How to Use Your Equity to Build Wealth with Property

Healthcare Home Loans
Nov 12
3 min read

A step by step guide how to use your equity to build wealth

If you've owned your home for a few years, chances are it has increased in value.

What many homeowners don't realise is that the equity in their home can be a powerful tool to help fund investments, renovations, or major life goals without selling the property.

In this video Dom goes over how to build equity step by step:

Step 1: Your Property Has Increased in Value

Let’s say you bought a home for $600,000 a few years ago. Thanks to market growth, it’s now worth $900,000. That difference in value opens up borrowing potential. This is where equity comes into play.

Step 2: Equity = Property Value – Loan Balance

If you still owe $400,000 on your mortgage, your total equity looks like this:

$900,000 (current value) minus $400,000 (loan balance) equals $500,000 in equity

But while you might have half a million in equity, you can’t access all of it. Lenders cap how much they’ll allow you to borrow against your home.

Step 3: Accessing Up to 80% Without Paying LMI

Most lenders allow you to borrow up to 80% of your property’s value without incurring Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI). That’s a key threshold. Anything above 80% usually triggers extra costs.

80% of $900,000 equals $720,000

This is the maximum total loan a lender will allow you to have secured against your property without charging LMI.

Step 4: Calculating Your Usable Equity

Now subtract your current loan from that maximum:

$720,000 (max loan) minus $400,000 (current loan) equals $320,000 usable equity

This $320,000 is your usable equity — the amount you can potentially access as a cash-out, loan top-up, or for new borrowing.

Step 5: What Can You Do With Usable Equity?

Equity gives you leverage. Many of our healthcare clients use their equity for strategic financial moves, such as:

Buying an investment property (either as a deposit or full purchase)
Covering purchase costs like stamp duty, legal fees, and inspections
Renovating their current or new home
Investing elsewhere (e.g., shares, business, or education — subject to bank approval)

Step 6: How It Works in Practice

Once your equity is assessed, the bank may:

Increase your current home loan limit through a top-up, or
Create a separate investment loan secured by your property

Either way, you’ll start paying interest on the new loan amount, for example, on $720,000 instead of your original $400,000. It’s essential that the increased repayments still meet your borrowing capacity.

Special Lending Benefits for Healthcare Professionals

If you're a healthcare professional, your options for using equity are even more powerful.

Many banks offer LMI waivers for up to 90% or even 95% loan-to-value ratios (LVR) meaning you can access significantly more equity without paying expensive LMI premiums.

Eligible roles now include:

Doctors, specialists, nurses, and allied health professionals

Aged care and disability support workers
Pharmacists and medical researchers
Corporate services and non-clinical hospital staff (e.g., IT, HR, finance, admin, operations, procurement)

This means if your property is worth $900,000, some lenders may allow you to borrow:

Up to $855,000 at 95% LVR, or
Up to $810,000 at 90% LVR

With no LMI — potentially saving you tens of thousands of dollars.

At Healthcare Home Loans, we work exclusively with healthcare professionals, so we know how to position your application for maximum benefits across multiple lenders.

Key Considerations Before Unlocking Equity

Using equity isn’t free money — it’s still borrowed money, and it comes with responsibilities:

You must meet lender serviceability rules (income vs expenses)
Staying under 80% LVR avoids LMI for most borrowers, but healthcare professionals have expanded limits
If property values drop, your equity can shrink, so always plan conservatively

Ready to Put Your Equity to Work?

At Healthcare Home Loans, we help doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, aged care staff, and now corporate and non-clinical workers unlock their equity and build long-term wealth through smart lending strategies.

Whether you're looking to invest in property, renovate, or simply explore your options — our lending specialists can guide you through the process step by step.

👉 Book your free consultation today and discover how much equity you could use.