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Frequently asked questions

What is borrowing power?

Your borrowing power is an approximate measurement of your ability to borrow funds. Basically, it’s an indication of how much you can afford to borrow while still being able to meet your other financial obligations. Each lender will calculate it differently, but generally speaking, a borrowing power calculator takes into account things like your income, current loans and liabilities, credit cards and their limits, and your living expenses. You can use our borrowing power calculator to get an idea of what your borrowing power is. Learn more about what goes into calculating your borrowing power

Looking for the best home loan interest rate?

Whether you’re after the best variable home loan rates or the best fixed rate home loans — chances are, you’ll find some of the lowest home loan rates here. Because we’re digital, our rates are low. Here’s why.

How do I find the best home loan rates?

If you’re looking for the lowest home loan interest rate, we recommend viewing all of our home loans and weighing up which one might be best for you.

If a Tiimely Home loan really isn’t for you, that's ok. It’s still a good idea to know what else to look for beyond an interest rate.

What factors can affect my turnaround time?

The time it takes us to get to your application can change depending on how many applications we’re currently receiving and the complexity of your application.

Sometimes we can hit delays if we need a little more information. Opting for manual financial validation instead of securely linking your accounts, submitting an incomplete application, or providing inaccurate estimates of your expenses (or any information regarding your income, expenses and debts which doesn't match your actual situation) may require manual work for you and our credit assessors. These things all slow us down significantly. So make sure you’re really ready before you apply.

Our rates have proven to be quite popular, so we receive large volumes of applications from time to time. During these times, it takes us a little longer than we’d like to assess and approve your home loan application, and we’ll be sure to communicate this in a timely manner. We’re continually growing our team and are working hard to keep up with demand.

If your application is time-sensitive or if there is a deadline you’re trying to meet, please speak with our team to get an understanding of our current turnaround times. You can chat with us over LiveChat or on 1300 842 405.

I'm self-employed, can I apply for a Tiimely Own home loan?

Of course you can. Just jump onto our application like everyone else and start filling in your details.

To be eligible, you’ll need to:

  • provide your registered ABN (of course!)
  • have been self-employed for at least 1 year
  • provide your most recent business tax return AND your most recent personal tax return together with the notice of assessment
  • be registered for GST If your turnover is more than $75,000p.a.
  • have a good credit history
  • meet our standard eligibility criteria

Financial validation requirements to note – Tiimely Own requires a years' worth of up-to-date tax returns or business financial statements.

The only difference you’ll find (as a self-employed person compared to a PAYG customer), is that we won’t be able to instantly validate your income by linking your bank accounts.

Instead, you will need to upload your business financial statements and tax returns as well as your personal tax returns and notice of assessment, and our human credit assessors will take a look at them to assess your application. They’re not as fast as our tech, but they can still get you an answer much faster than your average lender because they're only checking the bits the tech couldn't.

Get prepared and learn more about potential roadblocks you may face as a self-employed applicant.

Am I eligible to apply for a Tiimely Own home loan?

Our eligibility criteria looks across a range of factors including:

  • Property: value, location, and type
  • Your contributions (aka deposit or equity amount)
  • Employment: current and previous history, and type
  • Identity: forms of government ID, and citizenship

Check our eligibility page to see if a Tiimely Own home loan, or a loan via our in-house broker service is best for you.

Can you get pre approved for a home loan online?

We offer a form of conditional approval, where we assess everything we can without knowing the final property you’ll be purchasing. Learn more about conditional approval subject to property.

What identification do I need to apply for a loan?

What ID documents are required for a Tiimely Own home loan?

If you are applying for a Tiimely Own home loan, we’ll be verifying your face against your identification documents (preferably with a photo of you).

It’s a pretty simple process that involves you, your phone camera and just the usual forms of ID; one original government-issued photo ID document is required:

  • A passport (from any country); or
  • an Australian driver’s license

Copies are not accepted (including certified copies).

If you don’t have access to valid ID documents, please get in contact with us.

What ID documents are required for a loan through our in-house broker service?

For a loan through our in-house broker offering you’ll need at least 2 forms of government ID:

  • Medicare card (must-have); and
  • A passport (from any country); and or
  • Australian driver’s license

Can I submit an application for multiple properties?

Sure, you can apply to refinance multiple properties! (Good for you, property baron.)

However, we will need separate applications for each property. We're working to make this experience better, so stay tuned.

Do you have an offset account and how does it work?

An offset account is like a savings account that’s linked to your home loan which offsets the balance of your home loan, so you only pay interest on the home loan balance minus the amount in your offset account. If you have a decent balance in your offset account, you could save thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan.

We offer 100% offset accounts with all of our Tiimely Own home loans, including our fixed rate loans. You can find more information on our offset account here.

Can you withdraw money from an offset account?

An offset account has most of the features of a normal transactional savings account. You can deposit money into it and withdraw from it any time to pay bills or for day-to-day expenses.

The thing to remember is that the more you have in your offset account, the less interest you are paying on your home loan, so the more you can keep in there without withdrawing, the better off you will be.

Your money is protected

Your offset account is maintained by our funder, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, who are an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI). This means your offset account is guaranteed under the Australian Government's Financial Claims Scheme (FCS) for up to $250,000.

Tiimely Own offset accounts

Unlike some other lenders, at Tiimely Own we don't build the cost of the offset account into our interest rate. You simply pay $10 per month for the feature instead. Our offset accounts include;

  • A Tiimely Own Visa Debit card which you can use like any other Visa Debit or EFTPOS card, including at any Suncorp or Bendigo ATM free of charge.
  • A BPAY facility to make bill payments and a swipe option to make transactions at retail stores.
  • Deposit and debit features just like a normal bank account.

Adding or removing offset account

If you decide after you get your home loan that you'd like an offset account, you can add one to your existing home loan for a fee of $150. If you are on a fixed rate an additional break cost will also apply. Removing an offset account from your existing home loan will incur the same fees.

To add or remove an offset account, give us a call on 08 7109 9010 or email myloan@tiimelyhome.com.au and we’ll help.

Click here to learn more about offset accounts, and how they differ from redraw facilities.

What is a Comparison Rate?

A comparison rate is the rate you see displayed next to the interest rate being offered by a lender.

It must be included with any advertised home loan interest rate and is designed to give you a more accurate picture of the loan you’re considering with some of the costs included.

The comparison rate is calculated by adding any fees and charges to the interest rate and then converting that figure to a percentage rate.

But as well as the interest rate and fees being charged, other factors can affect the actual cost of the loan, such as the loan amount, the loan term and the repayment frequency.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to use one of the many free comparison rate calculators that are available online to come up with a rate that provides a more accurate cost of the particular loan you’re considering.

Legal things about our rates
Our home loans are subject to credit criteria and eligibility requirements. Home loan interest rates are for new customers only and can change. Our comparison rates are based on a $150,000 loan amount over a 25 year term. They factor in fees associated with applying for the loan; ongoing fees and fees associated with leaving the loan. Our fixed loans roll to a variable principal and interest rate at the end of the fixed term. If the interest only period is not specified, the comparison rate is calculated on a one year period.

WARNING: The comparison rates are true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

Tiimely Turnaround
^Our turnaround times are up to 2x faster than the industry, based on a comparison of our average platform submit to approval time compared to industry submit to approval time, published here  (June 2023). Customer turnaround times are dependent on individual circumstances and may require an assessor to obtain more information.

Our trade mark
Tiimely is a registered trade mark of TicToc Online Pty Ltd (trading as Tiimely).