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MortgageSMART™by Emanate Finance
MortgageSMART™ tool
Mortgage Borrowing Power Estimator
General information only — illustrative modelling, not credit assistance or an offer of finance. Actual outcomes depend on your circumstances, lender policy, rates and fees.
How much you can borrow is decided by your surplus, not your salary.
Lenders take your income, remove tax, subtract a minimum living-cost allowance for your household, subtract every existing commitment, and then test whether what's left could still cover the repayments at a rate roughly 2 per cent higher than you'd actually pay. Whatever survives that test is your borrowing power.
Adjust the inputs below to see which of them is really holding your number down. For most households it isn't income.
Free estimate · No personal details required · Does not impact your credit score
Your indicative borrowing power
Every lender measures this differently. This models one generic assessment approach so you can see which of your own inputs moves the number most.
0 dependants
$150,000
Tax and the Medicare levy are deducted using the 2025-26 resident rates, leaving about $9,180 a month to assess.
$4,200
A minimum household floor is applied, so $4,200 a month is being assessed.
$0
$0
Assessed on the limit, not the balance — about $0 a month.
$0
- Indicative borrowing power
- $685,000
- Monthly surplus assessed
- $4,980
- Likely actual repayment
- $4,081
- Existing commitments counted
- $0
Assessed at 7.94% over 30 years.
Income after tax, living costs and commitments.
On that loan at 5.94% — what you'd really pay.
Loans, card limits and HECS-HELP each month.
The gap between the assessed repayment and the likely actual repayment is the buffer doing its job. If the actual figure looks comfortable but the estimate looks small, the constraint is usually your existing commitments — and those are often the fastest thing to change.
Illustrative estimate based on the figures you entered. Actual outcomes may vary — the assumptions behind it are at the bottom of this page.
What moves the number
Five things that change your borrowing power quickly
Credit card limits. Assessed on the limit, not the balance. Reducing limits you never use can lift capacity within days.
Buy now pay later and small loans. Modest repayments, disproportionate effect, because they consume surplus at the assessment stage.
Which lender you apply to. Policy on overtime, bonuses, commission, casual income, self-employed add-backs and rental income varies enormously.
Declared living expenses. Lenders apply a floor based on household size, so understating expenses doesn't help — but a genuinely tidy set of accounts does.
Loan term and structure. A longer term lowers the assessed repayment and lifts capacity, at the cost of more interest overall. That trade-off deserves a decision, not a default.
Borrowing the maximum and borrowing the right amount aren't the same question
An estimator answers "what's the ceiling?". The more useful question is what repayment still leaves you room to live, save and absorb a rate rise — and what the total cost of that loan looks like over the term.
Plenty of the files we see would have been better served by borrowing slightly less and structuring the loan properly. That's the part a capacity calculator can't tell you.
Already have a mortgage?
See what your existing loan could be doing better.
MortgageSMART™ reviews your structure, remaining term, other debts and equity together — the levers that take years off a mortgage rather than dollars off a repayment.
Two minutes · no documents · does not impact your credit score
Common questions
Borrowing power questions we're asked most
Why do lenders assess me at a higher rate than I'll pay?
Under APRA guidance lenders add a serviceability buffer — commonly around 2 per cent — to the rate you'd actually be charged, then check you could still afford the repayments. It's a stress test, not a prediction. It's also why your borrowing power moves whenever rates move, even before your own repayment changes.
Why do two lenders give me very different numbers?
Because the inputs differ, not just the maths. Lenders vary in how much overtime, bonus, commission or rental income they'll count, the minimum living expense floor they apply, how they treat HECS-HELP, how they assess credit card limits versus balances, and how they treat existing debts you're keeping. The same household can see a spread of well over $100,000 between lenders.
Do credit cards reduce how much I can borrow?
Yes, and usually by more than people expect, because most lenders assess a notional repayment on your card limit rather than your balance. A card with a $20,000 limit and nothing owing on it can still reduce your borrowing power. Reducing or closing limits you don't use is often the cheapest way to lift capacity.
Does a HECS-HELP debt matter?
It reduces your assessable surplus because the compulsory repayment comes out of your income while the balance remains. Some lenders take a more workable view than others where the debt is nearly paid out. It rarely stops an application, but it does move the number.
How accurate is this estimate?
Treat it as a starting range, not a decision. It models the figures you enter against one generic assessment approach. It doesn't apply any individual lender's policy, doesn't verify your income and isn't an approval, pre-approval or offer of finance.
What clients say
148 Google reviews · rated 5.0
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