The questions people actually ask us.

In most residential cases the lender pays the broker a commission on settlement, so there is no fee to you. Where a fee does apply, because a file is unusually complex or sits outside standard residential lending, you are told the amount in writing before any work starts. You will never find a fee you were not told about.

It depends on the lender and on how complete the application is when it is submitted, so nobody can honestly promise you a number of days. What we can control is the second part. A file that arrives complete, with the income presented the way the assessor needs to see it, moves faster than one that generates three rounds of questions.

Not for us, and it should not be for you. It is a problem for automated servicing calculators, which want one number in one box. Trust distributions, company profit, add-backs and retained earnings all need to be read and presented properly, and lenders differ enormously in how well they do that. Choosing the lender that reads your structure correctly is most of the work.

This is what we do more than almost anything else. See self-employed, company and trust structures.

Often, yes. A decline is usually specific to one lender’s policy at one moment, not a verdict on you. The useful step is understanding exactly why it was declined, because that determines whether the next application should go anywhere near a similar lender. Be aware that repeated applications leave marks on your credit file, so the order matters.

Jewel Finance has access to home loan products through more than 38 financial institutions. The panel changes from time to time, so the honest answer is that the number is a floor rather than a headline. What matters more is that the panel is wide enough to include lenders who assess non-standard income properly.

No, and this is an important distinction. Jewel Finance is a mortgage and finance broker. We are credit representatives who refer clients to credit providers such as banks, building societies, credit unions, finance companies, mortgage originators and mortgage managers. We cannot make an offer of finance. Only a credit provider can do that, once your information has been verified and assessed against their lending criteria.

No. The firm has clients buying their first home and clients running property portfolios, and one of our brokers will tell you his favourite part of the job is working with people trying to break into the market. What is true is that we spend a lot of time on files other brokers find difficult, which tends to mean complex income and larger transactions.

There are two offices, Padstow and Collaroy. You are welcome at either. You do not have to attend one: this firm has visited clients at home for decades, and one client of eight years specifically valued that it fitted around his working life. Our finance executives are also available after hours and weekends.

Yes, and we prefer to. Your accountant already understands how your income and structure are built, and getting the presentation right is far easier with them in the conversation than without. It also means you are not the one translating between two professionals.

Less than you would expect for a first conversation. Broadly what you own, what you owe, what you earn and what you are trying to do. Documents come later, and we will tell you exactly which ones rather than asking for everything at once.

Yes. We have a duty to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’ affairs, and disclosure happens only with your consent or where we are compelled by law. Access to your information is restricted to the people who need it to do the work. The detail is in our privacy policy.

Jewel Finance Pty Ltd has been registered since May 2000, so over 25 years. Several of the brokers have been in the industry considerably longer than the firm has existed, including 46 and 43 years respectively. The firm holds Australian Credit Licence 390492 and is a member of the MFAA and the FBAA.