Can you get a home loan for this property?

A general pre-approval usually checks your income, debts and deposit. It may not assess the apartment, land or house you eventually choose.

Ask me to check the property before you make an unconditional offer, bid at auction or reach your finance deadline. I then answer 3 questions:

For an apartment, I check the internal area, bedroom layout, building size, lender exposure, permanent occupation and any management agreement, as well as the postcode.

A lender might accept a 36 sqm studio while another rejects it. A normal unit can also fail because the lender already has too many loans in the tower. A purpose-built student or serviced apartment may fit the size rule but still have use and resale restrictions.

Our apartment mortgage guide covers small units, studios and specialist-use apartments. If the concern is the building rather than the individual unit, read the guides on high-density apartments and lender exposure or apartment building defects.

Company title, stratum title, leasehold, several dwellings on one title and mixed residential and commercial use are not ordinary freehold or strata properties.

I start with the title search, registered plan, approved use and valuation wording. For company title, the company documents and occupancy rights matter. For leasehold, compare the years left on the lease with the proposed loan term. For mixed use, line up the title, zoning, approved use, actual use and the valuer's classification.

A low loan percentage does not automatically fix a title or use the lender will not accept.

The unusual property home loan guide explains how these title and use questions change the lender comparison.

The lender may look at location, land size, zoning, services, legal access, intended use and when construction will begin. A block held for later is a different request from land tied to a fixed-price building contract.

Use the vacant land home loan guide for the land decision. If a build is involved, the construction guide explains the loan and payment process.

The bank needs to decide whether this is an ordinary home on a larger block, or a property tied to farming, commercial improvements or specialist use.

I check the zoning, land size, legal access, mains or off-grid services, improvements, current use, income relied on and valuation.

A location can be close to Brisbane and still need a different check because access, services or the buyer pool are limited. Equally, acreage does not mean the bank should automatically demand a farm-sized deposit.

The rural property home loan guide goes through acreage, zoning, access and services in more detail.

Several lenders publish a 50m powerline rule, but they do not all measure or apply it in the same way. Some start from the property boundary, one current policy starts from the residential building and another excludes areas affected by high tension powerlines or a motorway without publishing any distance.

A title easement is a different question. Your solicitor needs to explain the legal effect. The lender and valuer then decide whether it affects how you can use the property, its value or how easy it may be to sell later.

The power lines and easements home loan guide explains the different distance rules, measurement points and title checks.

The lending options depend on the problem, whether it is cladding, structural work, water ingress, flood risk or a special levy.

I would ask what has been identified, who confirmed it, what it costs, how the work is funded, whether insurance is available and what the valuer says. For a strata property, recent minutes, engineering reports, remediation contracts and levy or strata-loan terms can matter more than a generic building label.

For strata problems, use the apartment building defects guide. For a Queensland property affected by flood mapping, the FloodWise property report guide explains where to start.

An early pre-approval can expire before settlement. The final valuation can also be lower than the contract price, especially if the market or comparable sales have changed before completion.

The off-the-plan home guide covers settlement timing, valuation and developer-risk questions.

A lender can accept a property but value it below the price, which increases the cash you need. Refusing the title, use, building or condition is a different decision.

If the property is acceptable but the value is low, use the bank valuation challenge guide. If a property rule is the blocker, look for a lender whose current policy fits the property. Another valuation will not necessarily fix a property rule, and it will not fix a loan your income cannot support.

If you are using a low-deposit scheme or family guarantee, tell us at the start. The property still needs to meet the selected lender's requirements. Send the documents you already have; we can identify the next check before you pay for more reports.