Melbourne's self-employed mortgage specialist — from Carlton hospo owners to Box Hill IT contractors, Halo Loan places the cases the big-4 won't.

A Carlton restaurant owner with 4 years' ABN sits in the strongest tier of the alt-doc pool. CBA's typical decline reason is 'cash-deposit ratio too high + taxable profit suppressed by add-backs' — the big-4 servicing algorithms don't see your true profit. Of the 18 alt-doc lenders Halo Loan works with, 3 (Pepper / Liberty / Resimac) specialise in hospo cases: 6 months' bank statements + 4 quarters of BAS is enough, no two full years of ITR needed. LVR caps at 80%, rates from 6.49%. We package your cash-deposit story first, then match the lender least restrictive on Carlton's commercial-adjacent risk flag.

VIC offers three stamp-duty concessions to self-employed buyers — the trick is sequencing the documents first. (1) First Home Buyer Duty Concession: full exemption under $600k, sliding to $750k, requires 12 months' owner-occupier residence. Self-employed buyers most often trip on the contract-value calculation — developer 'inclusive of GST' vs 'exclusive' is a 10% gap. (2) Off-the-plan concession: only the land component is dutiable during construction — common in Box Hill / Glen Waverley / Docklands off-the-plan stock. (3) PPR (Principal Place of Residence) concession: ~50% reduction on properties above $130k, available regardless of new/established. The three don't stack — Halo Loan models all three and tells you which sequence wins. Alt-doc is fully compatible: stamp-duty concessions key off buyer identity, not loan-doc pathway.

482 visa + 6 months' ABN is a hard combo but workable. Big-4 lenders decline 80%+ of 482-visa holders; 5 alt-doc lenders accept the visa, of which St.George / Bank of China / Pepper take 482 — at LVR ≤ 70% (deposit 30%+), with rate loading 0.5-1%. 6 months' ABN is short — BAS-only requires 2 years, so you're on alt-doc (not BAS-only), evidencing income via contract letter + 6 months' bank statements rather than tax returns. Halo Loan's typical case for this profile: $800k borrow, owner-occupier, LVR 70%, rate ~7.5%, monthly repayment around $5,600. FIRB approval + the 8% foreign-buyer additional duty are two separate costs to budget for.

Run the numbers: on a $700k loan, alt-doc 6.49% vs full-doc 6.04% costs $3,150 extra per year, $6,300 over two years. But Melbourne's core suburbs (Inner North / Inner East / Bayside) have averaged ~5.5% median price growth annually over the last decade — conservatively 4% over the next two years means an $80k+ appreciation on a $1m property. The alt-doc rate premium ($6.3k) versus property appreciation ($80k+) makes the maths obvious. Exceptions: (1) you're buying outer-ring or high-density CBD where price growth has historically lagged — the calculation can reverse; (2) your ABN will cross the 2-year full-ITR threshold AND your tax return income will service the loan — in that case waiting 6 months (not 2 years) is fine. Halo Loan runs this exact model for your case during pre-check.

Hybrid applications (PAYG + self-employed combo) are one of the most common Melbourne household structures. Big-4 servicing algorithms apply 'average of last 2 years' ITR × 80% (add-back haircut)' to the ABN side, which often suppresses borrowing capacity by 30-40%. Of the 6 hybrid-friendly lenders Halo Loan works with, St.George / Suncorp / MA Money apply 'full PAYG + most recent year's BAS-evidenced ABN income × 90%' instead — for the same household income that's a 20-25% higher borrowing capacity than the big-4. Typical case: wife on $95k PAYG nurse + you at $120k net profit per BAS as a renovation contractor, owner-occupier — big-4 calculates $720k borrowable, hybrid lender calculates $890k. Bring last 2 payslips for each of you plus your 4 quarters of BAS to the pre-check; we return an indicative inside 48 hours.