What a pre-approval really covers, and what it doesn't

What is a pre-approval?

A pre-approval (also called conditional approval or approval in principle) is a lender's early indication of how much it expects to lend you. It's always conditional, at least on the valuation of the property and on your circumstances not changing.

Most last about 90 days and can usually be refreshed. Nothing about a pre-approval covers the property itself, because you haven't found it yet.

What's the difference between a digital and a fully assessed pre-approval?

A digital pre-approval is produced by the lender's system from the numbers typed in, often in minutes and without checking documents. A fully assessed pre-approval is read by a human credit assessor who checks your payslips, statements, debts and ID, the same way they would on a live purchase.

	Digitally assessed	Fully assessed
Who checks it	The lender's system	A credit assessor
Documents verified	Often none	Payslips, statements, debts, ID
Typical time	As little as 15 minutes	3 to 10 business days
Before an auction	Can work, depending on your situation	What we usually recommend

Why do pre-approvals fall over?

Because the lender finally does the checking after you've signed a contract. If something was missed earlier, that's when it shows up, sometimes two weeks before settlement.

• Overtime, bonus or casual income was counted in full, but the lender only uses part of it.
• Living expenses were set too low. The assessor reads your actual bank statements.
• A new job or probation period that the system never asked about.
• Debts left off the application, like a car loan or buy now pay later.
• The property itself: some lenders limit small units, flood-affected land or certain postcodes.

Can I bid at auction with a pre-approval?

Yes. You can bid with a digitally assessed or a fully assessed pre-approval. Just know that a Queensland auction contract is unconditional: no finance clause and no cooling-off. Your deposit, usually 10%, is committed when the hammer falls.

On an $800,000 auction purchase, that's $80,000 on the line. That's why we usually recommend a fully assessed pre-approval before auction day. In some situations a digitally assessed one can be enough, and we'll talk through which suits you before you bid.

What we tell our clients

A pre-approval is only worth the work behind it. In most cases we'd rather spend a few extra days getting it fully assessed than have you find out after you've signed. It also means your documents are sorted before you fall for a house, so everything moves faster once you do.

See how we get you to a fully assessed pre-approval, or how we help Brisbane first home buyers from the first call to the keys.

General information only. A pre-approval is conditional and is not a guarantee of finance. All lending is subject to lender approval. Example is illustrative.