Asset finance, or borrowing against property?
Asset finance funds equipment and vehicles against the asset itself, and HomeSec does not write it. What HomeSec does write is a loan secured against real property, which can be used to buy the same equipment outright, from $20,000 to $5,000,000, generally within 24 hours. Without property equity, an asset financier is the right lender and HomeSec will say so.
This page exists because people search for asset finance and land on us, and the honest thing to do is tell you straight away: HomeSec does not write asset finance. We lend against real property.
That is not the end of the answer, though, because for a decent share of the people asking, borrowing against property is the better way to buy the same equipment.
The two structures
Asset finance — a chattel mortgage, hire purchase or equipment lease — is secured against the thing you are buying. The financier holds an interest in the asset, the term usually matches its useful life, and you pay it off in monthly instalments. If the asset is standard and readily resaleable, this is efficient and it is what a specialist financier does well.
A property-secured loan is assessed on equity you already hold. You buy the equipment outright with cash, so you own it from day one and there is no financier’s interest registered against it.
When property security is the better route
Four situations come up repeatedly:
The asset is not financeable. Second-hand, specialised, imported, or being bought at auction where settlement is in days. Asset financiers are cautious about all four. A property-secured loan does not care what you spend it on, so long as the purpose is a business one.
You need it this week. Equipment finance approval and settlement typically runs days to weeks. We settle in as little as 24 hours.
Your financials will not support an application. Asset financiers assess trading. We do not require financial statements, tax returns, BAS or a minimum trading period at all.
You want to own it outright. Buying with cash means no encumbrance on the asset, which matters if you intend to sell or trade it before a finance term would have run out.
When asset finance is the better route
Also worth saying plainly:
- You have no property equity. Then we cannot help and an asset financier can. Call one.
- The asset is standard and the term is long. A five-year term on a financeable truck is not what a property-secured loan is for. Ours is an open term with no fixed end, repaid from a defined source — a good fit for a gap, a poor fit for a five-year amortisation.
- You want the debt against the asset, not the house. A legitimate preference, and we would rather you acted on it than found out later that you had not thought about it.
What we would actually fund
A contractor whose excavator failed mid-job and who needs a replacement on site Monday. A manufacturer buying a machine at a liquidation auction with three days to settle. A transport operator adding two trucks to service a contract that starts next month, whose accountant is behind on the financials.
All three have property equity and a deadline. All three are files we write.
$20,000 to $5,000,000, secured against residential, commercial, industrial, rural residential or vacant land, to 80% of value on residential security or 70% on commercial. No sworn valuation, no financial statements, and no repayments for up to six months.
Reviewed by Jason Brockmuller, Joint Chief Executive