Tiimely Home, formerly named Tic:Toc, is a non-bank lender and the retail arm of a fintech company of the same name. 

It does one thing – home loans. And it only does one of those: The Tiimely Own home loan, available with variable and fixed interest rates for owner-occupiers and investors.

The lender aims to entice customers with low rates and simple products that are funded by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. That means customers have many of the benefits of borrowing through a bank, such as offset accounts that are protected by the Financial Claims Scheme. 

Tiimely Home states that its technology is the reason it can afford to offer competitive interest rates. Its ability to assess and verify applicants' information in real-time and its bank-backed model means its overheads are low and it can pass the savings onto borrowers.

Speaking of assessments, Tiimely advertises itself as having a turnaround time for loan applications that’s twice as fast as the industry average and says it once fully approved an applicant within 58 minutes of them submitting their application.

The lender also offers an in-house brokerage service for borrowers looking to fund a home purchase through a competitor.

Finally, Tiimely promises it won’t charge redraw fees, upfront fees, monthly fees, application fees, or annual fees. It will, however, charge an exit or discharge fee.

All you need to know about Tiimely home loans

Tiimely Home is relatively selective when it comes to borrowers.

It will only accept borrowers who are employed or self-employed and have been for at least six months (if employed) or 12 months (if self-employed), have a deposit of at least 10% (a loan-to-value ratio, or LVR, of 90% or under) if borrowing under $2 million, and are an Australian citizen or resident living in the country.

It also doesn’t offer split loans (wherein the rate on part of the loan would be fixed and another part variable) or guarantor loans.

All that is to say, the competitive rates offered by Tiimely Home won’t be available to every borrower out there.

However, for those who are eligible for a mortgage through the lender, it sometimes offers more transparency on its interest rates than some of its peers.

For instance, Tiimely advertises the roll-to rate on its fixed rate products alongside the headline and comparison rates on its website. The roll-to rate is the variable rate a borrower might face when their fixed rate period ends. With many lenders this rollover rate is more opaque, and could be either the Standard Variable Rate (SVR) or some other relatively uncompetitive rate.

What kind of properties can you buy with a Tiimely Home mortgage?

To be eligible for a home loan through the lender, you need to be buying or refinancing a property larger than 50 square metres. This seems relatively modest but might mean studios and small one-bedroom apartments are out.

That property needs to be already standing. Meaning, it won’t lend to a borrower looking to fund the construction of a home or buying off-the-plan. The property also needs to be an a major city or regional centre.

On top of that, the lender won’t consider a first home owner grant as part of a buyer’s deposit. Finally, Tiimely will lend a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $3 million.

Tiimely Home offset accounts explained

Tiimely Home also offers 100% offset accounts on both its fixed and variable rate home loans. Offset accounts are regularly offered on variable home loans, but aren’t so common on fixed rate mortgages.

The lender also doesn’t increase the interest rate offered to borrowers who sign up to an offset account. Instead, it charges an flat fee of $10 a month.

However, if a homeowner were to add an offset account to their loan, or remove one from it, they would incur an initial $150 fee. They might also wind up paying a break fee if their interest rate is fixed.

Customers will need to make sure their offset account balance is large enough and is being utilised in a way that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Tiimely Own's conditional approval & full approval

Tiimely can offer a process similar to a pre-approval, in which it will assess your application without assessing your property. It calls this type of approval ‘subject to property’.

The lender is said to also be the only in Australia that can offer full approval to bid at auction or place an offer. It does so by providing an automatic valuation on the property you plan to bid on or put forward an offer for.

Tiimely’s distinct auction loan approval process provides peace of mind that you’ll be funded somewhere in the ballpark of what the property might sell for. Auction sales are unconditional, so it’s good to be able to bid with confidence.

Of course, price guides at auction can’t be provided, and it may sell under the hammer for much higher than originally anticipated. If you are the winning bidder you will likely also need to stump up for 5 to 10% of the property’s value upfront.

Not all properties are able to be automatically valued. That’s particularly the case if a borrower needs lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), a property is classed as high density, or there isn’t enough sales data from the suburb. If your dream property can’t be automatically valued, Tiimely won’t charge for the additional valuation process needed.

If for some reason you don’t walk away from the auction with a new home, you can simply ask the lender to alter your application, removing the property from it. Meaning, you won’t have to submit a new application or incur another credit check if you fail to place the winning bid.