ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Mortgage Pre-Approval.Get It Right the First Time.
Pre-approval tells you what a lender is prepared to lend before you start inspecting, and it holds for three to six months. It is also a credit application, and every credit application is recorded on your file. Worth doing once, properly, with a lender whose policy actually fits you.
15 minutes on the phone before anything is lodged. Tell us your income, your deposit and your timeline, and we will tell you your realistic range and which lender to approach. No credit check on that call, no paperwork, no obligation. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Mortgage Brokers
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is Mortgage Pre-Approval and How Long Does It Last?
Mortgage pre-approval, also called conditional approval, is a lender’s written indication of how much it is prepared to lend you, based on evidence of your financial position. ASIC’s guidance is that pre-approval lasts three to six months and shows you are eligible to apply for a loan up to a certain amount.
It does not commit you to a loan and it does not commit the lender to funding one. What it does, in ASIC’s words, is let you set an affordable price range and tell sellers you are serious about buying. Final approval still depends on the property, the valuation and verification of everything you have declared.
The part people are rarely told is that pre-approval is a credit application. ASIC states plainly that each application for credit is noted on your credit report, and that too many applications in a short time can lower your credit score. That is why which lender you approach matters before you approach one, not after.
Common Situations
When People Come to Us for Pre-Approval
Six situations account for most pre-approval calls. The timing question is different in each one, and getting it wrong costs you a credit enquiry.
You are about to start inspecting
The most common and the best timed. You want a realistic ceiling before you fall for something above it, and you want the enquiry spent on the lender most likely to say yes at application.
There is an auction coming up
Auction contracts are usually unconditional, so finance needs to be sorted before you raise your hand. Pre-approval is the starting point, not the finish line, and the property still has to satisfy the lender.
You have been declined before
A decline is one lender’s policy meeting your file, not a verdict on you. ASIC’s advice is to find out why, check your credit report, and give yourself time before applying again. We work out which lender fits before anything else is lodged.
Your income is self-employed or variable
Bonus, commission, overtime, casual and self-employed income are each shaded differently by different lenders. Pre-approval from the wrong one tells you almost nothing about what you can actually borrow.
Part of your deposit is a gift
Gifted funds, a guarantor arrangement or savings held offshore all need evidencing in a particular way. Better to know which way before the assessment, not during it. See guarantor home loans.
Your pre-approval is about to expire
It can usually be re-assessed rather than started again, but the rules it is re-assessed under may have moved since. Worth a conversation two or three weeks before it lapses rather than the day after.
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Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Pre-approval sits with Moufid, our Head of Residential Lending, who spends most of his week working out which lender fits which file. It is the kind of job where the useful work happens before anything is lodged, because a credit enquiry stays on your credit report for five years and too many in a short window can lower your score. Bonus income, casual hours, a probation period or a recent business start are read one way by one lender and another way by the next. Knowing which is the entire job, so the comparison happens against credit policy first and the application happens once.
100+ Lenders Including
Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it. Which lender suits you is decided by your file, not by who is on this list.
About to Start Looking?
Fifteen minutes gives you your number, before anything is lodged.What Actually Decides It
A Pre-Approval Is a Credit Decision That Leaves a Five-Year Mark
A mortgage pre-approval is not a free look. It is a credit application, it is recorded on your credit report, and the record stays there for five years. Six things follow from that, and they decide how many you should be getting.
Every application is noted whether or not it is approved
ASIC states that each application for credit is noted on your credit report. The record includes that a credit provider requested access to your report in connection with your application, and the type and amount of credit you sought. It does not need your consent, only notice to you.
A credit enquiry stays for five years
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner sets the retention periods. A credit enquiry stays on your report for five years. Repayment history stays two years, a default five, a court judgment five, and a serious credit infringement seven.
Applying to several lenders to compare is the expensive way
ASIC’s own position is that too many applications in a short time can lower your credit score. Comparing lenders by applying to them is therefore self-defeating. The comparison should happen against lender policy first, and the application should happen once.
It expires into whatever the rules are then
Pre-approval holds for three to six months. When it is re-assessed, it is re-assessed under the settings that apply on that day, including APRA’s serviceability buffer of at least 3 percentage points and the debt-to-income limit that has applied to banks since February 2026.
Quiet things invalidate it
Changing jobs, starting a probation period, taking a car loan, opening a buy-now-pay-later account or raising a credit card limit all change the file the lender assessed. So does a change in where your deposit came from. None of these announce themselves, and all of them get checked again before settlement.
It approves you rather than the property
Pre-approval assesses your capacity. The property is assessed later, on its own, through a valuation and against the lender’s rules on property type, size, location and title. A pre-approved buyer can still be declined on the place they chose.
Checked 31 August 2026. Pre-approval duration and the free credit report entitlement are from ASIC Moneysmart. The position on multiple applications and credit scores is from ASIC Moneysmart on loan rejection. Credit reporting retention periods and what is recorded when you apply are published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Serviceability and macroprudential settings are set by APRA. Best Interests Duty is from ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
None of this is a reason to avoid pre-approval. It is a reason to spend the enquiry once, on the lender whose credit policy actually suits your income, your deposit and your timeline. Ask us which one that is.
The Honest Comparison
Do You Need Pre-Approval Yet or Should You Just Look First?
Timing is the whole question. Too early and you spend an enquiry you cannot use. Too late and you are bidding on hope.
Look first and apply later
- No credit enquiry, so nothing is added to your report while you are still browsing
- Time to clear card limits or small debts, which lifts your capacity before you are assessed
- Sensible if you are more than six months away, since pre-approval would expire before you buy
- You are inspecting without knowing your ceiling, which wastes weekends and invites disappointment
- Agents treat an unfinanced buyer as a lower priority, and you cannot move quickly on the right place
Get pre-approved now
- A written ceiling from a lender, so you inspect inside a range you can actually fund
- Signals to agents and vendors that you are a serious buyer, in ASIC’s words
- Problems on your file surface now, while there is time to fix them, rather than mid-purchase
- One enquiry, on the lender whose policy fits, chosen before anything is lodged
- It is still a credit application, recorded for five years, and it expires in three to six months
If you are more than six months away, do not get pre-approved yet. It will expire before you buy, you will spend a credit enquiry on nothing, and you will need a fresh assessment anyway under whatever the rules are then. Spend those months clearing card limits and small debts instead, because that moves your borrowing capacity further than anything else available to you. Get pre-approved when you are genuinely ready to inspect and to act on what you find. And when you do, get one, from the lender whose credit policy suits your income type and your deposit. Collecting pre-approvals to compare them is the single most expensive mistake in this part of the process.
Find Out If You Are Ready to Apply Yet
If you are more than six months away we will tell you what to clear first instead of spending an enquiry. Fifteen minutes. No credit check.The Difference
Why Not Just Apply to Your Own Bank?
Because you get one clean shot at this, and your own bank is one credit policy out of a hundred. If yours is not the one that suits your file, the enquiry is spent and the answer is still no.
Your Credit File Stays Clean
We work out where your file fits before anything is lodged, so the enquiry goes to the lender most likely to approve it. That matters more here than anywhere else, because a credit enquiry stays on your report for five years and too many in a short window can lower your score.
Legally On Your Side
A home loan is regulated consumer credit, so we are required by law to act in your best interests and to put your interests ahead of ours where they conflict. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021. A bank’s own staff carry no equivalent duty when recommending their employer’s products.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We do not charge you for the comparison, the structuring or the application, on any loan type. If you discharge the loan early we wear the clawback ourselves rather than invoicing you for it, which plenty of brokers do. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
100+ Lenders Rather Than One Credit Policy
Banks, second-tier lenders and non-banks, each reading the same payslips differently. Bonus income, casual hours, a probation period or a recent business start are treated one way by one lender and another way by the next. Knowing which is the entire job.
The Process
How Mortgage Pre-Approval Actually Runs
Four steps, and the first one costs you nothing and touches nothing.
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15 minutes
Your position before any application
Your income and how it is earned, your deposit and where it came from, your debts and card limits, and when you actually want to buy. No documents and no credit check. You finish the call with a realistic range and a view on which lenders suit your file.
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You gather
Documents
We confirm exactly which of these your chosen lender wants before you go looking for any of them.
- Photo identification
- Two recent payslips
- Latest tax return or group certificate
- Three to six months of bank statements
- Evidence of your deposit and how it was saved
- Details of existing debts and card limits
- Two years of returns, if self-employed
- Evidence of any gifted funds or guarantor support
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One application
Lender selection then submission
We compare lender credit policy against your file, show you the shortlist and the reasoning, and lodge with one lender once you have chosen. That is the enquiry spent deliberately rather than scattered.
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Then you look
Inspecting and offering then full approval
Once pre-approval is issued you can inspect and offer inside a known range. When you find the place, the property goes for valuation and the file converts to full approval. We manage that handover and keep the pre-approval current if your search runs long.
Track Record
Independent Since 2005
Joe Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded the practice five years later. Residential lending sits with Moufid, who spends most of his week working out which lender fits which file.
Related Options
What Pre-Approval Usually Leads To
Pre-approval is a step, not a product. These are the loans it usually turns into.
First home buyer loans
Buying your first place, including the 5 per cent deposit scheme and what it actually requires.
Guarantor home loan
When a parent’s equity does the work a larger deposit would have done.
Joint loans
Two applicants, two credit files, and one assessment that has to work for both.
Investment loans
Pre-approval for a rental purchase, where structure affects your next one too.
Construction loans
Building instead of buying, assessed on land plus build rather than a purchase price.
Every home loan we arrange
Back up to the full residential range if none of these is quite it.
One Enquiry. The Right Lender.
Tell us your income and your deposit, and we will tell you which one.Questions Answered
Mortgage Pre-Approval FAQs
The questions buyers ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is mortgage pre-approval?
Mortgage pre-approval, also called conditional approval, is a lender’s written indication of how much it is prepared to lend you, based on evidence of your financial position. ASIC describes it as showing you are eligible to apply for a loan up to a certain amount. It does not commit you to a loan and it does not commit the lender to funding one.
How long does pre-approval last?
ASIC’s guidance is that pre-approval lasts three to six months. The exact period is set by the lender and differs between them. When it lapses it can usually be re-assessed rather than started from scratch, but it is re-assessed under the lending rules and your circumstances as they stand on that day, not as they stood originally.
Does getting pre-approved affect my credit score?
It can. ASIC states that each application for credit is noted on your credit report and that too many applications in a short time can lower your credit score. A single well-targeted pre-approval is a normal part of buying. Applying to several lenders to compare them is what causes the damage.
How long does a credit enquiry stay on my credit report?
Five years, according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. For comparison, repayment history stays two years, a default five years, a court judgment five years, and a serious credit infringement seven years. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report every three months.
Is pre-approval a guarantee that I will get the loan?
No. Pre-approval assesses you, not the property. Full approval still depends on the valuation, the lender’s rules about the property itself, and verification of everything you declared. A pre-approved buyer can still be declined on a particular place, which is why finance clauses and timing matter.
What can invalidate my pre-approval?
Anything that changes the file the lender assessed. Changing jobs or starting probation, taking a car loan, opening a buy-now-pay-later account, increasing a credit card limit, or a change in where your deposit is coming from. None of these announce themselves and all of them are checked again before settlement.
Should I get pre-approved with several lenders to compare?
No. Each application is recorded on your credit report and stays there for five years, and ASIC warns that too many applications in a short time can lower your score. Compare lenders on their credit policy first, then apply once to the one whose policy fits your income, deposit and timeline.
Does Best Interests Duty apply, and what does Intellect Finance charge?
Yes it applies. A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit, so brokers must act in your best interests and give priority to your interests where they conflict with ours. We charge you nothing on any loan type, and no clawback fee if you discharge early. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed in writing beforehand.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, so we arrange pre-approvals for buyers in every state.
Parramatta
Suite 23, Level 1, 181 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
Mortgage broker Parramatta →Ready When You Are
Know Your Number Before You Look.
Fifteen minutes with a residential specialist, before any application is lodged. We’ll give you a realistic range, tell you which lender reads your income type most favourably, and flag anything on your file worth fixing first. No credit check on that call, no paperwork, no obligation. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit, so Intellect Finance is legally required to act in your best interests under the Best Interests Duty in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Pre-approval is not a guarantee of finance. Nothing on this page is credit assistance or an offer of credit, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Pre-approval is not a guarantee of finance. Conditional or pre-approval is an indication only. It does not commit any lender to providing credit, and full approval remains subject to the property, the valuation, verification of your circumstances and the lender’s conditions at the time. Document requirements, validity periods, conditions and re-assessment requirements are set by individual lenders and differ between them.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, valuations, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and by independent valuers, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Any figure or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Credit reporting. Credit reporting information, including the retention periods described on this page, is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 and administered by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. How a particular credit reporting body records or scores information is a matter for that body. Check your own credit report directly, and raise any error with the credit reporting body that holds it.
Best Interests Duty. A home loan for a property you will live in is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. When providing credit assistance in relation to these products, Intellect Finance is required to act in your best interests and, where there is a conflict of interest, to give priority to your interests. These obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to regulatory settings, credit reporting rules or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member