DISASTER!

We have just receievd a phone call from NAB - they are not going to give us finance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really upset - Chris is much more prosasic about it but i am a mixture of upset and anger. Apparently, despite all the assurances given to us over the last 3 weeks PLUS the amazing amount of documentation we have given them, since we will be committing 50% of our salaries to all our mortgages they won't do it. Hellooo!!! How many people living in Sydney committ less than 50%???? In addition, of course we have committed that much right now since we need to continue to live in our current house until the new house is build - ie two mtgs going at once. We will of course sell the current place when the new one is done but in the meantime we need somewhere to live. But they won't take that into account....

On a happier note, Council rang today and said that the DA should be approved by next Tuesday which is great except we may not have any money to build the damn thing!!

We are going to call westpac - all our investment loans are with them so they may be interested. The banker said to me "12mths ago we wouldn't have had this conversation". Which annoys me somewhat as our personal circumstances have not changed - in fact, they have got better! I understand tightening lending criteria for people with no deposit or other assets, low paying jobs or jobs that are not secure but we are pretty much model applicants (which he agreed with).

Not happy at all!!

FINANCE

We met with NAB on monday night to talk finance. Wow, what an uphill battle it seems to be for OBs to get finance. I had heard so many stories about OBs being rejected etc or only getting a 60% max that I wanted to make sure that we impressed the banker and he thought we were a good risk. So how did we do that?? A lot of hard work! The bank needed the following docs:

• copies of all approved plans/permits/licences;
• detailed expenditure budget including an allowance for contingencies (20% is normal);
• copy of soil test and quantity surveyor’s comments;
• quotes and estimations;
• work timing schedule including an acknowledgment of agreed timing;
• required insurance policies two most recent, consecutive, computer generated salary advices detailing YTD payments for each applicant
• Last six months statements for all current savings and loans (including credit card statements) as applicable,
• A recent rates council notice for existing property
• A rental income statement or residential tenancy agreement for existing property - if applicable Identification (eg; current passport plus driver licence),

Some stuff we clearly don't have yet - ie insurance policies and approved plans and OB permit. BUT because i wanted to show them just how super keen and organised we are, I printed off the quotes that we had recieved from various insurance companies and gave them the plans we submitted to council.

I drew up a very detailed budget showing incoming and outgoings as well how much the usable funds were at the end of the month. I did another spreadsheet which had the work timetable which I gathered from information from all over the place. In addition, I paid $450 and got a professional to do a detailed breakdown of all the costs associated with building - this was in lieu of quotes and estimates and i think a much better use of $450 than running around now and getting three quotes for everything which will be out of date by the time we come to build anyway.

So lets hope that all goes well and they give us the $$. NAB will go to 80% for owner builders and we need 69% so cross fingers! The banker certainly seemed on board and indicated that he was impressed.

Next we need Chris to do the on line OB course so he can get his permit. Ron is busy sourcing timber for us and I got my first windows quote today - $23k BUT they had left off the stacker doors and i also think they missed a few other windows etc.

We are meeting a concreter and an excavator/plimber on the block first thing next week to give us quotes for those things.

So, provided council come through with the goods (and none of our neighbours object - they have till the 15th of May) & NAB open their coffers, we will be away!! Yay!