Brisbane buyers, refinancers and investors get a 97% approval rate at Madd, whereas roughly 40% of applicants who go it alone direct to a bank face rejection according to Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) 52,000-household survey.
Why Madd Loans Is the best mortgage broker in Brisbane:
Madd founder George Samios is regularly invited to comment on the Brisbane property market and lending conditions.
Around 40% of Australian home loan applications get rejected (Digital Finance Analytics (DFA)) before they reach settlement. Madd’s rejection rate is 3%. That gap is why we exist.
When a Brisbane bank declines your application, you don’t just lose that loan, you take a hit to your credit file that can flow through to every other lender you approach for the next two years. Most of those declines are avoidable. The borrower is creditworthy. The application just went to the wrong lender, or wasn’t packaged in the right way, or hit a policy edge case that nobody flagged before submission.
That’s what we fix. Every Madd application is screened internally against 40+ lender policies before we lodge it anywhere, so by the time the bank sees it, we already know it’s going to be approved.
40%
3%
Each of the 40+ lenders on our panel has a different appetite for self-employed income, guarantor structures, medical and sporting professional industries, past credit events, and high-DTI scenarios. Most brokers send your file to whichever lender they’re comfortable with. We send it to the one whose written credit policy says yes to your specific situation.
Before anything is lodged, your file goes through an internal review against the specific lender’s documentation requirements, serviceability calculator, and current credit appetite. Most declines happen because a borrower who would have been approved got submitted with a missing payslip or a borrowing ratio that tipped over policy. We catch those before the bank sees the file.
Madd reviews every client’s loan every 12 months automatically, without you asking. If your bank has quietly let your rate drift above the market, or if a better product has launched on a competitor’s panel, you’ll hear from us. Over the past 24 months this programme has saved Madd clients $1.6M in interest collectively.
A broker who handles your specific scenario weekly will know lender policies the average broker doesn’t.
Queensland First Home Owner Grant, stamp duty concessions, LMI strategy, 5% deposit pathways.
We compare your current loan against the panel every 12 months. $1.6M saved across our client base in 24 months.
Loan structuring for tax efficiency, equity release, portfolio scaling across multiple securities.
Lenders that accept 1-year financials, contractor income, ABN-only loans, and add-back assessment.
100% LVR with no LMI, specialist lender policies for medical professionals, fast approvals.
Income-averaging policies for athletes with variable contract income and short-term earnings.
Professional-package pricing, lender policies that recognise CPA/CA status, and serviceability calculations that account for partnership distributions.
Specialist lender policies for legal professionals – LMI waivers up to 90% LVR, partner-equity income recognised, and bonus income included.
Buy with little or no deposit using a family guarantor. We structure the security to protect both parties and exit the guarantee as soon as you build equity.
We learn your goals, deposit position, employment situation, and any complications. No credit check. No commitment.
We run your numbers across the lender panel and tell you what you can actually borrow, with which lenders, and at what rate.
We narrow the panel of 40+ to the two or three lenders whose written credit policy fits your scenario. You see the rates, fees, and trade-offs side by side.
Our team checks the full file against that lender’s checklist before anything goes to the bank. This is where most declines get prevented.
We submit, manage the lender relationship, chase the credit team, and keep you updated. Average time to conditional approval: 3-7 business days for straightforward PAYG.
We coordinate with your conveyancer or solicitor, sign-off your loan documents with you in person or via video call, and book the settlement date.
Once a year we benchmark your loan against the market. If you’re paying too much, you’ll hear from us. This is where the $1.6M client-savings figure comes from.
If you’re 6-12 months out from buying, these are the things to start fixing now. We recommend talking to us even if you feel like you are not ready. We have a track reccord of getting our clients into home ownership and investments sooner than they think.
Online calculators use generic assumptions. A broker calculates your borrowing capacity against the specific lender most likely to approve you — which can vary by $100k+ depending on whether they accept overtime, bonuses, or commissions.
Most lenders want to see 5% of the purchase price saved in your name for at least 3 months. Lump-sum gifts and bonuses don’t count as “genuine” until they’re seasoned. Start the savings paper trail early. Our Budget Planner Calculator can help you get there.
A single late telco bill or missed Afterpay payment can drop your score below the threshold for the cheapest lenders. Pull your free Equifax report before applying — fix anything that looks wrong.
Lenders assess you against your total credit limit, not your current balance. A $20k unused limit can cut your borrowing capacity by $80k. Close cards you don’t use.
Lenders read your statements. Buy-now-pay-later transactions, gambling deposits, and large unexplained transfers all hurt your application. Clean up spending 90 days before applying.
Most lenders want 6+ months in your current role (or 12+ in the same industry if you’ve recently moved). Job-hopping mid-application is the fastest way to a decline.
QLD First Home Owner Grant ($30k for new builds), the First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Concession, and the Home Guarantee Scheme can save you tens of thousands. Check what you qualify for before contract signing.
Pre-approval lasts 90 days and gives you bidding confidence. More importantly, it surfaces any deal-breakers before you’ve fallen in love with a property.
Offset vs redraw, fixed vs variable, P&I vs interest-only, single loan vs split — the cheapest rate isn’t always the cheapest loan once you factor in features and flexibility.
Most brokers settle your loan and disappear. Madd reviews every client loan every 12 months! That’s how we’ve saved clients $1.6M in the past two years.
1,051+ five-star reviews on Google · Brisbane’s most-reviewed independent mortgage broker
Madd was built in Brisbane. The way we say thank you to the city that backed us is to back it in return. Through 13 ongoing initiatives spanning charity, financial education, culture, schools and youth mental health.
Raised for the Children’s Hospital Foundation through the annual Madd Charity Ball and counting
Ongoing Madd initiatives, from the Villanova bursary to the You Are Not Alone youth mental health campaign
Our Year 12 Financial Literacy Program brings real-world money lessons into Brisbane high schools for free
Major sponsor of the Brisbane Paniyiri Greek Festival and the Superstars concert. We love to support Brisbane communities.
No. The lender pays the broker’s commission, and the interest rate is the same whether you apply through Madd or walk into the branch yourself. In many cases the rate is sharper through a broker because of volume-based wholesale pricing.
Most straightforward PAYG applications get conditional approval in 3-7 business days. Complex scenarios (self-employed, trusts, construction loans) can take 2-3 weeks. We’ll give you a realistic timeline at your first call.
Yes. A decline at one bank doesn’t mean you’ll be declined everywhere — every lender has different credit policies. We’ll review the decline reasons, identify lenders whose policies actually fit your situation, and re-approach with a stronger application.
Yes. Specialist and non-bank lenders assess past credit events on their merits rather than declining automatically. We work with several specialist lenders who’ll consider applications other brokers won’t touch.
Most lenders want 5-10% genuine savings. With the QLD First Home Owner Grant ($30k for new builds), the Home Guarantee Scheme, or a family guarantor, you can sometimes buy with as little as 2-5% of your own funds. We’ll walk you through what you qualify for.
Since January 2021, Australian mortgage brokers are legally required to act in the client’s best interests — not the lender’s, and not their own. A lender paying a higher commission can’t lawfully be recommended for that reason alone. The Best Interests Duty doesn’t apply to bank staff.
Every 12 months at minimum. Rates, lender policies, and your own circumstances all change. Madd reviews every client’s loan automatically every year — over the past 24 months this programme has saved our clients $1.6M collectively.
No. Madd’s brokers can run the entire process over Zoom or Google Meet. We have clients across Australia who’ve never set foot in the office. But if you’d prefer to meet in person, we’re at 6-12 The Corso, Seven Hills.
A pre-approval involves a credit enquiry, so yes — a small temporary impact. The bigger risk is multiple enquiries from multiple lenders, which is exactly what Madd’s pre-lodgement review prevents. We only lodge with the lender most likely to approve you.
It rarely is — Madd’s rejection rate is 3% versus the 40% market average. If it does happen, we’ll find out exactly why, fix what we can, and re-approach a different lender on the panel. You don’t pay anything either way.
A fixed rate locks your repayment for 1-5 years. A variable rate moves with the RBA cash rate. Many of our clients use a split loan — part fixed for certainty, part variable for flexibility. We’ll model both scenarios at your assessment.
Madd is 100% independently owned. We have no bank or lender ownership, no shareholder relationships with major lenders, and no preferred-lender quotas. Australian Credit Licence #441952.
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