The fastest loans aren’t the ones with the quickest lender. They’re the ones where the borrower sends everything on day one. A missing rates notice or a bank statement that stops a month short can cost you two days, and when a supplier or the ATO is waiting, two days matters.
Use this checklist to get your paperwork together before you apply. It’s split by loan type because the documents are quite different.
Key takeaways
- Property secured loans need far less than a bank loan: no tax returns, no financials, no cash flow records.
- Unsecured cash flow loans lean on your recent business bank statements.
- Everyone who signs needs photo ID, including guarantors and company directors.
- A short, clear note on the purpose and your exit plan speeds up approval.
- Send clear PDFs, named properly, all at once.
Which documents do you need for each loan type?
| Document | Property secured loan | Unsecured cash flow loan |
|---|---|---|
| Photo ID for every borrower, director and guarantor | Yes | Yes |
| ABN and business details | Yes | Yes |
| Property address and ownership details | Yes | No |
| Recent council rates notice | Yes | No |
| Statement for any existing mortgage on the property | Yes | No |
| Recent business bank statements | No | Yes, usually 3 to 6 months |
| Tax returns or financial statements | No | Not usually |
| Purpose of the loan | Yes | Yes |
| Exit plan (how you’ll repay) | Yes | Yes |
Checklist: property secured loans
This covers a second mortgage, a first mortgage, a business bridging loan, or a caveat loan in Victoria.
About you and your business
- Driver licence or passport for every borrower and guarantor
- ABN, and company or trust details if the borrower isn’t you personally
- Company ACN and directors’ names, if borrowing through a company
- Trust deed, if the borrower or property owner is a trust
About the security property
- Full address of each property you’re offering
- Recent council rates notice
- Latest statement for every loan secured against it, showing the balance and lender
- Details of any tenancy, if it’s an investment property
- Access details for the valuer (tenant or agent contact)
About the loan
- Amount needed and when you need it
- What it’s for, in a sentence or two
- How you’ll repay it and roughly when
Checklist: unsecured cash flow loans
For tradies and builders trading 6 months or more with an ABN.
- Photo ID for the business owner or directors
- ABN and business name
- Recent business bank statements, usually the last 3 to 6 months
- Details of any other business loans you’re repaying
- Amount needed and what it’s for
Lenders often connect to your bank statements electronically, which is quicker than downloading them yourself. Some unsecured loans are approved and funded within hours when everything is in order. Our cash flow loans for tradies page explains how these loans are sized.
Documents that help explain the build
Our construction lending is secured against property you already own, not the build itself. Still, a few documents about the job make your purpose and exit easy to understand:
- signed building contract or head contract, and your latest progress claim
- quotes or invoices for the materials, equipment or trades you’re paying
- a simple cost to complete, if you’re finishing a build
- sale contracts or a refinance approval, if that’s your exit
- an ATO statement of account, if you’re clearing a tax debt
You don’t need all of these. Send what’s relevant. For more on how our construction lending works, see construction loans.
What you don’t need
This surprises a lot of builders who’ve been through a bank process:
- tax returns
- profit and loss statements or balance sheets
- a full list of every job you’ve done
- years of personal payslips
That’s why property secured loans are sometimes called low doc. If you want to know how that compares with a full doc loan, see our page on low doc loans for tradies.
How to send your documents so nothing gets held up
- Scan to PDF, not phone photos at an angle. Every page, every corner visible.
- Name the files clearly, such as “Rates notice 12 Smith St” or “Mortgage statement May to Sept”.
- Send everything at once. Piecemeal documents get lost in inboxes.
- Check the dates. Statements should be recent and cover the full period asked for.
- Flag anything unusual up front, such as a default, an ATO debt or a property in a trust.
- Keep your phone on. A quick call to clear up one question can save a day.
Example: a roofer who gets it right first time
Example only. A roofing business in Perth needs a hypothetical $120,000 for a bulk materials order ahead of a run of new homes. The owner applies for a second mortgage over her investment unit.
Within an hour of the call back she sends ID for herself and her husband (the joint owner), the rates notice, the current mortgage statement, the tenant’s contact for the valuation and a one paragraph note: materials for three confirmed jobs, repaid from the progress claims over four months. The valuation is booked the same day and the file moves without a single follow up request.
Example: a subbie who nearly got held up
Example only. A tiling subbie in Canberra applies for an unsecured loan but sends only two months of statements, and one is from his personal account. The lender needs his business account covering a longer period. Once he sends the right statements the next morning, the loan is approved that day. Getting it right first go would have saved a day.
Key facts
- Loan size: $20,000 to $5 million
- Property secured: no financials needed, bad credit considered, funding in as little as 24 hours in some cases
- Unsecured: ABN, 6+ months trading, recent business bank statements, some funded within hours
- Term: typically 1 to 12 months for property secured loans
- Purpose: business and investment purposes only
Ready to apply?
Got your documents together? Start your application in about 60 seconds. It won’t affect your credit score. You can also read how it works to see what happens after you hit submit.
