Founded by Toni Mladenova and Nathan Gooley in 2017, Yard leapt onto the home loan scene to change the “inefficient” home loan application processes that can “feel ancient and seem to take an eternity.”
“Most home loans are confusing. The long list of hidden fees and charges makes meaningful comparison tough,” Ms Mladenova told Savings.com.au.
“At Yard, we have changed this. We’re obsessed with designing innovative mortgage solutions that are simple, transparent, and fairly priced. We make the home loan experience better for people.”
In an interview with Savings.com.au in July 2021, Ms Mladenova shared how Yard got its name.
“When we thought about Yard, the whole idea was it's really inspirational that we're going to help you actually buy a yard, your own backyard, and that's where the name came from,” she told Savings.com.au.
“It’s also pretty tough getting to the point where you’ve got enough cash saved up to buy property, so it also refers to the hard yards people put in when going through the property buying journey.”
The “simple, online home loan” lender says it uses the latest tech to provide “exceptional, locally-based” customer service to Australians everywhere.
Big bank products without the big bank price tag
“At Yard, we are big on both simplicity and transparency,” Ms Mladenova says.
To hone in on this focus, Yard offers four products to meet people’s needs: home loans with variable and fixed interest rates; construction loans; bridging loans; and SMSF loans.
“We want to provide people with all the features that a big bank might provide - we just want to combine this with extremely competitive interest rates and low fees,” Ms Mladenova said.
Some of these notable features include:
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Unlimited free redraw
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Unlimited additional repayments
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Optional 100% offset facility
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Up to 95% LVR
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Up to 5 splits
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No application fees
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Fast approval times
“We separate ourselves through the breadth and speed of our proposition,” Ms Mladenova told Savings.com.au in July 2021.
“For example, we can help borrowers with renovations or to purchase a property before they’ve sold their current property through bridging finance. And we can typically approve applications in 24 to 48 hours.”
Here’s a snapshot of Yard’s home loans for owner occupiers:
Lender Home Loan Interest Rate Comparison Rate* Monthly Repayment Repayment type Rate Type Offset Redraw Ongoing Fees Upfront Fees LVR Lump Sum Repayment Additional Repayments Split Loan Option Tags Features Link Compare
Australian team to help you achieve the Australian dream
Yard says it boasts a “highly skilled” team based in Australia, and are available at a time that suits your schedule to 'make the process easy.'
“Yard is a full-service mortgage lender. Our sole focus is on providing home loans and we are specialists,” Ms Mladenova said.
“Every Australian’s property investing journey is unique. Property preferences vary, your investment strategy is your own and your financial circumstances are unique to you.
“We are committed to getting to understand what you really need and want today, and then how we can help you build wealth into the future.
Ms Mladenova said Yard recognises that Australians can have “unique personal and financial circumstances”.
“Whether you’re a salaried employee, self-employed, located overseas, are looking for a loan through a trust or company, or buying in a regional area; Yard tries to meet a wide range of circumstances and your loan consultant can look to see if Yard can help you,” she said.
Yard is a lender, not a bank
Yard has one main focus - *spoiler* it’s home loans - staying committed to getting to understand “what you really need and want today, and then how we can help you build wealth into the future.”
“Our mission is to help Australians build wealth, and we do this by offering low rates and fees, fully-featured loans, tailored service and a digital home loan experience,” Ms Mladenova told Savings.com.au.
“We can help people with a wide range of individual financial circumstances who are looking for loans for residential homes across Australia.”
Being an online lender - meaning no old-school brick and mortar branches - Ms Mladenova told Savings.com.au that this allowed Yard to create a “fundamentally different cost structure”.
“We offer a very simple proposition. What we try to do is really simplify our loans, and we would like to think that brings transparency into the proposition, and makes our products very easy to compare with other products in the market,” she told Savings.com.au in July 2021.
“You’re also likely to get a better deal when going with an online lender, as most of the competitive rates on the market currently come from an online lender.”
How to apply for a Yard home loan
To apply for a home loan with Yard, you’ll need to meet its home loan eligibility criteria, including:
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Being at least 18 years old
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Being an Australian citizen or permanent resident
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Having a good credit history
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Receiving a salary from an employer, or you are self-employed with at least two years of ABN registration; self-employed professionals (doctors, lawyers, IT professionals) may be considered if they have held an ABN for six months
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Having no previous defaults greater than $1,500
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Maximum LVR is 95% with lenders mortgage insurance (LMI)
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Minimum loan size is $150,000 and the maximum is $5 million
From there, the application process is totally digital, starting with an online form submission, and a subsequent chat with one of Yard's Lending Specialists.
Image by David (Saw Dawg) Guarino on Unsplash
Ready, Set, Buy!
Learn everything you need to know about buying property – from choosing the right property and home loan, to the purchasing process, tips to save money and more!
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Emma Duffy
Harrison Astbury
Rachel Horan
Staff Writers
