Construction & House-and-Land Loans Mackay
We arrange construction and house-and-land finance across Mackay, the land and the build as one piece of finance, then manage the progress claims so your builder gets paid on time and keeps its trades on your job.
Construction & house-and-land loans Mackay run on a different timetable from a normal purchase, and we set the funding stages against your building contract rather than against the lender's template. Everything has to go up to cyclone standard here, which affects the build cost and the valuation your loan is measured against, so we check that the contract and the valuation agree before you sign.
When the money is released, and what you pay at each point
A construction loan is drawn in stages as work is finished. You pay interest only on what has been drawn, so repayments climb as the house does.
- 01
Slab
The first drawdown, once the base is poured. A first home owner grant lands here.
- 02
Frame
Released once the frame is up and inspected.
- 03
Lock-up
Roof, windows and external doors in place.
- 04
Fit-out
Internal fixtures, cabinetry and services.
- 05
Completion
Final inspection, then the loan converts to a normal home loan.
How Construction Funding Works
A construction loan does not hand over the money in one go. It releases funds in stages as the build progresses, and we set up that schedule, verify each claim with your builder and get each payment away. Chasing that paperwork is what you get a mortgage broker for on a construction loan.
It covers a few situations: a house and land package in one of the newer Mackay estates, building on land you already own, or knocking down and rebuilding on an existing block. The finance is broadly the same shape in each case, but we treat the land component differently depending on whether you own it already.
The most useful thing we do is get the structure right at the start. A construction loan set up badly causes problems at every stage after it, and stages are exactly what this loan is made of.
What Happens After You Get in Touch
We set the funding up around your build, then run it stage by stage. We already know which lenders are comfortable with Mackay builders and Mackay estates, so the shortlist starts narrower.
- 01
First conversation, about 20 minutes.
What you are building, whether you own the land, and who the builder is. We tell you roughly what the structure looks like.
- 02
Funding structure.
We come back with how the land and build components fit together, what deposit you need at each point, and a drawdown plan mapped to your contract stages.
- 03
Contract review before you sign.
We check the fixed-price contract for what sits outside it, and set a contingency so an overrun does not become a crisis.
- 04
Approval and land settlement.
If you are buying the land as part of it, that settles first and construction funding starts after.
- 05
Drawdowns through the build.
We handle every builder claim from slab to completion, and if you are a first home buyer we make sure the grant lands at the first drawdown as it should.
Your fixed-price building contract and plans if you have them, the land contract or title if you already own the block, your income evidence and your savings history. If you are still choosing a Mackay builder we can start before the contract is signed.
What People Ask Us First
What do you need to set up a construction loan, and how do drawdowns work with my builder?
We need your fixed-price building contract, the plans and specifications, and the land contract or title. Plus the usual income and savings evidence.
On drawdowns, your builder invoices at each completed stage and sends the claim to us. We check it against the contract, submit it to the lender, arrange any inspection required and confirm payment. You do not manage that back and forth. We do.
What does it cost me to use you?
Nothing for the first conversation, and nothing on a standard residential construction loan. The lender pays us a commission on settlement, and we manage every progress claim through the build at no additional cost to you.
If a fee ever applied to your situation, we would set it out in writing in our Credit Guide before you decided whether to go ahead. You would never find out about a cost after the fact.
$750,000
Value ceiling for the $30,000 grantA new home must be valued under this including the land. It is a different number from the $700,000 guarantee cap and the two are constantly confused.
Source: Queensland Revenue Office / qld.gov.au, current 2026What You Pay While The House Goes Up
You do not get the money in one lump. It is released in progress drawdowns as work is completed, through the usual stages of slab, frame, lock-up, fixing and completion, and each one is paid once the builder claims it and the lender is satisfied the work is done.
The part that helps your cash flow: you only pay interest on what has actually been drawn. At slab stage you are paying interest on a fraction of the loan, not on the whole thing. Your repayments climb through the build and reach their full level at completion, so you are not funding an empty block and a finished house at the same time.
Who Chases the Bank Between Stages
We do. For each claim we check it against your contract, submit it, chase the lender's inspection where one is required, and confirm payment.
That matters more in Mackay than it sounds, because the trade pool here is finite and a builder whose payment is late moves crews to the job that is paying. A build that is not waiting on finance is a build that keeps its trades.
What We Check in Your Building Contract
Lenders want a fixed-price building contract with a builder registered with the QBCC. It tells them what the finished house will be worth and what it will cost to get there, and without that certainty the funding gets much harder.
Read the fixed price carefully, because it is fixed for what is in it. Site costs, retaining, driveways, landscaping, fencing and connections are frequently outside the contract sum, and on a sloping Mackay block, site costs alone can move by tens of thousands, and if the total lands higher than the finance, the overrun is yours to fund. We go through the contract with you and build a contingency into the structure rather than assuming the number on the front page is the number.
The Valuation Your Loan Is Actually Measured Against
The lender values the property "as if complete": what it will be worth finished, based on the plans and the contract. That valuation, not the contract price, is what your loan is measured against.
On a knockdown rebuild or a custom design it carries more risk than on a standard estate build, and a custom home in Mackay can be built for more than a valuer will put on it. We flag that gap early, because it lands on your deposit rather than the bank's.
If You Are Planning to Owner-Build
Owner-building is possible but the lending is materially tighter: lower proportion of value, more evidence, and fewer lenders willing at all. If that is your plan, tell us at the first conversation because it changes the whole shortlist.
Getting Your $30,000 Grant at the Right Time
If you are building your first home, the timing of the grant catches people out and it is worth being clear about.
You do not get the $30,000 upfront. When you are building, it is paid at the first progress drawdown, so around slab stage, not at land settlement and not when you sign the contract. If you are an owner-builder, it comes once the foundations are laid.
That matters because you may have budgeted the grant as part of your deposit and it arrives months later than you expected. We build the funding plan around when the money actually lands, so there is no gap where you need funds you do not yet have.
One threshold worth separating from the others: for the grant, the home must be valued under $750,000 including the land. For the federal guarantee scheme, the combined land price and build cost must sit under a different and lower cap. Two different numbers doing two different jobs, and they are constantly confused. The full picture on which schemes you qualify for is on our first home buyer loans page.
Why Building to Mackay Cyclone Standard Helps Your Loan
Anything you build in Mackay now must meet the wind loading requirements for this region, and that shows up in your finance in a way it would not further south.
Compliant construction is insurable construction. A lender will not settle a loan on a house that cannot be insured, and North Queensland premiums are high enough that insurability is a live question rather than a formality. On a new build to current standards this is generally straightforward, and it is a real point in favour of building over buying older Mackay stock.
It cuts the other way on a knockdown rebuild or a renovation where you keep part of an older structure. Older Mackay housing that does not meet current standards can be harder and dearer to insure, which affects both the valuation and the lender's appetite. If you are keeping any part of an existing building, tell us early so we can check it rather than discovering it at settlement.
Construction & House-and-Land Loans Questions
When do I actually receive the $30,000 grant when building?
At the first progress drawdown, which is usually around slab stage. Not at land settlement and not when you sign the building contract. Owner-builders receive it once the foundations are laid.
This trips people up who have counted the grant as part of their deposit. We plan the funding around when it genuinely arrives so there is no shortfall in the middle of the build.
Do I pay interest on the whole loan during the build?
No. You pay interest only on what has been drawn down so far. At slab stage that is a small portion of the total, and it steps up as each stage is paid.
Your repayments therefore climb through the build and reach their full level at completion. It is worth mapping that against your rent or current repayments if you are paying for somewhere to live while you build.
What happens if the build costs more than the contract price?
The overrun is yours to cover. That is why the fixed-price contract matters and why we go through what sits outside it. Site costs, retaining, driveways, fencing and connections are commonly excluded.
We build a contingency into the structure from the start. It is far easier to arrange before the loan is approved than to find mid-build.
How much deposit do you need for construction and house-and-land loans Mackay?
Lenders work it out on the total of the land price and the build contract together, not on the land alone, and the usual twenty per cent threshold for avoiding lenders mortgage insurance applies to that combined figure. If you are a first home buyer, the schemes change the arithmetic substantially and a smaller deposit becomes workable.
One thing to plan for: if you buy the land first and build later, the land settles before the build starts, so you need your land deposit ready earlier than the rest. We map out when each amount is actually needed.
How much can you borrow on a construction loan?
It runs on the same income assessment as any home loan, with one extra limit: the lender will not lend against more than the finished property is valued at. On a standard Mackay estate build that is rarely an issue. On a custom design or a knockdown rebuild it can be, because a custom home here can cost more to build than a valuer will put on it.
That gap comes out of your deposit rather than the lender's money, so we get the valuation position understood before you sign a build contract rather than after.
Are construction and house-and-land loans Mackay the best way to build?
For a Mackay build with a registered builder on a fixed-price contract, a construction loan is the right structure. It releases money in stages as each part of the build finishes, and you pay interest only on what has been drawn, so your repayments start small and grow as the house does.
Buying an established home and renovating is different: often a straight home loan with the renovation funded from equity is simpler, unless the work is structural enough that a lender wants it staged. A knockdown rebuild is a construction loan again. We work out which one your project actually is, because the answer changes the paperwork and the timeline.
Who Chases Your Drawdowns
The person who answers is the person who checks each progress claim and gets it paid. That happens five or six times over a build, so it is worth knowing who is doing it.
A builder waiting on a drawdown moves crews to the job that is paying, and in Mackay the trades are booked far enough ahead that getting them back is the hard part. Keeping your claims moving is the practical difference between a build that holds its trades and one that does not.
- Where we are
- Mackay, QLD 4740
- Where we work
- The city and its suburbs, north to the beaches, south past the port, and inland through the cane country to the Pioneer Valley
- What it costs to ask
- Nothing. The first conversation is free and the lender pays us.
Talk to a Mortgage Broker in Mackay
Tell us where you are up to and we will tell you what your options are, which lenders suit your situation and what the next step looks like. If the answer is that you are better off waiting three months, we tell you that instead.
If a fee ever applied to your situation it would be in writing in our Credit Guide, before you decided anything.