Well no sooner had we got finance approval than we have more issues.
Firstly, the bank has approved finance based on the original contract price, not the contract price that includes the prestart variations (which were obviously not available when we initially went to the bank for preapproval). I provided all the info to our mortgage broker (and he was waiting for it before going back to the bank) but for some reason the bank has not taken it into account. Therefore our valuation is about $8K short of what it should be. That means that if we go ahead as-is then we will have to come up with a further $8K in cash, which ain't gonna happen without selling a car or something drastic like that. I have asked the broker to go back to the bank to find out why the additional items weren't included in the valuation - after all they are mostly items that will increase the value of the house, such as stone benchtops.
Secondly, the builder has decided to throw another spanner in the works. After 2 site surveys and full plans being drawn up, they have suddenly decided that the bore that we kept from the old house is now too close to the house and has to be decommissioned and filled in! They have not provided a reason. The bore was clearly indicated on the site survey and their own site plan, and will probably be slightly further away from the new house than the old, so I can't see what the issue is. I have sent an email back asking them to explain themselves....
Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh, why can't this just be simple and easy for once?