Most Banks Decline This Structure. We Know How to Get It Approved.

For many Australian expats living overseas, there’s a moment when the pull of home becomes too strong to ignore. Family is here. Your kids are growing fast. The distant idea of returning home suddenly becomes real.

For Mark and Emily, an Australian-American family living in Chicago, the moment was when they found a beautiful home in Tamarama, Sydney. With ocean views, room for their young child to grow, and family nearby, it was everything they wanted for their return home in the future.

But, there was one major challenge: the home needed to be purchased in Emily’s name as the Australian citizen, even though Mark, a U.S. citizen earning a high, foreign income, was the one servicing the entire loan.

This is a story of how they made it happen.

Why Buying An Australian Property From Overseas Is Difficult For Expats?

Even financially strong expats run into roadblocks when applying for an Australian home loan. Mark and Emily’s situation triggered almost every major expat lending obstacle.

Mixed-Residency Lending Rules

Many lenders won’t accept an application where the Australian spouse must hold the property, but the foreign spouse is the one earning the income. This creates a policy conflict: title ownership onshore, servicing power offshore. Without the right structuring and manual approval pathway, this type of application is often declined before it is even assessed.

All Income Paid In USD

Mark earned a seven-figure income as a senior partner in Chicago. But Australian lenders:

• Heavily discounted USD income
• Apply strict currency risk buffers
• Request complex documentation
• Often misunderstood U.S. payslips and distributions

Without accurate translation, expats often receive a low borrowing capacity, even with high incomes.

Complex Income Structures

Mark’s income wasn’t simple PAYG. It included:

• Base salary
• Quarterly tax distributions
• Annual partnership distributions
• Capital interest
• Prior-year payouts

While this structure is common in the U.S., it could be confusing for Australian credit assessors without proper explanation.

Cross-Border Assets and Liabilities

The family held:

• A $1.5 million U.S. property
• Multiple American bank accounts
• Partnership capital accounts
• U.S. credit facilities

Different lenders classify these very differently, and one incorrect categorisation can reduce borrowing capacity by hundreds of thousands.

Banking System Errors

Australian banking systems still struggle with overseas applicants. During submission, the system:

• Rejected the U.S. residential address
• Rejected American phone numbers
• Misread foreign liabilities
• Mis-mapped cross-collateralisation fields

These issues alone are enough to cause a decline unless an expert intervenes and arranges manual system overrides.

Where An Expert Makes The Difference

Buying a home in Australia from the U.S. requires a broker who specialises in expat lending.

From the first conversation, Home Loan Experts mortgage broker Manish Rana understood that this wasn’t just about a mortgage. It required solving a lending structure most banks avoid: foreign income, overseas residency, and an Australian spouse on the title.

He approached the entire process strategically, eliminating risks before they became problems. Here’s what he did to get them approved.

Pre-Briefing the Bank’s Senior BDM

Before lodging anything, Manish escalated the entire scenario to the lender’s senior decision-maker. This ensured:

• The complex USD income structure would be accepted.
• The title structure was pre-approved.
• The lender understood why the property had to be in Emily’s name, despite Mark being the sole income earner.
• The system workarounds were authorised.
• Their credit department understood the foreign partnership structure.
• Their assessors viewed the file in the correct context.

This step alone saved weeks of back-and-forth and eliminated the risk of an early decline.

Translating U.S. Income Into Australian Lending Language

This was the most critical part of the entire approval. Manish built a complete, easy-to-follow income model:

• Multi-year income analysis
• A breakdown of recurring vs non-recurring payments
• A partnership structure explanation
• Distribution frequency evidence
• Policy-aligned FX conversion
• Historical consistency testing

A complex seven-figure U.S. income was transformed into a clear, policy-compliant Australian servicing document.

Building a Full Expat Documentation Pack

To prevent confusion or repeated requests from credit, Manish provided:

• Asset & liability summaries
• Foreign bank statements
• Partnership capital statements
• Tax distribution explanations
• Notes on voluntary vs mandatory deductions
• Reasons for address and phone number formatting differences
• Cross-collateralisation clarifications

Nothing was left unexplained. Credit assessors received a clean, complete, digestible file.

Fixing System Issues Before They Become Roadblocks

When the lender’s system rejected the U.S. address fields, overseas numbers, certain foreign liabilities and non-standard structure inputs, Manish worked directly with the credit team to override them manually.

This prevented stalls, errors, and lost time, which are problems that regularly derail expat applications.

Positioning The Family As Strong, Low-Risk Borrowers

Despite the complexity, Mark and Emily were low-risk clients. Manish highlighted:

• $7 million worth of global assets
• Their perfect credit history
• Mark’s long-term partnership income
• Their strong intention to return to Australia
• Their 20-year-long relationship together
• Emily is an Australian citizen
• A low LVR of 75%
• Strong liquidity

This turned what looked like a “high complexity expat file” into a strong, secure approval.

The Result: A Clear Path Home

Despite the layers of complexity, Mark and Emily achieved an exceptional outcome:

• A $4.375M home loan approved
• 75% LVR
• A Competitive investment rate (with offset)
• Full acceptance of the USD partnership income
• Zero delays from system issues
• Smooth lender approval from overseas

They successfully secured their dream Tamarama property, and with it, the foundation for their return to Australia.

What This Means For Australian Expats

Mark and Emily’s story is one that other Australian expats relate to:

• You’ve built a successful life overseas.
• Your income is strong.
• Your assets are global.
• However, buying in Australia feels more challenging than it should.

With the right strategy, documentation and an expat lending expert who knows how to structure your complex foreign income, the path home becomes clear.

Just like Mark and Emily, the right guidance can turn a complex situation into a smooth approval.

Do you know another Australian expat, U.S.-based executive, or partner at a professional services firm who faces these exact lending and foreign-income challenges?

We can help them!

We specialise in helping expats with complex incomes secure Australian home loans that most brokers or banks cannot structure.

Call us on 1300 889 743 (or +61 2 9194 1700 if you’re outside Australia) or complete our free assessment form today.