Thinktank is an Australian non-bank property lender that lends against residential and commercial security exclusively through accredited mortgage brokers. Thinktank lending policy includes Full Doc and alternative income verification, with separate products for self-managed super funds (SMSFs). Choose the product and submission channel before applying its lending limits or quoting a rate.
How Thinktank Lends Through Brokers
Thinktank distributes its property loans through brokers, including aggregator-branded lending channels. Thinktank’s company information identifies the credit provider as Think Tank Group Pty Ltd, Australian credit licence 564080.
Australian Finance Group (AFG) is a shareholder. Its FY26 results announcement describes a 32% investment in Thinktank. AFG also distributes a Thinktank-funded white label commercial property product through its broker network, as its investment announcement explains.
Thinktank funds loans through capital markets, including separate residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities programmes. Its institutional partner information describes relationships with domestic and offshore institutions.
Connective identifies Thinktank as the funder behind Connective Advance’s commercial and SMSF loans. Access through that channel depends on the broker’s Connective arrangements and product accreditation. A Thinktank accreditation does not establish access to every aggregator’s branded product. Our Connective aggregator guide explains the broader aggregator relationship.
Residential and Commercial Property Loans
Thinktank’s residential and commercial loans fund property purchases, refinances and equity release. Debt consolidation needs to fit the selected product’s purpose and evidence requirements. Keep personal borrowing separate from facilities restricted to business or investment use.
The residential product page and commercial product page publish these headline limits.
| Security or facility | Published loan size | Published maximum loan-to-value ratio (LVR) | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | $100,000 to $5 million | 80% | The residential page reduces the maximum to 75% above $2.5 million. Location and security conditions apply. |
| Commercial | $100,000 to $10 million | 80% | Documentation, security and location determine the available product. |
| Mixed-use | Assessed by security classification | Product-specific | Identify the residential and commercial uses before selecting the product. |
| Vacant land | Separate security assessment | Product-specific | Take the scenario to a relationship manager before applying a standard property limit. |
Thinktank’s 2026 niche sheet includes vacant land among security options. Its general residential and commercial pages exclude it. Treat vacant land as a scenario requiring a confirmed product allocation. The general product pages also exclude rural residential security and postcodes with populations below 10,000.
Residential lending has Full Doc and Mid Doc options. Commercial lending also has Quick Doc and Lease Doc products. These are different evidence routes, so self-employment alone does not determine the product. Use the postcode calculator in Thinktank’s broker resources for the security address before relying on a headline maximum.
SMSF Lending Policy
Thinktank lends to new and established SMSFs for residential and commercial property purchases or refinancing. Its SMSF product page lists loans up to $5 million for residential security and $10 million for commercial security, with headline LVRs up to 80%.
The SMSF page states that corporate trustees are accepted and there is no post-settlement liquidity requirement. Servicing uses SMSF income, net rent and eligible contributions, including projected contributions, subject to assessment. This does not remove the need to fund the deposit, transaction costs and repayments.
An SMSF property loan uses a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA). The fund trustee borrows and a separate holding trustee holds the property for the fund. Prepare the trustee and holding trust documents alongside the loan application. Our SMSF loan guide explains the borrowing structure and eligibility in more detail.
Use the SMSF rate sheet for pricing. Compare residential SMSF with residential lending and commercial SMSF with commercial lending at the same LVR and documentation level. A non-SMSF rate is not the quote for a fund borrower. Loan size, security and the applicable product row decide the comparison.
Rate Card and Risk Grades
Thinktank’s pricing depends on the selected product, security, documentation, LVR and loan size. Its residential page states that rates are based on LVR and loan size, rather than loan purpose. It also says applications are assessed on their merits without credit scoring.
Read the commercial, residential or SMSF information and rate sheet from Thinktank’s resource library. Match the file to the product row before describing its risk grade or quoting a rate. A Full Doc row and a Mid Doc row can carry different conditions even when the property is identical.
Read the rate sheet’s effective-date field and any promotion expiry conditions before sending a quote. Record the version with the client file. Include establishment costs and any product loading alongside the interest rate so the client can compare the proposed facility’s cost.
For a hypothetical $1 million property and $800,000 loan, the LVR is 80%. If the valuation comes back at $950,000, the same loan produces an LVR of about 84.2%. The file then exceeds an 80% cap, requiring a lower loan amount or a different accepted structure.
Serviceability, Income and Evidence
Thinktank assesses repayment capacity through the calculator and evidence requirements for the chosen product. Its broker library separates residential and SMSF calculators from commercial servicing tools. Use that product’s assessment settings and rental treatment when entering income and liabilities.
For Full Doc preparation, collect the income evidence appropriate to the borrower. Employees need evidence of employment and earnings. Self-employed borrowers need business financial and tax information. Also prepare identity and residency documents, existing debt details and evidence supporting rental income.
Residential Mid Doc uses a signed income declaration supported by an accepted evidence option. Thinktank’s residential page describes six options and names a simplified accountant’s letter. Use the residential checklist to select the applicable documents instead of treating Mid Doc as an application without income evidence.
For commercial property, include the lease and its remaining term, rental receipts and outgoings. Thinktank’s 2026 niche sheet describes Lease Doc eligibility using an arm’s-length lease with two years remaining and a maximum 25-year loan term. It states there are no weighted average unexpired lease term or weighted average lease expiry requirements. The lease still needs to support the chosen servicing route.
Keep residency and employment conditions attached to the actual applicants and guarantors. Where the file depends on a visa category or newly established business income, include that detail in the initial scenario.
Security and Repayment Conditions
Thinktank accepts standard residential and commercial property within its product and location conditions. Commercial security includes office, retail and industrial property. Construction or development funding sits outside the general residential and commercial products. Highly specialised assets need their own assessment route.
Thinktank’s fee schedule states that it instructs an accredited valuer for commercial and commercial SMSF security. Prepare the property information before ordering through the lender’s process. For a company, trust or SMSF, match the borrower, property owner and proposed guarantors to the legal documents in the offer.
Published residential, commercial and SMSF products include principal-and-interest terms up to 30 years and interest-only periods up to five years. Product-specific limits apply. Model the repayments after interest only ends, alongside the initial repayments.
The fee schedule distinguishes discharge costs, fixed-rate break costs and an early repayment fee under the letter of offer. That early repayment fee excludes regulated consumer home loans. For other applicable facilities, the offer sets its period and calculation. Obtain a payout figure before assessing a refinance’s savings.
Upfront Commission and Trail
The broker’s aggregator agreement and applicable remuneration schedule set the upfront and trail payable for a Thinktank file. Read the schedule for the exact channel and product, including whether figures include GST. Commercial and SMSF remuneration needs its own row instead of an assumed residential rate.
Before settlement, record the commission basis, payment timing and aggregator deductions. After settlement, reconcile the actual upfront and the trail that follows against the statement. AFG Partner Support handles commission and accreditation queries for AFG brokers.
Track My Trail’s Commission Verification matches each upfront payment to the trail that should follow within two months. It also shows trail received without an upfront payment, helping you identify a statement item to raise with your aggregator.
Clawbacks and Refinance Events
Clawback terms depend on the Thinktank product and distribution agreement. Connective’s white label page advertises no clawback for Connective Advance commercial and SMSF lending. Apply that statement to that offer, rather than extending it across every Thinktank residential or commercial facility.
For a file subject to clawback, the remuneration schedule defines the period and trigger. Read its treatment of early discharge, refinance to another lender and partial repayments before estimating the broker’s exposure. Keep the lender’s borrower exit fees separate from commission recovered from the broker.
When remuneration passes through an aggregator, reconcile any clawback debit against the loan reference and original upfront. Ask the aggregator to identify the applicable schedule clause and calculation if the debit differs from your records.
Exceptions and Submission Notes
Take a Thinktank scenario to the relationship manager before lodging when the security, evidence or loan structure needs an exception. Its broker pages describe relationship-manager support from scenario to settlement. Supply the proposed amount, purpose, security address and borrower structure with the income evidence route.
Use the product-specific application and checklist in the broker resource library. Its forms include separate commercial documentation routes, residential applications and SMSF applications, with ApplyOnline guidance for relevant submissions.
Resolve these points before lodging because each can change the amount, product or approval outcome:
- The address falls outside the selected product’s location limits.
- The valuation puts the proposed loan above the permitted LVR.
- The declared income lacks the evidence required by the chosen documentation route.
- The lease does not support the proposed commercial servicing assessment.
- The borrower or holding trust documents do not match the proposed SMSF structure.
- The purpose or security belongs outside the selected facility.
Record any agreed exception and its conditions with the submission. Use the lender policy directory to compare another lender when the file falls outside Thinktank’s accepted structure. Our non-bank lender guide explains when a non-bank option fits the borrower’s circumstances.
