before choosing the deposit. Borrowing more also raises repayments and total interest if the rate and loan term are the same. The $30k cost allowance is an assumption, not a duty estimate or a lender quote.

I'd start with your current practising registration on the Ahpra register. A podiatry assistant or student is a different category. If your registration is limited, conditional or non-practising, we need the lender to check the exact status before relying on a waiver.

Keep your registration details handy. The Podiatry Board registration guidance explains the professional categories; the lender separately decides whether your category fits its offer.

Westpac and St George require at least $90k a year from eligible professional work. Qualifying earnings from 2 eligible applicants can be combined. Your partner's unrelated salary may help cover repayments, but it does not fill a shortfall in that profession test.

CBA has no fixed minimum professional income for eligible podiatrists. Its $100k professional-income floor applies to pharmacists, not podiatrists. You still need enough accepted income to cover the loan and other commitments. CBA excludes unemployed applicants, including students and retirees, so I'd check your employment position if you're between roles.

If you split your week between an employed role and your own clinic, I'd separate your salary from the practice income. The money patients pay the clinic still has to cover its expenses. We need to work out what is available to you after those commitments.

Westpac Group can assess eligible self-employed podiatrists using 1 year of tax returns once they've been self-employed for at least 1 financial year. You do not automatically need 2 years of returns. The package also extends the tax-return acceptance cutoff to 31 May each year, rather than the standard 15 May.

Those concessions can help a clinic owner with a shorter trading history, but the bank still needs to accept the income and supporting records. The Group B 90% waiver cannot use Fast Track, and CBA's offers exclude Low Doc lending. I'd check the evidence before you set a purchase budget.

I'd check how much of your overtime, allowances, commission and extra sessions each lender will count. Podiatrists appear on Westpac and St George's waiver lists, but not on their separate published lists for 100% overtime and allowances. Don't assume the waiver gives you that income treatment too.

Bank policy confirmed as at 11 September 2026. I'd first rule out lenders whose profession waivers do not cover podiatry, then compare the deposit, repayment and property conditions of the options that remain.

The eligibility table below is about the professional LMI waiver. A lender that does not offer podiatrists that concession may still consider a standard home loan. ubank is included separately because its no-LMI product does not depend on your profession.

Don't assume every allied-health profession gets the same offer. ANZ's medico waiver includes eligible physiotherapists at up to 90% LVR, but explicitly excludes podiatrists with no exceptions. If you're comparing with our physiotherapist home-loan guide, use the rules for your own registered profession.

These are security-value bands, not promises of the loan amount. The $7.5m aggregate waiver limit, debt-to-income limit of 6 and other offer conditions still apply, so the available loan can be less than the percentage shown. All tiers are for eligible investment purchases with principal and interest repayments and the required package.

Westpac Group allows lending to the eligible professional's spouse, or to a company or trust where the professional is an owner or director, provided the professional is involved in the transaction at least as a guarantor. You do not necessarily have to be the sole borrower. The professional-income test and the assessment of everyone's repayments still apply.

CBA's offer requires borrowing in your own names or through a qualifying trust where the applicant is a director or trustee. I'd check the proposed ownership and borrowing structure before you sign a contract.

I'd compare the rate, repayments and fees for the actual product you qualify for. That includes any application, valuation, settlement, account, offset or package fee. For a refinance, add the existing lender's discharge costs and any fixed-rate break cost.

A waiver can save you money upfront, but a higher rate or recurring fee can reduce that benefit over time. We can compare the costs over the period you expect to keep the loan.

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme may suit you if you're buying your first home or haven't owned property or land in Australia for 10 years. You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident aged at least 18, meet the local property price cap and live in the home. A participating lender must approve the principal and interest loan. Buying costs are extra.

For the same $900k home, a minimum 5% deposit is $45k and the loan is $855k. That uses $45k less towards the price than a 90% loan and adds $45k to the debt. Eligibility and the lender's deposit requirements still apply; I wouldn't assume the minimum deposit is available to someone with the $220k savings used in the earlier illustration.

A general 90% loan without LMI may fit if your income supports the repayments but the profession waiver doesn't. Check the purchase and refinance limits separately.

A family guarantee may also reduce or avoid LMI. It puts your guarantor's property at risk, so we'd work through the amount and the plan for releasing the guarantee. Saving more or paying LMI on another suitable loan can also be worth comparing.

A gifted deposit can still need evidence showing where the money came from and whether it must be repaid. Westpac Group's waiver of the 5% genuine-savings verification requirement does not remove the deposit, buying costs or other application checks.

Tell us about upcoming leave, a change in hours, a new clinic or a planned business purchase. The loan should reflect the earnings and commitments you expect to have, not just the last payslip.

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.