Westpac waiting times

Hi everyone, we bought a land already under westpac and just processing the construction loan with them, our broker told us that we already have an unconditional offer but we don't have a letter yet to proceed with the construction. Our builder already started scraping the land relying on our broker that he said we are 100 % approved and there are no issues except just waiting for the letter. One month has passed there is still no letter and we will be having a pour of cement soon on our land as we gave our 10% deposit already witg the builder. And just yesterday our broker came back with another valuation with our build. And recommending us to go with CBA as we will be dropping our LMI premium by 11k . We don not know what to do now. Please advise. It is just taking soo long for that letter that os ot worth it to change to another lender?

 

Its likely not approved.

 

If they're recommending you change lenders at this point it sounds like there is an issue. It would be worth clarifying this.

 

The real problem here is Westpacs service levels. Six weeks just to look at an application, then they forensically review it and they'll almost always find something wrong for you to address. You address it, then wait longer again for them to review the application. It's not just happening with Westpac, but they're about the worst at the moment.

It does sound like your broker isn't telling you everything, but they're also likely embarressed and frustraited by the situation. Westpac does have some cheap fixed rates on offer, but rate isn't everything. Changing lenders might be a viable solution.

 

Hmm sounds tricky and difficult. Hopefully a solution is in place for you soon.
And yes, your broker isn't telling you everything. May be worth investigating what has happened if you want more info.

 

Best bet is to clarify if the loan is approved with Westpac or not
IF it is, then you would have signed formal loan offer documentation, signed a mortgage in front of a JP etc and returned all docs to Westpac.
If you've done that then I would say it would be quicker to stick with Westpac and wait for the Commencement letter rather than try another lender now.

IF it's not Formally approved and you haven't signed a Formal Loan Offer, then it may be best to use another lender.

 

Hi,
Thanks everyone for your feedback. An update, we moved to Commonwealth Bank and the valuation of our build is 90k more than westpac. We havent signed papers yet with westpac so we decided to move lenders. Pros is we dont need to get the equity of our current house (PPoR) ... have anyone had experience with waiting times of CBA pls. Our broker told us they have better relationship with CBA than westpac so hopefully this can be quicker. And also, our builder started out footings alreadt as a mutual agreements for everyone to start the build with the high risk of waiting for the approval from CBA. We gave them the 10% deposit.. and eventually the rest will be coming from the loan. The builder told us it is a great risk from them but the builder and the broker have both high confidence we will get approved. The builder is a custom builder and will want to keep the pace as he explained that if they will not take this risk the chances of the orders for materials due to covid will be too long..

 

So sounds like Westpac had never approved the loan in the first place.
CBA are at 10 business days currently, your broker should be able to advise the current processing timeframes.
Risky for you and the builder, proceeding before you've had formal approval, how would the builder know what your financial situation is? The only one who would be able to 'be confident' of approval is the broker, hope they're not wrong!
Always worth considering worse case scenario and have a plan B if possible.

 

banks don't like lending for partially completed projects

 

Correct
Will be detailed in the val also

 

Brokers defiantly have better relations ships with lenders. We had a similar problem when we purchased a property with an unconditional contract of sale and went directly to a bank. After 2 months, we got two extensions on settlement and still had not had confirmation from the bank, only pre-approval. We ended up using a broker who used a different lender (Commonwealth) and they were able to to push the application through in 2 weeks.

 

Maybe the Westpac has run out of money after all it is selling it's NZ subsidiary

Westpac considering sale of New Zealand business

 

Yeah down to a week for PAYG

Super surprised, credit called and went through deal, left her mobile number.

Really good process

I think self employed still a mess

 

Does anybody have fresh info on westpac timelines for simple pre->full PAYG PPOR loans? Their rates look pretty good.

 

about 9 days atm.

 

I just had a loan approved from CBA within 24 hours of loan application being submitted. Both my broker and I were shocked! So maybe things are on the improve

 

Hi what loan is that? As we are waiting for building loan.. we got out of westpac already and got conditional approval from CBA after 2 weeks. Comparing to westpac that we got the pre approval from them last yr oct and have been waiting for them until march for approval but its taking too long thats why we moved to CBA and it took them 2 weeks. So much for the 5 months wait on westpac plus CBA had a better valuation...

 

It was just a simple PPOR loan, P&I. So probably less complicated than a building loan? Either way I thought it was a very snazzy turnaround time. Hopefully they sort it out for you soon

 

So Westpac wasted 2 days of cooling off. The bank manager/specialist said he’d order a valuation right away, followed up with them 2 days after and he didn’t order anything...he ended up doing an automated one which was instant but slightly below the contract.

He now claims the final approval will be done on Monday but I’m sceptical. Not a comfortable start, to be honest.