If you are a temporary resident of Australia, it may be difficult for you to arrange a home loan. Most lenders are very conservative when it comes to temporary residents, and are concerned that granting a 30-year loan term to someone who is only approved to stay in Australia for a short time may not be a good idea.
However, there are some exceptions from some of the larger banks if the temporary resident / foreign national has a temporary spouse visa, such as a subclass 309 or 820, and buys the house as joint tenants with their Australian spouse (married or de facto ).
To get approved as a temporary resident buying with your Australian partner up to 90% (and possibly up to 95% LVR), you will need to demonstrate the following:
1) 5% Genuine Savings: 5% of the purchase price should be considered a genuine savings. Genuine savings are essentially funds saved, held in a bank account for 3 months, or stocks held for 3 months or more.
2) Clean credit history – no bankruptcies or credit defaults,
3) Good work history – generally looking for a minimum of 3 months at current job with a completed trial period (although there are some exceptions here),
4) Positive asset position: that is, your assets (not including retirement and home contents) should be more than your existing liabilities. That is, if you and 30k in cash, 20k of total car assets 50k. If you had 5k in credit cards and a 10k personal loan, then your assets exceed your liabilities. But if you had a 55k personal loan and only 50k in assets then you would have a negative asset position,
5) Sufficient income to comfortably pay repayments taking into account your liabilities and life commitments that will continue after settlement,
Temporary residents with spouse visas can obtain home loans of up to 95% LVR if they meet certain strict criteria, or 90% in most cases. The key to getting approved for a home loan as a temporary resident is applying for it at the right bank. To apply at the correct bank, you can contact MAP Mortgage Brokers, which is an Australia-based mortgage brokerage company that specializes in non-resident home loans, specifically, temporary resident home loans with spouse visas. Unlike other brokerages, MAP does not charge for its service.