When you’re on site, you don’t even start a job until you know for sure that you’re working in a safe environment and you have the right tools and personnel to get the work done properly.

So whether you’re a mining engineer, geophysicist or a surveyor, why would you take the same risk with your home loan?

With a strong salary and full time employment under your belt, you’ll certainly have a pretty good chance of qualifying for a home loan and buy the property you’ve always dreamed of.

However, what you may not know is that you may be able to save thousands of dollars with home loan discounts exclusive to professionals in your industry.

Why do banks offer these discounts?

Banks actually consider mining engineers to be a lower risk than a typical borrower because of their higher than average incomes, full-time employment prospects and their strong track record of paying back loans on time.

These offers aren’t advertised to the general public so it pays to speak with an experienced mortgage broker that can negotiate a great deal on your behalf.

Depending your situation and the lender, you may be eligible for one or all of the following:

• Significantly reduced interest rates that are way below the bank standard variable rate.
• The ability to borrow more than is normally allowed in order for you to buy the property you have your heart set on.
• Waived Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), a one off fee usually charged when borrowing more than 80% of the value of the property.

Mortgage brokers understand credit policy so they know exactly which lenders to speak to and they also have relationships in place with the decision makers in the credit departments to get you the maximum discount based on your situation.

How much can you save by avoiding LMI?

LMI can amount to around $25,000 for a $1.2 million dollar property, so you can literally save thousands of dollars by avoiding mortgage insurance.

The LMI Calculator can give you a fairly accurate estimate of how much LMI you could be paying based on the value of a particular property that you’ve found.

To qualify for waived LMI, you generally need:

• To be earning more than $150,000.
• To be a member of an accepted industry association.
• To be borrowing no more than 90% of the property value.
• To meet all other standard lending requirements regarding your income, asset position and credit history.

What about reduced interest rates?

Apart from waived LMI, a specialist mortgage broker may be able to negotiate for you:

• Discounted interest rates: These rates are way below the bank standard variable rate and any interest rate discounts that are advertised to the general public.
• Higher exposure limits: Planning to start a property portfolio? High exposure limits means you can borrow more to purchase multiple investment properties.

What do you need to do?

As long as you’re a qualified mining engineer, surveyor, geologist or other associated engineering professional (accepted on a case by case basis), and you’re a member of one of the following associations, you should be in with a good chance to qualify for reduced interest rates and waived LMI:

• Engineers Australia.
• Institution of Surveyors.
• Australian Institute of Mine Surveyors (AIMS).
• Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors.
• Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (FAIG).

Some other industry bodies are accepted on a case by case basis.

Not sure if you qualify?

Get in touch with our one of our specialist mortgage brokers. We can tell you what you need to do to qualify for mining engineer home loan discounts.

Call 1300 889 743 or complete our free assessment form today!