Your local mortgage broker, right here in the Sydney Eastern Suburbs

Finance Craft is based in Coogee and covers the whole of Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, from Bondi and Maroubra through to Double Bay, Vaucluse and Dover Heights. Call Shane Howley directly on 0403 156 991 or use the contact form to book a free call with no obligation.

Yes. A local broker knows how lenders treat specific building types, postcodes and strata reports here. That knowledge is what stops an approval falling over late. You also get one person who knows your suburb rather than whoever picks up the phone. When a valuation comes in short or an auction date moves, that difference shows.

That comes down to your income, your existing debts, and how a particular lender reads both. Lenders differ more than most people expect. Two banks looking at the same payslip can land a long way apart. It usually comes down to how they treat bonus income, study debt and credit card limits. My borrowing power calculator gives you a rough starting figure, and a call gets you the real one.

Twenty per cent avoids Lenders Mortgage Insurance, and on the sort of prices this area sees that's a large sum to save. You don't always need it though. Lenders will go above 80% with Lenders Mortgage Insurance, and a number of professions can borrow up to 95% without paying it at all. My LMI waivers guide lists which ones. Tell me what you're looking at and I'll work out the real number for your situation.

Yes, and it's one of the most common things I'm asked for. An auction bid isn't conditional, so your finance needs to be sorted before you raise your hand. Depending on your circumstances I can usually have pre-approval ready within a few business days. Call as early in the process as you can.

Yes, and it's a good chunk of my work. If nobody has looked at your loan in a couple of years, there's a fair chance it's no longer the sharpest thing available to you. Plenty of people are also sitting on more equity than they realise. I'll benchmark what you're on against 30+ lenders and tell you plainly if it isn't worth moving.

In some parts, yes. The pockets further from the water and closer to the university are where I see it actually happen, and usually on a unit rather than a house. The beachfront and harbourside streets are a stretch on a standard deposit. A family guarantee changes the maths for some people, and the government schemes are worth checking against their price caps. My first home buyers page has the detail.

Yes. Sole traders, company directors, trust structures, and people whose income arrives in lumps rather than every fortnight. The work is knowing which lenders read business income generously and which will decline the same set of figures. My self-employed home loans page covers what you'll need to provide.

Either works. Plenty of clients prefer phone or video calls, and I can run the whole process remotely with digital signing. If you'd rather sit down together, I'm across the Eastern Suburbs most days and happy to come to you.

No. Finance Craft charges a $0 brokerage fee. The lender pays me a commission when your loan settles. No upfront costs, nothing charged for the application, and no obligation after a first call. You get the loans a bank would offer you plus 30+ other lenders, at no cost.

Finance Craft holds a 5.0 star rating from 40 reviews on Google. The carousel on this page pulls them live from Google rather than showing a hand-picked selection. You can read the full set on my Google Business profile.