Ashfield mortgage broker
Ashfield mortgage broker
A mortgage broker
who knows Ashfield.
A house here costs roughly two and a half times a unit, and most of the unit stock is old enough to have a maintenance bill coming. We compare 35+ lenders and it costs you nothing.
35+
Lenders
10+
Years experience
1,000+
Clients helped
$0
Cost to you
About Ashfield
What the 2131 market actually looks like
History of Ashfield
A Victorian villa suburb that became a flats suburb. The grand houses around Ashfield Park went up in the 1880s when the railway arrived, and then from the 1960s onward the big garden blocks were subdivided for red brick walk ups on a scale few other Sydney suburbs matched. Wave after wave of new arrivals have settled here since, which is much of why it feels the way it does.
Ashfield property market
One of the deepest older apartment markets in Sydney, mostly walk up blocks from the sixties and seventies, alongside Federation and Victorian houses in the conservation pockets. A large share of the units are investor owned and rented. For buyers it is one of the more reachable entry points in the Inner West, with a station twenty minutes from the city.
Ashfield property prices
Houses sit around two million with recent sales running from the high one millions upward, and units closer to the mid eight hundreds. That is a gap of roughly two and a half times, which is why almost every first purchase here is a unit and why the step to a house is a much longer one than it looks. Treat any single figure as a guide rather than a price.
Borrowing in Ashfield
On a house it is your income and your existing debts. On a unit it is the building, and here that means an ageing one. Lenders read the capital works fund, any special levy struck or coming, and the internal floor size, because a compact sixties one bedder can fall under a minimum. The block, not the suburb, decides which lenders will lend and how much.
Ashfield is one of 20 suburbs we cover across the Inner West, and the one where the age of the block matters more than the age of the buyer.
Buying in an older
walk up block?
Send us the address before you make an offer and we will email you a free RP Data property report. We can also talk through how lenders on our panel tend to look at buildings like it.
Your broker
Meet Ali Hasani
Ali Hasani is the founder of Buyvest. He has worked in home loans for more than ten years, a lot of it at Commonwealth Bank. We meet clients face to face, or by phone, Zoom and Teams, at night and on weekends as well as work hours. We take your loan to 35+ lenders, compare the numbers, and show you the options. Ali is an MFAA accredited broker with a Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management and a Post Graduate in Accounting.
Been told what
your limit is?
Plenty of first home buyers work out a ceiling from the one path they know about, and it turns out not to be the ceiling.
Client stories
How we helped
Three real situations, and what actually happened in each one.
Their limit was not the limit.
With $145,000 saved, they had worked out that a million dollar property was as far as they could go once a 10% deposit and stamp duty came out of it. That maths was right for the path they knew about. Using the government 5% deposit scheme, and paying no mortgage insurance, they could look considerably higher than that. They had no idea it was an option, and it changed what they were searching for entirely.
Parents helped without cash.
A first home buyer had steady income but a small deposit after years of rent. Their parents wanted to help and did not want to hand over a large sum. We used a limited guarantee against part of the parents' equity, which meant no lenders mortgage insurance and no money changing hands. A few years on, once the loan had come down and the property had moved, the guarantee was released and the parents were off it entirely.
Holding three, paying less.
An investor with three properties was putting thousands of their own money in every month just to hold them. Selling one was the obvious answer and it was not the only one. We refinanced across more than one lender, reworked how the loans were set up and got sharper pricing, and the monthly cost came down considerably. They kept all three and stopped topping them up to the same degree.
These are past client stories, with details changed for privacy. Your own result depends on your situation and what the lender decides.
Free guides
What to know before you buy
Three free guides covering how an Ashfield purchase actually runs, from pre-approval to settlement.
Home loan pre-approval
What it covers, and how long it lasts.
Read the guide
Choosing a home loan
Fixed, variable, offset and redraw.
Read the guide
Settlement day
What has to be ready before then.
Read the guide
Read the free guides in the Loan Vault to know how the home buying process works in NSW.
What we do
Home loans for every Ashfield plan
First home
Learn more
Next home
Learn more
Refinancing
Learn more
Construction loans
Learn more
Guarantor loans
Learn more
Self employed home loans
Learn more
Not sure where to start? See what a mortgage broker actually does.
When did you last
check your rate?
We compare your current home loan against 35+ lenders. If a refinance saves you money we will show you the numbers, and if it does not we will tell you that too.
Your job matters
Home loans by profession
Some lenders drop lenders mortgage insurance for certain jobs, and on an Ashfield house that is a large sum. The lists and the limits differ from one lender to the next, so it is worth checking where yours sits.
Home loans for
Doctors
Learn more
Home loans for
Dentists
Learn more
Home loans for
Accountants
Learn more
Home loans for
Lawyers
Learn more
Not sure if your job is on a list? See No LMI and waived LMI home loans, or ask us and we will check every lender on our panel.
Plan ahead
Run the numbers
Free tools that show you where you stand right now.
How it works
Three steps to your loan
1
Financial health check
2
Get pre-approved
3
Settle, then stay in touch
Client reviews
5.0 ★★★★★ on Google
Reviews from clients across Sydney.
★★★★★
"Cannot recommend Ali highly enough. He made a complicated and daunting process incredibly easy, and continually went above and beyond. Would absolutely recommend him to everyone."
★★★★★
"Ali is super knowledgeable, reasonable and personable! He will be realistic with what is possible but always find you the best deal whilst making you feel looked after."
★★★★★
"Ali was very professional and was able to help with our complicated loans to refinance. He kept us up to date throughout the process and made sure my wife and I understood everything before signing and that we had no issues after settlement."
FAQ
Ashfield questions, answered
Why use a mortgage broker in Ashfield?
Because most purchases here are units in blocks built fifty or sixty years ago, and lenders differ sharply on those. The capital works fund, a special levy that has been struck or is being discussed, the internal floor size. All of it sits in front of your income in the assessment. Your bank has one view of the block you have chosen and you learn what it is after you apply. Brokers also have a legal duty called the Best Interests Duty, which means we have to put you first.
What does a lender look for in an older block?
The state of the money set aside for maintenance, mostly. On a sixties or seventies walk up, work like waterproofing, balcony repairs, rewiring and roofing eventually arrives, and lenders read the capital works fund to see whether it has been provided for. A healthy fund and no live disputes make the file straightforward. A thin fund on an ageing building raises questions, because the cost is coming and has not been saved for.
What happens if a special levy is coming?
It matters twice over. A lender may treat a struck levy as a debt you are taking on, which reduces what you can borrow, and a large one being discussed can make them cautious about the building generally. For you it is a bill that lands whether the loan cares or not. The minutes in the strata report are where this shows up, so order the report early rather than treating it as a formality after exchange.
Is there a minimum apartment size lenders will accept?
Most set one, and Ashfield has a lot of compact one bedders from the sixties that sit close to the line. It is usually measured on internal living area rather than the whole title, so a balcony and a car space do not count towards it. When a unit falls under, some lenders decline and others lend a much smaller share of the price, meaning a bigger deposit. Every lender draws the line differently, so the floor plan is worth checking before you offer.
Can I buy my first home in Ashfield with a 5% deposit?
If you are an eligible first home buyer, often yes, and Ashfield is one of the better Inner West suburbs for it because unit prices sit at a level the scheme comfortably reaches. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets you buy with a 5% deposit and pay no lenders mortgage insurance, with Housing Australia guaranteeing the gap between your deposit and 20%. It is a guarantee, not a grant. The building still has to suit the lender, which here is the part that decides it.
How much deposit do I need in Ashfield?
A 20% deposit avoids lenders mortgage insurance. On an Ashfield unit that is within reach for many buyers, and on a house it is a very different number given the gap between the two. Plenty of people get in with 5 or 10% and pay the insurance instead, some professions can skip it, and a family guarantor loan can cut the deposit further again. On an older block the lender may want more, so work the figure against the actual address.
How does a guarantor loan work?
A family member, usually a parent, offers part of the equity in their property as extra security for your loan. They do not make your repayments and no cash changes hands, which matters when parents want to help but do not have a large sum sitting available. Most are set up as a limited guarantee, so only a defined portion of their home is at risk. Once your own borrowing sits under 80% of value, it can be released.
What is the difference between a guarantor and a co-borrower?
A guarantor supports the loan with their property but is not on the title or the debt. A co-borrower is on both, so the whole loan sits on their credit file and counts against anything they want to borrow later. Co-borrowing lifts what you can afford because both incomes count, and it is a far larger commitment than a limited guarantee. In a suburb with as many multi generational households as this one, that difference is worth settling before you apply.
Can I move from an Ashfield unit to an Ashfield house?
It is a much bigger jump than most people expect, because houses here sit at roughly two and a half times what units do. Equity in the unit will not close that on its own, and the borrowing capacity needed is a different order entirely. Plenty of people who start in an Ashfield unit end up buying their house further west where land is cheaper. Worth working out the real number before you plan around it.
How much of the rent will a lender count?
Not all of it. Lenders count a portion of the expected rent as income, commonly around eighty per cent, to allow for vacancy, management and costs, and they differ on the figure. They also assess the new loan at a rate well above the actual one. Ashfield units rent well and yield better than most of the Inner West, so the rent does real work here, just not as much as the rental appraisal suggests.
I own several investment properties. Can the loans be improved?
Often, and it is usually structure as much as rate. Where several properties sit with one lender, or are tied together as security, every request goes through a review of the whole bundle and the answers come back conservative. Spreading the loans across more than one lender, keeping securities standalone, and repricing at the same time can change the monthly cost considerably without selling anything. The tax side belongs with your accountant.
What is an offset account and is it worth having?
An offset is a transaction account linked to your loan. Every dollar in it reduces the balance interest is charged on, without being locked away. On an Ashfield unit the loan is often modest, so the package fee that comes with an offset is a larger share of the benefit than it would be on a house. Check it against the balance you actually hold, because on a smaller loan a basic product with no fee can win.
Offset or redraw. What is the difference?
Redraw means paying extra off the loan and taking it back later. Offset means the money sits beside the loan in its own account. The interest effect is similar. What differs is access and treatment, because redraw can be restricted by the lender and money you redraw counts as new borrowing rather than your own savings returning. Ashfield owners very often keep the unit and rent it out when they move up, so offset is usually the cleaner structure. Your accountant can explain why.
Should I fix my rate or stay variable?
Fixed gives certainty for a set period, usually one to five years. Variable gives flexibility, an offset account and unlimited extra repayments. Most fixed loans do not come with a usable offset. One thing specific to an older block is that a special levy can land with little warning, and a fixed loan gives you no room to draw on. Breaking a fixed loan early can be expensive, so the term matters more than the rate on day one.
Can I split the loan between fixed and variable?
Yes, though on a modest Ashfield loan the fee per split is worth checking first. You fix a portion for repayment certainty and leave the rest variable so the offset still works against it. A good rule is to leave at least as much variable as the balance you typically keep in offset, which on an older unit should include something set aside for levies. It means neither decision has to be all or nothing.
Interest only or principal and interest?
On a home you live in, principal and interest is almost always the answer, because interest only means you owe the same at the end of the period as at the start. On an investment it is a genuine question, and Ashfield has a very high share of investor owned units. The catch is that lenders assess an interest only loan on what the repayment becomes when it reverts, not what you pay now, so it reduces what you can borrow next time. Worth discussing with your accountant as well as us.
Does the heritage conservation area affect my loan?
Not for a straightforward purchase. Where it matters is renovating one of the Victorian or Federation houses around the park, because a conservation listing changes what council will approve and how long approval takes. A construction loan is written against approved plans and a fixed price contract, so delays on the council side hold up the finance rather than the other way round. The period character is generally part of the value here rather than a deduction from it.
When I refinance, does my loan term reset?
Only if you let it. Most refinances default to a fresh thirty year term, which makes the monthly repayment look better and quietly adds years of interest. Ask for the remaining term instead, so a loan with twenty two years left stays a twenty two year loan. On a smaller Ashfield loan the monthly difference looks minor either way, which is exactly why people accept the reset without noticing what it costs over time.
How much does it cost to refinance a home loan?
Usually a few hundred dollars to around a thousand. Your current lender charges a discharge fee, there are government fees to move the mortgage, and the new lender may charge a settlement or valuation fee, though plenty waive them. On an older Ashfield block the new lender is more likely to want a full valuation rather than a desktop one, because of the building rather than you, so allow a little more time in the timetable.
Do I have to change lenders to get a better rate?
Not always. Lenders price new business more sharply than existing loans, so long standing customers drift, but many will move on rate if you ask properly and can show them the market. That avoids a discharge fee, a new application and a fresh valuation, which matters if your unit sits in a block lenders are fussy about. Sometimes the gap is too wide and moving wins. We check both before you decide.
I live in Ashfield but want to buy elsewhere. Does that matter?
Far less than people expect. A lender assesses you, then it assesses the property you are buying. Where you currently live barely features. What does matter is the postcode and property type you are buying into, because lender restrictions attach to the security rather than to your address. Given the gap between units and houses here, plenty of Ashfield owners keep the unit and buy their house further west, and that lending is straightforward.
Should I use my bank or a mortgage broker?
A bank can only offer its own loans, its own valuation panel and its own rules. In a suburb of ageing walk up blocks, the odds that one lender is comfortable with your particular building are not good, and you usually find out after you have applied and paid for a valuation. A broker checks it against many lenders first, and will tell you when staying put wins. Buyvest compares 35+ lenders at $0 cost to you.
Your Ashfield mortgage broker
Your home loan.
Made simple.
Free check. No pressure. 35+ lenders compared at $0 cost to you.
Ashfield sits in the middle of the Inner West, so everything is a few minutes away. Summer Hill and Haberfield are next door, with Dulwich Hill and Petersham south along the line. North towards the river sit Five Dock and Abbotsford. East the terrace belt runs through Leichhardt, Stanmore, Marrickville, Annandale and Lilyfield, and Strathfield sits west. We cover all of them, so if your search shifts a suburb or two, you are not starting from scratch.