Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 05, 2010 10:16 pm Hi all, I signed a contract to purchase land and build a home with a volume builder in September of 2009. Unfortunately my land was delayed (developer issues) and settlement did not take place until April of this year. The building has gone relatively smoothly (they are currently bricking) however for obvious reasons I have exceeded the 26 week requirement of the FHOG boost. So I provided my bank (one of the big 4) with the invoices for the first two stages of my build (which arrived at the same time) on the 26th of May, they were to be paid by the 31st of May. I called my bank on that day to ascertain if the invoices had been paid and they said they hadn't even received them. I then provided the invoices again. Anyway, in attempts to cut a long story short; I have now been advised by my bank that they did in fact receive the invoices the first time but that they haven't paid them because I haven't yet got confirmation that my FHOG boost extension has been approved. They never told me this would be an issue at any stage and it is only because I chased them up that they have raised it! So now I have sent off the application for the extension but am advised by the SRO it will take around 6 weeks. My bank is refusing to pay any of my builders invoices until I get confirmation from the SRO that I have been granted an extension. I'm really concerned about being up for 6 weeks worth of interest (at 15%) to the builder due to my bank's recalcitrance. Has anyone been in the same situation? If so how did you handle it? The difference between what I would get from the SRO with or without the extension is $14,000 and I have offered to provide a personal guarantee to my bank for that amount (my parents can lend it to me) but they still refuse to budge There is nothing whatsoever in my loan documents about the FHOG having to be paid before the bank will release funds to my builder. I'm seriously considering going to the banking ombudsman- please help Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 2Jun 06, 2010 12:05 am Hey Grom, Sounds like a frustrating situation, I had some problems with getting my loan through with the FHOG a while a go but because I wasn't building, it just meant I had to talk the vendor out of trying to charge penalty interest for the time it took the banks (1 of the top 4) to get their act together!!! Just a question for you... and i'm sorry if I sound at all forthcoming in some ways but I need to understand in order to state what I think might happen... Can you confirm If you knew about the 26 week condition that you mentioned in your post prior to the condition being breached? If so can you establish that appropriate action was taken on your part to request for an extension in time? One very important thing to understand is that the bank is not responsible for your FHOG. It is you asking for it from the government to help with your down payment and the bank may be considered an outlet through which you can apply for it and the government will rather store that money with the bank than in your bank account. When your applying for the FHOG (and again I am not aware of the conditions of the FHOG with respect to building) but I would assume that they would have conditions that need to be met without which they wouldn't release the payment to the bank, and the bank in turn would have conditions on your loan about receiving the FHOG in certain time. Becareful not to frustrate the situation as well because if the loan composition was to change e.g. you used your parents money instead of FHOG and then applied for FHOG afterwards, then it would mean whole new loan docs.. and that could be much much longer than 6 weeks the way some banks work unfortunately Don't mean to scare you at all, but if you can prove any negligence on the bank's part in getting your FHOG across then you could have an argument. The problem can be though if this was to go to court is how to prove there is no negligence on our behalf. I was stuck similarly and I just had to do everything I could, literally by passing the whole mail system and I ran things around from my broker, to different departments of the banks and back to my broker etc to save as much time as possible and avoid as much penalty interest to the vendor... actually for me one more day and the vendor could have chosen to keep my 10% and put the house back on the market! Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 3Jun 06, 2010 2:09 pm I just went through the same thing, im so ** of with the bank still at the way they handled it all, cant wait for them to ring me next time is all i can say! I ended up just paying the frame stage myself and will get the money back soon but if you havent got the money there isnt much you can do unfortunately. Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 4Jun 07, 2010 9:22 pm This whole process sucks at times. You know you need to apply for an extension to the 26 week period, but all the information they require you to provide them is difficult to get. Our 26 weeks was up at the end of May, but our builder can't give us the letter we require for the extension, until they have council approval, and they can't get this until they have subdivided their land. Maybe they should make the builders pay the FHOG and then claim it back once the slab is laid. This might actually make them move faster, at the moment, it seems we could be disadvantaged due to things outside of our control. contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 5Jun 08, 2010 10:24 am hi people i called OSR NSW this morning in regards to getting an extension as our 26 weeks is due to expire this 10 June 2010. i was advise that we are to write a letter (or your builder) when the slab has been put in to them. The content is to explain why we are late etc etc. I am guessing that why they want to write during slab stage as maybe many ask for an extension but not necessarily wanting to build the house yet. OSR also mention that it will be case by case if extension get approved and we will get the money. I suppose if you have genuine reason as council approval is late, bad weather or "things beyond our control" as the lady on the phone say, we should be able to get an extension. My builder advised me the same thing. ie extension letter will be forwarded after slab has been put in. Bank i presume dont know anything about this as they are the money lender. not the builder. thats the way i see. Ring your state OSR, rules may varies from state to state. this is what NSW OSR say which is consisten with what my builder say MP Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 6Jun 08, 2010 10:50 am -deleted- Building: M3tr1c0n - Santorini 26 [30.04.10] Builders on Site [29.11.10] Handover [11.12.10] Moved in [CURRENTLY] Moved in and adding all those extras we couldnt pay our builder to do http://mnsantorini.blogspot.com Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 7Jul 07, 2010 10:39 am Can anyone advise how long it takes for them to approve the extension? I'm in SA. contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 8Jul 07, 2010 11:13 am Hi Carlswil, I'm in Victoria so not sure if your waiting times are the same in SA but I sent off my request for an extension (via fax) on the 4th of June and the extension was actually approved on the 1st of July. Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 9Jul 07, 2010 11:29 am Thanks Grom40. And congratulations on getting your extension approved. contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 11Jul 09, 2010 12:59 pm I had the exact same issue! I called revenueSA after sending in all relevant paperwork and explained the situation to them and they made the payment the very next day! Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 12Jul 09, 2010 1:15 pm Ingle Farm, how long did yours take to process? contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 13Jul 09, 2010 3:46 pm We got our extension within two days because I rang and asked about where our case was at and the guy said he'd check it out that day. We then got the approval letter in two days. I was really surprised. We're in Victoria. Re: HELP- FHOG extension delaying progress payments 14Jul 13, 2010 12:56 pm carlswil Ingle Farm, how long did yours take to process? I sent the paperwork through on the friday, called on the Monday and had payment by tuesday! i guess it just depends on the person who answers your call! My guy was fantastic, even called me with updates in that short period! 5 6822 8 6156 Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 8484 |