A Sydney couple who thought they’d hit a brick wall with their bank have revealed how they doubled their borrowing capacity — unlocking enough cash to secure their dream home after a broker spotted a crucial bank mistake.

Kayla Al-Razak and husband Kameran, from Sydney’s south, were hunting for a bigger home after welcoming their second child.

They’d bought their first property back in 2019, but with two young kids, space was getting tight.

“We just needed something a bit bigger,” Ms Al-Razak said. “When I went to our bank to find out what we could borrow, the number they gave us was way below what I expected.”

It turned out the bank had taken a narrow view of the couple’s finances — limiting their borrowing potential under strict policy settings.

MORE: Big bank’s ‘heartless’ move as rate changes loom

A chance encounter on social media changed everything.

Ms Al-Razak saw mortgage broker’s Joseph Daoud’s details appear on Instagram and decided to get in touch.

“Within 10 minutes he gave me three or four options that were so much less scary,” she said.

Mr Daoud immediately recognised the issue: Ms Al-Razak was on maternity leave at the time and a bank officer had taken an overly rigid interpretation of the lender’s maternity policy. This had cut the couple’s capacity in half.

“Every lender has their own quirks,” Mr Daoud said. “When we took Kayla and Kameran to another bank with a more suitable policy, their borrowing power literally doubled.”

The couple eventually bought their dream home in Sydney’s St George region.

MORE: When Aussies could see their next RBA rate cut

Mr Daoud, an economist and founder of It’s Simple Finance, warned that buyers who fail to shop around could come unstuck.

It was not uncommon for bank staff, especially inexperienced team members, to not fully understand credit policies, and low ball people’s borrowing power, he added.

“The problem is that as borrower you’d see this person as an authority so you just assume that’s correct,” Mr Daoud said.

The Al-Razak family getting more finance was a move that proved essential as they discovered just how fierce the city’s housing market had become.

“It was so competitive,” Ms Al-Razak said, noting they were outbid on numerous properties before they found their dream home.

MORE: Shock item Aussies steal most from shops

Mr Daoud, said this competitive pressure was now the new normal.

Many buyers were being forced to use every dollar of their borrowing capacity just to stay in the race, he added.

“We’re seeing it constantly,” he said. “People come to us saying, ‘we only want to spend this much,’ but nine times out of 10 they come back realising they need to borrow more.

“People get pressured to spend more. It’s not their fault.”

Ms Al-Razak said getting access to more borrowing power was life-changing.

“We love where we’ve ended up,” she said. “At one point it felt like we’d never find the right place, but we did and it’s better than anything we missed out on.”

The post Sydney couple double borrowing power after getting low balled by former bank appeared first on realestate.com.au.

This isn’t your typical rural home.

The 1.9ha property at 130 Gulnare Rd, Bees Creek, comes with the usual house, pool, outdoor entertaining area and big shed.

But it also comes with a go kart track, two go karts and a golf simulator.

Owners Wayne and Nenelle bought the property in 2021 and set about creating the ultimate rural retreat for themselves and their sons, Oscar, 9, and Noah, 6.

“We liked that (the property) had a brand new 16m x 8m shed and that the house was renovated throughout,” Wayne said.

“Both of our boys race dirt karts, so we knew we wanted to put a go kart track in.

“There were eight semi loads of clay bought in to make the track and it’s approximately 5m wide by about 90m long.”

Wayne said the track proved to be popular with adults and kids alike.

“Whenever we wanted to, we could put water on the track and go do some practice,” he said.

“You wet it down and once it gets to the right texture, it gets some really good grip around corners.

“We’ve always got the boys’ friends coming round and being involved in the racing community up here, we put a text out and people will come round.

“We’ve had nine or 10 karts on the course at any one time.”

Wayne said the track had seen plenty of hard fought wins.

“It’s not just about cruising around,” he said.

“We’re all racers, so even though we have a muck around, I’ll move heaven and earth to pass one of my mates.

“It’s not fun unless your foot’s to the floor.”

Once the grand champion of the Gulnare Rd track is declared, there’s still plenty to keep you busy.

There’s a golf simulator, in-ground pool with sunbaking zone and loads of lawn space for kicking the foot around or playing a game of backyard cricket.

“The pool has taken us some time to do up and I put 1200 sqm of new turf in at the front,” Wayne said.

The home has wraparound verandas, easy indoor-outdoor flow, tiled floors and louvres throughout.

There is a generous open plan living, dining and kitchen space with white cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and a breakfast bar in the kitchen.

The three bedrooms have built-in robes and there is a family bathroom with bath tub and shower.

Outside, the shed includes an airconditioned workshop space where the golf simulator it set up.

There is also a triple carport and extra shed space.

The fenced property sits behind a belt of native vegetation and features established gardens.

PROPERTY DETAILS

Address: 130 Gulnare Rd, Bees Creek

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 1

Carparks: 5

Price guide: $910,000

Agent: Daniel Harris, 0430 350 631, Real Estate Central

The post Dream listing: Home hits market with go karts, track, golf simulator appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Non-QM production at multi-channel mortgage lender Newrez has surged 40% in recent months, with company leaders pointing to enhanced guidelines and growing demand for second mortgages as key drivers of record-breaking wholesale production.

Coming off of the company’s Q3 2025 earnings report on Thursday, Tony Kottenbrock, Newrez‘s head of wholesale, sat down with HousingWire to talk about the company’s growth in the closed-end second space and non-QM, and how they plan to keep momentum going into 2026.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: Let’s first address Newrez seeing a 40% bump in non-QM over the past four months. What have been the drivers for that? I’ve heard some folks say that crypto loans, which count as non-QM, have driven that volume.

Tony Kottenbrock: We are looking at the crypto opportunity. We have not gone that route from a guideline perspective yet, but we did make some enhancements to our guidelines roughly four months ago, which opened up the production for us. Some of that was different guidelines from a DSCR perspective…We enhanced our guidelines on our bank statement program. Our LTVs are still averaging around 70% on these products, and our FICOs are still in the 740 range.

So we’re not talking the old thought process where non-QMs are subprime, it’s far from it. These are good credit customers that are in need of these loans. Alternative type income is the biggest part of it, 60% of what we’re producing are still bank statement-type loans with exceptional credit scores and good LTVs from the credit risk perspective.

SW: Newrez’s earnings were released today and the company posted its best volume since 2022. How much did non-QM contribute to this?

TK: Just from a wholesale perspective, and, keep in mind, we’ve grown our production from a funding perspective by 40% over the last four months, but just year over year, we will in the wholesale channel alone, have doubled our funding production from roughly 1 billion to over 2 billion at the end of the year — probably around 2.2 billion in fundings. That’s 100% growth year over year, or double in production anyway.

SW: Is that something that Newrez anticipated at the beginning of the year?

TK: Yes, we did. But, I also think it’s more of an opportunity for brokers out there from a marketing perspective, because if you look at the purchase growth opportunity, it’s basically flat year over year, maybe even slightly negative. That’s where we go into seconds as well.

The non-QM is there for customers who probably don’t already have a rate that’s at 4.5% or lower; it makes sense for them to go the non-QM route and refinance the first pull cash out. In fact, just looking at some numbers here, the average family has almost $50,000 in just consumer debt. We’re not talking total debt, we’re just talking consumer debt out there. So the opportunity to refinance their first pay off debt, put themselves in a better position, I think it’s what people have had to finally focus on this year.

I think from a non-QM perspective, from what the agencies did, primarily on the conventional side with increasing the LLPA, I think it has helped open up the private market somewhat. And investors have been able to step in and fill some of that gap to help from a cash out perspective investment market as well. When you get to the DSCR non-QM loans, that has also opened up the opportunity for the secondary market to step in and provide some liquidity into the marketplace.

SW: As Newrez’s head of wholesale, as we head into 2026, what are some expectations that you have regarding wholesale in general or by product type?

TK: We do have a rather bold outlook on the second mortgage market from a wholesale perspective, that’s going to be on the closed-end seconds. We’re focused on the automation, of being able to provide a closed-end second at a faster pace in 2026 than where we’re at right now.

We did not have that focus on second mortgages in 2024. From a wholesale perspective, again, the banks and credit unions have controlled that space for so long, and I think they have a high turn-down ratio, and that’s something that the expertise from the brokers, from our account executives — now we can provide that knowledge and experience.

HELOCs are obviously popular as well right now, but I think there’s a gap in there that the banks and credit unions aren’t able to fill. Some of it is the speed in which they move, where brokers can move at a much faster speed to get the customers cash in hand.

Closed-end seconds is a product we’re pushing because rates need to come down quite a bit for the first mortgage, refi cash-out opportunity to make sense for a lot of the borrowers out there. And that’s where second mortgages fill that gap, or at least temporarily provide relief until rates come down further and they can consolidate that first and second.

Florida Realtors has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japan-America Real Estate Coalition Office (JARECO) — strengthening cooperation and expanding business opportunities between real estate professionals in Florida and Japan.

Under the memorandum, Florida Realtors and JARECO will focus on professional development, market data sharing and global business outreach.

Both groups have committed to advancing ethical standards, professionalism and innovation within the international real estate industry.

The agreement was signed in Tokyo by Florida Realtors President Tim Weisheyer and JARECO Chairman Masayuki Nakagawa during the Southeast U.S.-Japan Association joint meeting.

“Florida’s global real estate connections continue to grow, and this new partnership with JARECO opens even more doors for collaboration, learning and investment between Florida and Japan,” Weisheyer said. “We’re proud to strengthen the bridge between our two markets and help Realtors in both countries find new pathways for success.”

Founded in 2013, JARECO serves as a key link between the National Association of Realtors and five major real estate organizations in Japan — representing hundreds of thousands of professionals.

The signing follows increased economic and travel connections between Florida and Japan. ZIPAIR — a subsidiary of Japan Airlines — announced plans Oct. 28 to launch the first nonstop passenger flights between Florida and Asia.

The airline will operate four round-trip charter flights between Orlando International Airport and Tokyo Narita beginning in February.

“As the immediate past chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, I understand the importance of international connectivity and am excited to see our years of work come to fruition,” Weisheyer said. “These new flights, combined with partnerships like this one, will help strengthen business and real estate relationships between Florida and Japan.

“This partnership arrives at an exciting time. With new direct air connections and a growing appetite for cross-border investment, Florida and Japan are poised to deepen economic and professional ties. Real estate is at the center of that growth, and Florida Realtors is proud help connect our members with opportunities around the world.”

Melbourne is going from its busiest auction weekend of the year to one of its quietest, with about 460 homeowners testing the market after more than 1700 did so a week prior.

The pseudo-long weekend with Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday is behind the decline, and has also prompted a rush of homes selling ahead of schedule with wide reports many sellers looked to lock in a deal ahead of time in the past seven days.

Prominent buyer’s agent and new Property Investment Professionals of Australia chair Cate Bakos said agents and vendors were more likely to take an early offer than risk a home passing in during November and December, and were still worried about upcoming listings “cannibalising” buyers in the next few weeks.

RELATED: Melbourne auctions: Sellers seeing strongest spring since 2022

Melbourne buyers panic as homes sell before auction

RBA rate cuts: Warning over ‘nightmare scenario’ ahead

“And, this week, I have had agent say they will wrap things up by Friday as they are thinking about using the long weekend (for a break),” Ms Bakos said.

Despite this, some of the early sales will give hope to sellers going to auction this weekend.

Arguably one of Melbourne’s skinnier homes, a 5m wide property at 225 Burnely St, Richmond, that was sold halfway through a reno — shot almost $150,000 past expectations and sold for$1,032,500 after one buyer made an early offer more than a week before it’s auction.

While it was supposed to go under the hammer today, Nelson Alexander’s Tom Alexiadis said the home went to auction a week early with four bidders active after 175 groups inspected it.

The buyer was a builder who tuned in from his car and was texting and drinking a coffee as well as chatting with a mate next to him.

“It’s the most amusing auction I have had in years,” Mr Alexiadis said.

The agent added that he’d had two more homes slated for auctions over the coming two weeks sell ahead of schedule including a townhouse at 9/46 Westgarth St, Northcote, and a family home at 32 Gordon St, Northcote.

“We’ve had a week of boardroom auctions caused by buyers who haven’t wanted to wait,” Mr Alexiadis said.

“Sometimes we are getting offers in the first week, from buyers who have been looking for a while.”

---

Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.

MORE: Shocking daily rise in Aussie land prices set to worsen housing crisis

Sale of the Century co-host Alyce Platt lists renovated Elwood home

Essendon legend Simon Madden lists family home for $2.6m+

The post Melbourne sellers rush early sales before Cup weekend auction drop appeared first on realestate.com.au.