The home loan approval process

Step 1: Review your finances

Before applying for a home loan, it helps to understand your current financial position. This includes your income, expenses, assets and any existing debts.​

Existing debt can affect how much you’re able to borrow, so reducing it where possible may strengthen your application. ​

You don’t need everything to be perfect at this stage; this step is about getting a clear picture of where you’re starting from.

Step 2: Start saving a deposit

To buy a property, you’ll need a deposit. How much you need can depend on the property price and your individual circumstances.​

Having a target deposit in mind early can help you plan and feel more prepared when you’re ready to move forward.

Step 3: Research your options

There are several things to consider when choosing a home loan, including interest rates, features and repayment options.​

Learning about the different types of home loans can help you understand what’s available and narrow things down.​

If you’re unsure where to start, that’s completely normal, a home loan specialist or broker can help explain your options and what’s involved.

Step 4: Get support before you apply

If you’re ready to apply, or just want to understand your options, a home loan specialist can guide you through the next steps.​

You can talk things through without committing to an application.

Step 1: Conditional approval

Before you start seriously looking for a property, it’s often worth applying for conditional approval. This gives you an idea of how much you may be able to borrow, based on the information you provide.​

You may also hear the terms pre‑approval or approval in principle. While these sound similar, they’re different.​

With conditional approval, your financial details are assessed and confirmed.​

Pre‑approval, on the other hand, is usually based on unverified information and isn’t assessed to the same level.​

Good to know​

Conditional approval goes a step further than pre‑approval and is the type of approval you’d typically take to an auction.​

How it works​

A home loan specialist or broker can guide you through the process and let you know what’s needed.​

Things to have ready​

• Your ID (if you’re new to Bankwest or haven’t verified before)​
• Proof of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities​
• Evidence of income, such as payslips, tax returns, or bank statements​

Once you have conditional approval, you’ll have a clearer idea of what you could realistically borrow. This can give you more confidence when viewing properties, making offers or bidding at auction.​

When you’ve found a property, you can move to the next step.

Step 2: Applying for the home loan

After your offer has been accepted, you’ll need to contact a home loan specialist or broker and provide a copy of the signed contract of sale.​

They’ll organise your application, let you know if any documents are missing, and help you select a suitable home loan.

Step 3: Unconditional approval

Unconditional approval (also known as full loan approval) happens after your application has been fully assessed.​

Once your offer is accepted (usually subject to finance), we will assess your application in detail and arrange a valuation of the property.​

This step can take some time, so it’s normal to feel a bit anxious, but we’ll keep things moving as smoothly as possible along the way. Your home loan specialist or broker will also keep you updated as things progress.​

You can also track your application and receive email notifications for key milestones using the Home Loan Application Tracker.

Step 4: Signing the documents

Once your home loan is unconditionally approved, we’ll send you’re contract documents to review, sign and return.​

After you send them back, we’ll check everything and book settlement.​

With a Bankwest home loan, most contract documents can be signed online at a time that suits you.