Probably not to explain an offset account, no. But there's a sale, a purchase, an existing loan and two settlement dates that need to cooperate, and that's coordination rather than knowledge. It's also the part that eats your evenings. If your situation turns out to be simple and your lender's already offering something decent, we'll say so.

Nobody can answer that without seeing your numbers, and anyone who does is guessing. We cost both versions properly, you look at what each one actually means for you, and then you pick. It's usually more obvious than people expect once it's in front of them.

We will. You should know the ceiling. Then we'll work out the number you'd actually be comfortable repaying once childcare and school fees are in there, which is the one that matters. Two different figures, and nobody here is trying to sell you the bigger one.

Sometimes. It's a tool, fine in the right situation and expensive in the wrong one, and lenders price it wildly differently. We'll cost it honestly, including the version where you don't use it, so you're comparing rather than deciding off something you half-read.

Then the plan needs to have accounted for that already. We model a realistic figure and a conservative one, so you know what happens at both. Much better to see that now than after you've made an offer on something.

Nothing, in almost every case. Brokers are paid by the lender, not by you, so the advice and every meeting is free. In rare, out-of-the-ordinary situations we might charge a fee, but you'll always know upfront. Worth knowing, because a lot of people assume otherwise and put off getting advice for months because of it.

Happens constantly. Whether you can move on it comes down to your equity, your servicing and whether a lender will wear you holding two loans for a while. Which is exactly the sort of thing to find out before the open home rather than in the car afterwards.

A week or two to get to a decision on the order. After that it's your sale, the market and how fast documents come back. You'll get a realistic timeline early rather than a hopeful one.

No. Staying isn't automatically wrong either. Sometimes yours has the sharpest offer going and moving would cost more than it saves. Sometimes they're counting on you not checking. We'll find out which.

Then you've spent a few hours confirming that staying is the right call, which is a real answer. Nobody's going to chase you. Plenty of people run the numbers, decide the timing's wrong, and come back a year later.