Melbourne-based  ·  Consultations in person or online  ·  Home, investment & business finance
ASCENTFinancial Group

Mortgage & Finance Advisory · Melbourne

The right loan is found, not offered.

Banks offer you their products. Tom Kuo spent more than twenty years inside CBA, Westpac and ANZ — now he searches, compares and negotiates across the market for you, from first conversation to settlement and beyond.

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Australian Credit Representative 559609

Inside knowledge

Two decades as the premium lending specialist at Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ. Tom knows how lenders assess, price and decide — because he did it.

End-to-end

One point of contact from first conversation to settlement, and reviews after you’re in. Nothing handed off, nothing left to chase.

Straight answers

How we’re paid is disclosed up front. What we recommend is explained in plain English. If staying put is the right answer, that’s the advice you’ll get.

Start here

Where are you headed?

I

Buy my first home

From deposit questions to keys in hand.

 II

Buy my next home

Upgrade without the guesswork.

 III

Refinance my loan

Make sure your loan still deserves you.

 IV

Invest in property

Structure lending that builds the portfolio.

 V

Build or renovate

Finance that pays out the way builders get paid.

 VI

Buy property in my SMSF

Specialist lending, handled with care.

 VII

I’m self-employed

Lending that understands business income.

 VIII

Finance my business

Premises, equipment and growth.

Why Ascent

The quiet advantages.

  1. 01

    Strategy before product

    Your objectives shape the lending structure; the loan is chosen to fit the plan — never the other way around.

  2. 02

    A translator, not a salesperson

    Every recommendation is explained until it’s genuinely understood — features, conditions, trade-offs and all.

  3. 03

    Negotiated, not accepted

    Pricing and terms are argued on your behalf, informed by twenty years of knowing where lenders can move.

  4. 04

    Paperwork, handled

    Documents, lender queries, valuations, follow-ups — coordinated for you, with progress updates so you’re never wondering.

  5. 05

    There after settlement

    Rates move and circumstances change; your loan gets reviewed, not forgotten.

How it works

From hello to homeowner.

  1. 01

    Conversation

    A no-obligation discussion about where you are and where you’re going. In person in Melbourne, or online.

  2. 02

    Understanding

    Income, commitments, deposit, timing — the full picture, gathered once, handled confidentially.

  3. 03

    Research

    Suitable options identified and compared across our lender panel; structures modelled around your objectives.

  4. 04

    Recommendation

    A clear proposal in plain English: the loan, the structure, the costs, and why.

  5. 05

    Application to approval

    We prepare, submit and manage the application, handle lender requests, and keep you informed at every stage.

  6. 06

    Settlement & beyond

    Coordination through to settlement, then ongoing reviews to make sure the loan keeps earning its place.

Lending is subject to eligibility, lender criteria and credit assessment.

The difference

Why not just walk into a bank?

A lender can only offer you its own shelf.

Its staff are diligent, but their job is to fit you to their products. The comparison across the market — structures, pricing, policy niches, the conditions buried on page forty — is left to you.

A broker’s job is the comparison.

We map your circumstances against a panel of lenders, explain the differences that matter, manage the paperwork and the lender’s questions, and stay beside you through settlement. You make the decisions; you make them informed.

Tom Kuo, Director and Finance Broker of Ascent Financial Group

Principal

Two decades on the other side of the desk.

For more than twenty years, Tom Kuo was the premium lending specialist at Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ — structuring and approving lending from within the institutions themselves.

He watched capable people accept whatever they were offered, because reading hundreds of products across dozens of lenders is nearly impossible from the outside. Ascent Financial Group is his answer to that imbalance.

Tom Kuo

Director & Finance Broker

The full story →

In their words

As a first home buyer, we were immediately reassured. Tom took us through all the steps in our application.
VanessaSorrento
Tom is excellent to deal with. Makes things very simple and is very quick and professional.
JohnMosman
Incredible knowledge of all financial products that are out there. Tom was able to refinance our loan.
StevenMalvern
01 / 03

Tools

Run your own numbers.

All four calculators →

Monthly repayment

$0

Estimate only — not an offer of finance. Borrowing power, stamp duty and deposit tools on the calculators page.

Questions

Asked all the time.

How much does it cost to use a mortgage broker?

In most cases, nothing. Like most Australian brokers, we’re paid a commission by the lender when your loan settles — not by you — and every arrangement is disclosed up front before you commit to anything.

How much deposit do I need?

From 5% with most lenders (with LMI), 20% to avoid it — and government guarantee or guarantor paths can change the picture entirely. Subject to eligibility; we map your options as a first step.

What is pre-approval?

A lender’s indication of how much it will lend you, giving you a real budget and credibility with agents. Strongly recommended before bidding at auction. Typically lasts around 90 days.

I’m self-employed — can you still help?

Yes — it’s a specialty. Business income presented properly, matched to the lenders whose policy suits it, with full-doc and alt-doc paths explained honestly.

How long does approval take?

As a guide: pre-approval within days to two weeks, formal approval one to three weeks, settlement per your contract. Timeframes vary by lender and application — part of our job is knowing who’s moving quickly right now.

All questions →

Reading

Guides & insights.

Enquire

Begin with a conversation.

No obligation, no pressure — outline your position and Tom will respond personally within one business day.

Book a consultation or call 0422 030 221