Home loans for engineers
Your bank says engineers aren't on the list. Plenty of lenders disagree.
Eligible engineers can borrow up to 90% of the price with no LMI: a 10% deposit, and no insurance bill on top. It isn't every lender and it isn't automatic, so knowing which one says yes to your discipline and your income is our job.
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The engineer's catch
The problem isn't your risk profile. It's how a one-size lender reads your income and your profession.
You've got a strong, stable income and a profession lenders should value. But a generic lender's system can shade your contract, FIFO or bonus income before it counts, push a consulting ABN into two-years-of-tax-returns territory, and it certainly won't tell you that another lender would waive your LMI to 90%. A specialist lender reads the same file and sees a low-risk borrower.
What a one-size lender sees
- Contract, FIFO or bonus income, shaded before it counts
- A consulting ABN pushed into two years of tax returns
- Overtime and site allowances read as unreliable
- "Engineers aren't on our professional list," and that's the end of it
- One bank's rulebook, taken as the whole market's answer
What's actually true
- A strong, stable income the right lender competes to lend to
- Contract, FIFO and bonus income counted more fully by the right lender
- A degree-qualified professional who can borrow up to 90% with no LMI, assessed on your situation
- Professional-package pricing worth checking across the market, not assuming
- The right lender from 30+, matched to how engineers actually earn
And there's a second thing a one-off application misses: an engineer's income usually climbs and steadies with every project. This loan should set up the next move, not just clear today's.
The shift
One application at one bank is a guess. Matching the lender is a plan.
Most engineers apply the way they'd never run a project: one lender, whatever's quickest, and hope the numbers land. Planning flips it. We map which lenders count your contract, FIFO or bonus income, which extend professional benefits you're eligible for, and how today's loan sets up the upgrade, the investment, or the move into consulting. Gathered once, timed around what actually matters.
What working with us gives you
Three things a cold application never will.
We find the lender that counts your income
Not every lender treats contract, FIFO, overtime or bonus income the same way, and the gap between them can be tens of thousands in borrowing power. We know which lenders read an engineer's income in full, which will take you to 90% with no LMI, and which will do neither. Every situation is assessed on its own and matched to the lender it fits.
Share your file once. We do the chasing.
Your payslips, your contract or roster, your qualifications, and your ABN returns if you consult, collected a single time. We build the case the lender needs and push it through, so you're not re-sending documents between site swings or project deadlines. Most engineers just tell us what they want and let us work out how.
This loan sets up the upgrade, and the first investment
The first home, the upgrade, the first investment property: one plan, not three cold starts. We map them with you and your accountant so today's loan opens the next move instead of capping it. After settlement, your loan stays watched, so when rates move or your income steps up, you hear about it.
Who you'll talk to
A licensed broker who knows professional lending, not a call centre.
You'll work with a licensed credit representative who arranges home loans for engineers and other professionals, and who's across the parts that matter: how contract, FIFO and bonus income is assessed, which lenders extend professional benefits to eligible engineers, and how a consulting ABN changes the paperwork. They work around your roster and your deadlines, not the other way around.
What clients say
What professionals say about working with us.
The right package for a professional job
"My wife and I used them for our recent home loan and they were great from start to finish. They also understand the best option for home loan packages aligned to those in professional jobs."
A good rate, and no LMI to pay
"We were able to get a loan at a good rate and avoid paying LMI which saved us several thousand dollars that we can now put towards other things."
Real customer reviews from MAP Home Loans, the mortgage brokerage behind Approov.
Good to know
Around your roster
We work when you can't
You're on site, on a swing, or buried in a deadline. We're across your file either way. Updates come to you, questions get answered around your hours, and nothing stalls because you couldn't get to the phone at 2pm.
Human first
The AI never decides
Approov's process handles the documents, the updates and the monitoring. A licensed broker makes every call and signs off on the advice.
In your corner
Free to you, and on your side
We're paid by lenders for introducing loans. Under the Best Interests Duty we're legally bound to recommend what's right for you, not what pays us most.
Common questions
Home loans for engineers, answered.
- Are engineers exempt from LMI?
- Often, yes. Eligible engineers can borrow up to 90% of the property value with no LMI, assessed on your situation. It isn't automatic, and it isn't the 95% doctors reach. Lenders generally want a recognised engineering degree, current membership of a body like Engineers Australia, and a steady income history, and some set an income floor on top. Your discipline matters too. Our job is finding the lender whose policy actually fits you, rather than assuming the waiver is there.
- What professions get LMI waived?
- Medical reaches furthest, up to 95% for eligible doctors. Engineering, legal and accounting sit a tier below at up to 90%. On the engineering side that generally covers civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, chemical, mining, environmental and geotechnical, with software recognised by fewer lenders. The lists and the conditions differ between lenders, which is why we compare across 30+ rather than working off one bank's policy.
- How much deposit does an engineer need?
- Often 10%. Eligible engineers can borrow up to 90% of the property value with no LMI, assessed on your situation, which puts a 10% deposit within reach without an LMI premium on top of it. First-home-buyer engineers may instead qualify for the government scheme that allows a 5% deposit and no LMI. We model your real numbers before you commit to anything.
- What is a professional package home loan?
- It's a home loan bundled with features aimed at professionals, often a rate discount, an offset account and waived fees, in exchange for an annual package fee. For some engineers a package works out sharper once you count the fee; for others a no-frills loan wins. There's no rule that a package is automatically cheaper, so we compare the total cost across the market, not just the discount.
- What salary do you need for a $500,000 loan?
- It depends on your other commitments, your living costs and the lender's assessment rate, not just your income. Most engineers service a loan this size comfortably, but the honest answer shifts with your situation, and with how a lender treats any contract, bonus or FIFO income. We run it properly rather than quoting a rule of thumb.
- How much do you need to earn for a $700,000 mortgage?
- There's no single figure, because lenders weigh your income, your commitments and their own buffer differently. An engineer's income often stretches further than a generic calculator assumes, especially once contract, overtime or site allowances are counted by the right lender. We'll map what you can actually borrow across 30+ lenders.
Let's find the lender that reads your income right.
A licensed broker shows you what you can borrow as an engineer and which lenders count all of your income. Nothing to prepare, no obligation.
15 to 30 minutes · no obligation · 30+ lenders