Lender review
Is ORDE Financial a good home loan lender?
The short answer
A non-bank that lends on residential and commercial property through one set of rules. Five residential credit grades accept discharged bankrupts from day one, and Alt Doc works from six months of trading. It is variable only, with no monthly fees, and the postcode category of the property decides how much you can borrow.
How we rate them
Our assessment, not a lender claim. Five dimensions, scored out of five, revisited when the policy-checked date changes. Rate & fees is judged on the pricing borrowers actually transact at, not the advertised rate card; here it is set by credit grade, loan-to-value ratio and location.
- Rate & fees competitiveness
- 3/5
- Approval speed
- 3/5
- Technology & apps
- 3/5
- Product & policy flexibility
- 4.5/5
- Service
- 3.5/5
ORDE prices by credit grade, loan-to-value ratio and location, with loadings for interest only, investment, acreage and larger loans. Application fees step up with the grade. There are no monthly or annual fees, and an early repayment fee applies in the first three years on unregulated loans.
Can I get a loan with them?
Probably, if the security is a property in an accepted location and the income can be shown. Prime borrowers can go up to 85 per cent, while Near Prime and Specialist grades step down through defaults, arrears and discharged bankruptcy. Individuals, companies and trusts can borrow.
Income is verified on full doc or Alt Doc. Full doc takes payslips and a letter or bank statements for employees, or the latest returns and activity statements for the self-employed. Alt Doc takes a declaration of financial position plus one of an ORDE accountant's letter, six months of activity statements or six months of bank statements. Self-employed trading requirements fall by grade, from two years of ABN history on Prime to six months on the Specialist grades. Debt consolidation covers personal or business debts and cash out is available for an acceptable stated purpose, but ORDE does not describe tax debt payouts, offset accounts or guarantor loans, so we do not plan on them. Location is the first check: each postcode has a category, and loan size and loan-to-value limits tighten outside the metropolitan centres.
What they will and will not do
Facts from the lender's current policy, not judgements.
- Yes: Construction loans
- Yes: Bridging finance
- Yes: Commercial property loans (full doc, Lease Doc, Alt Doc)
- Yes: Debt consolidation
- Yes: SMSF lending (residential refinance, commercial)
- No: Fixed rates
- Yes: Interest only (up to five years)
- Yes: Free redraw (not on bridging or SMSF)
- Yes: Trust or company borrowers
- Yes: Expat and non-resident borrowers
- Yes: Vacant land and highest-and-best-use sites
Pros and cons
What works
- One lender, one accreditation and one set of credit rules cover residential and commercial lending, including Lease Doc and commercial self-managed super.
- Discharged bankrupts are considered from the first day on the Near Prime Plus and Specialist grades, and Specialist Plus accepts unlimited unpaid defaults.
- Alt Doc verifies self-employed income with an accountant's letter, six months of activity statements or six months of bank statements, from six months of trading on the Specialist grades.
- No monthly or annual fees and free redraw on most loans.
- Cash out is unlimited for an acceptable stated purpose, and debt consolidation covers personal and business debts.
- Construction, bridging, vacant land, retained stock, expat and non-resident lending sit alongside the standard residential range.
What doesn't
- Variable rates only - ORDE does not offer fixed rates.
- Only the Prime grade lends above 80 per cent, and Near Prime and Specialist grades stop at 80.
- The postcode category of the property caps loan size and loan-to-value ratio, and some regional postcodes need individual assessment.
- An early repayment fee applies in the first three years on unregulated loans, with the same fee shown on commercial and SMSF loans.
- We have not seen an offset account or mortgage insurance described in ORDE's documents, and tax debt payouts are not named.
- Residential self-managed super is limited to refinances and contracts exchanged before 10 August 2026.
What are they distinctly good at?
The borrower whose finances are complex but whose property is solid. ORDE describes a human, commonsense approach to credit rather than relying on a score, and its grade table gives clear lines for defaults, arrears and discharged bankruptcy.
The range reaches from residential through prestige property, vacant land, construction and highest-and-best-use sites, to commercial property with Lease Doc and commercial super fund lending. Construction lending covers house and land packages, new builds and significant renovations, and bridging covers buying before selling. Because one accreditation covers both residential and commercial, a client with a home and a business property can use a single lender for both, provided each security sits in an accepted postcode category.
Who it suits, and who it does not
A good fit if
- Self-employed borrowers with six months to two years of trading and income that is easier to show by activity statements.
- Borrowers with defaults, arrears or a discharged bankruptcy.
- Investors and business owners using residential and commercial property together.
- Builders, developers and buyers of vacant land or sites with a development angle.
Look elsewhere if
- Anyone who wants a fixed rate.
- Borrowers who need an offset account or mortgage insurance above 85 per cent.
- Buyers of residential property through self-managed super after 10 August 2026.
- Borrowers in regional postcodes that need individual assessment and a fast answer.
Our verdict
A flexible non-bank for complex but well-secured lending. Five residential grades give clear lines for credit events and Alt Doc runs from six months of trading, while commercial lending, Lease Doc, construction and bridging share the same accreditation. The edges are firm: variable rates only, an 80 per cent ceiling outside Prime, location rules that tighten loan size quickly, and no offset or mortgage insurance that we can confirm. It is well suited to the borrower whose file needs reading rather than scoring, and less compelling for a clean salary-and-deposit loan that a bank will price more sharply.
We can arrange loans with this lender.
Comparable lenders
Lenders that solve a similar problem, and that we can arrange.
Lender assessments are our own opinion, based on the policy and product terms in force on the policy-checked date shown above, and are not a recommendation.
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