AIP means the bank has agreed to extend you the funds for a home loan, subject to a valuation of the property. The bank evaluates your credit-worthiness and determines the value of the home loan they're willing to approve in principle.

Reducing the amount of your home loan over time by paying both principal and interest repayments.

An item owned by a person or company, regarded as having value and available to meet debts, commitments or legacies.

A public sale in which a property is sold to the highest bidder.

These fees allow the body corporate to maintain the property to the highest standard on behalf of all the owners in the complex.

A break cost is a fee that represents our loss if you repay your loan early or switch your product, interest rate or payment type during a fixed rate period.

Also known as a home-to-home loan. A type of loan that enables you to buy or build a new home before selling your existing one, without paying two mortgages at the same time.

An agent or broker who represents the buyer in a property purchase.

A profit from the sale of property or an investment.

A warning of specific stipulations, conditions or limitations.

A Certificate of Title (CT) is a public and legal record of land ownership, including interests and restrictions on the land. It can be viewed by doing a Title Search through an authorised provider.

The true interest rate of a home loan when all fees are also taken into account. It lets you compare different loans which have different fees.

A public and legal record of land ownership including interests and restrictions on the land.

A construction home loan is a type of home loan designed for people who are building a home or doing major renovations, as opposed to buying an established property. ... You generally only pay interest on the amount that is drawn down, as opposed to on the whole loan amount.

The ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future.

When you buy or sell a house, you need to appoint a conveyancer or solicitor to make it official (arrange ‘settlement’), and ensure you legally own your new home.

failure to fulfil an obligation, especially to repay a loan or appear in a law court.

A sum payable as a first instalment on the purchase of something or as a pledge for a contract, the balance being payable later.

A reduction in the value of an asset over time.

Also known as a termination or settlement fee, a discharge fee is paid when you finish paying off the balance on a loan, or refinance with another lender.

Income remaining after deductions of taxes and commitments paid, available to be spent or saved as one wishes.

The difference between what you owe on your home, and what your home is currently worth.

A first-time home buyer grant is a grant specifically for/targeted at those buying their first home — perhaps a starter home. Like other grants, the first-time buyer does not hold an obligation to repay the grant.

A fixed interest rate loan is a loan where the interest rate doesn't fluctuate during the fixed rate period of the loan. This allows the borrower to accurately predict their future payments.

A phrase used by lenders to describe savings that you yourself have saved over a period of time – usually 3 to 6 months.

For households and individuals, gross income is the sum of all wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings, before any deductions or taxes.

A person that gives or acts as a guarantee.

The interest is the cost charged by the bank or lender to you to borrow this money.

When you are only paying the interest down on the loan.

An introductory rate is an interest rate charged to a customer during the initial stages of a loan.

If you want to borrow more than 80% of the property’s value, you have to pay mortgage insurance (LMI). Mortgage insurance is a one-off payment, usually made when you settle on the property. The amount you pay depends on the loan amount, the value of your property and how much of the purchase price you want to borrow (e.g. 95%). It protects the lender in the event that you can’t meet your repayments and the home is sold with the debt outstanding.

A thing for which someone is responsible, especially an amount of money owed.

A line of credit home loan allows customers to borrow money using the equity in their home.

The loan-to-value ratio is a financial term used by lenders to express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased.

Low Doc loans are used when clients are self employed and do not have 2 years financials. There are less requirements, for example the client may only have to provide 1 years financials, however the interest rate is higher.

A person or company that arranges mortgages between borrowers and lenders.

A mortgagee is a lender: specifically, an entity that lends money to a borrower for the purpose of purchasing real estate.

The borrower in a mortgage, typically a homeowner.

The practice of investing borrowed money in such a way as to result in a loss that can be claimed as a tax deduction.

These are sums of money that may have been gifted to you or received as a lump sum from a transaction, but have not been genuinely saved over time.

A house or apartment used as a dwelling by the owner.

An offset account is an everyday bank account that's linked to your home loan. You can deposit your salary and savings into the account and the balance is then offset against the amount owing on your home loan. You then do not pay interest on this part of your loan.

Home loan portability is a feature that allows you to keep the same home loan product, but change the supporting security (property). It can save you the time and costs of refinancing.

Where you borrow money to invest, and the income from your investment is greater than your interest and other expenses

The principal of your home loan is the amount of money you borrow from your bank or lender.

When you are paying both the principle and the interest of a loan this is called a principal and interest loan.

The ability to withdraw money (from additional payments you have made), when you need it, from your Variable Rate Home Loan.

Finance (something) again, typically with new loans at a lower rate of interest.

Security Property means property provided as collateral for a Facility that, in substance, secures payment or performance of an obligation under the Facility. This could be real estate, a car, a piece of equipment, shares or any other asset we consider acceptable.

A self-managed super fund (SMSF) is a private super fund that you manage yourself. SMSFs are different to industry and retail super funds. As a member, you are a trustee of the fund — or you can get a corporate trustee. In either case, you are responsible for the fund.

Serviceability is the ability of a borrower to meet loan repayments, based upon the loan amount, the borrower's income, expenses and other commitments.

Property settlement is a legal process that is facilitated by your legal and financial representatives and those of the seller. It's when ownership passes from the seller to you, and you pay the balance of the sale price. The seller sets the settlement date in the contract of sale.

A split mortgage, or a split rate home loan, is a loan feature that allows you to split your home loan into multiple loan accounts that attract different interest rates. A popular example for this is to split the home loan into a variable interest rate component and have the rest of the loan amount fixed.

A duty levied on the legal recognition of certain documents.

The registered ownership of layers of air space (rather than ground area) in a multistorey building.

An estimation of the worth of something, especially one carried out by a professional valuer.

This refers to any type of debt instrument, such as a loan, bond, mortgage, or credit, that does not have a fixed rate of interest over the life of the instrument.