A refinance application that should take two weeks can drag past six if the paperwork isn’t ready on day one. Lenders ask for a fairly standard document set, but most borrowers only find out what’s missing after they’ve already submitted, which is exactly when delays start compounding.
The core documents every lender asks for
Every refinance application starts with proof of identity, usually a driver’s licence and passport or Medicare card, plus your last two to three payslips if you’re a PAYG employee. Lenders also want your last two years of tax returns and notices of assessment if you’re self-employed, or if any part of your income is commission, bonus or rental-based.
On top of income, expect to provide three to six months of bank statements across your everyday accounts, any existing home loan, and any credit cards or personal loans. Lenders use these to check genuine spending patterns against what you’ve declared, not just the headline income figure.
What lenders need about your current loan
Your existing loan statement showing the current balance, and a recent rates notice or the property’s estimated value, both help the new lender confirm the numbers before a formal valuation is ordered. If you’re planning to fix part of the loan or want to keep an offset account, having your current loan structure documented clearly speeds up how quickly the new lender can match or improve on it.
Council rates notices and, for an investment property, a copy of the current lease and rental statement all support the serviceability assessment. A property with a tenant already in place and a clear rental history is easier for a lender to assess than one where the rent is estimated.
Do you need a new valuation for every refinance?
Usually yes. Most lenders order their own valuation rather than relying on your current lender’s figure or a real estate appraisal, since valuations can vary meaningfully between lenders and properties. Some lenders now use automated valuation models for straightforward metro properties, which can return a result within a day rather than the week or more a full valuation can take.
Getting your paperwork ready before you apply
Gathering payslips, tax returns and bank statements before you start, rather than after a lender asks, is the single biggest thing that speeds up a refinance. Self-employed borrowers in particular should have their most recent tax return lodged and finalised, since a lender generally can’t use a return that’s still with the accountant or the ATO.
It’s also worth checking your current loan’s discharge form and any break costs or discharge fees in advance, especially if part of your loan is fixed. Knowing that figure upfront means there are no surprises when the new loan settles and the old one is paid out.
How multiple applications can affect your credit file
Applying to refinance with several lenders at once, hoping to compare offers, can leave multiple hard enquiries on your credit file within a short period. Each one is visible to future lenders and can affect how your file is read, even if none of the applications were declined.
A broker can compare indicative offers across lenders using your documents before a formal application goes anywhere, which limits the number of actual credit enquiries to the one lender you proceed with. That’s a meaningfully different process to applying directly with two or three banks yourself to see who comes back first.
Lenders differ in how heavily they weight recent enquiries, and a cluster of them close together can occasionally raise questions during assessment even when your underlying financial position hasn’t changed. Spacing out any exploratory applications, or working through one broker who compares lenders on your behalf, avoids that pattern showing up on your file at all.
What slows a refinance down the most
Missing or outdated payslips, a self-employed tax return that hasn’t been lodged yet, and bank statements that don’t match the income declared on the application are the three most common holdups. Any gap between what’s declared and what the statements show usually means additional questions from the lender, which adds days or weeks to the timeline.
Having every document ready before submission, rather than supplying it piece by piece as requested, is the clearest way to keep a refinance moving at the pace it should.
Key Takeaways
- Most refinances need ID, recent payslips or tax returns, and 3 to 6 months of bank statements across all accounts.
- Self-employed borrowers should have their most recent tax return lodged and finalised before applying.
- Lenders usually order their own property valuation rather than relying on a previous one.
- Applying to multiple lenders directly can add several hard enquiries to your credit file; comparing through a broker limits this to one application.
- Having every document ready before submission is the single biggest factor in keeping a refinance on schedule.