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Australian Mortgage Broking

Getting approved
is easy. Getting
it right is different. Finance structured
around your
actual situation. The right loan
starts with
understanding yours.

Value Lending works with borrowers to structure financing appropriate to their situation — not just approvable, but right for what comes next. We apply financial thinking to real scenarios and help clients understand what is actually influencing their outcome.

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What We Do

Applied thinking,
not templated advice.

Most borrowers encounter the lending process at the point of application. By then, many of the factors that influence the outcome are already set.

We work earlier in the process — helping clients understand what assessors actually examine, and structuring their position accordingly. What typically matters is not just the loan product, but the combination of income structure, existing commitments, deposit composition, and how the application is presented.

What we don't do
Push specific lenders regardless of fit
Submit speculative applications to test appetite
Prioritise getting a loan approved over getting it right
Present a picture of a borrower's position that isn't accurate

If you're unsure how this applies to your situation, the clearest starting point is a short conversation.

01
Situation Assessment

We review your current financial position before anything is submitted — identifying what influences serviceability and what lenders will focus on in your specific case.

02
Lender Matching

Different lenders treat income, liabilities, and security differently under assessment. We match your structure to the lender whose criteria suit your situation.

03
Application Structuring

How an application is presented materially affects how it is assessed. We structure submissions to reflect your position accurately and completely.

04
Ongoing Review

Lending situations change. Rates move, portfolios grow, income structures shift. We remain involved past settlement to ensure the structure continues to work.

Josh Stewart — Principal Broker, Value Lending

Who You'll Speak With

Josh Stewart
Principal Broker — Value Lending

Value Lending is led by a broker whose work focuses on how applications are assessed — not just whether they are submitted. The work is applied, not advisory: reviewing income structures, existing commitments, and deposit composition before anything reaches a lender.

In situations like self-employment, portfolio lending, or unusual income structures, the assessment environment is more nuanced than most borrowers expect. The work here is understanding that environment clearly, then structuring accordingly.

Credit Rep 501927 FBAA Member Connective ACL 389328 [email protected]

How We Work

From first
conversation
to settlement.

Understanding how a situation is assessed before you reach the application stage changes what is possible at every step that follows.

Most people find a single conversation clarifies more than they expected.

Initial Conversation

We discuss your situation, your goals, and the decision you are working toward. No forms, no obligations — a clear-eyed review of where you stand and what the realistic options are.

Assessment Review

We examine how your income, liabilities, and assets will be treated under assessment — including any factors that may affect borrowing capacity or lender appetite before anything is submitted.

Structured Submission

We identify the right lender for your situation and submit an application that presents your position accurately and completely.

Settlement and Beyond

We remain available after settlement. As your situation changes — income, property portfolio, rate environment — we review whether the existing structure continues to serve you.

Lending Areas

Who we work with.

We work with home buyers, investors, refinancers, business owners, and clients with SMSF structures — primarily those who want advice, clarity, and a loan that's structured correctly from the start. For borrowers with more complex income or ownership structures, the same approach applies.

01
Home Buyers
Whether you're purchasing your first home or your next one, we structure the application around your full financial position — ensuring the loan works now and doesn't limit what's possible later.
Owner-Occupied
02
Refinancers
Refinancing well is about more than the rate. We review how a new structure sits alongside your existing commitments, offset arrangements, and longer-term plans before recommending a direction.
Existing Borrowers
03
Property Investors
Portfolio growth is a function of how existing debt is structured as much as the properties acquired. We work with investors to ensure each lending decision supports what comes next, not just the current purchase.
Investment
04
Self-Employed Borrowers
Income verification for self-employed applicants is assessed differently across lenders. The way income is documented — not just its amount — frequently determines the outcome. We work through this before submission.
Alt-Doc Available
05
SMSF Lending
Self-managed super fund lending requires a clear understanding of the compliance framework and lender appetite. We work with clients and their advisers to structure SMSF borrowing arrangements that are appropriately set up from the outset.
SMSF
06
Commercial Lending
Business property, development finance, and asset-backed lending sit outside the standard residential assessment framework. We work with commercial clients on the structuring decisions that influence lender appetite from the outset.
Commercial

If you're not sure which of these describes your situation, that's a reasonable starting point for a conversation.

A Recent Situation

What the decision
actually came down to.

This is an anonymised account of a situation we worked through recently. The names and specifics have been changed. The decision logic is accurate.

The Situation

A self-employed business owner with two years of strong trading history, looking to add an investment property alongside an existing owner-occupied mortgage. Their preferred bank assessed the income differently than expected.

What the borrower's bank had already decided

The borrower had been declined by their existing lender. The bank applied a conservative add-back policy to the business income, reducing the assessed figure to a point below their serviceability threshold. The income was real and consistent — the issue was that the documentation structure didn't align with that lender's assessment policy.

What we identified before submitting elsewhere

A different lender treated the same income more favourably under their standard self-employed assessment policy. No alt-doc product was required. The income figure didn't change — the way it was packaged and presented did, along with the lender selected to assess it.

Outcome

The application was approved at the second lender. The structure of the existing owner-occupied loan was also reviewed as part of the process — a small change there improved the serviceability position for the investment loan in a way that hadn't been considered before submission.

Identifying details have been changed. This represents the nature of the situation, not a specific client's file.

In Situations Like These

What typically
matters under assessment.

These are the kinds of situations we see regularly. In each case, the outcome came down to something specific — and understanding that factor earlier in the process is what changed the result.

Self-Employed — Income Assessment
Strong income, clean financials — but the documentation structure didn't match the lender's policy.

We often see self-employed borrowers with solid, consistent earnings find that their preferred lender assesses their income differently than expected. The issue is rarely the level of income — different lenders treat business income, distributions, and add-backs differently under their assessment policies. Matching the income structure to the right lender before submitting is what produces the right outcome.

Investment — Portfolio Serviceability
A planned third purchase required understanding how the first two were assessed.

Investors planning their next purchase often find that existing debt is assessed at floor rates — not at the actual repayment. The borrowing capacity available for a new purchase is a function of how all existing commitments are being treated across lenders. Understanding this before committing to a purchase price is what keeps the plan on track.

Refinancing — Structure Review
The rate looked better. The full picture of what the refinance changed was worth examining first.

Refinancing is often driven by rate. What's worth reviewing beforehand is how the new structure interacts with existing commitments, offset arrangements, and plans for future borrowing. In most refinancing situations, the structural outcome has more long-term impact than the rate difference. Getting that right from the start is the point.

First Home Buyer — Deposit Composition
The deposit amount was right. Understanding how it was held made the process straightforward.

Lenders assess not only the size of a deposit but how it was accumulated. Genuine savings requirements, gift letter policies, and first home buyer grant timing each interact differently depending on the lender. Knowing this before selecting a lender — rather than after — is what makes the process run smoothly.

Client Reviews

What clients say
about the process.

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Services We Provide

Our scope of
credit assistance.

We provide credit assistance across residential, investment, and commercial lending. Our role is not limited to loan selection — it includes assessment analysis, structuring, submission, and post-settlement review.

Owner-occupied home loans — purchase and refinance
First home buyer lending, including grants and deposit considerations
Investment property lending — single and multi-property portfolios
Portfolio structuring — reviewing how existing debt is held across a portfolio
Pre-purchase assessment — understanding your position before a contract is signed
Refinancing and debt restructuring, including consolidation
Self-employed and complex income lending
Commercial and business lending
Asset-backed lending
Ongoing lending reviews as income, portfolios, or rate environments change

From the Blog

Applied thinking,
in writing.

All articles
Self-Employed April 2026
Why self-employed income is assessed differently — and what that means before you apply

The issue is rarely the level of income. It is that different lenders treat business income, distributions, and add-backs differently under their assessment policies.

Read article
Property Investors March 2026
How existing debt affects your next investment — what floor rates actually do to borrowing capacity

What most borrowers don't realise until they're in the process is that existing debt is assessed at floor rates, not at the actual repayment. The gap can be significant.

Read article
First Home Buyers March 2026
Deposit size isn't the only thing lenders look at — the source of your deposit matters too

Genuine savings requirements, gift letter policies, and first home buyer grant timing each interact differently depending on the lender. Understanding this before you apply changes the outcome.

Read article

For Those Who Want More Depth

Long-form discussions
on how lending
is assessed.

We publish extended discussions explaining how lending decisions are made in practice — covering self-employed income, portfolio serviceability, structuring trade-offs, and what assessors actually focus on. These are not promotional videos. They are detailed walkthroughs of the assessment process for borrowers who want to understand it before they act.

Watch on YouTube
Topics covered
Why strong income still gets declined
How serviceability is calculated and what floor rates, HEM, and existing commitments actually do to your capacity.
Self-employed income under assessment
Why documentation structure — not just income level — determines most outcomes for self-employed applicants.
How portfolio lending works in practice
What happens to borrowing capacity when you already hold debt — and how lender selection affects what comes next.

Get in Touch

Start with
a conversation.

Most people come to us with a situation in mind, not a fully formed plan. That is the right place to start. We can review where you stand, what the realistic options are, and what is worth understanding before you act.

Phone
1300 708 800
Mobile
0420 708 800
Hours
Mon – Fri, 9am – 5:30pm AEST
Regulatory & Credentials
Corporate Credit Representative — Value Lending Pty Ltd (515167) of Connective Credit Services Pty Ltd (ACL 389328)
Credit Representative — Joshua Stewart (501927) of Connective Credit Services Pty Ltd (ACL 389328)
FBAA Member — Finance Brokers Association of Australia
Follow & Review
Send an Enquiry

Tell us a little about your situation and we'll be in touch within one business day.

Preferred way to hear back
No obligation. No credit checks. No impact on your credit file.
An initial enquiry is simply a conversation.

Your information is held in confidence and used only to respond to your enquiry. Value Lending Pty Ltd is a Corporate Credit Representative (515167) of Connective Credit Services Pty Ltd (ACL 389328).

or
Book a time directly
What happens next
1. We review your situation and any notes you've shared.
2. We respond within one business day to confirm receipt and propose a time to talk.
3. We outline the realistic options based on your actual position — not a templated quote.