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Everything you need to know about settlement

Settlement is the final step before you become a home owner (or when your new loan begins). We break it down so you know what to expect.

November 12, 2020 • 10 min read

A woman looks at a piece of paper, whilst holder a small wooden clipboard. There are tulips in a vase on the desk.

Settlement is the final step in the home loan process: it’s when the seller receives their payment for the property, and when your Tiimely Own home loan begins.

Or if you’re refinancing, it’s when your existing lender gets paid out for your original home loan (by us), and when your new Tiimely Own home loan begins.

I heard Tiimely do digital Verification of Identity (VOI) – tell me more

We’re about to loan you a lot of money, so we need to make sure that you are you.

We've partnered with GBG to verify your identity using biometrics – the same tech that allows you to unlock your phone using facial recognition or your thumbprint.

Once you've been approved, you'll receive a personalised link via SMS from GBG to verify your identification. It's as easy as taking a selfie with 2 types of identity documents – we recommend a passport and a driver's license.

I'm having troubleshooting my VOI

If you're having trouble getting your digital VOI complete, please get in touch with our team. There may be a technical solution we can help you with.

An alternative way to verify your ID is through Australia Post's VOI service. You'll need to go into an Australia Post office and pay $49. This will add a couple of days to the process.

Do you consider the First Home Owner Grant?

We only lend for established houses, so this excludes lending for construction, land and off-the-plan. Most First Home Owner Grants are only available for construction.

Unfortunately, where a FHOG is available for an established build, we can’t consider it as part of your deposit amount. So, while you’ll be able to get the cash, it won’t be considered towards your deposit in your Tiimely home loan application.

If you believe you are eligible for the First Home Owners Grant you will need to apply for the grant separate to your Tiimely Home Loan and, if approved, you will need to confirm with your conveyancer or solicitor that the funds will be made available at settlement.

You can visit http://www.firsthome.gov.au/ to check out the first-time home buyer process and eligibility.

How do I make my home loan repayments?

We have options. How you choose to manage your Tiimely home loan repayments is kinda up to you.

If you decide to have an offset account, your repayments will be automatically deducted from there.


You can nominate your own third-party bank account to make automatic deductions from (there’s a form in your loan document pack to do this).
Or you can manually transfer money to make your repayments, but keep in mind it can take 1-3 business days for the repayment to be completely processed.

When does settlement actually happen?

It’s different depending on whether you’re purchasing a property or refinancing your existing place.

When you’re purchasing, settlement depends on the vendors, conveyancers and you. But generally, you negotiate the settlement date with the seller when you’re making your purchase offer – which is often anything between 30 and 90 days. Our solicitor / conveyancer will try their best to meet that date.

If you’re refinancing, the settlement date really depends on when both banks have everything they need to transfer the loan. This is generally worked out by our solicitor / conveyancer and your current bank’s settlement department. It can take up to 4 – 6 weeks.

I changed my mind, can I still add/remove an offset account?

You want to add one of our home loan offset accounts? Who can blame you, they’re pretty great – your offset balance 100% offsets your home loan balance. And if you decide you don’t want an offset account anymore, that’s up to you.

If you decide to add or remove an offset before settlement it’s OK. You just need to send us an email confirming the change. If you’ve already received your loan contract we’ll need to email you a new one to show this change.

It’s a little trickier if your home loan has already settled. You can still add or remove an offset account but there will be a variation fee. Contact our post-settlement team at 1300 842 405 or email myloan@tiimely.com and we’ll sort it out for you.

Is there an early repayment fee?

If you’re able to pay off your loan earlier than expected because of a windfall or smart saving (yay!) or you’re moving to another lender (boo!), there is a $325 discharge fee to be paid.

And if you exit or change a fixed rate loan during the fixed period, there is also a break fee to be paid – this doesn’t apply to variable rate loans. The break fee amount varies based on your own loan times and amounts.

When is my repayment due?

Your first home loan repayment is due exactly one month after your loan settles. So if your loan settles on 1 May, your first repayment is due on 1 June.

Even if you’ve elected to pay your loan off weekly or fortnightly, you just need to have paid what would’ve been the monthly repayment by the end of the month – we don’t mind how you split it.

I need more help

Your conveyancer or solicitor is the best person to answer your settlement-related questions. After all, that’s what you’re paying them for.

You can also contact our digital legal partner, MSA National, if you have questions about settlement.

MSA National
Email: tiimelyenquiries@msanational.com.au
Phone: +61 2 8719 4000

If you’re still hitting information roadblocks, (though we don't think you will), you’re also welcome to get in touch with us:

Tiimely
Email: myenquiry@tiimely.com
Phone: 1300 842 405

Settlement forms

Just in case you misplace any of the forms we sent you in your settlement pack. As well as a couple of sneaky ones you may also need.

Settlement guides

The handy (yet often wordy) booklets that provide further information or tell you how to do things.

Diem Tran

By Diem Tran

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Legal things about our rates
Our home loans are subject to credit criteria and eligibility requirements. Home loan interest rates are for new customers only and can change. Our comparison rates are based on a $150,000 loan amount over a 25 year term. They factor in fees associated with applying for the loan; ongoing fees and fees associated with leaving the loan. Our fixed loans roll to a variable principal and interest rate at the end of the fixed term. If the interest only period is not specified, the comparison rate is calculated on a one year period.

WARNING: The comparison rates are true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

Tiimely Turnaround
^Our turnaround times are up to 2x faster than the industry, based on a comparison of our average platform submit to approval time compared to industry submit to approval time, published here  (June 2023). Customer turnaround times are dependent on individual circumstances and may require an assessor to obtain more information.

Our trade mark
Tiimely is a registered trademark of Tiimely Pty Ltd.