Proactive Finance Group

Proactive Finance Group is a local, family-owned business founded in 2015. Hayley DeJong is the Director and Senior Mortgage Broker, and Natalie Bacon is a Loan Administrator. The team has helped over 500 families and businesses across the Bendigo region. They work with over 30 different lenders and hundreds of loan products. They offer home loans, first home buyer assistance, non-conforming loans, motor vehicle and personal loans, commercial loans, and asset finance. They provide annual home loan reviews and industry updates after settlement.

They assist with applying for the First Home Owners Grant. They have access to non-conforming lenders for clients with bad credit history, loan arrears, ATO debt, or consolidation needs. They serve the Bendigo region. They help essential workers and allied health professionals across Bendigo. Hayley DeJong started in junior roles at Bendigo Bank over 15 years ago and became a Branch Manager. Hayley DeJong has been a mortgage broker for the past six years. Natalie Bacon has over 20 years of real estate and property administration experience.

First home buyers in Bendigo feature prominently among the accounts, with many describing how little they knew about the lending process before sitting down with Hayley at a face-to-face appointment. She is the name that comes up most, praised for explaining the fundamentals, answering questions patiently and taking calls when anxiety surfaced at different stages of the journey. Several reviewers describe how quickly loans moved once the correct paperwork was supplied, sometimes within days, and note that multiple lending options were compared rather than one product being pushed.

Natalie and Grace are singled out for keeping borrowers informed from application through to settlement, and the wider team earned credit for maintaining momentum while Hayley was overseas on leave. A recurring theme is the confidence clients gained, with some meeting savings targets and entering their own homes only months after that initial meeting, while others valued the advice given during a private sale purchase. Longer-term borrowers mention ongoing conversations about future planning, describing Hayley and her colleagues as responsive, dependable and genuinely invested in the outcome.