IMB Home Loans: Policy for Brokers 2026

Match the Scenario to an IMB Loan

Choose the IMB loan structure from the client’s repayment needs and intended property use. IMB’s home-loan range includes Budget, Fixed Rate and Essentials loans for owner-occupiers and investors. Its website also has a dedicated refinance route.

Product	Published feature	Question for the client file
Budget Home Loan	Variable rate, redraw and unrestricted additional repayments	Does the client need an offset account or mainly repayment flexibility?
Fixed Rate Home Loan	Fixed-rate terms and limited advance repayments without penalty	How much extra will the client repay, and could they sell or refinance during the fixed term?
Essentials Home Loan	Variable rate with a linked 100% offset account	Will the client retain enough cash in the account to make the feature useful?

Keep the purpose and repayment type beside any quoted rate. An owner-occupier offer doesn’t establish the terms for an investor, and a discounted rate doesn’t establish the maximum borrowing amount. Compare the written fees and feature conditions for the actual offer.

IMB’s public site lets borrowers start an online application or speak with a home loan specialist. It also links a Broker Centre from its footer. Before submitting as a broker, establish your authorised IMB access and the product’s channel availability through that relationship.

For a straightforward IMB Bank refinance, separate the new loan assessment from closing the old loan. Confirm the proposed balance, any additional borrowing and the costs the client wants to fund. The refinance requirements guide sets out the wider evidence sequence.

Borrower and Income Checks

IMB requires full documentation to establish eligibility, including verification of income and expenses, assets and liabilities. Its documentation guidance names identification, financial statements and tax returns among the supporting records.

IMB’s lender-meeting checklist gives a practical starting point:

• Two payslips or an employer letter stating salary, or hourly pay and average weekly hours.
• Three months of bank statements.
• Evidence of savings and the deposit.
• Identification, such as a passport or driver’s licence.
• Two years of financials for a self-employed applicant.

Match the documents to the income the client wants assessed. For an employee, record their employer, employment basis and start date. Identify probation, variable hours and any recent job change so the assessor can address the actual employment history.

For a self-employed applicant, identify the trading entity and ownership, then reconcile the financials with the income used in the application. Separate a business’s turnover from the amount available to the borrower. A request for two years of financials doesn’t establish that every income item in those accounts will be accepted.

List existing mortgages, personal loans and credit-card limits with their repayments. Include other ongoing commitments and the client’s living expenses. Resolve differences between the application and statements before relying on the repayment surplus.

When a case depends on a condition beyond the published checklist, send IMB a specific question with the supporting facts. For example, give the client’s employment start date and probation position, then ask whether that income is acceptable for the selected loan. Retain the response and any additional document request with the file.

Property and Funds to Complete

IMB checks the property’s valuation and suitability as security before unconditional approval. Its pre-approval explanation makes clear that conditional approval doesn’t settle those property checks. A valuation below the purchase price can change the funds the client needs.

Record the property’s address, title and intended occupancy with the contract and purchase price. Put unusual features to IMB for a security decision, such as acreage, mixed use or a property needing substantial repairs. Avoid transferring an advertised residential lending limit to a property with different characteristics.

Calculate the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) using the security value IMB accepts. An advertised LVR band for pricing isn’t a promise that the same limit applies to every property or borrower. Keep the accepted valuation and approved borrowing amount together in the assessment.

For a purchase, build a funds-to-complete calculation from the price and acquisition costs, less the approved loan and deposit already paid. Show where the remaining cash comes from. Use account records for savings and identify any gift, sale proceeds or other contribution so IMB can specify the evidence it requires.

For a refinance, reconcile the existing loan statement with the expected settlement payout. Include interest to settlement and any discharge or fixed-rate break costs in the calculation. The statement balance alone isn’t the amount the outgoing lender will necessarily require on settlement day.

Keep a buffer separate from money committed to settlement. If a lower valuation reduces the approved advance, identify whether the client has the extra contribution before proceeding on the original funding assumptions.

Bridging and Application Evidence

IMB has a published bridging route on its Standard Variable Loan for personal borrowers, excluding investment and business purposes. Its bridging-finance terms allow up to six months to sell the existing property. Sale proceeds repay the bridging debt.

IMB publishes a maximum combined LVR of 75% during the bridge, including capitalised interest, and 80% on the remaining loan after sale. Its stated limits depend on the security and other lending criteria. IMB requires a first mortgage over both properties.

The new bridging loan accumulates interest without required repayments during the bridge. Minimum repayments continue on any existing IMB loan secured by the old property. Redraw and a mortgage offset account aren’t available on the bridging finance.

Model the Sale Exit

Set out the existing debt and additional borrowing, then add the interest expected during the overlap. That is the peak debt to test against the combined security. Deduct net sale proceeds to estimate the end debt, then test the ongoing loan against the retained property and income.

In a hypothetical file, existing debt is $300,000 and new borrowing is $650,000. An assumed $15,000 of capitalised interest takes peak debt to $965,000. Combined accepted property values of $1.4 million give a peak LVR of about 68.9%.

If the old property sells for $650,000 with $20,000 of selling costs, net sale proceeds are $630,000. Applying those proceeds leaves $335,000 of end debt. Against a retained property valued at $750,000, the end LVR is about 44.7%.

These are illustrative assumptions, not an IMB quote or approval. Recalculate with a lower sale price and a longer overlap to expose extra interest and higher end debt. Record the sale strategy and ask IMB how an unsuccessful sale within the approved term would be handled.

Keep Access and Release Tasks Separate

Use the IMB Bank broker access procedure for sign-in, access and channel questions. An access problem doesn’t change the evidence needed for the credit decision. Keep the application reference and the unanswered policy question ready when seeking help.

Use the IMB mortgage discharge procedure when an existing IMB mortgage must be released. For the new application, retain the selected product, borrower evidence, accepted security and settlement funding calculation. On a bridge, add the peak-debt calculation and sale exit so the assessor can follow how the temporary debt becomes the ongoing loan.