Hmmm.....here we go again.
J recieved a call today from our broker from MC. Wanted to check in on how everything was going in terms of the land and builder. Told him that we'd sat down with RH and getting a lot closer to contract signing once we shore up the pricing and changes to the plan, but the land is not ready at least until August. All good so far.
Then (this is the stressful bit) - he says because of the changes to the LVR that we're still about $30,000 short (including $10K of our own saved), and how about (get this) "we borrow it off our friends or family ?" - WTF ?!
This came out of the blue, and considering that we have an "Approval in Principal" obtained back in March for about the $'s we're aiming for (the rest made up by the FHOG and some savings), which also states that it's in effect for 12 months, and the only thing that will change it is (a) change in financial circumstances, (b) interest rates going up dramatically - neither of which have happened - I don't get it.
The pre-approval came through LONG before THAT bank changed their lending rules, which now state you have to have at least 10% genuine savings and can't use the FHOG. When we got it through, we had about 91% LVR and you could use whatever combination you had at the time.
I'm going into the bank directly to see if i can rack up an appointment or at least have clarification on this, and to see what the potential of bypassing the broker and dealing direct with the bank from now on is. To be honest, it's been nothing but heartache since Day 1, considering the guy told us we had to lay a slab before June 30 to get the FHOG (before it got extended) - ummm.....sure, if we were owner-builders. Plus he's done one large contract, and is now saying that we'll need to find another 10% to pass to the land owner when it settles - my thoughts were you start your loan at that point and whatever needs to be paid comes from the loan amount. We've already set aside about $10K for the builder's 5% before site start.
He's a young gun, and me gets the feeling that his boss in the franchise either doesn't audit/check up on him, or he's just really un informed - how rude to say to a client "borrow some money from friends" - sure, I'll just go and ask my best mate of 17 years for a lazy $10,000, and my dad for another $10,000......
If we can't disconnect from the broker, we're going to definitely ask for a change in staff - you can't have incompetence or stress for such a huge investment - the biggest one of your life.
Thanks for reading.