Specialist lending is moving out of the “too-hard basket” as more mortgage brokers turn to technology to handle complex deals themselves.
New usage data from Quickli’s platform, covering more than 13,000 mortgage brokers, shows Alt Doc product recommendations jumped 124% in March 2026, while SMSF exports climbed 56% month-on-month.
For brokers, that trend points to new opportunities with self-employed clients, first-home buyers using alternative income documentation, and property investors funding purchases through SMSF structures. Rather than referring these borrowers away or avoiding the complexity, more advisers are using Quickli Pro’s tools to manage specialist scenarios inside their own businesses, supporting revenue growth and client retention.
That shift comes as brokers consolidate their position in the market, with recent MFAA figures showing they facilitated 76.7% of new residential home loans in the December 2025 quarter, giving any change in specialist capability system-wide implications for first-home buyers and property investors.
Quickli co-founder and co-CEO Eric Dill (pictured) said many brokers have been constrained by the perceived difficulty of specialist lending.
“There are brokers out there who'd write more Alt Doc and SMSF deals if they had the right tools,” Dill said. “These aren't mainstream lending scenarios, so brokers need confidence they're getting the requirements right.”
Quickli’s Alt Doc Tool, launched in October 2025, uses a policy-driven rules engine to surface suitable lenders based on clients’ ABN history, documentation type, BAS history and credit profile.
March delivered the strongest uplift in recommendations since launch, with Alt Doc scenario creation having previously grown 161% in December and 127% in January.
Importantly for brokers, those scenarios are turning into live recommendations.
“What we're seeing is brokers actively using these tools to serve clients, not just exploring out of curiosity,” said Amir Shareghi Najar, head of data at Quickli. “The recommendation-to-creation ratio jumped to 3.8% in March, nearly double our previous best.”
SMSF lending workflows are also gaining traction. Usage dipped over December but has since rebounded toward launch peaks, with March SMSF exports up 56% month-on-month.
Quickli’s SMSF Tool calculates maximum borrowing capacity across nine lenders, handling each lender’s contribution rules correctly so brokers can compare options quickly and protect borrowing capacity for property investors.
“SMSF is moving from niche to mainstream in broker workflows,” Shareghi Najar said. “Brokers are seeing the opportunity in SMSF lending, and now they have tools that make it accessible rather than intimidating.”
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