Working with a mortgage broker assists lawyers and other legal professionals to access lawyer home loan packages tailored to meet the needs to legal professionals. These products include lower interest rates, flexible lending criteria, no LMI on loans up to 90% and increased borrowing capacity.
What are the benefits of a legal package home loan?
The benefit for you, is that you are able to access legal professional packages which include home loans with:
- No or a low deposit needed
- No lenders mortgage insurance
- Special low interest rates
Who is eligible for this professional home loan package:
- You’ll need an annual income of $120,000 (gross) or more (depending on what state you live in), or soon be earning at this level (you can use rental income or income from professional partner to meet this threshold);
- You’ll need to be an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident;
- You’ll need to provide current practicing certificate, which permits you to practice in your jurisdiction;
- Your property purchase must be either owner occupied or for investment purposes;
- The maximum loan amount is $2 million;
- If you’re a self-employed lawyer, then you’ll need to provide evidence that last year’s taxable income was $120,000 or more.
What legal professionals are eligible for a LMI waiver?
You should be currently working as a lawyer, solicitor, barrister or a partner. Minor variations to this list are acceptable as job titles do not always match the occupation. For example, an applicant with a job title ‘Associate’ or ‘Legal Counsel’ is usually accepted. Essentially, if you are working in a legal role required a Practising Certificate you may be able to access these products.
Under Judiciary Act 1903, Australian Government Solicitor employees and judges don’t require a Practising Certificate so you can still be considered for waived LMI without this certificate.
Are Judges and Magistrates eligible for waived LMI?
Judges and Magistrates are also eligible for the LMI waiver if you can provide evidence that one of the conditions of your employment is that you are prohibited to hold a Practicing Certificate. However, you must also meet the minimum income requirement outlined above.
Are government lawyers accepted?
Both state and federal government lawyers are eligible for the same discounts as lawyers that are privately employed or running their own business.
Examples of lawyers accessing a lawyer home loan
You could top up your existing home loan to 90% and pay no LMI. This would release surplus funds which you can then use to fund the 10% deposit plus costs on a new investment (or owner occupied) property. Providing the total transaction amount is below $2 million, you’ll have no LMI to pay. Not only that, we can source loan products specifically designed for lawyers. These include standard variable mortgages with package discounts, and fixed rate offers with features such as offset accounts and redraw.
Do I need to be a member of an industry association?
Some lenders will require you to be a member of:
- Law Council of Australia
- Law Society of NSW
- Law Society of South Australia
- Queensland Law Society
- The Australian Bar Association
- Law Institute of Victoria
- Australian Labour Law Association
- Australian Corporate Lawyers Association
- The Commercial Law Association of Australia
- Australian Insurance Law Association
Some other industry bodies are accepted on a case by case basis. Several of our lenders do not require evidence of your membership however they will require a copy of your degree or evidence that you are currently practising in order to get access to special discounts.
What’s an acceptable form of evidence of membership?
An acceptable form of evidence is either a:
- Receipt for payment of annual membership
- Current valid membership card
- Written confirmation from the listed association
- Practising Certificate
Why work with Entourage?
We employ specialists mortgage brokers who intimately understand home loans for lawyers and other legal professionals. Not only does it make the whole process easier for you, saving you time comparing products and rates, but we do this every day and have the process and connections to maximise our output and your result.
By comparing a range of different options for you, we are able to secure you the most competitive rates in the market, with fast turnaround times.