For registered optometrists
Home loans for optometrists: buy with 10% down, or 5% at NAB, and no LMI
You've done the study, the placements and the long days in the consulting room, and now the 20% deposit is what stands between you and the home. If you're a registered optometrist, NAB can lend you 95% of the price with no lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), and ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank and Bankwest about 90%. That's five of the eleven lender groups we checked. And whether you're on a practice's payroll, contracting on an ABN or owning the practice often decides the loan more than the waiver does.
95% lent with no LMI to a registered optometrist buying a home at NAB; about 90% at ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank and Bankwest [1]
5 of 11 lender groups we checked name optometrists in their LMI waiver [1][2]
1 year of tax returns can be enough for a self-employed optometrist at one lender, borrowing 80% of the value or less [8]
The optometrist home loan guide
Thirty-one questions optometrists ask before they buy, answered from each lender's own policy, with the date we checked it.
Can an optometrist get an LMI waiver?
Yes. A registered optometrist can get an LMI waiver at five lender groups. NAB waives lenders mortgage insurance up to 95% of the price for a home to live in and 90% for an investment. ANZ and Westpac Group (Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA) waive it up to 90%, and CommBank and Bankwest up to 89.99% [1]. ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank and Bankwest write theirs on principal-and-interest loans. Money Brain checked each one against the lender's own policy.
LMI is insurance that protects the lender when you borrow over 80% of the price, and you pay the premium. LVR, the loan as a share of the property's value, is the number every waiver is written around. On a $760,000 loan at 95% LVR, LMI can run past $34,000 (part 6). The waiver means an optometrist doesn't pay it.
What this means for you: optometrists are better served than physiotherapists or psychologists. Five lender groups name you, where physiotherapists get three and psychologists one, so the real question is usually which of the five fits you, not whether any will.
Which banks waive LMI for optometrists?
Five of the eleven lender groups Money Brain checked name optometrists in their LMI waiver, each on different terms. Five don't waive LMI for optometrists at all, and Bank First's healthcare waiver doesn't list roles.
| Lender | Waives LMI for optometrists? | Who and on what terms |
|---|---|---|
| NAB | Yes, to 95% | Optometrists, in its medical practitioners group with doctors and dentists. AHPRA registration; your main income from the profession; a property up to $4.5 million. 90% for an investment. |
| ANZ | Yes, to 90% | Optometrists, in its second medical group with physiotherapists, chiropractors and vets. Principal and interest, for a home or an investment. No minimum income. Not eligible for 95%. |
| Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA | Yes, to 90% | Optometrists, in its second medical group. Principal and interest. At least $90,000 gross from your eligible qualifications. |
| CommBank | Yes, to 89.99% | Optometrists are named on its medical list, with AHPRA registration. On its professional package, principal and interest only. 94.99% for an investment purchase only, where your debts are no more than 6 times your income. |
| Bankwest | Yes, to 89.99% | Optometrists, in its medical group of more than 40 specialities. 89.99% on loans up to $2 million, 84.99% up to $3 million. Principal and interest; in your own name only. |
| Bank First | For healthcare workers, to 90% | First home buyers only. Loans up to $800,000. Not for building. It doesn't list roles, so whether an optometrist counts is one to confirm with Bank First. |
| Suncorp | No | Its waiver is for medical practitioners only; other health roles aren't eligible. |
| Macquarie | No | It has withdrawn its professional waiver. |
| ING, AMP | No | LMI applies above 80%. |
| Teachers Mutual Bank group | No | No professional waiver at any of its four brands, Health Professionals Bank included. LMI applies above 80%. |
Every lender here still runs its normal credit tests. The waiver removes LMI, not the assessment of your income, debts and living costs. CommBank's terms come from the oldest policy in this table, so we confirm them with CommBank before you rely on them.
What this means for you: the five aren't interchangeable. NAB is the only one at 95% for a home, and it wants your main income to come from optometry. Westpac Group wants $90,000. CommBank wants you on its professional package. Bankwest lends in your own name only. ANZ sets no income floor. Which one fits depends on your deposit, your pay and how you're paid, not on the headline number.
Why do optometrists get 90% when doctors get 95%?
Optometrists get 90% at ANZ and Westpac Group because both lenders put optometrists in a second medical group, with other allied health roles, and that group stops at 90%. Their first groups, for doctors and dentists, go to 95% [1]. ANZ's policy says plainly that its optometrist group isn't eligible for 95%.
NAB is the exception. It lists optometrists in the same medical practitioners group as GPs, specialists and dentists, so an optometrist gets NAB's full 95% for a home [1]. CommBank and Bankwest put optometrists in their medical groups too, but those groups stop at 89.99% for everyone in them, doctors included [1].
What this means for you: a page about doctors' home loans only partly carries across. If you've read that "medical professionals get 95%", that's true at one of the five lenders for you. See home loans for doctors and dentists for how the first groups work.
Which registrations and roles qualify?
The waivers are written around your registration, not your job title.
A registered optometrist: named by NAB, ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank and Bankwest [1]. NAB asks for current AHPRA registration, and CommBank asks for AHPRA registration for the professions on its list, optometrists included.
Keep it current through the application: a lapse, even a short one between renewals, can stop a waiver loan at the point the lender checks it.
Optical dispensers and other eye-care roles: the policies name optometrists. An optical dispenser isn't covered, and if you work in another eye-care role, don't assume the optometrist terms apply; it's a question to settle with the lender before you apply.
Your main income: NAB also wants your main income to come from the profession [1]. A practice's income mixes eye tests with sales of frames and lenses, and how NAB reads that against its test isn't set out in the policy we hold, so it's one we confirm for a practice owner before applying.
If you aren't on any lender's list, your way in with a small deposit may be the 5% Deposit Scheme (part 25) rather than a waiver.
Is there a minimum income for an optometrist LMI waiver?
Only one of the five optometrist waivers has an income floor. Westpac Group asks for at least $90,000 gross from your eligible qualifications, added up across your jobs if you work more than one. A partner's income doesn't count toward it. ANZ sets no minimum income for its professional waivers. NAB's conditions, as we hold them, are registration and earning your main income as an optometrist, with no dollar figure. CommBank and Bankwest state no floor for optometrists [1].
| Lender | Income test | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ | No minimum income | A first-year or part-time optometrist can still meet the waiver itself |
| NAB | No dollar figure; your main income must come from the profession | The test is where your income comes from, not how much |
| Westpac Group | At least $90,000 gross from your eligible qualifications | Your own pay across your optometry jobs; a partner's income doesn't count |
| CommBank | None stated for optometrists | Its $100,000 floor in the medical group is for pharmacists, not optometrists |
| Bankwest | None stated | Its medical group sets no income condition |
What this means for you: the floor matters most early in a career, or when you work part-time. An optometrist on less than $90,000 doesn't clear Westpac Group's floor, but can still meet the other four lenders' conditions, subject to their normal assessment. An optometrist working across two practices can add both to reach Westpac Group's $90,000.
What the waiver is worth, in dollars
The waiver is worth the LMI you'd otherwise pay. Here's what LMI would cost on a home to live in, from one insurer's published rate card [4]. At any of the five lenders, an optometrist borrowing up to their limit of about 90% doesn't pay the 90% column. Only at NAB does an optometrist borrowing 95% for a home skip the 95% column.
Treat these as illustrations from a single rate card, not quotes. The real premium turns on the insurer, the loan and the lender.
| Home price | Deposit at 10% | LMI at 90%, about | LMI at 95%, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $60,000 | $11,300 | $19,400 |
| $800,000 | $80,000 | $19,300 | $34,800 |
| $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $24,100 | $43,500 |
What this means for you: on an $800,000 home, going from 90% to 95% adds about $15,500 of LMI without a waiver, for $40,000 more of borrowing. At NAB that step costs an optometrist nothing in LMI. At the other four it isn't on offer for a home, so the real choice there is about 10% down with no LMI, or 5% down and paying it.
5% or 10% deposit: which lenders fit an optometrist?
With a 5% deposit, one lender waives LMI for an optometrist buying a home to live in: NAB. With about 10%, all five do. That matters because the lender with the waiver isn't always the lender that fits your income, your structure or your plans.
| Deposit | Lenders that waive LMI | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | NAB, for a home to live in. CommBank, to 94.99%, for an investment purchase only | NAB wants your main income from optometry; CommBank wants your debts no more than 6 times your income |
| 10% | NAB, ANZ, Westpac Group | Westpac Group needs $90,000 from your qualifications; Bank First for a first home up to $800,000, if it counts you as a healthcare worker |
| Just over 10% | CommBank and Bankwest, at 89.99% | The loan must sit a fraction under 90% (part 8) |
| 20% | Every lender | No LMI applies at 80% or less, so the waiver isn't needed |
A 10% deposit also lets you choose on the rest of the loan, such as the rate, the features and how the lender reads your pay, rather than on the waiver alone.
What does 89.99% mean at CommBank and Bankwest?
At CommBank and Bankwest, 89.99% means the loan has to sit just under 90% of the value, so your deposit has to be just over 10% [1]. On an $800,000 home, that's a loan of up to $719,920 and a deposit of $80,080, rather than $720,000 and $80,000.
Bankwest's limit also steps down as the loan grows: 89.99% on loans up to $2 million, then 84.99% on loans up to $3 million [1]. Both lenders write the waiver on principal-and-interest loans, and Bankwest only for borrowing in your own name, not through a company or trust [1].
What this means for you: the $80 is small, but the lender works to the exact figure. Leave a little room between your deposit, your costs and the price, so the loan isn't a few dollars over the line on the day it's assessed.
Employee, contractor or practice owner: how lenders see you
An employed optometrist, a contractor and a practice owner are three different applications to a lender, even on the same income. The waiver depends on your registration. What you can borrow depends on how you're paid, and optometry uses all three.
| How you're paid | What the lender reads | History usually wanted |
|---|---|---|
| Employed by an independent practice, an optical chain or a clinic | Payslips and your employment contract | Time in the job (part 17) |
| Contractor or locum, on an ABN | Your tax returns, read as self-employed income | Usually two years of returns; one year at one lender (part 12) |
| Practice owner, partner or franchise partner | Your tax returns and the practice's financial statements | Usually two years |
What this means for you: two optometrists in the same practice, seeing the same patients, can get different answers. The one on payroll shows payslips. The one contracting through an ABN shows tax returns, and if the arrangement is new, there may not be enough of them yet.
Employed optometrists: what a lender counts
An employed optometrist is the simplest case for a lender: payslips, your employment contract and last year's income statement. Your base salary is counted in full, and it's what Westpac Group's $90,000 floor is measured on [1].
Extra pay is read differently. ANZ counts 80% of overtime, and NAB counts 80% of it, averaged over the last 180 days, outside its rule for nurses and midwives. NAB counts recurring allowances in full, and counts shift penalties in full as base pay for permanent staff when they're part of your regular hours. ANZ counts ongoing allowances in full, but not one-off payments [6].
What this means for you: if late or weekend clinics are paid as overtime, a lender that counts 80% of $10,000 counts $8,000. Bring payslips that show each kind of pay on its own line, so the lender can count each part rather than guess.
Contractor and locum optometrists on an ABN
A contractor optometrist is paid a share of fees, or a set rate, through their own ABN, and lenders usually read that as self-employed income. So they ask for tax returns and notices of assessment rather than payslips, usually two years of them [8][9]. The waiver itself still turns on your registration, not on how you're paid.
The policies we hold for NAB, ANZ, Westpac Group and CommBank don't say how each treats a self-employed optometrist for the waiver. Bankwest's waiver is for borrowing in your own name only, so a loan through a company or trust is out there [1]. St.George's own page says its profession offer can apply to self-employed people in the professions it lists [5], but whether optometrists are on that list isn't something we've confirmed. So it's settled with the lender before you rely on it.
An optometrist who has just moved from payroll to contracting can earn the same and borrow less for a while, because the lender now wants self-employed history. If a move like that is coming, it's worth knowing which order to do things in. The full rules are on self-employed home loans.
Can a self-employed optometrist get a home loan on one year of tax returns?
Sometimes. One lender's credit guidelines let self-employed professionals on its list of 11 professions, optometrists included, use one year of income instead of two [8]. The conditions: the loan is no more than 80% of the value, and the business has traded for at least 12 months. That lender also accepts a draft tax return if your accountant confirms in writing that it won't change [8].
NAB also considers a single year's financial statements at 80% or less [10]. Physiotherapists and chiropractors aren't on that 11-profession list, so this is one place an optometrist has a real head start.
What this means for you: the one-year routes sit at a 20% deposit, where there's no LMI to waive. So a newly self-employed optometrist is usually choosing between a 20% deposit with one year of figures now, or the waiver once a second year is lodged.
Lenders also set how old your figures can be. MyState doesn't accept tax returns or financials more than 18 months old when you apply, and doesn't take draft returns [11]. Late in a financial year, an optometrist whose newest return isn't lodged can fall outside a rule like that without noticing.
Practice owners and partners: what a lender reads
A practice owner's income comes through the business, often a company or trust, so the lender reads the practice as well as you.
Two years is the usual rule: your personal returns, and for a company or trust its returns and financial statements too [8][9].
Add-backs: at the two lenders whose policies we read, wages the business pays you, super above the compulsory amount, interest on business loans being refinanced and one-off costs are added back to profit [8][9].
Depreciation: added back only up to 20% of the business's net profit, at both lenders. For a practice with diagnostic equipment and a fit-out, that cap can matter [8][9].
A rising year: Firstmac uses the lower of your latest year's taxable income or 120% of the year before. A change of 20% or more between the two years has to be explained [9].
Company profit: Firstmac counts only what reaches you, as directors' fees or dividends, for a loan in your own name [9].
A franchise or joint-venture partner: the lender reads what the structure pays you, not the store's turnover.
The full list, with the business structures, is on self-employed home loans.
How add-backs change a practice owner's number
Add-backs can move a practice owner's assessed income by tens of thousands of dollars. An illustration, not a client file, using the rules in part 13. An optometry practice shows a net profit of $200,000. It claimed $60,000 in depreciation on equipment and the fit-out, a one-off legal bill of $5,000, and $10,000 of super above the compulsory amount.
Depreciation is capped at 20% of $200,000, so $40,000 is added back, not $60,000. The legal bill and the extra super are added back in full. The income a lender would start from is $255,000, not the $200,000 on the return. Each lender's own list differs, so the real figure depends on which lender you use.
If your income jumped, the year used matters too. At Firstmac, an optometrist who earned $100,000 one year and $150,000 the next would be assessed on $120,000, which is 120% of the earlier year, and the 50% change would need explaining [9].
Buying into a practice while buying a home
Buying into a practice and buying a home is one decision, not two. Any loan you're personally on for the practice, its fit-out or its equipment counts against what you can borrow for the home, and so does a guarantee you sign for the practice's company.
The order matters. Buy the home first and the practice's lender sees a larger personal debt. Buy into the practice first and the home lender may want to see a full year of your new income before it counts it. Work out both loans on one page before you sign either contract.
Practice debt also counts toward your debt-to-income ratio, which APRA watches closely (part 19).
Casual and locum optometrists
Casual and locum pay through an employer or agency can count, but each of the lenders we checked wants a minimum time in the job first. A locum on their own ABN is read as self-employed instead (part 11).
Westpac Group: counts casual pay in full after 6 months continuous with the same employer or agency, spread over 52 weeks [6].
Suncorp: counts it in full after 6 months continuous, or 12 months in a similar role [6].
NAB: averages the last 180 days, penalty rates included, with overtime split out at 80% [6].
Bankwest, Macquarie, ING: want 6 months in the current job (Macquarie also takes the past 6 months in the same field) [6].
AMP: wants 6 months with the employer and 12 months in the same industry and role; under 6 months isn't accepted [6].
ANZ: wants 6 months employed. On a loan with LMI, a casual can't be the only or main earner [6].
Locum work that moves you between practices often, with gaps, is the hardest pattern for a lender to read. A few months with one employer or agency before you apply can make it simpler.
New graduate optometrist, or a new job
A new graduate optometrist can get a home loan with a waiver. None of the five policies that name optometrists sets a minimum time since registration [1]. ANZ sets no minimum income, and CommBank and Bankwest state none for optometrists, so pay level doesn't bar their waivers. Westpac Group's $90,000 floor will rule it out for some in their first years. Every lender still checks that your income carries the repayments.
What a new graduate needs most is time in the job. At Westpac, a loan without mortgage insurance needs you to have started and been paid at least once. A mortgage-insured loan needs 3 months in the job, or less than that with 12 months in the same occupation and no gap of more than 2 months between jobs [7]. Westpac's policy doesn't say whether a waiver loan counts as "without mortgage insurance" for this rule, so it's a question we put to the lender for you.
If you start as a contractor rather than an employee, the self-employed rules in part 11 and part 12 apply instead, and they want a longer history.
Part-time, or on parental leave
An employed optometrist can buy while working part-time or on parental leave. At Westpac, permanent part-time pay counts as base pay, using the lowest base rate and hours on your payslips unless there's a reason they vary. One-off unpaid leave can be counted back in if you confirm you're back to your normal hours [7].
On leave, Westpac can use your return-to-work pay, base pay only, with a letter from your employer giving your return date, your hours and your pay. Every child counts as a dependant, including one not yet born. If your first repayment falls before you return, you'll need savings that cover the gap, on top of the money for the purchase [7].
Part-time pay can also take you under Westpac Group's $90,000 floor, which is where the other four lenders' waivers matter more (part 5). A contractor or practice owner on leave is read from their returns, so the timing of a leave year matters.
How much can an optometrist borrow?
How much an optometrist can borrow comes down to three things: what a lender counts of your income, your debts, and your living costs. Banks then check you could still make the repayments if rates were at least 3 percentage points higher, the buffer APRA expects [14].
Your debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, is your total debts as a multiple of your gross income. APRA limits each bank's new home lending to people whose debts are 6 or more times their income to 20% of that lending [14]. Practice loans you're personally on count toward it, and CommBank's 94.99% investment option is only open where your debts are no more than 6 times your income [1].
What this means for you: an optometrist earning $130,000 reaches 6 times at $780,000 of debt. That's why the same optometrist can get quite different answers from two lenders, and why a practice buy-in and a home loan are best worked out together. See how much can I borrow.
When the waiver isn't worth taking
The waiver saves LMI. It doesn't make a bigger loan the right loan.
When the rate costs more than the LMI. On a $720,000 loan, a rate 0.25 percentage points higher costs about $1,800 a year at first. At that gap it takes more than ten years to cost more than the $19,300 of LMI saved on an $800,000 home (part 6), but a wider gap gets there sooner. Compare the whole loan over the time you'll keep it.
When the lender reads your pay worse. If another lender counts more of your income, or takes one year of returns where the waiver lender wants two, it may suit you better, even with LMI to pay.
When 95% leaves nothing in reserve. Borrowing 95% at NAB means a bigger loan and more interest than borrowing 90%, even with no LMI. If you're about to buy into a practice, that cash may be worth more there.
When you need interest-only. ANZ's, CommBank's and Bankwest's optometrist waivers are written on principal-and-interest loans [1]. An investor who wants interest-only should check that before choosing on the waiver (part 22).
When you want to borrow through a trust. Bankwest's waiver is for loans in your own name only [1].
Do optometrists get a cheaper interest rate?
Money Brain doesn't print an optometrist interest rate, because none of the waiver policies we hold sets one we could rely on. ANZ's policy for its optometrist group has referred to medico rate concessions, but the most recent card we read no longer states them [1]. The waiver is about LMI, not price.
Rates change far more often than waiver policies. The rate worth comparing is the one each lender offers on your loan, at your LVR, on the day you apply.
Can you go interest-only with an optometrist waiver?
Only on terms. ANZ's optometrist group is written on principal and interest, for a home or an investment. CommBank's and Bankwest's are principal and interest only. Westpac Group's is principal and interest too, though its policy allows interest-only that converts to principal and interest at the same 90% [1]. NAB's conditions, as we hold them, don't set a repayment type, so it's one to confirm.
Interest-only lowers repayments for a while and suits some investment plans. It also means the loan doesn't fall while you pay it. See interest only or principal and interest.
Buying an investment property as an optometrist
An optometrist waiver can carry over to an investment loan. NAB goes to 90% on an investment, against 95% for a home. ANZ goes to 90% on principal and interest for either. Bankwest's terms are the same for a home or an investment. CommBank goes further for an investment purchase, to 94.99%, where your debts are no more than 6 times your income. Westpac Group's 90% policy doesn't split a home from an investment [1], and St.George's own page says its profession offer can apply whether you're buying to live in or to invest [5].
Bank First's waiver is for first home buyers only [3]. Once you own one property, the order you buy the next ones in decides whether you can keep going. See using equity to buy an investment.
Does Health Professionals Bank or Bank First waive LMI for optometrists?
Health Professionals Bank doesn't. It's one of four brands of Teachers Mutual Bank, with Teachers Mutual, Firefighters Mutual and UniBank, on one shared policy book, and that policy has no professional LMI waiver: LMI applies above 80% [2]. The name describes who can join, not a waiver.
Bank First waives LMI up to 90% for healthcare and education workers buying their first home, on loans up to $800,000, and not for building [3]. Its policy doesn't list which roles count as healthcare workers, so whether an optometrist qualifies is one to confirm with Bank First.
Suncorp's waiver is for medical practitioners only, and other health roles aren't eligible. Macquarie has withdrawn its professional waiver, and ING and AMP have none [2].
Optometrist first home buyer? The waiver, the 5% Deposit Scheme or Help to Buy
An optometrist buying a first home has two ways to buy with 5% and no LMI, and they suit different buyers. The waiver is a lender's own policy. The 5% Deposit Scheme is the government guaranteeing part of the loan in place of LMI, and it has no job test [12].
What this means for you: an optometrist buying under the area's price cap with 5% saved can use the scheme at any lender on its panel, not only NAB. An optometrist buying above the cap, or planning to rent the home out later, may find the waiver the better fit.
| Optometrist LMI waiver | 5% Deposit Scheme | |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | 5% at NAB; about 10% at ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank and Bankwest [1] | At least 5% and less than 20% [12] |
| Price limit | None by area; NAB to a $4.5 million property [1] | Capped by area, for example $1.5 million in Sydney, $1 million in Brisbane, $950,000 in Melbourne [12] |
| Income test | None at ANZ; $90,000 at Westpac Group [1] | No income caps [12] |
| First home only? | No, at all five [1] | Yes, and no property owned in the last 10 years [12] |
| Renting it out later | Investment loans covered at all five (part 23) | Not while the guarantee is in place [12] |
Help to Buy, where the government takes a share of the home's value so you borrow less, needs a deposit of at least 2% and is open only on incomes up to $103,000 alone or $165,000 together. It can't be used with the 5% Deposit Scheme [12][13]. See the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy, guarantor home loans and the first home buyer grants in your state.
Buying with a partner who isn't an optometrist
You can. At Westpac Group, the $90,000 test is on your own pay from your eligible qualifications, so your partner's income doesn't help you reach it [1]. Your partner's income does count toward what you can borrow together.
At ANZ, if the loan has LMI and you're casual, you can't be the only or main earner, so a partner's income matters there too [6]. How NAB applies its main-income test on a joint loan isn't set out in the policy we hold, so it's one we confirm for you.
Overseas-trained optometrists and visa holders
If you're registered with AHPRA and working as an optometrist here, the same waiver terms apply; NAB's waiver and CommBank's list both depend on that registration [1]. What changes is your visa: many lenders treat permanent residents like citizens and ask more of temporary visa holders. See home loans for visa holders.
What to have ready
Your AHPRA registration, current
Your last two payslips and contract, if you're employed, with each kind of pay on its own line
Two years of tax returns and notices of assessment, if you contract or own the practice
The practice's financial statements, if you own it or a share of it
Statements for any practice, fit-out or equipment loans you're on, and any guarantee you've signed
An employer letter, if you're new, on leave or about to change roles
The full document list is on How it works.
Why optometrists' applications get held up
A handful of things come up on almost every file:
Expecting 95% at ANZ, Westpac Group, CommBank or Bankwest, where optometrists stop at about 90% (part 3)
Applying at Westpac Group on less than $90,000 from your qualifications (part 5)
A loan a few dollars over 89.99% at CommBank or Bankwest (part 8)
A registration that lapsed between renewals (part 4)
A new contractor applying before two years of returns are lodged, with a small deposit (part 12)
Casual or locum pay with less than the lender's minimum time in the job (part 16)
Signing for practice finance before the home loan is worked out (part 15)
Many of these can be avoided by picking the lender that fits before you apply.
What does a broker cost you?
How a broker is paid, and the rule Money Brain holds against it, is set out in full on its own page: what a mortgage broker costs.
Your first move
You've read the rules. Now there's one question left: which of the five lenders, for the way you're paid, at the price you want? That depends on your registration, your pay, your structure and your deposit, and it's what Money Brain works out before anything goes to a lender.
When you're ready, the closing section below is the simplest way to start.
Four facts, and I'll do the checking
Tell me how you're paid, what you earn before tax, roughly what you want to spend and what you've saved. I'll come back with which of the five lenders fit, what each would count of your income, and whether 5%, 10% or another way in comes out ahead.
You'll hear back within the hour in business hours, and by 9am the next business day after hours.
Questions optometrists ask
Yes, at five lender groups. NAB waives lenders mortgage insurance for registered optometrists up to 95% for a home and 90% for an investment. ANZ and Westpac Group (Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA) waive it up to 90%, and CommBank and Bankwest up to 89.99%, on the policies Money Brain checked.
Sources
- 1
NAB, ANZ, Westpac Group (Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA), CommBank, Bankwest: LMI waiver policies for optometrists. Checked 1 October 2026; re-checked 21 October 2026; CommBank's list of named professions read 2 October 2026 (CommBank's policy last confirmed 7 July 2026).
- 2
Suncorp, Macquarie, ING, AMP, Teachers Mutual Bank group: no LMI waiver for optometrists. Checked 1 October 2026; re-checked 21 October 2026.
- 3
Bank First: LMI waiver for healthcare and education workers. Checked 3 October 2026; re-checked 21 October 2026.
- 4
LMI premium: one insurer's published rate card, standard rates. Checked 21 October 2026.
- 5
- 6
Lender credit policies on overtime, shift penalties, allowances and casual income: ANZ, Westpac Group, NAB, Bankwest, Suncorp, Macquarie, ING, AMP. Read 30 September 2026 (each lender's policy last updated between 22 and 29 September 2026).
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Westpac credit policy on new employment, part-time income and parental leave. Read 1 October 2026.
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One lender's residential home loan credit guidelines (the lender isn't named). Read 26 August 2026; re-read 2 October 2026.
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Firstmac: Residential Lending Policy, changelog to 28 July 2026, and its Property Lending Policy (broker), September 2026. Read 26 August 2026; re-read 2 October 2026.
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NAB: self-employed home loan page. Read 26 August 2026.
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MyState Bank: Mortgage Lending Procedure (broker version 1.0a), effective 1 July 2026. Read 27 August 2026.
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Updated 2 October 2026