Thanks Richard, here I was thinking that one would have a mortgage broker in the same city as them, ahh gotta love technology.

OK I have a question, what are the different ways of funding a deposit these days? Obviously cash is the primary one, however I have been funnelling money into shares etc over the last few years(and am not looking to sell these in the current environment ), thus I don't have the $50,000 or thereabouts deposit for for a mid $300,000 house. 

So if I had say $15,000 in savings on top of the $14,000 or $21,000 FHG (haven't yet decided on new or established) could one get by with that much.  If not, is it possible (if parents are willing) to access say $20,000 equity in their house to add on top of my savings and FHG?

Another question: if one has a sibling who currently lives overseas (and hasn't bought property in Australia yet), if they contribute money as part of the deposit (silent investor lets say) would that impact their ability to claim the FHG when they come back to Australia in a couple of years and try to buy their first PPR in Australia?

Thanks very much for the help on these two questions

Michael.