Frequently Asked Questions

A valuation is an estimation of how much your property is worth. When you apply for a home loan, refinance or loan increase you will need to get a valuation of your security property to find out how much you can borrow.

A risk fee is a one-off fee that’s designed to protect the lender in the case of applications that are considered to be higher risk. Your application might be considered high risk because you don’t have enough documentation to prove your income, or you have a history of bad credit.

A comparison rate is there to help you understand the true cost of a home loan, including fees and charges, so you can easily compare different products and lenders.

When you apply for a home loan, you need to show your lender documentation to prove your income. Full doc, alt doc and low doc home loans refer to the type of income verification you use:

Full doc is when you have access to fully verified forms of evidence to prove your income (tax returns, notice of assessments, income statements).

Alt doc (also called low doc) is an alternative way to prove your income when you don’t have access to fully verified means. At Bluestone we have a number of flexible alt doc options for borrowers including business activity statements, business bank statements and/or accountants letters.

Read more about the differences between full doc, alt doc and low doc home loans here.

An interest-only home loan is when you only pay the interest on your loan, rather than repaying the principal (amount you’ve borrowed) as well as the interest. While an interest-only loan can be a good option in some circumstances, there are downsides so make sure you do your homework before making a decision.

Pre-approval is something many home buyers or investors get before they start house hunting. With pre-approval the lender has given you an estimation of how much you can borrow. Pre-approval isn’t a guarantee that you will be approved for a loan, but it gives you an idea what you can borrow so you can budget.

Conditional approval is when approval has been provided on the basis that certain outstanding conditions are met before formal approval can be given.

Unconditional approval is when you have applied and been approved for a loan. Unlike pre-approval, unconditional approval is a guarantee that you will be able to borrow a certain amount.