How Does the Process Work at Intellichoice?
We do things a little differently at Intellichoice and our system has helped many hundreds of Owner Builders successful finance their projects over the years.
Step One
Our first client contact usually is usually a phone call or an email.
At that point, we get a little bit of an overview of the type of project you are working on and your goals and needs. After that, we make an appointment with one of our specialists.
Step Two
During the Telephone Consultation, we ask lots of questions like:
“What are you trying to achieve?” and “Why have you chosen to Owner Build?” as well as more standard questions about the stage of the project you are at and income and equity.
It is important for us to know these things so we can tailor a package to suit your needs.
As one of our consultants, Jo King, different people go into Owner Building for different reasons.
“For some, it is about having control over the quality of the project and for them the money savings are sometimes secondary.
“For other people, Owner Building is the answer because they have a dream of the house they want for their family and they can’t afford it by going down the regular route. By owner building, they can get more for their money.”
Step Three
After the phone interview, we go away, do our research and put together an individually tailored proposal. That proposal can be anywhere between four to six pages and takes into account the specific details of your project. We also review your costings and make sure your budget etc are realistic.
Step Four
Once that is completed, we book an appointment time when you can be in front of your computer.
We email it to you once we have confirmed you are ready and then go through it together.
This often takes 20 mins to half an hour.
The advantage of this system is that we can do it with people all over Australia and our customers can do it from home, their office at lunchtime or wherever they like.
Step Five
Step Five is where we really add value. This is where we put the information together for the lender so they understand correctly what you are trying to do.
At this stage, we will also often work with the valuer to be sure your project is being valued correctly. This often involves providing information like cost per square meter averages and quantity takeoffs.
Because it is a construction loan, the lender still pays in staged draws.
Step Six
Once the loan is approved we continue to work with you to help with staging finance.
Stage 1 is traditionally to build to the floor.
You collect the invoices that need to be paid and they submit them to us. We put them together in a way that makes it easy for the lender and valuer to approve them.
One of the things we check with the clients is that the works that have been paid for are “built and fixed to the site”.
For example, if stage one includes windows, they need to be “fixed in” before the lender will pay.
Once we have checked that, the valuer goes to the site and checks it all off. They then send a report through to the lender and the lender pays the funds.
We help in other ways throughout construction as well. For example, we understand that cash flow is often a big problem during construction so we arrange for the land loan plus the construction loan to be interested only to help. If there is excess equity in the land, we take that as a loan as well so they have it available as a buffer.
Step Seven
Once the project has been completed we then review the lone structure and help you consolidate. If you have used a credit card or borrowed from a friend, we top the loan payment up to pay any extras, consolidate the loan and then put it into whatever type of loan you need as part of your long term plan.
This whole process can take anywhere from 6 – 12 months.
