PARENTAL ASSISTANCE LOANS

You parents may be able to help you own your property sooner

Have you ever had a conversation with your parents regarding assistance for your first home purchase?

Whilst it is not that uncommon for parents to gift their children large sums of money for the purpose of funding their first home deposit, the reality is that most parents can’t afford to gift money to their children. As housing affordability has worsened across the country, the equity of current home owners has grown whilst an aspiring first home buyer’s ability to save for their first home deposit has diminished.

For those who have parents who can afford to and are willing to help you out, here are the most common forms of parent assistance:

Whilst a parental guarantee for a first home buyer’s loan is still the most common form of assistance, new products & agreements are being introduced to protect the security the parents are providing. We look at these alternative assistance methods below:

TYPES OF PARENTAL ASSISTANCE

There are many types of parental assistance, click below to learn more about each of them:

FAMILY GUARANTEE

Allows your parents to provide the equity in their property to be used as additional security for your loan

FAMILY PLEDGE

Allows your parents to provide a partial guarantee in their property to be used as security for your loan

FINANCIAL AGREEMENT

Parents loan their children a certain amount with repayment conditions set out in a formal agreement

INFORMAL AGREEMENT

This can come in the form of a cash gift or a promise to repay the lent money in the future

BENEFITS OF PARENTAL ASSISTANCE

We are proud to showcase various low deposit home loan options as per below:

AVOID EXTRA COSTS

Parental assistance can help you avoid LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) costs

PLENTY OF OPTIONS

FHBA Mortgages can help with you a range of parental assistance first home loan options

COMPLETE SERVICE

Your FHBA Coach will explain the entire process, benefits and risks to your parents

BUY SOONER

Parental assistance options are designed to help you get into the market sooner

FAMILY GUARANTEES

WHAT IS IT?

Your family members can use their own home’s equity to provide additional security for your loan under a family guarantee. Under a full guarantee it is usually for the whole amount of the loan. Family members who can give a family guarantee are parents (including step and in-law), spouse, de-facto, grandparents, siblings, children, brother in law or sister in law or legally appointed guardians This solution reduces your loan to value ratio which in turn reduces or avoids the need for you to pay Lender’s Mortgage Insurance. (Your loan amount divided by the formal value of the property.) This can save you a significant amount of money as well as helping you get into your first home faster.

THE BENEFITS

CASE STUDY

Tom and Samantha are first home buyers. They have found a house they wish to buy for $400,000 (property 1). Their income can easily service a loan of $400,000 or more but don’t have the required 5% deposit saved up to meet lenders deposit requirements due to them renting prior to buying. Tom’s parents are willing to “go guarantor” for them and they own their home outright which is worth about $800,000 (property 2).
Loan amount required: $415,000 (purchase price + stamp duty and legal fees)
Security for the loan:
Property 1 (value $400,000) + Property 2 (value $800,000 with full loan guarantee)
Loan to value ratio (LVR):
$415,000 = 35%
As the loan to value ratio is only 35% (< 80%) this would allow Tom and Samantha to purchase their first home without the costs of stamp duty.

FAMILY PLEDGE

WHAT IS IT?

Your family members can use their own home’s equity to provide additional security for a portion of your loan amount. This solution reduces your loan to value ratio LVR and can also save you a significant amount of money by reducing or even avoiding the need to pay Lender’s Mortgage Insurance. This allows you to get into your home faster, whilst limiting the help from your family. With the partial guarantee/pledge products on the FHBA Mortgage’s panel, the guarantee can be limited to a specific amount, which helps provide certainty and allows the property to be released earlier than the full parent guarantees which cover 100% of the loan amount.

THE BENEFITS

CASE STUDY

Tom is planning to purchase a $300,000 property with a $15,000 deposit (LVR of 95%), which means Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) would be payable.

If Tom’s parents had a house valued at $800,000 but with only $200,000 owing on the mortgage and agreed to provide a family pledge guarantee of $56,500 as an additional security, the LVR would reduce to 80%.

This would result in the LMI premium requirement being waived, saving Tom up to $6,000 in Mortgage Insurance cost

FINANCIAL AGREEMENT

WHAT IS IT?

This strategy does not require parents to enter into any guarantee or place their property at risk.

It is simply an alternative way for parents to help their children (or grandchildren) get onto the property market ladder by structuring their financial assistance into a formal contract protecting both the parents and the child/children

It’s a formal loan from your parents – independently managed – to give you the borrowing power you need right now; protecting you and your parents.

THE BENEFITS

CASE STUDY

Tom & Samantha are looking to purchase their first home and have found that they require $300,000 for the property purchase and $15,000 in associated costs such as stamp duty. It means they would require at $75,000 in savings to get a first home loan and avoid LMI. With their income, they can easily service a loan in excess of $400,000.
Samantha’s parents have additional savings available and are willing to help Samantha achieve her dream of home ownership with her Partner, Tom. However, they are concerned by the risks if things don’t go to plan. Therefore, Samantha’s parents have recommended a parent to child loan. which is administered by the lender but is a formal agreement which manages the repayments (with interest) between the children and the parent – providing security and assurance for all parties involved.
Tom and Samantha make loan payments for $240,000 to the lender and the remainder ($75,000) to the parents – all administered by the lender.

INFORMAL AGREEMENT

WHAT IS IT?

As most lenders require first home buyers to show a minimum of 5% in genuine savings (over the last 3 months minimum) or in previous rental payment commitments (if you are renting), this option is available to make up the deposit shortfall.

Whilst this strategy comes with risks as there are no formal agreements protecting the parents and the child if things turned pear-shaped, however it does provide flexibility for both parties and eases the pressure on the first home buyer.

It is important to consider the risks before committing to this strategy, your FHBA Coach is in a great position to explain the risks involved with the strategy and if this is an appropriate option for you.

THE BENEFITS

CASE STUDY

Tom and Samantha have saved $50,000 and are looking at purchasing a home for $400,000 approx. They are keen on avoiding Lenders Mortgage Insurance as their income won’t be enough to service a loan of more than $400,000 if they decided to capitalise the LMI.

Tom’s parents are able to help both by providing the additional funds to cover the 20% deposit, plus any additional costs such as Stamp Duty. However, Tom and his parents have a very close relationship and there is mutual trust between then, therefore the parents don’t want any formal agreements. They are happy for Tom and Samantha to repay the funds upon a rise in the value of the property whereby they can unlock the equity in the property.

This is a great option for Tom & Samantha as they don’t have the added burden of extra paperwork and stress of maintaining repayments to their parents.

Get started now

Are you interested in one of the loans mentioned above? Or would you like more information on the home loans that are available to you? Simply complete the form below and a first home buyer expert (Broker/Coach) will be in touch with you: