Property Settlement - just made the deadline by hours - done by a good Broker and Solicitor

Hi all,

Just thought I would recount my resent purchase and the stressful settlement process. keep in mind I have done multiple purchases over the years and assumed the latest one would go smoothly like all the previous one but not this time round. On reflection, the settlement was in April last month so I have had time to reflect on the whole process. I wont bore you all with the finer details but just give you a bit of a summary.

1. Went to Auction with pre-approval but with one stipulation by the lender to receive our Tax Return Notifications for the last couple of years from the ATO before settlement.
2. You can see where this is heading.
3. Requested 45 day settlement and 5 % deposit before Auction. Agreed by vendor all good.
4. Bought property at Auction, a deceased estate, a dump.
4. Got too confident that we could knock over the Tax Returns, then submit them to the ATO for processing and then receive the Assessment Notice from the ATO in time for settlement.
5. Requested entry to property for one hour to get reno quotations done, request rejected by vendor, a bit strange.
6. True to form we needed more time to complete our tax return. We asked for a settlement extension of about a week. The vendor said no.
7. Now things were getting hairy. Everything is in place except for these Tax Return Assessment Notices from ATO. Bear in mind our main income is as an employee, salary slip states tax paid.
8. One week out, no assessment notices. We were starting to get desperate. The Vendor was not going to give any extension even to the point of booking the first settlement appointment for the day of settlement. Again this seems a bit odd to book your settlement appoint so far in advance. 9.We received the Assessment Notices from the ATO on Friday and then we had to settle on the following Tuesday, cutting it fine but doable. By this stage the Solicitor and broker were speaking endlessly to the lender and the vendors solicitors. They were working hard to get this settlement extension. No matter how hard they had both tried over the last couple of weeks the vendor and lender were not going to budge.
10. The owner of the law firm even checked over the contract.
11. The lender would make settlement the next day. That is Wednesday morning less than 24 hours after the settlement due date.
12. The broker was also on the case putting pressure on the lender to certify the documents and get them up to Brisbane for settlement. During the last couple of weeks the broker had to go on an overseas business trip so barely slept trying to get the lender to process the papers for settlement. Leaving his new business partner to deal with our issue in Australia. Again I was in safe hands, as an ex banker she was in there attempting to wangle the lender to process the documents quickly.
13. Also during this time I am currently renovating my PPO living on site with husband and two young kid. Also work from home. During this period my husband was also on a business trip to Brisbane. At least he was able to do the pre-settlement inspection.
18.By the Friday before the settlement the broker had come back from his business trip. He was putting pressure on the lenders senior management. I don't think he had slept for days.
14.By Monday morning we were going to lose our deposit. The vendor was not going to grant any extension no matter how small the timeframe and the lender was unable to meet the settlement date
15.On Monday afternoon I received a phone call stating the lender would be able to meet the original deadline for Tuesday. We settled on time.

In conclusion a good solicitor and broker are priceless. If it was not the for the dogged determination of the Solicitor and the broker this settlement would never have been done on time. Also complete Tax Returns on time.

I found out later via a rumour that the vendor had another buyer in his back pocket to buy the property. That is possibly why the vendor would not grant the slightest settlement extension. They were looking at pocketing our deposit and selling to the other buyer.

 

Its tough in QLD. In NSW you would have had to receive a notice to complete and would generally have 14 days up your sleeve.

 

@Terry_w is there no leeway at all in QLD???? either settle on that very same day or lose deposit? outstandingly stupid if true, congrats to the idiot who decided that was a good idea.

glad you got a good result in the end @Tonibell ! also highlights the importance of having a good team/advisors. eg if any of your accountant, mortgage broker or lawyer had dropped the ball you would've been done, im sure you had no small part in making sure they were on to it!

 

I don't do conveyancing and have never done a QLD, but believe up there if you do not settle on time you are in breach and could lose the deposit, and more.

 

I made it on the day in qld with all the mumbo jumbo thanks to it taking 5-6 days to post loan docs from syd to wa. I ended up going into the nearest bank branch to get the docs printed but as i understand there is no leeway but you will incur interest or penalties, which in my case was only going to be around $40-60 per day. We cut it fine but again thanks to great broker and solicitor they were on the ball

 

Good result @Tonibell

 

Hi @Tonibell ,

Close call but good end result.

Cheers and all the best for future growth in your IP.

Regards

 

It's always a good thing when solicitor and broker are on the same page. Well done @Tonibell