Keystart

Great for people with low deposit who can't get bank finance. I spoke with Andy and he was upfront about the service offered, low deposit loan to help you get equity in your own home before moving to a bank and getting lower interest rate. Show details

I have had the pleasure of assistance from Wendy Crone and Jade de Wet during a long and often emotional journey , on my part, while selling my shared equity home. At all times , they were very supportive and understanding. They did what they said they would do in a timely manner. It is often frustrating dealing with government offices and… Read more ·  1

customer service can be lacking. Thankyou to both these great ladies who have helped me immeasurably and deserve recognition for their customer service skills. Thankyou again for your help.

Don't ever bother unless you don't need the money – A Terrible waste of time in witch a lot of personal data is collected fill you with false hope when they were never going to help as the last things they ask for ie your super amount means they would never give you a loan even with a good deposit !,And to be told you'll never get a loan unless you come into a lot ! of money This is crazy after the… Read more

gov let people use super during Covid19 not recommended at all .The end of the story we went to a bank and got approved in less than 48hrs with the help of a Broker (Aussie Home Loans and ComBank)

A Great Incentive To Help Others Get Into a Home in Western Australia – Keystart are a WA Government based initiative to help West Australians find loans in situations where banking institutions may not give the same leeway. I acquired a loan from Keystart in 2016, who, after seeing my good savings history and fund management from my banking history, approved me of a loan far more generous than the reputable mortgage… Read more ·  1

brokers and lenders, even from the top five.

It is their purpose is to allow folks with less financial clout a way to get a home loan, either by the percentage plan or by allowing a higher loan amount. They also do not require lender's insurance, and they don't require loan payments until you move into your house (though I strong advise you should start paying your mortgage when the loan starts to allow yourself time to adjust to the financial strain of mortgage payments, what's more is you will then have your account in credit for future problems).

Understand, if you're going to use Keystart - then you need to know they are NOT an organisation that is designed to give you the most competitive interest rate - they will never be as competitive as the top banks and financiers, because that is not their purpose. Their interest is based upon the mean average of the top standard mortgage rates from Australian Banks and the RBA - so while they won't ever charge more than a standard mortgage from the Big Three, they won't offer a competitive initial 5 year loan, either.

As someone who hit financial hardship from 2021-2023, Kestart went above and beyond what any other lender would to to see me through those times, to allow me to stay in my home, until I finally sold under their handover process in 2024. Their patience and assistance during this time was more than I could ever expect from a typical lender who would have likely defaulted me long ago. I owe their organisation a lot, giving me an opportunity to purchase and own a home, and then allow me assistance and help through loan hardship and the handover and sale process.

Keystart are there as a leg up - they are designed to help you get financial and a competitive loan or find a bank as a starting point - so can eventually refinance with another lender, find an offset account for your mortgage, etc. They also offer more competitive loans for those lower incomes, particularly those who have a good savings history (which they seem to take more into account than the big banks). Until you can find a way to refinance. they are a great way in for those who are looking to buy a home.

Of course, with the market the way it is now, getting a home loans, making mortgage repayments, is far more difficult, but this isn't something Keystart has control over, nor are they responsible for the ever increasing greed of home investors chasing profit (like anyone in capital does) over supporting Austalia's housing market. Understand that with the way housing is at the moment, finding loans is difficult - and even Keystart need to weigh risk vs outcome when approving loans.

Just know what you are getting into with a loan, like any lender. Do your research, know your responsibilities and make sure to uphold your due diligence and your obligations as mortgagee.

Horrible to deal with, worst experience of my life – [Name Removed]. You are a sad excuse of a person. I’m not sure if [Content Removed] as you don’t make sense at times but you speak to me extremely condescending. Get some professionalism, never tell someone to “calm down” when I’m experiencing the worst time of my life. You don’t tell someone it’s their own fault that they are in arrears. Expect… Read more

an AFCA complaint and a letter to the department of housing and to channel 7. I hope you sleep well at night knowing that you have caused mental damage to me and my family.

It just a trap – Shame on government to take advantage of low income, the interest rate is a joke 7,5% ,stay away from keystart it s a hell ,the government is take food from our table☹️

WA gov gouging is constituents – I was sold this loan as a good alternative because I was under a certain pay bracket and would not have LMI with a low deposit loan. The current interest rate hike has Keystart at 7.25% interest. The average loan is at 4.25% LMI seems like a much better option then being gouged by the government. This was meant to be an initiative to help people… Read more

in lower income brackets. You'd think they would make the interest rates comparable to the others available.

Surprisingly easy for FTHB – Being a FTHB I was very surprised how easy it was to deal with Hayden Turner, given the horror stories I'd heard about other finance companies and brokers. Would generally reply within a day and no unexpected phone calls, I would highly recommend Hayden Turner to anyone looking for finance. Show details

My broker Hayden Turner has been incredible to deal with! Very supportive and understanding of my concerns – I am very satisfied with the level of service and expertise I received from my broker and his team. Would definitely recommend Hayden Turner to anyone looking for a broker service Show details

Recommend Keystart!! – We just refinanced our mortgage yesterday but we were with Keystart for just under 7 years. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. I highly recommend Keystart for people who are unable to save a large deposit for their new home. Yes the interest rate is high, but they encourage you to refinance as soon as you are able to and they help you get in to the property market a lot sooner. Show details ·  1

Highly Recommended – We found Graeme very friendly and approachable, informative and helpful, we are in trying times and Graeme was patient and confident that I would secure my finance. I appreciate all his efforts in making this happen. Show details ·  1

Don’t Get Fooled, Go to Bank If You Can! – First glance, it looked as a great deal for a newbie with no savings needed. But after 5 years stuck with them under shared-equity program, I learnt the hardway truths: 1. Currently 4.5% loan interest amongst 1.9-2.5% of normal banks 2. Works only on increasing market. You’ll get stuck when market slumps down 3. Owner occupier only, no option… Read more

to rent out

4. You can’t have second house under any circumstances

5. Unreasonable valuation result - bought my house in 2015 for $400K (my share is 80% which was $315k). Today a bank valuer estimates value of $360k, their independent valuer gave $315k!! What a joke!

6. Valuation fee of $250 each time you tried to run away from them (did try 4 times already!!)

7. Government has the 1st priority to buy back when I’m selling. And if so, it will be based on their valuation

Please, save your hard earned money and do yourself a favoir to avoid this scam.

Keystart what a joke!!! Don’t waste your time! – Keystart is the biggest joke in history a home loans!!! A very stressful experience ! I called Keystart six weeks ago before I applied for my home loan and asked, if I’m on workers comp can I still apply for a home loan? They said yes no problem! So I applied for the home loan got preapproval put a $2000 deposit down with the builder had a $2000… Read more

deposit on the land. Got my preapproval letter to be told later that because I don’t have an end date to my workers comp because I have PTSD which I sustained in my job that I can’t get a home loan and now I’ve lost $2000 from the builder. Money which I will need to move house with as my rental is up for sale. I will now take my money to one of the big 4 and get my home loan there!

Keystart are taking money off the tax payers to fund their Scamming home loan business!

watch now I’ll get a generic message from them telling me and write an email to the blah blah so they can give two crap about! What a joke!!!!

Being Prepared is Key - Overall a positive experience – Initial application in April until Settlement in July...Yes, be prepared for Keystart's microscopic and time consuming approach of your finances - income/bank statements/spending (even Afterpay - and my embarrassing moment of having to prove I had paid in full for that sexy lingerie I had purchased!!), but my rational approach and understanding… Read more ·  1

through countless hours of reading up on pre-aproval do's and dont's, gaining a good understanding of credit scores/DTI's, working hard (i appreciate that I was lucky enough to not have my job affected by covid19) and saving hard made me understand why Keystart asked the many questions that they did, via my Broker. It was an overall valuable experience and I am grateful I achieved Formal Approval. And for those who are doing it solo like myself - it is achievable! Correspondence was at times slow, but I found the online application tracker informative, and accepted that if the broker had not heard from keystart is was a matter of waiting patiently.

My strongest advice - and Keystart make this clear on their website - once you have Loan Approval and start paying your mortgage (I am currently at Lock Up stage with mine) - MAKE EXTRA PAYMENTS - get ahead and achieve that Advance position, so you can then be in a better position to refinance with another lender with the lower interest rates (whilst remaining realistic about current market etc)..

Good luck to future Keystart applicants....and thank you Keystart. Regards Michelle

Unrealistic property values – Building a new 4bed/2bath house, costing $400k. Pre-approval went well, although dragged out for 5 weeks. KeyStart confirmed we could afford what we were going to borrow. Next was the valuation of land+house. Their independent assessor said the value was $340k based on 3 months of sales within the area. I checked a few sites and the overall sales… Read more

were around $350k for pre-established houses, but when narrowing to 4-bedroom houses, it was more around $380-$420k on similarly sized blocks. It's almost like the assessor didn't factor in the size of the block or house. The broker, builder and land agent were gob-smacked by the $340k evaluation.

Obviously the builder or land agent won't drop their prices, so we're not sure who will be building out that way with KeyStart, unless they purchase a small block/house or have a large deposit - but then go to the bank instead.

Our broker put us in touch with BankWest, who assessed the house and land we were buying and said it was a fair price. Apparently KeyStart won't accept assessments from other assessors, so we'll have to kiss those 5 weeks goodbye. BankWest have a couple more financial hurdles for us to jump through, but will have the application reviewed in a shorter period of time. Thankfully we're in a position where we can tap into a bit more of our savings to go with the bank (although we'll have to add LMI into the mix).

Just be aware that KeyStart independent assessors may lowball house/land values. I'm not sure if you can determine this before pre-approval. The 5 week time frame is a long, anxious wait.

Go to a bank – First of all this agency is called Keystart however there was nothing to suggest that this organisation is willing to help middle class families a chance to buy a home in WA. This has to be the most stressful and time wasting experience I’ve had in Perth. We applied to keystart back in July and took 3 weeks Before we got declined. We then… Read more

re-applied to them and after 8 weeks we got Pre-approval which we where so happy at the time because we had already signed our contracts for our home and was told by our builder to crack open the Champagne. The next week we got together all the paperwork that keystart required and sent them through for Formal Approval.

Nearly 2 weeks later I decided one Saturday morning to check the status of our loan application online and it came up DECLINED. I was absolutely devastated and straight away thought they had made a mistake but when I called my broker on the Monday she said it was down to a previous debt which was paid and wasn’t any fault of mine as I explained this in a letter.

I decided to appeal and was speaking to a lovely lady who told me to send the letter again and she would pass it on to the assessment team for review.

Over a week later and my broker told me that we were DECLINED again for a third time.

As it stands we lost the home, which in fact we already done our prestart meetings choose everything and received all the permits to build , except the one most important thing FORMAL APPROVAL from Keystart.

This experience has left me very stressed and worn out and not to mention my family are so disheartened that we where so close to getting our forever home and Keystart shattered our dreams.

PS: They didn’t even have the decency or professionalism to call us and discuss.

Great experience – Contacted keystart twice on Facebook Messenger for two different reasons. Both times there customer service representative replied quick and both issues were resolved in a fast timely manner. Very very happy! As first home buyers it was a very stressful process overall, but so worth it. I've read many bad reviews on here which tends to repeat… Read more ·  2

the same thing. Be sure to read the contract word for word, most reviews on here state things that are stated in there contracts.

Keystart offer a low deposit, higher interest rate to allow people to get into the market (stepping stone). If you want a lower interest rate, save a higher deposit.

Based on our experience we are happy with the rate because we were able to enter the property market with a low deposit. I would highly recommend keystart if you want to get into your own home, great customer service especially during such a busy and demanding time. Thank you again A++++

Been helpful for me – 6 months ago i enteted into the market with the help of keystart and have had no problems. Of course I knew before enteting that the interest rate was going to be higher due to me having a small deposit etc but its still manageable and they save you thousands on not charging stamp duty. It is also really easy to manage your repayments online… Read more ·  1

which i love. Each week you can change the figure if you want, just as long as the minimum amount is in there. I'd definitely recommend to have weekly repayments as it saves you $ in the long run.

Positive Experience – Our experience was a positive one even though the process was long and thorough, overally it was all worth it.We used our broker Alun Vernals,provided all the paperwork required and got our loan formally approved in the end.Highly recommended!! Show reply

Fantastic – I had a positive experience, Radloff looked after me from the beginning to end and also Peta helped a lot, they both went above and beyond to get me into my house, couldn’t be happier Show details ·  1

Very rude Mortgage Advisor who made assumptions without reviewing all of our documents – After submitting what felt like our lifestory and copious amounts of paperwork, our first phone call from the Keystart Homeloan Specialist (initials RC) was extremely patronising. He made assumptions without knowing the facts and basically made a decision based on 1 document before even looking through the rest of our paperwork and evidence which… Read more

we were asked to submit, and just stated the fact he is swamped with work and has made his decision. Do not believe the statement on their website "near enough is good enough". Good customer service from initial call centre advisor but totally patronising presumptious behaviour from the Homeloan so called specialist. For a government supported agency I found this behaviour humiliating and appalling.

Ruined – Team are not compassionate. My Husband was unemployed for a few years so we were behind $12000 I asked for a letter to take out super they declined time and time again The cold Communication like bots Times were tough but we fought hard. Husband now has employment since nov2019 and we get a sheriff eviction notice we need to be out in four days… Read more

and have nowhere to go at this point Pleaded to reconsider as we now earn over $7k a month dual income and could catch up arrears rather quickly but they are completely insensitive and prefer us to be out rather than give us a chance! the interest rates are Insane If you compare to banks. No help just cold money sucking people We are on the street in 4 days with no rental place lined up yet Sheriff will be here in 4 days and they said no I want to kill myself because of KEYSTART