How COVID is impacting the first home buyer and what do they need to take into consideration when applying for a mortgage in the pandemic?
While we are extremely lucky to live in a country with so many benefits when purchasing our homes such as the First Home Owners Grant and Stamp Duty Relief, it is impossible to say that this pandemic has not affected those looking to purchase their first home. With a decrease in hours and a shift in mindset, many first home buyers are now finding difficulty with purchasing their first property.
Things like underemployment and fear of deflation have reduced consumer confidence, while those who have acquired wealth in the past are continuing to drive prices up since they cannot spend money externally from Australia. Many suburbs are setting records with regard to their purchases, and the first home buyers are being left behind.
Considerations that home buyers need to make with current lending conditions
The major consideration for anyone purchasing a property is whether their employment income has been affected by covid.
Banks are now asking for commentary on if employment has been affected at all, and will it decline if hours have been reduced due to the pandemic. Buyers need to consider if they have the capacity to purchase, and should really speak to a broker or lending specialist before making any offers.
Will applying for government support grants have an impact on an individual’s lending approval?
As with the support grants these are dependent on client income and revenue. A business can only apply for a grant if it has experienced a loss in revenue, and an individual can only apply if they have experienced a loss in hours. By applying for these grants, while the income may be good, it will affect the approval as it will affect the borrowing capacity.
Background
Joseph Daoud, aged 30, is the founder and managing director of It’s Simple, a platform that connects people to the right financial lender for their specific borrowing needs, and educates clients about home loans through the entire process.
Before founding It’s Simple, Joseph was working at Macquarie Bank in home loans. By the third month in the role, Joseph was one of the top home loan specialists at Macquarie Bank. He had closed more than $20 million in loans in one month and was skyrocketing to his career success. Six months later he closed $31 million in one month. He found that helping borrowers with home loans had quickly become second nature to him.
He had a knack for making the whole process stress-free and seamless for the client. His clients would often say ‘Thanks for making it so simple, Joseph’ which is where the name for his company came from.
In 2018 Joseph’s dad had a heart attack. Joseph left this position at Macquarie Bank to take over the family business in construction and property management. Joseph learnt about managing and building hotels, apartments and heritage buildings. With the help of his brothers and team, Joseph was able to complete the final projects and his dad was able to retire.
Joseph kept working in property management and started working on a financial business as a side gig with a mate. There were delays due to the COVID pandemic but they finally launched It’s Simple in February 2021. They had built up a whole business and became visible in the market without any referrals.
It’s Simple grew quickly. Joseph left the property management role to work on It’s Simple full time. He tripled the team by May 2021. And in July 2021, It’s Simple settled $12million. He believes that they are well on the way to hitting $144 million in lending.
They had also become educators on home loans through their online tools such as their Facebook group ‘The Homeloan University’ which boasts more than 3000 members. It’s Simple makes sure their client is getting the right advice on their home loan and connects the borrower with the right lender.
The team at It’s Simple follows Joseph’s philosophy that borrowing money shouldn’t be intimidating or confusing. Joseph has a down-to-earth nature and believes in transparency which helps build client relationships. He promotes this attitude through his business, client contact and entire life.
About It’s Simple
It’s Simple believes every Australian deserves to own their own home and homeowners should get to spend their hard-earned on what matters most.
Purchasing a home, an investment property, or refinancing your current mortgage can be daunting.
The policies, regulations, and mind-boggling jargon around lending make it more difficult than it needs be to obtain finance, especially for first home buyers unfamiliar with the ins-and-outs of loan finance.
It’s Simple is on a mission to make the lending process seamless and less intimidating.
