‘How much can I borrow?’ and ‘How much can I afford?’ are both related and necessary considerations before you begin to look at properties. There is nothing more frustrating and stressful than finding the perfect property, making an offer that is accepted by the vendor and then finding that you just cannot get the necessary finance. And if your lender is slow and the cooling off period has expired, you could in fact be risking thousands of dollars by not having a formal pre-approval.

Knowing in advance how much you can borrow not only greatly reduces this stress but also increases your negotiation power. There is no more powerful statement than being able to genuinely say ‘love the house but I can only afford….’