July Newsletter | Meet Paulo Velho & Ben Drayton from CORALA Buyers AdvocacyHelping Australian Expats Buy Better Property
Meet the Team Helping Australian Expats Buy Better Property
At Australian Expat Finance, we're often asked the same two questions.
"How much can I borrow?"
Followed almost immediately by...
"What should I buy?"
The first question is our specialty.
The second deserves just as much attention.
After all, securing finance is only part of the journey. Choosing the right property—the one that aligns with your long-term goals, budget and investment strategy—is what ultimately creates wealth.
That's why we love working with the team at CORALA Buyers Advocacy.
Like us, they specialise in helping Australians living overseas navigate the Australian property market with confidence. Their disciplined, research-driven approach complements the work we do as mortgage brokers, giving our clients access to experienced professionals who understand the unique challenges of buying property while living abroad.
Whether you're based in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong, purchasing property from overseas requires a trusted team on the ground.
Meet Paulo Velho
As Head of Growth, Paulo works with Australian expats to define their investment strategy before a property search even begins.
His philosophy is simple: every successful property purchase starts with clarity.
After purchasing his own property in New South Wales while living in New York, Paulo recognised there was a better way to help Australians buy property from overseas. That experience inspired the creation of CORALA—a buyers' advocacy firm built on research, strategy and data-driven decision making.
Before CORALA, Paulo spent more than four years in Real Estate Advisory at KPMG across Australia and the United States, advising governments, institutions and private capital on property and infrastructure transactions exceeding A$3 billion.
He also worked as a Property Analyst for FRP Capital, an Australian private equity fund managing approximately A$190 million in neighbourhood shopping centres, before beginning his career in residential real estate in Western Australia.
Paulo holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Property Development & Valuation and a Master of Commerce in Finance & Management.
Today, he helps Australian expats define their goals, understand the trade-offs and develop a clear investment strategy before searching for property.
Meet Ben Drayton
As Head of Acquisitions, Ben turns strategy into carefully selected assets.
Having spent eight years living in Vienna after growing up on Sydney's North Shore, Ben understands what it's like to build a life overseas while staying connected to Australia.
Before entering property, Ben built and led digital products across multiple industries. His background in Psychology, Business and his MBA have shaped the way he approaches every acquisition—removing emotion, understanding trade-offs and ensuring every recommendation is supported by evidence.
One philosophy guides his work:
"Good enough is expensive."
At CORALA, properties are never purchased simply because they're available.
Every acquisition must satisfy the client's investment brief, both strategically and financially.
Anything less is noise.
For Australian expats, property isn't simply about buying a house.
It's about creating long-term wealth, maintaining a connection to Australia and making confident decisions while living anywhere in the world.
Why We Love Working with CORALA
At Australian Expat Finance, our role is to help Australian expats understand their borrowing capacity and structure the right lending solution.
CORALA takes that foundation and helps clients acquire investment-grade property that aligns with their strategy.
Together, the process becomes clear:
Understand your borrowing capacity.
Develop your investment strategy.
Identify the right property.
Purchase with confidence.
Build long-term wealth.
If you're considering purchasing property in Australia while living overseas, we'd encourage you to get to know Paulo Velho and Ben Drayton. Their combined experience in property strategy, acquisitions and real estate advisory has helped Australians around the world invest with clarity and confidence.
And, of course, if you'd like to understand your borrowing capacity first, we'd love to help. We’ve recently unpacked the burning question in Co-Founder, Principal Mortgage Broker Shona Stephenson’s latest info blog,
How much can I actually borrow, as an Aussie Expat, and what type of property can I realistically afford to purchase?
At its core, every lender must comply with Australia's Responsible Lending obligations. They need to be satisfied that you can comfortably afford the loan, not just today, but if interest rates rise in the future.
While it may sound as simple as income minus expenses, there is a lot more happening behind the scenes. Let's look at the key factors.
At its core, every lender must comply with Australia's Responsible Lending obligations. They need to be satisfied that you can comfortably afford the loan, not just today, but if interest rates rise in the future.
While it may sound as simple as income minus expenses, there is a lot more happening behind the scenes. Let's look at the key factors.
1. Your Overseas Income
Most Australian expats are paid in a foreign currency rather than Australian dollars.
When lenders convert your income into Australian dollars, they generally discount it by around 20%. This is not because they doubt your income. It is simply a way of allowing for currency fluctuations over the life of the loan.
For example, if your overseas salary converts to AUD $200,000, the lender may assess only around $160,000 for servicing purposes.
2. What Income Will a Lender Accept?
Not all income is treated equally.
Most lenders will accept base salary and permanent employment income. Some may also accept performance bonuses, regular allowances, commission, and restricted share units (RSUs) or share-based remuneration.
Every lender has different policies. One bank may include bonus income; another may ignore it completely. Only a small number will consider share-based remuneration. This is one area where choosing the right lender can make a significant difference to your borrowing capacity.
3. Self-Employed Expats
Self-employed expats face additional challenges. Most major Australian banks do not lend to Australians who are self-employed overseas. These applications are generally limited to specialist or non-bank lenders. Finance is often still available, but interest rates are typically higher than the major banks.
4. Rental Income
If you are purchasing an investment property, lenders will usually include the expected rental income in their assessment. They do not use 100% of it. Most assess around 75% of the rent, a 25% discount to allow for vacancies, expenses and rental fluctuations.
5. Other Sources of Income
Depending on the lender, other income may also count: dividend income, pension income, investment income, and trust distributions. Again, each lender has its own policy.
6. Your Living Expenses
Unlike income, your expenses are not discounted. Lenders carefully assess your ongoing commitments: everyday living expenses, overseas rent, school fees, existing loan repayments, credit cards and personal loans. These all reduce the amount available to service a new mortgage.
7. Existing Mortgages
If you already own property overseas with a mortgage, lenders will not simply use your current repayment. They will generally assess that loan at an interest rate around 3% higher than your actual rate. This serviceability buffer ensures you could keep paying if rates rise.
8. The New Australian Mortgage
The same principle applies to the loan you are applying for. If your actual rate is 6.00%, the lender will typically assess your repayments at around 9.00%. This significantly increases the assessed repayment and can reduce your borrowing capacity, even though your actual repayments will initially be much lower.
Why Pre-Approval Matters
At first glance, these rules seem restrictive. The good news: every lender has slightly different servicing policies. A lender that declines one application may be comfortable approving exactly the same borrower under its own criteria.
That is why a pre-approval before you start your property search is so valuable. It gives you confidence about your capacity, lets you shop in the right price range, and ensures you are working with a lender whose policies suit your circumstances.
For Australian expats, choosing the right lender can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars in borrowing capacity. Working with a broker who understands expat lending puts you in the strongest position before you make an offer.
Ready to find out where you actually stand? To explore your capacity before you start searching, talk to Shona Stephenson, Principal Mortgage Broker, Australian Expat Finance. Phone / WhatsApp +61 417 693 281, or shona@bestff.com.au.
Borrowing capacity opens the door. Knowing what to buy—and when to buy it—is what turns finance into long-term wealth.
Shona Stephenson
Co-Founder | Australian Expat Finance
Principal Mortgage Broker | Best Foot Forward Mortgage Solutions
The information contained is general information only and does not consider your objectives, financial situation and needs. Please talk to us if you need a fast-tracked home loan, and we can help you find a lender that has the processes in place to process the application quickly. We strongly recommend that you do not act on any information provided on this website without individual advice from your trusted advisor. You should also obtain a copy of and consider the Product Disclosure Statement for all financial products before making any decision.
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