CLIENT STORIES
Why building a Granny Flat isn't Always as Easy as it Seems

Extending the family home to include a granny flat may sound easy, but can quickly become expensive and challenging in reality without the right financial advice.

 

Our clients initially reached out to us after receiving approval to extend their family home to include a granny flat, with the intention of using it to allow an aged relative from overseas to reunite and permanently live with them.

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The family quickly found a builder, sought out a loan on their own and building commenced straight away with only family funds. However, the loan was never approved. Suddenly, COVID restrictions were imposed, and the granny flat was only 10% completed before the family was notified that the builder had gone bankrupt.

Turning to Strat X Advisory for urgent advice on the builder’s responsibility, we were able to confirm  the original sub-contractor was prepared to finish the Granny Flat. However, the sub-contractor still required payment for the work they had completed as they had not been paid for by the bankrupt builder.

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Over the following 6 months we worked closely with the family and, using our extensive lending experience, recommended the only lender in Australia that would allow them to borrow the required amount to finish. Unlike all others, this lender’s policy gave the family the ability to manage  the extra loan funds and allowed them to be in control over their own financial situation.

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The family’s existing home loan was refinanced with the additional amount added, with the interest rate on their home also being substantially lower than what they were paying to their Big 4 bank.

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Not only did the family save many thousands of dollars on home loan interest through our advice, but they had the funds to finish the granny flat build which is now underway and look forward to bringing their relative to live with them in Australia.