Getting on the housing ladder is hard enough. With Australian house prices rising again, the amount first home buyers need to borrow to enter the market is once again increasing.
But imagine if you are trying to convince the bank to lend you money when you don’t have a stable income, which is often the case for those aspiring home buyers working in the creative industries.
Actors and musicians are just two groups who fall into this category, with the majority having multiple employers and varied, inconsistent hours due to the nature of their work.
Approaching a bank for a home loan without a reliable income stream can be a daunting task, with lenders often insisting on a minimum of 6 months of employment with the same employer before they’ll even consider you a suitable applicant.
The Covid factor
This predicament has become even more challenging for creatives in recent times, with the COVID-19 pandemic severely reducing their work opportunities during recent years.
Although this scenario has thankfully improved since the height of the pandemic, many in the entertainment industry have reported significant drops in their yearly income over the Covid years.
This can cause more headaches for those operating as sole traders (as many in the industry do) when applying for a home loan, as the banks traditionally ask for 2 years’ tax returns when assessing such applicants.
So, what’s the solution?
Flexibility rising
When approaching the mortgage market, it pays to research which lenders will be flexible on their borrowing criteria.
The good news for aspiring homeowners in the entertainment industry is several financial institutions are starting to amend their lending requirements to accommodate this section of the market.
For instance, some will consider just one year of tax returns for sole traders in the industry, which conveniently sidesteps those troublesome Covid years.
Knowing where to find these lenders is the tricky bit, especially when juggling multiple gigs and trying to find the time to research the market in between them.
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