Break open the champagne!

Eden Brae has been paid for the slab finally!It took the intervention of the State Manager of Mortgage Choice and a Relationship Manager (I think) from CBA to get this sorted. A huge weight off our shoulders. And on more good news we don't need to deal with the mortgage angel now as after the first payment, we can elect to email the bank direct with our invoices. A more streamlined process, I think.

No photos of the house today as there was more plumbing work done today. I kinda wish they would plumb the portaloo (!) - the stench from the street is revolting.

I received a call from a local real estate agent to tell me that a knockdown house 2 doors away sold (over 1400m2) and a large house to accommodate 5 boys is being built rather than a subdivision as everyone imagined. Very happy about that - the house not so much the 5 boys LOL

Bank update

As of this afternoon, the 'case of the missing slab money' has gone back to the credit area of CBA for reassessment due to the contract value decreasing by $12K. It has been escalated to the Management of the department and the State Manager of Mortgage Choice is now involved. No-one can tell me how long it needs to sit in Credit for before the file makes it way back to the Progress Claims area.

As the framework is finished, we now owe Eden Brae over $200K. At this stage, the only one from Eden Brae aware of the shortfall is the Accounts Manager who indicated it is her little secret at the moment, unless of course, someone from EBH is reading this public blog!

The saga continues!

Oh my! I think our days of using our broker are nearly over. More hassle than they are worth. I received a call last night from the 'angel' informing me of the most current issue ie. because our new contract value with EBH is less than the original contract, there are ramifications for the valuation of the house which impacts of the loan. Our case now needs to go to the certification team and the valuer for re-assessment. I was promised that others would deal with it within the 'angel' office before our angel returned to work today at 2pm.
I left a message for our broker this morning asking for a return call with an update. Nothing! In the meantime, I rang the accounts manager at EBH to update & to have a cry on her shoulder ;-) Shirley gave me more information than Mortgage Choice have. She told me that I would need to submit the final variations list plus amount to CBA and/or they would need to draw up a new contract altogether. Obviously, this payment isn't forthcoming to EBH any time soon.
I scanned all the documents in waiting to 'hit the button' when requested. I, of course did not hear from Mortgage Choice until I called the 'angel' at 2:15pm. The information was sent (could have been sent 4 hours earlier if I had been contacted as promised) and I received this email back later this afternoon
"All the documentation that we sent to CBA is due to be looked at tomorrow, I have escalated this matter again for you. Julie from our office is going to touch base with CBA tomorrow morning and she will update you."
Now that was the promise I had yesterday with no follow through. We have let the broker know how we are feeling about the situation. Let's see if we get any serious action from them. This is unprofessional to say the least.

And a quick update on bank payment

Not yet finalized though there are promises of this afternoon being bandied around! Grrr...
Fortunately Eden Brae are being very understanding from my communications with them and aren't about to put tools down just yet ;-)

Bank issues

I have received an email from our Mortgage Angel this afternoon who promptly got a fiery phone call from me.  It seems paying for the pool separately yet included in the valuation is not a great idea.

"I have just spoken to CBA and CBA has requested receipts from the pool builder for your contribution of $X for the pool.
As per CBA your total contribution was going to be $Y, out of this CBA has evidence of $Z being paid already by yourself.
CBA is looking for evidence of payment of $X before they will pay the builder for the slab.

Could you please forward that to me as soon as possible?"

Um, NO! We have half a pool which is why we had paid only half the amount! HURRY UP AND PAY OUR BUILDER NOW.

Update - And it seems that we are not going to get any joy from the bank even though we are getting a loan fro $40K more than what we need. Before they pay EBH for the slab we need to pay THEM for the rest of the pool and recoup that money at the end. CRAZY! We have demonstrated to them our ability to pay for it already.
Note to others - it will be much easier not to add other items to your valuation eg. pool, landscaping, driveway etc if you are paying for it out of your own pocket.

SLABBED!

After 18 months of planning (since we bought the block of land) we have a concrete slab. The workers looked at me rather strangely as I stood there with my camera around my neck. I smiled sweetly & waved gingerly. I am one very excited gal right now. Just waiting on the first invoice now which will activate our construction loan - maybe not so excited then.

Jack is out of my life!

He has been paid...after I received 3 ignored phone calls from him early this morning. I was just waiting to hear from the tree lopper in writing about exactly what he was going to do today before I paid Jack his money. I did need to chase the clearance certificate even though I was told it could be sent 10 minutes after money had been received. An email from me, an SMS from me....nothing. Brad rang this afternoon and it was emailed to us within 20 minutes with a note to say that we had been a pleasure to work with LOL.

Brad has just returned with a bottle of Moët to celebrate with all our good friends tonight over some Canasta.

Simon, my wonderful tree lopper is doing his bit today & tomorrow. Barring any catastrophic events, the site will be completely cleared by the end of the day tomorrow for pool excavation next week or the week after.

Yesterday also saw us receive our 'Authority to Commence Construction' letter from CBA - another step closer to the building starting.

Some more bank requirements needed

I received an email from my Mortgage Angel (sweet, eh?!) this afternoon to say that CBA required a further 2 documents and then they would release their Authority to Commence Construction. CBA need.....

1 )     Builders Contract of Works Insurance, showing:-
        Insurance amount equal to or in excess of the Building Contract Price.
        Name of property owner and / or the Building Company
        Construction site address or stating `Anywhere in Australia'.
        Expiry date of policy.

2 )    Builders Public Liability Insurance, showing:-
        Minimum $5 million.
        Expiry date of policy.
        Construction site address or stating `Anywhere in Australia'.




Now of course, the timing of this was not great. EBH were not contactable at 3:30pm this afternoon via phone or email so I can only suspect their well deserved break started before COB today! We will now have to wait until EBH are back on deck on January 7 to forward to the bank. At least we know, CBA will send the Construction advice to us as soon as they receive these documents.

Unconditional approval

Music to my ears! The new house has been valued, our current house has been valued, we have attended to a special condition placed on the loan and it has been rubber stamped today. Still waiting on the paperwork to complete (loan offer) and to send to EBH but good as done.
From what I understand, we are waiting on a construction certificate and then our final construction drawings, colour documents and final variations. A site start appointment will herald the end of the admin stage and the start of the construction stage.
In the meantime, I am desperately trying to find out who our gas provider is??? I am on hold to every company I try. I am also attempting to get quotes from fencing companies to get temporary fencing for the very short phase of demolition.
Soon photoless posts will be a thing of the past....

Loan approved conditionally

Our construction loan has now been approved with conditions - the standard bank valuation on the land we are building on and that the redraw balance on one of our other loans is reduced. I don't understand the concept at all but Brad does. I was hoping it meant that I could go & spend $50K on something other than a new house ;-)  Brad seems really happy with the way that Mortgage Choice have structured our loan - important that he is happy when it comes to money!

Bank approval needed

Decided that is was time to start thinking about the bank loan for this mammoth project. We have conditional approval so it isn't going to be a lengthy drawn out affair (I hope). We need to get a HUGE building contract scanned to send to the broker & bank and some updated payslips etc. Tomorrows job........