A couple working in the not-for-profit sector had their sights on a home worth around $2 million. Their incomes supported it — but the way most lenders read those incomes didn’t.
Not-for-profit employees often receive a meaningful part of their pay through salary packaging and tax-free benefits. Many lenders discount or ignore that income, so the couple’s assessed capacity landed well below their genuine financial position — short of the purchase they had in mind.
Same people, same income — simply assessed by a lender who understood it.
A lender that counted it properly
We placed the clients with a lender whose servicing policy correctly recognises tax-free and salary-packaged income. That single choice reframed the whole application: instead of a discounted figure, the assessment reflected what they actually earn.
Borrowing capacity increased enough for the couple to proceed with their intended ~$2 million purchase.