This last purchase has been such an uphill battle. At times I thought that intuitively it was just "not meant to be". However we are there - all settled, tenancy agreement in place, banking arrangements just need to be finalised with the new lender.
We have used a lender that is new to us, and I had never heard of! This property is in our self-managed superannuation fund so has had completely different legal hoops that needed to be jumped through.
We had to have a company set up for the SMSF, and then another to act as the "bare trust" who is the owner of the property and with whom the bank has the lending arrangement. And there were all sorts of legal documents around each company and us as Directors and guarantors.
Our mortgage broker, Pat Ryan of SouthEast Mortgage Solutions (find out more about Pat Ryan here) was wonderful and patient with this labourious process. On the first day our finance was due to go unconditional St George (our first lending choice) came through with a less than satisfactory deal - they wanted us to chip in more of our own funds than we wanted. We wanted 80% lend, they wanted less. So Pat suggested we start again with a brand new lender. I requested a five day extension on finance (which could have put the whole deal down if the vendor had wanted to get out), which in turn meant a five day extension on settlement (which could have meant having to pay interest on the purchase price for those five days if once again the vendor had been so inclined). And all this happened about 4.30pm on the cutoff for finance date - so I was calling/emailing solicitors, vendors, Pat, finance advisors like crazy that afternoon trying to placate everyone and determine the best way forward.
This was after we had had such issues getting the deposit funds in on time. Due to having to rollover our super funds from a managed fund, the money was not readily available. There was confusion from our finance advisor as to how the money was to be credited - I was refreshing my bank balance every hour or so waiting for the money to come through so that I could whip down to the bank, get a bank cheque and drop it into the real estate agent. I had to extend the deadline on the deposit due date three times! The poor vendors - they must have wondered if we were genuine. I had a fairly calm real estate agent who took it all in his stride - I was the one going crazy. In the end, part of the funds arrived in the mail via cheque! I then sat in at Macquarie Bank for five hours whilst they did a fast clearance on the cheque so that I could write a bank cheque and race to the agent in time for the 5pm cut off.
Unbelievable, after signing what seemed a million documents (seriously it was about 70 signatues including a late night run to a friend's house whose husband was a solicitor to get it notarised), settlement went smoothly, albeit a few days late.
I have just received the condition report and bond transfer form from the prior agent, agreed and signed a new lease with the tenant, sent off the completed bond transfer form to the RTA. Also just recieved the banking details of the new lender so that I can ensure funds transfer for the monthly payments.
Phew! So property investing is not stress or anxiety free by any means. But from here on end, ceteris paribus, should be smooth sailing IF the tenants are good payers ......Labels: Property Investing