Buying Near Mascot On Bonuses, Commissions And RSUs – Safely

You can absolutely use bonuses, commissions and RSUs to buy near Mascot, but you should never build your loan around a “best year ever”. Lenders will usually average and shade variable income, and you should go further by setting your own limit based mainly on base salary, then treating bonuses and RSUs as extra capital for buffers and debt reduction.

Quick answer in numbers: if you earn $150,000 base plus a “typical” $50,000 bonus, most banks might count roughly $30,000–$40,000 of that bonus after averaging and discounts. A safer internal rule is to pretend your income is just $150,000 for servicing, and use the bonus only for offset and lump‑sum repayments.

Clarifying how bonuses, commissions and RSUs show up in lender eyes.

How banks actually treat bonuses, commissions and RSUs

Lenders around Mascot all have their own calculators, but the rough rules are similar.

1. Bonuses and commissions

   • Usually need 2 years of history, sometimes 1 strong year with evidence it will continue.
   • Banks often average the last 2 years, or 2 years plus year‑to‑date.
   • Then they shade it – commonly using 60–80% of that average in servicing.

2. RSUs and share plans

   • They want a vesting schedule and at least 2 years of vesting history if possible.
   • Some lenders treat RSUs like bonus income and shade them; others ignore them if they look too lumpy.
   • Volatile tech shares are often hit harder.

3. APRA buffer and HEM

   • Your loan is tested at ~3% above the actual rate (APRA serviceability buffer).
   • Living costs default to HEM if your declared spending looks unrealistically low.

For a deeper dive on how variable income gets averaged and shaded, see /insights/managing-big-income-swings-large-loan.

Worked Mascot example

• Base salary: $140,000
• Average bonus/commission last 2 years: $40,000
• Lender counts: say 70% of that = $28,000
• Assessed income: $168,000 before tax.

At today’s assessment rates, that could be the difference between roughly $1.0m and $1.2m in borrowing capacity, depending on other debts. The danger is assuming you “deserve” the full $40,000 every year.