Mortgage repayments calculator

The minimum home loan deposit required for an NRMA Home Loan depends on the type of loan:

• For a Basic Home Loan, you need a deposit of at least 20% of the property value, which corresponds to a maximum Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) of 80%.
• For an Offset Home Loan, you need a deposit of at least 10% of the property value, which corresponds to a maximum Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) of 90%.

If you borrow more than 80% of a property’s value, you may be required to take out Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

If you already own a property, you can also use the equity in your home as an investment property deposit. If you have enough equity, you can borrow up to 80% of the property value without having to use your own cash.

With NRMA Home Loans, you may be able to borrow between $50,000 and $7,500,000.

The amount available to borrow depends on multiple factors. This includes your income, other financial commitments, and family situation (for example de facto, single, number of dependents), as well as details about the security property.

When calculating your borrowing power, lenders consider your ability to comfortably meet the loan repayment requirements, which can be impacted by the factors above. While you also won’t be able to borrow more with a higher deposit amount, it may increase your maximum purchase price.

Use the borrowing calculator to find out your borrowing capacity before starting the application process.

When you apply for a new NRMA Home Loan, you’ll need to provide ID and proof of your finances.

You’ll be asked to digitally verify one of these forms of ID:

• Driver’s licence
• Australian passport
• Foreign passport with an Australian visa
• Medicare card.

You’ll also be asked to verify your current financial situation.

You can do this by linking your bank account(s) to the digital verification technology we use. Or, by manually uploading copies of your transaction statements, loan statements and credit card statements (we’ll let you know what documents are needed during the application).

A credit check will be run once you complete your personal details and have read and consented to the Privacy Disclosure and Consent Form.

Once you submit your documents and your application, you’ll find out if your loan is approved, or if more information is needed.

An owner-occupied home loan is for people buying a property to live in. Whether you're a first-time buyer or upsizing, this type of home loan is designed to help you settle in with confidence and flexibility.

An investment home loan is for purchasing property you plan to rent out or hold for capital growth. If you’re considering starting or expanding a property portfolio, an investment loan may support your long-term financial goals.

Principal and interest loans are the most common type of home loan. They involve making repayments which pay down some of the principal balance plus the interest accrued.

An interest-only loan involves making repayments for a set time (usually 1–5 years) to cover the interest being accrued and none of the principal. As a result, repayments on interest-only loans are lower than principal and interest repayments.

A fixed rate home loan means the interest rate is locked in for a certain period (usually 1–5 years). At the end of this period, you can either commit to another fixed rate or revert to a variable interest rate.

A variable rate home loan gives you flexibility to change the rate whenever the market changes, as you’re not locked into a rate for a fixed period.

The repayments for a fixed rate loan are the same every time. But it also means you pay the same interest rate, even if market rates drop.

Fixed rate home loans also usually come with less features than variable rate loans, and you may not be able to pay the loan off early.

A fixed rate NRMA Home Loan can also come with an offset account. This lets you use your savings to lower the amount of interest you pay and reduce the overall cost of the loan.

Find a home loan that’s right for you.

Loan-to-value ratio represents the amount you’re borrowing against the bank’s value of the property used as security. A higher LVR represents a higher risk loan to a lender as there is less equity in the property the lender is using as security for the loan. 

The LVR is calculated by dividing the loan amount by the bank’s valuation of the security property, multiplied by 100. 

Here’s an example:
A couple want to purchase a property with a bank valuation of $800,000. They have a deposit saved of $80,000. They need to borrow $720,000.

• Divide 720,000 by 800,000 to get 0.9
• Multiply 0.9 by 100 to get a percentage
• The LVR is 90%

Because the couple have an LVR greater than 80%, they may need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

With NRMA Home Loans the LMI premium is added to the loan amount. This means your loan repayments will be higher than they would have been if you didn’t have LMI.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is a fee which will be added to your loan if you're borrowing more than 80% Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) of a property’s value (which means if you have less than a 20% deposit). This means the loan amount you need to borrow and your loan repayments will be higher than if you had at least a 20% deposit and did not need to incur Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

It protects the lender (for NRMA Home Loans, this is Bendigo and Adelaide Bank) from financial loss if you can’t afford to meet your repayments and default on the loan.

You’ll also need to pay LMI if the building is high density (5 or more storeys), or if there are 50 or more other residential properties in the same complex.

Factors that affect how much LMI will cost include:

• The size of the loan (the higher your loan, the higher the cost of LMI)
• Your deposit amount (the lower the deposit, the higher the cost of LMI)
• The purpose of the loan (investors can pay as much as 20% more for LMI than home buyers)
• The insurer used by your lender (premiums differ between insurers).

LMI can cost thousands of dollars, so if you want to avoid paying it, the best way is by saving at least a 20% deposit before applying for a home loan.