Finances

Our journey was probably different to most. As we didn't really start from where most first mortgage applicants do. And fair warning this is probably a bit of a boring one but it encompassed so much of our time and energy while we were going through it, that I have to give it some space.

We had a number of complications, where because of the ownership of the property and the way the development had to be structured, which made looking into loans tricky.

Especially for people who had never applied for lending like this before.

Our first port of call to figure out how to do this, was to our financial adviser. He redirected us to a Mortgage Broker. Who was an absolute pain in the derriere if you ask me. I thought I was a little pessimistic at times, but this guy was out the gate negative. He openly told me that we were crazy if we thought anyone would lend to us. Quite frankly I laughed at him and told him it was best he leave now. As he had asked questions which I thought were pointless and had no bearing on any loan application and he didn't seem to grasp the structure we have here. It was like I was speaking a foreign language to him. I went over and over it, and to be fair it's easy for me as I know it. But he just couldn't put everything together. I got so frustrated with him and I think he knew it. He just kept making comments about our inability to pay a mortgage off.

One lesson I took from that though, was that I immediately increased our rent. I'd gone onto a mortgage calculator and checked out what our potential loan repayments were, based on a 7% interest rate. High sure, but I wanted to be covered. Once I had a number, I made our rent about that. And started paying that per month, from that month onwards. Which by the time our loan actually kicked in, we'd been paying for over 3 years.

So the 12 year old in me wishes I had told him to kick rocks buddy because we've not only been able to consistently pay the rent, but we've also saved twice as much as we had when we were dealing with him. It's one thing I will totally rate doing if you are looking for a loan. Work out your potential repayments on the high side, and start setting that aside. See how you can live with that, and that you can consistently cover it. It's great, as it's something the bank can look at and it's proof clear that you can do this!

Once I got rid of him though, I had to start more research, to work out what our options might be, and after some in depth discussions I was referred to BDO. Specifically Adam Davy. Prior to this, we had considered ourselves a small business, so had a small accountant looking after us. I didn't think of us a being very big. Or in need of high end support, however one hour long chat with Adam had me absolutely sold on moving. And move we did. That first meeting with Adam, I felt like we were being truly heard. Not only did he take only a little explaining to put all the pieces together, they seemed to make sense to him. He made it all sound so straightforward and he diagrammed out our position quickly and concisely.

He was easy to talk to, listened and understood. He was able to outline a plan very quickly to move us forward, get our processes more robust and bring the development to life!

Signing up to BDO was an absolute no-brainer for us and while Dwayne was a little concerned at the outlay, he also was quick to understand the benefits, and could see why I felt so strongly about the change in accountants.

Adam was absolutely amazing too when it came to liaising with the bank. We took his advice, and went direct. With Adam batting for us, and being able to prove our financial situation with numbers and the evidence the bank needed. As well as the knowledge of what the bank needed to see and understand when it came to both the development information and the financial information. And we were endlessly grateful! It was so incredible to have this very smart and sensible person who I feel could see our vision and understand all sides of the reasons and values of a project like this, and who could effectively communicate with the people with the money in a way that we didn't have the experience to do.

I won't say all of this was a fast process. It took us 18 months from the start of our conversations with BECA to getting the pre-approval we needed to move forward and break ground on the development.

It was a series of flailing between people who wanted to tell us it was an impossible dream, to those who backed us 100% and back again, multiple times. There were some times where we wondered if we should give up. If this wasn't meant to be, but every time we hit a roadblock, we would get another sign from the universe that maybe we were actually going to see this come alive, and thankfully the positive signs, kept on kicking the negative signs butts and our dream IS now a reality.

The biggest lessons we have learned are the absolute values of a good accountant.

No a brilliant accountant. They can deliver so much value to your business. The value of a good bank relationship and how important good bookkeeping is. That when one door closes, another door opens - and you should never take no for an answer if you believe in your ability to deliver on your promises. Just because one person doesn't think you can, another person will. And your ability to show you understand risk management and can mitigate risks, is worth far more than the opinion of someone who has no money to lend and no imagination.

Also, trust in your bank. Give them your vision and show them your goals. Show them you can do what you are promising and build a good relationship with your lending manager. I cannot say enough good things about Sam Bree from ANZ. He has bent over backwards to help us, and while he's currently on maternity leave, he was an absolute rock when I needed help understanding issues. He was so happy to talk through how things worked, what we needed to do, what the bank role is and how they can help us. I spent hours on the phone with him and when we started having major issues with BECA and he came and backed us at meetings where we needed some grounding and backing from a corporate larger than BECA.

Sam Bree and Jack Shapley our account manager have great communication and they have along with BDO helped us to where we are today.

The best advice I think we had (from Adam at BDO) was to go directly to our bank and I don't regret that decision for one second.