Firstmac: what this Brisbane non-bank offers business owners

Firstmac turns up far more often on home loan comparison tables than on business finance shortlists, and that tells you most of what you need to know. It’s a large, long-running non-bank lender whose core business is mortgages. For business owners there’s one product that genuinely fits, and a couple that look relevant at first glance but aren’t.

This profile sorts out which is which, using Firstmac’s own website as at October 2026.

Who is Firstmac?

Firstmac is based in the Brisbane CBD and describes itself as Australian-owned and run. The business began in 1979 as an equipment finance brokerage and took the Firstmac name in 2002, when founders Kim and Sia Cannon bought First Mortgage Corporation. It says it has written more than 130,000 home loans over four decades.

Unlike a bank, it doesn’t fund loans from deposits. Firstmac raises money by issuing residential mortgage-backed securities, and says it has issued more than $40 billion of them since 2003. Its loans reach borrowers mainly through mortgage brokers, via aggregators such as Connective, Choice, PLAN and FAST.

Which Firstmac product actually suits a business owner?

Product	Published details as at October 2026	Fit for business use
SMSF loan	$50k to $2m; up to 80% of property value; residential or commercial security; no ongoing or annual fees	Yes, for a super fund buying premises
Car and caravan loans	$10k to $150k; used cars up to 12 years old, used caravans up to 7	No: described as personal-use lending
Home loans, including alt-doc	Alt-doc option for established self-employed borrowers, through brokers	Indirect only: helps the owner personally, not the business

The honest summary: Firstmac is a premises-through-super lender for business purposes, and not much else.

How the SMSF loan works for commercial premises

Many owners like the idea of their super fund owning the building their business trades from. The business pays rent to the fund, the fund repays the loan, and the property sits inside the concessional super environment.

Firstmac’s SMSF loan supports that structure with fixed or variable options, weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments, and unlimited extra repayments on the variable version. It publishes a separate commercial product sheet and checklist for brokers. It also says the policy and approval process mirror its regular loans, with minimal supporting documents.

Timing is now critical. Under ATO guidance on the rules that took effect on 10 August 2026, a new limited recourse borrowing arrangement can only be used to buy real property if it’s business real property. Commercial premises used in your business generally qualify; a residential investment property bought from that date generally doesn’t. That has pushed commercial SMSF lending, the kind Firstmac offers, into sharper focus. Our SMSF commercial property loans page covers how these loans are assessed, and the SMSF vs company purchase comparison helps you decide which entity should own the building.

Weighing up an SMSF purchase against buying in your company’s name? Share the details with us and we’ll come back with the lender types that fit each route.

Why the car loan isn’t business vehicle finance

Firstmac’s asset finance page is clear that it lends on cars and caravans for personal use. That matters if you’re buying a ute, van or work vehicle. Business vehicle finance, usually a chattel mortgage, is set up so the business owns the asset, can generally claim GST credits on the purchase and can claim depreciation and interest, subject to your accountant’s advice.

If the vehicle earns its keep in the business, start with our business car loans and chattel mortgage pages, then price it in the equipment finance calculator. Business.gov.au also has a plain guide to the lease-or-buy decision, linked in our sources.

Who Firstmac suits, and who it doesn’t

Likely fit:

• an SMSF with a corporate trustee buying or refinancing commercial premises up to $2m;
• a fund with enough net assets, rent and contributions to service the loan comfortably;
• an owner who already works with a mortgage broker.

Unlikely fit:

• a business needing working capital, stock funding or a cash-flow buffer;
• anyone buying equipment, trucks or business vehicles;
• a company wanting to buy premises in its own name rather than through super, where a commercial property lender is the more natural route.

For that last group, our buying commercial property guide compares the options, and banks are well worth approaching first if your financials are strong.

Questions to ask before your fund signs

1. What’s the total cost in dollars over the first five years, including any rate lock or fund review fees?
2. Does the property type and lease to my business count as business real property for this loan?
3. What net assets and liquidity does Firstmac expect the fund to hold after settlement?
4. How is the holding trust (bare trust) set up, and who pays for the legal work?
5. Can the loan be repaid early without a break cost on the fixed option?

If Firstmac isn’t the answer

Most business owners who look at Firstmac find their need sits outside its range. Here’s where to go instead:

• Buying premises in a company or trust: see commercial property loans, and compare non-bank peers such as Bluestone and Mortgage House Commercial.
• Another non-bank for SMSF and alt-doc borrowers: Resimac works in similar territory.
• Vehicles and equipment: equipment finance is secured on the asset and often approved quickly.
• Bank declined you: our declined by the bank guide lists the realistic next steps.

Know what you’re funding? We’ll find who funds it

Firstmac does one business job well: lending to super funds that buy commercial premises. If your plan is different, whether that’s a fit-out, a fleet, a cash-flow gap or a building in your company’s name, the right lender is probably someone else, and finding them shouldn’t take weeks of guesswork.

Give us about sixty seconds on the form. It doesn’t involve a credit check, so your score is left alone, and we won’t scatter your application across a list of lenders. A real person looks over what you’ve told us and calls you back. Be precise about the purchase, the entity buying and your figures, and the first option we put forward should be the one that sticks.

Tell us what you’re buying →