Ten years on the tools.Now I sort home loans for tradies.

One year of books instead of two. Half your pay in overtime or site money. The ute and the tools on finance.

That is most tradies. It is also the stuff banks read worst.

Here is what is actually going on.

Your bank only sells one loan

Your bank has one product. Its own.

So you get one answer. It will not tell you that the bank down the road counts your overtime differently. Nobody talks you out of their own loan.

I do not have a loan to sell. That means I can tell you when yours is the wrong door.

Banks do not read a tradie’s pay the same way

Most people think there is one number, and the bank works it out. There is not.

Take overtime. One bank counts every hour of it. One counts half. One ignores it. If a big chunk of your pay is overtime or site money, which bank you ask changes the answer.

Same with your books. Your accountant writes your income down so you pay less tax. The bank then lends off that smaller number. A lot of what came off can go back on top, with the right bank.

Two years of accounts is the usual answer. It is not the only one. Some banks will look at one year.

You only find out by asking more than one bank. That is my job, and you only fill it in once.

Sorted early is the whole game

The other thing nobody mentions is how long it takes.

Lining up a yes is not a same-day job. And at an auction there is no waiting for finance. Either it is done, or you are not bidding.

So we start early. Fifteen minutes on the phone, then I take your numbers to the banks that read a tradie’s pay properly. You get what you can borrow and what to fix first, in writing, in plain words.