Home loans in Como
Construction Loans Como
Building in Como, whether a knockdown rebuild above the Georges River or a new home on vacant land out west, means staged lending, and Your Mortgage Broker Como arranges it with the drawdown schedule published up front, not after approval.
Your Builder Wants a Progress Payment. Where Does It Come From?
A builder's invoice lands before your loan is fully drawn, the lender's money sits in stages, and somewhere between the two sits a lending structure most borrowers have never seen explained properly. Your Mortgage Broker Como arranges construction finance alongside first home buyer loans and home renovation loans across the Sutherland Shire.
Construction Loans We Arrange
Construction lending is not one product but six different shapes, each assessed differently by credit teams, so the first job is matching your project to the variant lenders actually understand. The six we arrange most often around Como:
Standard Construction
Standard construction lending funds a home built from the ground up on land you already own, releasing money to your builder in stages rather than upfront, so you only ever pay interest on the funds actually drawn at each stage.
House and Land
House and land packages split into two contracts, one for the block and one for the build, and the deposit, land settlement and progress payments each follow their own timing rules, and we map every date before you sign anything.
Knockdown Rebuild
Knockdown rebuild suits Como's view streets, where post-war fibro and weatherboard homes sit on land worth more cleared than standing, and the loan needs to cover demolition costs as well as the build, with demolition funded from the first drawdown.
Vacant Land Then Build
Vacant land then build runs as two separate approvals, often with different lenders or different terms, and sequencing them well protects you from paying land interest longer than necessary while the design, tender and council approval work happens in between.
Owner Builder
Owner builder lending is the hardest variant to place, because most lenders decline it outright, and the handful that accept it demand a licensed supervisor, correct insurance cover and a full documented cost breakdown before they release a single dollar.
Council-Approved Renovations
Renovation lending that requires council approval behaves like small-scale construction, with funds released against genuine invoices or inspected build stages, and it very often pairs with construction finance where an older Como cottage is being extended rather than replaced entirely.
How the Money Actually Moves, Stage by Stage
Every competitor page describes construction lending in the abstract and stops at the rate. Here is the mechanism. On a $700,000 build, a lender does not hand over $700,000 on day one. It releases funds against five inspected stages, and you pay interest only on what has been drawn. If $70,000 has been released by slab stage, interest accrues on $70,000, not the full limit. This is an illustration assuming a $700,000 contract and typical stage percentages; your builder's contract and your lender's policy govern the real figures. The schedule most lenders work to:
| Stage | Typical release | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Slab down | 10% | Site works, foundations, initial materials |
| Frame | 15% | Frame up, roof trusses installed |
| Lock-up | 35% | External walls, windows, roofing, external doors |
| Fit-out | 25% | Internal linings, plumbing, electrical, joinery |
| Completion | 15% | Final fixes, practical completion, handover |
Add the percentages across a build and you can see why cash flow planning matters: at lock-up you have already funded most of the structure, while the fit-out stage is where variations and client changes tend to bite hardest.
What a Build Actually Costs You While It Runs
The advertised selling point of construction lending is interest on drawn funds only. The honest conversation is about what you actually pay across eighteen months of building, and the four costs below are the ones Como households most consistently underestimate:
Interest on Drawn Funds
During construction you pay interest only on the funds drawn so far, not the full approved limit, so early repayments stay small while the slab and frame go up and grow heavier as the build progresses toward lock-up and fit-out.
Rent and Interest Together
Borrowers who rent while building carry both at once, and with Como's median rent near $590 a week plus land interest, we model that combined monthly figure against your income before contracts are signed, so nothing surprises you financially later.
The Contingency Buffer
A contingency buffer of roughly ten per cent of the contract price is the difference between a variation absorbing calmly and a build stalling, and we size that buffer into the approved lending limit right from the very first conversation.
Builds That Run Long
Builds that run long cost money in ways the contract never shows, because rate changes, extended progress timelines and rent continuing past the expected finish all compound quietly, which is why our assessment always assumes a slower build than promised.
How it works
Our Construction Loans Process
Vague timelines are useless when your builder needs a payment to keep trades on site, so here is the sequence with the weeks named, from contract review through to the final drawdown and conversion to a normal home loan:
- 1
Weeks One and Two
Weeks one to two cover the foundations: contract review with your solicitor, confirmation of what the fixed price includes, tender documents collected, and a lending structure sized around the contract sum plus a contingency buffer sized for a Como build.
- 2
Weeks Two to Four
Weeks two to four are the application and conditional approval phase, where we lodge a file structured to the chosen lender's construction policy and usually see conditional approval inside five business days of a complete submission reaching the right lender.
- 3
Valuation and Unconditional Approval
Formal valuation and unconditional approval typically take another one to two weeks, and on a knockdown rebuild or vacant land deal this stage can run longer because the valuer needs current plans, specifications and recent comparable sales to work from.
- 4
The Drawdown Cycle
Once the slab is poured, the drawdown cycle begins: your builder issues an invoice, we lodge the progress payment request, the lender inspects or verifies the completed stage, and funds are usually released within about five business days of lodgement.
- 5
Completion and Conversion
Completion brings the final drawdown, the valuer's end-of-build inspection and conversion of the loan to principal and interest repayments, usually within a fortnight of practical completion, at which point the structure is reviewed afresh against your longer term property plans.
Where a Construction Loan Stalls
Every construction file has failure modes, and none of them are mysterious. Each one below has sunk a build somewhere in the Shire, and each has a check that catches it before contracts bind you to anything expensive:
Contract Variations
Fixed price contracts still move, because site conditions, soil tests and client-requested changes generate variations that need lender sign-off mid-build, and a variation nobody has budgeted for is the single most common way a staged construction loan gets into trouble.
Valuation Shortfalls
If the completed valuation comes in below the contract price, perhaps because the market softened during a twelve-month build, the shortfall lands on you at the worst possible moment, so we always order independent cost checks before contracts bind you.
Builder Not on the Panel
Each lender maintains its own register of acceptable builders, and if your builder is newly registered, unlicensed in this state or carrying disputed work, approval can stall for weeks, so we check builder credentials against lender policy before you commit.
Builds Past the Term
Construction approvals come with expiry dates, often six to twelve months of build time allowed, and a rain-delayed frame or a waiting list for trades can push the build past approval, triggering revaluation and fresh assessment you never planned for.
Why Choose Your Mortgage Broker Como
Your Mortgage Broker Como is a new business, so instead of borrowed trust signals, here are four things we can actually prove, in writing, on request, before you sign anything or owe us anything at all:
A Named, Accountable Broker
Every Your Mortgage Broker Como file carries a named, qualified broker whose credentials and industry association membership you can verify before you commit, and that same person answers your questions at every stage from the first call through to the final progress drawdown.
Panel Lending, Not One Bank
Panel lending rather than one bank means a construction decline is a redirect, not a dead end, because different lenders read owner builder risk, builder credentials and progress payment terms differently, and we already know which lender prefers which structure.
No Cost to Most Borrowers
For most borrowers our service costs nothing out of pocket, because lenders pay commission on settled loans, and where a complex file does attract a fee, the exact amount is disclosed in writing before you agree to any engagement whatsoever.
Process Before Product
Process comes before product here: we publish the drawdown schedule, the real timelines and the failure modes on this page before we ever discuss a single lender, because an informed owner makes for better building decisions than a rushed one.
Areas We Service
Beyond Como itself, we arrange construction finance for owners in Oatley, just across the old rail bridge, along with Oyster Bay, Kareela, Jannali and Bonnet Bay, wherever a Sutherland Shire block is about to carry a new home.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How do progress payments actually work on a Como build?
Your builder invoices at each completed stage, we lodge the request with your lender, the stage is inspected or verified, and funds are usually released within about five business days, with interest accruing only on money drawn so far.
What does a construction loan cost in fees?
Expect lender establishment and progress inspection fees, each typically a few hundred dollars per inspection as an illustration, plus council and certification costs; commission is usually paid by the lender, and any broker fee on a complex file is disclosed in writing first.
How much deposit do I need for a construction loan?
Most lenders want roughly twenty per cent of the combined land and construction cost to avoid lenders mortgage insurance, though smaller deposits are workable with insurance, a family guarantor or an eligible first home owner grant.
Do I pay interest on the whole loan from day one?
No, interest is charged only on funds actually drawn, so a loan with $70,000 released at slab accrues interest on $70,000, not the full approved limit, and repayments grow as each later stage is paid.
What happens if my build runs past the approval period?
Construction approvals carry a build window, often six to twelve months, and exceeding it usually triggers revaluation and reassessment before remaining funds release, which is why we size the timeline conservatively at the start rather than trusting the contract schedule.
Can I be an owner builder in Como?
Possibly, but owner builder lending is the hardest variant to place because most lenders decline it outright, and the handful that accept it want a licensed supervisor, correct insurance and a documented cost breakdown before any funds are released.
Mortgage broker for Como and the suburbs around it
Call Today and Get Your Como Build Budget Mapped Before You Break Ground
Construction lending rewards early structure. Ring [TRACKING_PHONE] and Your Mortgage Broker Como will map your drawdown schedule, contingency buffer and progress payment timing in writing before you sign a builder's contract, at no charge and with no obligation to proceed. If you are still comparing loan types, start at our home page.