Browse Forums Home Finance 1 May 06, 2009 11:02 pm How to explain this one? Months ago when we sat down with the broker, we hadn't really looked at houses yet, but put in an application for pre-approval on a loan. Then we started looking in earnest and found a block of land and house we liked. We had pre-approval, so we signed on the line for the land. Then we looked at houses. The pre-approval letter said we could borrow $358 900. Now, in my head I've been rounding stuff off and looking at that as $359 000 + $21 000 = $380 000, which is what we need for house and land. Today, the sales woman rings me up and tells me I may want to check with the broker as she thinks we may be over on the house price. I told her, we're right, do up the contract. A couple of grand over, we can pay that easy out of our pocket. Now I realise why it looks like we are short: LMI! I forgot to include the $9 000 LMI bill. So our budget actually turned out to be $370 000, not $380 000 . I'm now in the predicament of thinking of a way to still make this happen! My parents in law have offered us up to $20 000 as an interest free loan for things like landscaping, fencing, curtains etc and my parents have offered us a few thousand too. We don't want to take it if we can avoid it, but maybe we will have to swallow our collective pride and take it, or we are going to lose our deposit and exercise the "finance clause". I'm so mad with myself for that faux pas. So close to contract (THIS FRIDAY!) and now this bites me in the bum. And it looks like we may be having a baby in about 8 months, we really wanted to be in the new home by then too. Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 2May 07, 2009 7:44 am I'm really sorry your having a hard time with it all its so over whelming. I don't deal with the finances thats johns job. I hope you can work it out. John, Tarin and the Kids Built and moving in to the Regent Grande with Masterton homes http://thebrownsaremovingtothecountry.blogspot.com Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 3May 07, 2009 4:04 pm Sounds like congrats are in order for the new bub Is it too late to change the loan application and increase the amount? Otherwise, if it was me I would borrow the money from the IL's and maybe re-finance further down the track and pay them off in a lump sum. At least that way you can still have the house that you want. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 4May 07, 2009 4:09 pm Are the bank able to loan you a higher amount? I hope you are able to sort something out.. Also wanted to say congrats on the pregnancy. Building with PD - Regent 23 Cascades on Clyde Estate HomeOne Building Thread - PCI Completed - 28th August. Handover - 11th September. Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 5May 07, 2009 4:36 pm Oh you poor thing, what a horrible feeling it must have been to realise that Given that you are having a baby (congrats!!) I would personally borrow off family before I would borrow from the bank. Maybe forgoe things like landscaping that can be done later...I just take my daughter to the park to crawl around on the grass there, as our yard is a non-baby-friendly mess! I am about to return to work after having about 9 months off with my daughter and believe me, things can get a little tight with one income and a baby Its so worth it though ~*~Moved in on the 16th April 2011~*~ Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 6May 07, 2009 6:15 pm Borrowing from relatives is fraught with pitfalls, although it is good of them to offer but I would try to keep this to a minimum if absolutely neccesary. (we borrowed $2000 from my parents once years ago and paid it back as soon as possible so been there done that, for different reason) I would try to defer landscaping (although its not all that dear and can be done in sections, if you do the labour yourself ) curtains, (get cheap temporary substitutes) even floor coverings etc if you are haveing problems with your budget. Of course, some things like fencing probably cant be deferred. You can still have the house you want but you dont have to have everything all at once Re: I think I screwed up on the maths. 7May 07, 2009 7:01 pm Thanks all for the comments and congratulations. We got he final figure today: 170k for house and $212 342 for house. Base price of the house is $205k and we put in some little extras, like GPOs and some (now limited) data cabling, changed a couple of doors around. So we managed to bring the price down from the mid $230k with our extras to $212k. Despite it costing a little more, some stuff, like taps, we knew if we didn't start off with them, we would never change them and bug us. Perhaps it could be changed for contract, but I've had my heart set on certain things and I can't bear to get rid of them. Besides, I think $7k isn't too bad for over base price. Lots of things will have to wait however, but the missus is adamant that she will have proper curtains, no sheets for us! Landscaping initially will consist of turf, all laid by me of course. We already have some plants that will be nice trees once in the ground. I should mention that fencing and landscaping must be done within6 months of occupancy. I'm ok with that and I'm ok with doing it myself. It will still be cheaper to do it myself and have the father in law fly up to visit for the week to help than it will be to get a tradie in to do it. We are trying to cut corners as much as possible, but some things the builder won't compromise on, like allowing access to the site for me to do bits and bobs. There are a couple of items, like painting, that we could do, but for the hassle and possible baby at the time, it may not be doable. I do like the idea though of borrowing from the PIL and then refinancing later on to repay them, that does tie it up nicely and despite the current economic situation, houses in the area we are moving to seem to be holding or improving value. Go figure! No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6632 |