Quick answer
An urgent first mortgage can fund in as little as 24 hours from a clean, complete application. On a debt-free property, the pace is set by your documents and signatures. Where a bank or private lender must be paid out, its payout figure and discharge usually decide the date, so that request should go in the same day you enquire. We lend $20k to $5m for business purposes.
Key points
- As little as 24 hours from a clean, complete application
- A debt-free property is the fastest first-mortgage security
- When refinancing, the outgoing lender's discharge usually sets the date
- No formal valuation required, so there's no inspection to wait for
- Funds can be paid straight to the ATO, a vendor or a creditor at settlement
- Speed
- As little as 24 hours from a clean, complete application
- Amounts
- $20k – $5m
- Valuation
- No sworn valuation — we assess value ourselves
- Enquiry
- 60-second loan check — no credit check to find out
When the deadline is days away, a first mortgage can move faster than most people expect. Funding can happen in as little as 24 hours from a clean, complete application. Whether you get anywhere near that depends on one question more than any other: is there an existing lender on the title that has to be paid out first?
If the property is debt-free, the timetable is mostly in your hands. If a bank or private lender holds the current mortgage, its payout figure and discharge usually set the date. This page explains how to work with both, and what to do in the first hour. For deadlines across every loan type, see our page on deadline-driven secured loans.
What actually sets the timetable on an urgent first mortgage?
The land registry side is rarely the bottleneck any more. New South Wales stopped accepting paper dealings on 11 October 2021. Queensland’s eConveyancing mandate, which began on 20 February 2023, covers mortgages and releases of mortgage. Western Australia has required eligible stand-alone discharges of mortgage to be lodged electronically since 1 December 2018. Settlement happens online and funds move electronically.
That leaves the human steps, and their order matters:
| Step | Debt-free property | Property with an existing lender |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry and specialist call | Same day | Same day |
| Indicative terms | Usually same day | Usually same day |
| Documents and ID | Your speed | Your speed |
| Payout figure | Not needed | Outgoing lender’s speed |
| Discharge prepared | Not needed | Outgoing lender’s speed |
| Signing with your solicitor | Your speed | Your speed |
| Electronic settlement | Once signed | Once every party is ready |
Notice where “your speed” appears. On a debt-free property, nearly every step is yours to accelerate. Our page on borrowing against a debt-free property explains why it’s the quickest security there is.
Why is the outgoing lender usually the slowest part?
When a new first mortgage refinances an existing one, the outgoing lender has to do three things: confirm the exact amount to clear the loan, prepare a discharge of its mortgage, and join the electronic settlement so its mortgage comes off the title as the new one goes on.
None of that is urgent to them. Some lenders turn it around in a few days; others take much longer, especially if the request reaches the wrong team or the loan is with a collections area. You can’t control their queue, but you can make sure the request is in it on day one rather than day five.
Three things help:
- Ask for the payout figure in writing as soon as you decide to proceed, and ask how long their discharge process usually takes.
- Find the right department. Ring and confirm where discharge requests go, especially if the loan is in arrears.
- Sign their discharge authority promptly. Many lenders won’t start until the borrower has signed their own form.
If the outgoing lender is a private one, read refinancing a private first mortgage for what its payout statement may include.
What can you do in the first hour?
Most urgent loans are won or lost before the lender has done anything. In your first hour:
- Write down the deadline, the amount and the payee. A tax debt reference, a vendor’s settlement figures, a creditor’s demand.
- Photograph current ID for every owner, director and guarantor.
- Find the latest rates notice for the property.
- Pull the entity documents. A company extract, and the trust deed if a trust owns the property.
- Call your solicitor and confirm who will act on a mortgage this week.
- Call the existing lender, if there is one, and request the payout figure.
- Note your exit: a sale, a refinance, a contract payment or a receivable, with any evidence.
Then start your loan check with the deadline in the first line, so everything is organised around it.
Which deadlines usually drive an urgent first mortgage?
The ones with a date printed on them. A few common examples:
- An ATO director penalty notice. The ATO says you have 21 days to take one of the listed options. Where the amounts were reported late or never reported, paying in full is the only option.
- A creditor’s statutory demand, which runs on a fixed statutory period. See responding to a statutory demand.
- A bank’s deadline to refinance after it has declined to renew or has called in a facility.
- A settlement date on a business property purchase, where the buyer’s finance has collapsed.
- A mortgagee sale already in motion, where time to refinance is short. See stopping a mortgagee sale.
In each case the loan can pay the creditor directly at settlement, which proves the purpose and meets the deadline the moment funds move.
Illustrative example: a deadline with a bank in the middle
A Toowoomba transport operator receives a director penalty notice for $260k. She owns a house in town with $190k owing to a bank and needs the loan settled before the 21 days run out.
Illustrative: she enquires on day one with the notice attached, and requests her bank’s payout figure the same morning. The house is assessed at around $820k. Indicative terms arrive that afternoon for a first mortgage of $480k: $190k to pay out the bank, $260k paid directly to the ATO at settlement, and costs. Her documents go in together on day two. The bank takes six business days to prepare its discharge; everything else is signed and waiting, so settlement happens the day the bank is ready, with days to spare. Interest is capitalised for the first 6 months. Her exit is a refinance once her company’s lodgements are up to date. Figures are illustrative only.
When is a different structure faster?
A first mortgage isn’t always the quickest route. Consider the alternatives when:
- Your existing bank loan is good and the bank will consent quickly. A fast second mortgage leaves it in place and avoids a payout altogether.
- The bank is slow and the need is very short. A caveat loan behind the existing mortgage can sometimes be put in place before a discharge could be arranged.
- You own a second, debt-free property. Using that as security, instead of the one with a mortgage, removes the outgoing lender from the timetable.
There’s no formal valuation required for any of these, because we assess value ourselves. That removes one wait that slows most bank loans.
What slows urgent loans that shouldn’t be slow?
From experience, these are the avoidable delays:
- figures in the enquiry that turn out to be wrong, such as a second loan on the title nobody mentioned;
- one owner who can’t be reached to sign;
- a trust deed that can’t be found, or that’s been varied without the paperwork;
- a solicitor who is on leave or too busy to act this week;
- an exit nobody has thought through.
Every one of them is fixable before you enquire. Our guide to documents for a private mortgage lists exactly what to gather.
Deadline on your desk? Start the clock in your favour
When time is short, the most useful thing you can do is give us the full picture straight away. The loan check takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you enquire, so you lose nothing by finding out today.
Your enquiry goes to one direct lender. It isn’t sprayed across a panel of funders, and you won’t spend the afternoon fielding calls from strangers. A specialist reads it, looks at your property and deadline, and calls you to map the fastest realistic path. Accurate answers about what’s owing and who’s on the title are what make a quick settlement possible.
Frequently asked questions
How fast can an urgent first mortgage settle?
Funding can happen in as little as 24 hours from a clean, complete application. That's most realistic on a property you own outright, with ID, entity documents and your solicitor ready. Where an existing lender must be paid out, its discharge processing usually decides the date.
Why does refinancing take longer than borrowing on a debt-free property?
Because a third party is involved. The outgoing lender has to issue a payout figure, prepare its discharge and join the electronic settlement. Some lenders do that in a few days, others take longer. A debt-free property has no one to wait on.
Can I get an urgent first mortgage if my bank has already issued default notices?
Yes, it's common. The payout figure will include arrears and enforcement costs, and the bank is usually keen to be repaid. Ask it for the payout figure in writing the day you enquire with us.
Is a caveat loan faster than an urgent first mortgage?
Sometimes, where the property already has a mortgage you want to keep and the need is very short. But if the property is debt-free, a first mortgage is usually just as quick and sits on a stronger footing.
Can the money go directly to the ATO?
Yes. Paying the ATO, a vendor or a judgment creditor directly at settlement is routine. Have the payee's details and payment reference ready with your documents so the settlement statement can be prepared without delay.
Do I need to be in the same city as the property?
No. Settlement is electronic, and documents are signed with your solicitor wherever you are. Tell us early if any owner is interstate or overseas, because arranging their signing and ID checks is what takes planning.