On this week's podcast episode, Haz was away! So Brooke Cooper, editor at Your Mortgage, stepped in to co-host alongside Dom. Thanks, Brooke, for your very capable stewardship.

As a special guest, we spoke to Denjola Bhutia the director of mortgage brokers Nine Ten Finance about the benefits of non-bank lenders in this current environment. He said there tends to be more flexibility around serviceability buffers, which can be especially useful if you have multiple properties or are looking to grow your portfolio - or just experiencing a bit of crunch despite a good income and good savings.

Plus, we also spoke to resident finance journalist Denise Raward on the benefits and drawbacks of lenders mortgage insurance, or LMI. It's a necessary evil if you have less than a 20% deposit for a home loan. As Denise explains, however, you'll have to weigh up the cost versus waiting longer outside the market to save up the 20%.

And all the latest news and savings tips of course.

00:00 - Intro

01:30 - Savings tips, referral codes & airline seat selection

05:50 - Westpac predicts 2.85% cash rate

09:12 - WA modular homes fund

12:05 - CBA now has quite competitive home loan rates

15:37 - Denise on LMI

23:14 - Denjola on non-bank lenders

41:02 - Outro