Browse Forums Home Finance 1 May 06, 2010 12:49 pm In general reading over the forum it seems getting finance is the most stressful part of the build for most people. our first loan we initially tried through a broker who in the end didnt know what he was doing, so we had to ditch him and had less than a week to organise finance (had paid a deposit and signed a land contract). We went straight to our bank and got approved. But we got conditional approval the same day and had no worries with valuation. Our LVR was well over 80% and we had to pay LMI. Second loan was the same story, approval same day, for a much much bigger loan. Our valuation actually came in at more than what we were paying, which was a pleasant surprise. Our LVR was under 80% and had no LMI. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 2May 06, 2010 10:21 pm It took us about 2 weeks but this was at the end of 2008. We also needed a relocation loan on a low doc so I think that takes a bit more processing. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 3May 16, 2010 12:05 pm The length of time for loan approval varies depending on a number of factors: * The lender you apply with: Generally cheaper lenders take longer because naturally they have more applications to process. In particular when a lender has a special or other discount then they tend to be inundated with applications. * The complexity of your situation: Trust loans, guarantors, construction loans etc all tend to take longer. * If you are within credit policy: If not then the lender will have to refer your loan to a higher level assessor for approval which will take longer. * How competent your broker / bank is: If you find someone who doesn't know what they are doing then often they just sit on your application for 3 - 4 days before doing anything! Find someone good and this will not be a problem. * Conditional approval is meaningless with many lenders: Often some lenders issue a conditional on the spot and then when the valuation comes back they get their credit department to look at it. People often wonder why they ask more questions when the loan was already approved subject to valuation. As mortgage brokers we get an instant conditional approval when we lodge most loans, however we don't tell customers this because it doesn't mean anything! It is only when a human has assessed the loan that it can be considered to be approved. I always hear of people saying "this bank is good because they got my approval in a day" however it all depends on the situation. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 4May 17, 2010 1:23 pm So would I be right in saying a loan is approved if you sign off on mortgage documentation? However, funds have not been released because the property has not gone through settlement. jb_money The length of time for loan approval varies depending on a number of factors: * The lender you apply with: Generally cheaper lenders take longer because naturally they have more applications to process. In particular when a lender has a special or other discount then they tend to be inundated with applications. * The complexity of your situation: Trust loans, guarantors, construction loans etc all tend to take longer. * If you are within credit policy: If not then the lender will have to refer your loan to a higher level assessor for approval which will take longer. * How competent your broker / bank is: If you find someone who doesn't know what they are doing then often they just sit on your application for 3 - 4 days before doing anything! Find someone good and this will not be a problem. * Conditional approval is meaningless with many lenders: Often some lenders issue a conditional on the spot and then when the valuation comes back they get their credit department to look at it. People often wonder why they ask more questions when the loan was already approved subject to valuation. As mortgage brokers we get an instant conditional approval when we lodge most loans, however we don't tell customers this because it doesn't mean anything! It is only when a human has assessed the loan that it can be considered to be approved. I always hear of people saying "this bank is good because they got my approval in a day" however it all depends on the situation. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 5May 17, 2010 1:28 pm It took us 2 weeks to get pre approval and a couple of days for unconditional approval. Edited to add - we had to go through LMI Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 6May 17, 2010 1:31 pm alfy So would I be right in saying a loan is approved if you sign off on mortgage documentation? However, funds have not been released because the property has not gone through settlement. Yes by nature of contract law where the offer is made and then accepted, there has to be loan approval before a loan contract can be issued. Unless it's a particular lender that sends out mortgage docs (read loan contracts) subject to valuation. However, until settlement lender may withdraw the loan offer as per terms of the (loan) contract. A typical reason for withdrawing would be the expiry clause. If you are unable to settle etc. This is for general information only, a lawyer should read your contracts to provide advice. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 7May 22, 2010 10:49 pm we signed contract on 14th April and are still waiting for unconditional approval... 5 weeks later the first 5 days.. we were being stuffed around by a broker- he was so negative and condescending and within 5 short days- caused my partner & i so much stress and heartache. So we gave him the flick. Thought we best ask for an extension early on in the piece of 1 week for finance- just in case. Went to a different lender- got pre-approved for $30k more then we needed, but then their final offer was $10k LESS then we needed! $40k drop- although i know pre-app isn't set in stone- but it was still disappointing- esp since we had wasted 2 weeks. The staff at this institution were fantastic. Great communication; emails, phone calls, texts, faxes. They were friendly and polite, gave great explanations and were a joy to deal with- even though they came short with $$$, i had a very positive experience with everyone i came into contact with and could not fault them. That loan was not rejected and funds were approved in principal, so no 'black marks' would've been on our credit history. They said they have just tightened serviceability criteria and we just fall short of needing those extra $$. So we went to another lender- told them straight away about the tight time lines- no problem, absolutely, yes we can do it... blah blah blah... 3 weeks later... we are still waiting and they have asked for 2 extensions because they are ridiculously unorganised with untrained staff and have standard lower then 'very poor' in communication. No one seems to know whats going on or take responsibility, they have told us direct ******, they have lost information, and the whole process has been painful. The first loan writer we were dealing with- left the company with no warning or notice- gee must be a great place to work- the 2nd loan writer- is now facing disciplinary action because of the way she mismanaged our application, and we have now been escalated to the regional manager- who at least returns phone calls- but still is only a middle man who has to pass info onto someone else who passes it onto someone else... Our saving grace has been that the vendors, despite getting very annoyed are being patient. If we knew what we know now- 3 weeks ago- we wouldn't have gone near them. Final cut off date for finance unconditional approval- is now 26th May- 6 weeks after we signed contract... Our solicitors, vendors solicitors and real estate agent have lodged complaints and if the vendors continue to be stuffed around - they will be seeking compensation. Fingers crossed. But yes- i too have wondered bout all the ppl saying they got final approval so quick... when we seem to have had drama after drama (eg. we were told -finance all good to go- just waiting on valuation report to be sent to lending manager- but then turned around 6 days later and said valuation had not been booked on system!!!). anyway- fingers crossed. 3 more business days for them to make it or break it! Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 8Jun 01, 2010 11:10 pm thlo alfy So would I be right in saying a loan is approved if you sign off on mortgage documentation? However, funds have not been released because the property has not gone through settlement. Yes by nature of contract law where the offer is made and then accepted, there has to be loan approval before a loan contract can be issued. Unless it's a particular lender that sends out mortgage docs (read loan contracts) subject to valuation. However, until settlement lender may withdraw the loan offer as per terms of the (loan) contract. A typical reason for withdrawing would be the expiry clause. If you are unable to settle etc. This is for general information only, a lawyer should read your contracts to provide advice. Hi, In our case - we've got the "unconditional approval", yet for some reason it's been almost 8 weeks and no loan offer documentation/contract. We're up to getting building permits (standard h&l off the plan, $1k variations which we're happy to pay in cash for..), and we've now just missed land settlement due date. Any hints/experiences to as to why the bank is taking so long to front up the relevant documentation? We delivered the signed copies of everything ASAP and are now faced with paying a per-day penalty while this all drags out (still with no ETAs or reasonable communication from the bank/broker). We're being told the hold up is due to a valuation - considering our h&l package came out about 15k less than the original ask and has actually increased in value since we signed, we're not sure why it's taking so long and are concerned that it may fall through, without any involvement from us.. Cheers. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 9Jun 04, 2010 10:56 pm I went straight to CBA bank for loan. I got my unconditional approval within 5 days of applying with all paperwork. This included a valuation that was done on the land, which we are constructing on. I have to say the CBA lender who was handling my case, was very professional and efficient. Land - Northerly Estate, Piara Waters Titles Issues 05 April 2010 Building with Ross North Homes Prestart Completed 12 April 2010 Finance Approved 01 May 2010 Slab down 29 May 2010 Frame Completed 28 June 2010 Roof Completed 22 July 2010 Lockup 12 August 2010 PCI 24 Sep 2010 Handover 08 Oct 2010 Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32295&start=0 Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 10Oct 27, 2010 3:09 pm It totally depend upon document presentation and accuracy I am suggesting that before doing all this thing you have to consult woth any any expert so they can help you can suggested right way to doing all the formalities . Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 11Oct 28, 2010 1:13 pm Too long! I think it was 3 weeks just for preapproval. It took ages for the real thing once we had a house contract. But our case was that we were going for a 2nd mortgage, keeping our first home as a rental and building a new house, we just made the cut off point and also were up for LMI, also had to discharge 1st mortgage from another bank. Between valuations and having to do a couple of sworn statements re my name they took their time. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 12Oct 29, 2010 10:56 pm We got preapproval on the spot for both land and house loan. I think the land loan took just under a week to get unconditional approval. We've just submitted our application for the house loan a couple of days ago and my banker expects it to be approved sometime next week. My banker has been great getting it all sorted out. Now, if only my land would settle... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37229 - our Iris 4! Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 13Oct 31, 2010 9:58 pm It has only taken a week so far however we have been told it will be up to 3 weeks for them to issue a letter of commencement which is the only thing we are now waiting on grrrr. How long did the letter of commencement take for others? Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 14Nov 16, 2010 2:27 pm I can't say that finance approval times are really a problem with any of my clients, it's more an issue regarding banks valuations and lending amounts that's causing real issues. Re: How long did it take for you to get approval? 15Nov 16, 2010 2:44 pm Our situation was much like Ms Builder's. We initially went through a broker, and after 8 weeks of being stuffed about (to put it nicely) we went direct to the bank (CBA) and were approved in no time. Congratulations! Nice to put that to bed before christmas, now you can relax 3 5349 Yep, very good point. I’ll do more research and see what figures I get. 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