It’s often said that taking a wait and see approach can mean you avoid the trap of doing something you’ll later regret. Just because someone says ‘now is the time to act’ doesn’t mean they’re right. Half the time they’re saying it simply because they see the opportunity to make a dollar off you rather than it actually being in your best interest.

A case in point is how real estate people can be heard saying that winter is a great time to list your house. Funny how that catch cry seems to occur at a time when listings are low, isn’t it. On the other hand I know people who took a wait and see approach to buying property in 2003 -2006 and missed what was probably the biggest property boom of their lifetime. Bugger.

But whether you’re buying or selling property, finance is one area where big changes to lending criteria have happened and it’s the simple things seem to be tripping people up thesdays. More to the point, as time is usually required to fix any issues, waiting now means you’ll often face delays at crunch time. Some of the culprits that have been holding up clients lately fall into these categories:

Deposit

Everyone knows you need a reasonable deposit these days but the real trick is that some lenders want to see that you’ve had the deposit in your account for a period of time. They want to see a savings record. A commitment to help prove you’re a worthy applicant. This is especially true if you’re borrowing more than 80% of the purchase price.

Account conduct

Your bank statements will be perused with a fine tooth comb to make sure you have no dishonours etc and are operating within your agreed limits, over a period of 3-6 months. Anything to the contrary that keeps popping up may be considered ‘poor conduct’ and is a black mark against your application. However with a bit of thought and rejigging you can improve the situation but clearly, it takes time for this to work through.

Employment history

No income, no loan. That’s obvious. But you might not realise that lenders also want to see that you’ve been in the job for 3-6 months and self-employed people need to show 2 years of financial accounts as a minimum. It might seem ridiculous but there you are!

The point here is that you shouldn’t wait to organise your finance ‘until closer to the time’ because when the time comes you could find you’ve got ‘issues’ . Get on to it now. Go through the pre-approval and/or application process to find out if there is anything that might trip you up. It doesn’t cost a cent and could save a bit of heartache.