Considering there are no banks in Ivanhoe (the nearest one being 210 km away in Hay) the idea of re-financing from one bank to another might seem rather daunting. But with a very low interest rate on offer, we decided that it was worth a try.
Jeremy and I had decided to invest in land on the mid north coast and just before Christmas I found a very cheap block. It was being sold as a mortgagee sale meaning “first in first served” so time was of the essence. As it turned out, Jeremy was on an island in Thailand and there was no way to contact him – until he rang to wish us a Merry Christmas. And so the race began, at something of a snail’s pace because, with only one scanner on the island Jeremy had to ride across the island to print, sign, scan and return the paperwork.
Still, undaunted by potential difficulties, it was then that we decided to take advantage of the low interest rate and re-finance our home loan at the same time.
As it turned out, while re-financing our home loan was quite straightforward, Jeremy’s investment loan was anything but. The new bank made a number of mistakes (including the loan amount and the fixed term) which meant that the contracts had to be redone.
As luck would have it, we were about to leave for an Australia Day holiday on the coast and so it was agreed that our loan documents would be couriered from the South Australian Mortgage Centre to Forster and, upon notification of their arrival, we would sign them there.
By Thursday we were mildly anxious (we were leaving on Saturday morning) so I rang to ask if the paperwork had arrived – “Oh, hasn’t anyone rung you yet?” – and we drove in to sign. Unfortunately, when we checked the contracts, we discovered they had spelled my middle name wrong, which meant that the documents had to be corrected and re-issued from the South Australian Mortgage Centre.
Amazingly, the ‘corrected’ documents arrived the next morning and we drove in to sign them but were informed that two of the forms had to be sent to Germany for Jeremy’s signature and then returned to the Mortgage Centre and, “By the way, that other form will have to be witnessed and signed by a solicitor”. Wow! We didn’t see that coming
Now Australia Post has an International Document Express Post (“$42 please”) but, in our haste to make the Friday mail, we failed to notice the final mistake in the documentation. Apparently the ‘Mid North Coast is in the A.C.T……….. who knew?
So the last couple of days of our holiday became a frantic blur of phone calls and round trips to the bank and the post office mixed in with a crazy search for a solicitor, who would drop everything and go through the guarantor’s form with me (3 hours short of the weekend) – thus avoiding a 420 km round trip to Hay.
With settlement next Monday, we simply ran out of time and it’s now been decided that I will pay for the land and Jeremy will find a more competent bank and pay me later. I’ve just cancelled the solicitor’s appointment (Yes, I did manage to find a traveling solicitor who comes in to Hay from Griffith once a week) and I’m sure that my hair is now totally grey (thank goodness for travelling hairdressers!) but as Cary Grant said, “At least I can worry without anyone noticing”.
PS In case you’re wondering, we did manage to fit in some fun times in between bank excursions although sadly without my new holiday clothes. I had ordered some lovely summer clothes on Ebay but the day before we were due to leave, the mailman’s car broke down in the heat and when Nigel and Jackson were sent out they found him limping back to Wilcannia – with all my parcels on board. Really! You’d think they could have arrested him or something!
Married to a Country Cop 