Who this covers: wall and floor tilers, bricklayers, blocklayers and stonemasons on an ABN, and gangs working for volume builders.
What lenders do differently
The home loan: how the income is read
Two years of returns with add-backs; gang leaders paying labourers show wages as an expense. Work for one volume builder is accepted with the contract or a builder's letter.
Vehicles and trailers
Chattel mortgage over the ute and trailer; GST claimed; no deposit for an established ABN at many lenders.
Saws, mixers and scaffold
Equipment finance for larger items; small tools usually bought outright or on a business loan. Low-doc to about $150,000 per item.
Cash flow on builder work
Volume builders pay on claims and 30 to 45 day terms; invoice finance or an overdraft covers the gang's wages between claims.
Worth knowing before applying
A builder's insolvency shows as a bad debt in the return and is explained with a letter; a ute on the business stays off the home loan assessment; and lodged returns are the single biggest help.
The tools that fit
- Chattel mortgage calculator
- Income annualisation calculator
- Borrowing capacity calculator
- Working capital and overdraft calculator
- Equipment finance calculator
- What lenders ask for: checklists
Not sure whether the business needs an overdraft, or how big: the working capital calculator works it out from sales, payment terms and stock, with presets for a typical business like yours.
Policies on all of the above differ lender to lender and change without notice; the value of the conversation is knowing which lender's policy reads your payslip best on the day. Understanding how your income is read before you apply is what makes the application calm.