More options needed for the self-employed

It seems as though there couldn’t be enough properties on the market to cater for demand and money can’t get much cheaper. I dare say that I’m not alone in having multiple clients out there trying their hardest to win auctions and secure properties. At least this is the case for our self-employed clients with a full set of financials.

I have a large concentration of self-employed clients that would struggle to provide a full set of financials for all different reasons. One of my main clients is the director of 29 companies, one of which turns over more than $4.5 million per month. It’s not possible to try and co-ordinate those financials for various different reasons – it’s not to say he’s a bad debtor.

It’s fantastic that we have second-tier lender options for these clients and the competition in this space has certainly heated up price-wise. We have rates and fees dropping for clients without financials, especially the guys without credit issues. What I would like to see though are equal policies.

Most lenders have tighter policies on alt-doc loans. For example, there are very few construction options on the market, very few options on vacant land, and very few options on larger properties and big-dollar loans. So why don’t we offer them similar opportunities to those with payslips?

My self-employed clients are missing out on investment and development opportunities as a result of restrictive lending options. Although I’ve heard time after time at professional development days that lo-doc or alt-doc loan books perform the same as, if not better than, full-doc loan books. So I’d love to see them get access to the same policies as our full-doc friends. Of course, we always need to be careful and ensure that we are verifying their ability to repay, but based on the various methods we use to achieve this, I’d like to see their options open up.

Explore careers in finance with Finni.

 Sean Murphy, senior credit adviser, My Mortgage Freedom 

 Starting his finance career at Liberty Financial in 2007, Sean developed a passion for specialist lending and the challenge of  finding a solution for every client.

 Having been a BDM at Liberty for almost three years, Sean decided it was time to move on and joined My Mortgage Freedom in  the beginning of 2014. Sean's background in SMSF lending and non-conforming residential and commercial mortgages gives  the  team great scope when dealing with their clients.

 Sean's objective is to work with a range of clients in different situations to assist them no matter how challenging the  transaction  might be.