Three things cap what you can buy. Each gives a maximum. Yours is the lowest.
1.Your depositleast info
2.Your debta bit more
3.The repaymentsa little more
This tool tackles them in order. You'll know which one is your limit, and what to change if you need.
1Deposit
2Debt
3Income
What can your savings actually buy?
Giveyour savings and a few details
Getthe max price your deposit can reach
Which state or territory?
We use this to calculate how much stamp duty takes from your savings before it becomes deposit.
First home buyer?
Stamp duty discounts can apply when buying your first home in Australia.
Do you qualify for the ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme?
The ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme gives a full stamp duty exemption to income-eligible buyers — not limited to first home buyers. Approximate threshold: ~$160,000/year for singles. Property must be your principal place of residence (which also sets your LVR ceiling to owner-occupier rates).
How do you plan to use this property?
In Victoria, owner-occupiers pay less stamp duty and can borrow more of the purchase price than investors.
Two things change. First, Victoria charges a lower stamp duty rate for owner-occupiers on homes up to $550,000 — less duty means more of your savings go toward deposit. Second, lenders cap investor borrowing lower than owner-occupier: investors are limited to 90% LVR (houses/townhouses) or 80% (apartments), versus 95% and 90% for owner-occupiers.
New build or established home?
New builds can attract different stamp duty concessions to established homes.
Will you live in it?
If you live in a property as your primary residence you can borrow more of the purchase price than investors.
Lenders limit how much of a property's value they'll fund — and it depends on how you use it.
Owner-occupier (you'll live here as your principal place of residence): · Houses and townhouses: borrow up to 95% · Apartments: borrow up to 90%
Investor (you won't live here as your principal place of residence): · Houses and townhouses: borrow up to 90% · Apartments: borrow up to 80%
The lower your borrowing limit, the bigger the deposit you need — so the same savings buy less property.
This limit is called the Loan to Value Ratio (LVR). If you say "LVR" to a broker or banker, you'll sound like you know what you're talking about — because you will.
Note: you can only have one principal place of residence at a time.
What type of property?
Lenders fund a smaller share of an apartment's purchase price than a house or townhouse.
Lenders limit how much of an apartment's value they'll fund compared to a house or townhouse.
Houses and townhouses: · Owner-occupier: borrow up to 95% · Investor: borrow up to 90%
Apartments: · Owner-occupier: borrow up to 90% · Investor: borrow up to 80%
The lower your borrowing limit, the bigger the deposit you need — so the same savings buy less property.
This limit is called the Loan to Value Ratio (LVR). Lenders see apartments as slightly higher risk, which is why the cap is lower.
How much have you saved?
Everything you'd put toward this purchase — savings, investments, or the net proceeds from selling a property. Don't subtract stamp duty or fees; the calculator does that.
$
Here's what you told us.
Here's what we'll apply.
Ceiling 1 of 3 — done. Your deposit limit is above. Now check whether your income and existing debt load change this number.
Ceiling 1 is your savings floor. Now check if income changes it.
1 ✓Deposit
2Debt
3Income
Does your debt leave room to borrow?
Giveyour existing debts and gross annual income
Getthe max borrowing your debt-to-income ratio allows
Buying solo or with someone else?
This shapes every question in the tool — it's the first thing we need to know.
Three or more borrowers gets complex.
This tool is built for one or two borrowers. Multi-borrower applications involve separate income assessments, combined debt ratios, and lender-specific rules we can't reliably model here.
Your Ceiling 1 result (deposit limit) above is still valid — that calculation doesn't depend on borrower count. For Ceiling 2 and 3, a mortgage broker can run the full multi-borrower scenario properly. This is exactly the situation where a good broker pays for itself.
Other properties after this purchase?
Mortgages you'll still have after this purchase settles — not the one you're selling to fund it.
Each existing mortgage adds to your total debt. Lenders calculate your Debt-to-Income ratio (DTI) across all loans combined — the more you owe elsewhere, the less you can borrow for this purchase.
How many mortgaged properties?
Count each property you'll still have a mortgage against after this purchase settles.
Four properties.
GetReal isn't built for portfolios this size. If you hold 4 or more mortgaged properties, your situation involves enough moving parts that this tool will mislead more than it helps. You need a broker, not a score.
Talk to a mortgage broker who specialises in portfolio lending. They can run the actual serviceability models lenders use.
Tell us about each property.
Enter the current outstanding mortgage balance, whether it will be rented or owner-occupied, and (if rented) the expected weekly rent you'll receive.
Do you have credit cards?
Lenders count your total approved limit — not your balance. A $20,000 limit you never touch still counts as $20,000 of debt.
Credit card limits are treated as fully drawn debt in every DTI calculation — regardless of what you actually owe. A card with a $20,000 limit and a $0 balance still adds $20,000 to your total debt. Reducing or closing cards before applying can materially improve your borrowing limit.
What's your total credit limit?
Add up the approved limit across all your cards — not what you currently owe.
Total combined limit across all cards
$
If you have two cards at $10,000 each, enter $20,000.
What are you planning to do with your cards?
Doing this before you apply can meaningfully increase your borrowing limit.
Because lenders count your full approved limit as debt — not your balance. Reducing a $20,000 limit to $5,000 removes $15,000 from your debt load. Closing a card removes it entirely. Either move can push your DTI ratio down and meaningfully increase your borrowing limit. It's one of the quickest levers available before an application.
What will the new total combined limit be?
$
Add up the new approved limits across all remaining cards.
HECS/HELP student debt?
Since September 2025, HECS/HELP is excluded from lender debt-to-income calculations.
Good news — HECS/HELP is excluded from the DTI cap. Since 30 September 2025, APRA-regulated lenders must exclude HECS/HELP balances when calculating your debt-to-income ratio. It won't count against your borrowing cap here.
It does still reduce your take-home pay (the ATO compulsorily withholds repayments above certain income thresholds), which matters for your Ceiling 3 serviceability check.
Any other ongoing debt?
Car loans, personal loans, buy-now-pay-later. Not including what we've already covered above.
How many separate loans?
Income
Base salary only — bonuses and overtime need a 2-year history before most lenders count them. Exclude super.
You
Gross annual salary (before tax)
$
Used for the debt-to-income ceiling (6× gross).
Take-home pay
$
What actually hits your account after tax. Used for the serviceability ceiling.
Co-borrower
Gross annual salary (before tax)
$
Used for the debt-to-income ceiling.
Take-home pay
$
What actually hits their account after tax.
Expected weekly rent on this property
$
Gross weekly rent received. We apply 80% lender shading automatically. If rental makes up a large share of your total income, our serviceability estimate will be less precise — the tax treatment is complex and borrower-specific.
Check your numbers.
Here's what we'll apply.
1 ✓Deposit
2 ✓Debt
3Income
Can you meet the repayments?
Giveyour take-home pay and household living expenses
Getthe max loan your income can actually service
Monthly repayments on other mortgages
Enter what you currently pay, or let us estimate. Either is valid — an estimate assumes a fresh 30-year P&I loan at the stress rate from your current balance.
Monthly repayments on other loans
What do you currently pay per month on each loan? We're assuming these continue unchanged — wrapping consumer debt into your mortgage could increase your ceiling, but we won't assume that here.
What's your take-home pay?
After tax — what actually hits your account. Enter each borrower separately and we'll add them up.
Borrower 1
$
Borrower 2
$
Who's buying?
Banks set a minimum living cost floor that varies by household size. Your answer sets that floor.
Banks use a benchmark called HEM — the Household Expenditure Measure — to set a minimum assumed living cost. Even if you spend less, the bank assumes at least HEM. A couple has a higher HEM than a single person, which reduces the surplus income available to service a mortgage.
How many dependants?
Count everyone you financially support — children, or anyone else who relies on your income. If you share custody or have a blended household, count children who regularly depend on you financially even if they don't live with you full time. Not sure? Go higher — it's the safer assumption.
Where do you live?
HEM benchmarks differ between capital cities and regional areas. Banks look at where you live, not where the property is.
What are your living expenses?
APRA requires all lenders to apply a minimum living cost benchmark — the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM), published quarterly by the Melbourne Institute. It covers food, utilities, transport, and everyday spending. Whatever you declare, the bank must assume at least this figure.
My monthly living expenses (food, utilities, transport, entertainment)
$
Do you currently pay rent?
Banks count rent as a committed cost — it comes out of your income before they calculate what you can repay.
Weekly rent
$
We'll convert this to monthly (× 52 ÷ 12).
Do you pay private school fees?
School fees are treated as a committed expense — banks add them on top of your living costs.
Total annual fees (all children combined)
$
We'll spread this across 12 months.
Do you have private health insurance?
HEM doesn't include health insurance. Banks typically treat it as a committed cost if you have it.
Monthly premium
$
Here's what you told us.
Here's what we'll apply.
Do you have a target price?
Enter the price you're aiming for — we'll show you how your ceiling stacks up and what levers are available.