That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
Defying the Odds: Single Dad's Journey to Homeownership
Finding your way through the complex world of home loans can feel overwhelming, especially when you're facing challenges that seem to stack the odds against you. That's precisely what happened to Jordan Richardson, a single father of two who had been told by his previous mortgage broker that his dreams of owning a family home were simply unrealistic.
With only a 10% deposit and the responsibility of raising two children on his own, Jordan was discouraged and nearly gave up on homeownership altogether. "I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to get my own home, especially for my kids," Jordan explains. His previous broker wouldn't return his calls and seemed uninterested in helping him navigate the mortgage process. When he finally did receive advice, it was disheartening—he was told he could only qualify for a one or two-bedroom property, nowhere near enough space for his family.
Everything changed when Jordan decided to seek a second opinion. What happened next defies the typical home loan timeline—within just one week of meeting with a new mortgage broker, Jordan was approved for a loan and found his dream three-bedroom home. The broker recognized opportunities others had missed, including counting his overtime income (adding $20,000 to his application) and potential boarder income. Even the property valuation, which typically takes 7-10 days, was completed overnight. Today, Jordan has not only secured a perfect home near his children's school but has already converted it from two bedrooms to three and begun renovations. He's now setting his sights on his next goal: an investment property.
Jordan's story is a powerful reminder that persistence pays off. "Don't get deterred," he advises. "There is a way forward to achieve your goals. Even if it's not the first time, you can try again, and it will align." Are you feeling discouraged about your own homeownership journey? Remember that finding the right support can make all the difference between rejection and approval.
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Hello and welcome to that episode of the Homelon Hub. Today I am joined by a very special guest, Jordan Richardson. Hey, Jordan.
Speaker 2:Morning Vicky. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:Thank you for coming along, jordan. You inspire me. You've got an amazing story to share, and this is why I've chosen you to be my guest today, and I'm honoured that you said yes, so thank you.
Speaker 2:That's all right.
Speaker 1:Anytime. Jordan, I think it's very important for us to share your story, because your story gives hope to those that have probably lost some of it. So let's dive in and let's talk about why you're here today and what brought you to this chair.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you really the help that.
Speaker 2:I got from you was amazing really, and I did. I was a bit I was very unsure after first trying to get my like my first home and whatnot, going through my first brokers and I just yeah, it wasn't a great experience. So I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to get one like my own home, especially for my kids and whatnot. You know it was a big thing for me but yeah, it was. It was just hard Like I obviously went to find someone and that experience wasn't great. Just it was hard like to to even talk to them, like I couldn't get in contact with them. I tried calling and they wouldn't pick up my phone calls. I had to go in in person and even then it just seemed like they weren't that interested in me.
Speaker 1:Why do you think they weren't interested in you? What was different about your case that you think made them uninterested in you?
Speaker 2:I think it was the fact, that fact that, obviously, being a single dad with kids and whatnot, you know it's and I think it felt like it might have been quite a lot more work to do, maybe, or like I just didn't have enough money at the time.
Speaker 2:There was a main thing at the time I just didn't think that I would have the funds to be able to do it. And obviously, having two dependents as well like every of those, that's like part of the what you call it, like the, like the things people talk about online they say that, oh yeah, you're not going to get it because of this or it's it's very hard to get a loan when you have kids, or you know you need to have that 20 deposit. Um, you're not going to be able to get a home the size you want. Say, like I managed to get an awesome three-bedroom home in a place that I really loved thanks to you, but they were telling me that I was only going to be able to get something like a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom with what I had. You know.
Speaker 1:So it was very. Okay. So, let's give it a background story. So you came to me and you're a single dad, you have two kids, a dog and a dog, and a dog and a dog, and you only had 10% deposit. Yes, so you had all these elements going for you. As you say, on the surface it looks too hard basket.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And just to give a context as well, it was about almost a year ago, right, actually, yeah, about a year ago. This time, when the banks weren't as willing to give out money, the servicing rates were much higher than they are now. So meaning that you know what you could potentially borrow was not what you can borrow now. So you had a lot of things going on there and I think when I spoke to you for the first time, you were, you really came to me and you're like oh, I know I can't do this, but I just want a second opinion. And I looked at your numbers and I was like, yeah, you can, you can do this. And you're like, really, and to be honest, jordan, I'll tell you something that happened behind the scenes which was fascinating. We've never had a client be approved within a week that didn't have 20% deposit. Honestly, it went from you and I met. We had a two-hour appointment. I think it was the longest appointment of my life because you and I both like to talk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you and I had a really cool appointment. It lasted two hours. You went away. You did everything I asked you to do. That was a big tick for you. You did the application straight away. You gave me everything I needed and literally I think the next day you rang me and you're like I found this house.
Speaker 2:It's my dream home yep all the stars just aligned it was crazy actually, like it was such an experience because, obviously, coming from the last one where I felt so helpless, to this one within a week and the valuation for the property, I put the money in as soon as you said I needed it and you'd ordered it, and the next day they came in.
Speaker 1:I know, and that was bizarre as well, because normally valuations take between seven to ten working days, and your one. It wasn't even an urgent order either. An urgent order takes three days and they cost $250 extra. So we saved you $250 extra there. But the valuer must have liked you as well, because he gave us valuation within a day. So the bank came back and gave us approval within a day.
Speaker 2:That's a good evaluation too.
Speaker 1:Valuation came back within a day. Everything was just falling into place for you. It was amazing. It's been a week. Look guys, it doesn't happen often. It was absolute unicorn experience here, but it left us buzzing. Those sort of situations make me feel like you are walking your right way, your right path. You know you are on the right path when that happens.
Speaker 2:Definitely definitely.
Speaker 1:And that was awesome. So I think by August you settled in, you bought your first home and we've used your KiwiSaver and savings and we got you some cash back as well so you could pay your lawyers. And I remember coming to your housewarming party. That was cool. Thank you for the invite Anytime.
Speaker 2:We have to do another one eh.
Speaker 1:Absolutely one year anniversary one. But I think the most important message here from you is you know, don't give up, don't just take the first no as a gospel yeah, definitely for me.
Speaker 2:I think what, what really gave me hope, I think, was I contacted you and I had no idea, but you were overseas at the time, you were traveling, and you got back to me immediately and you told me I'm sorry, I am overseas and whatnot, but like, like, but we can get this done like we want to, like we can get going with this and like I was like it's lazy, like in a completely different country halfway around the world, and she's willing to go out of her way to help me. I, I'm like sounds good yeah.
Speaker 2:Otherwise, I think I would have still been a bit more reserved about it to begin with, but it was an amazing experience to go like yeah, like you were saying funny, I came to you and then I found a property within like a week of even talking to you and it just all aligned perfectly. It was crazy yeah.
Speaker 1:And I love your property. It's close to the school, it's near the Two doors away man. Yeah, it's near the playground where you take your boys to play, so it's just perfect and it just shows that, look, you know, I help a lot of single parents, right, a lot of single mamas, but also a lot of single mamas, but also a lot of single dads.
Speaker 1:And I think it just shows that when you have someone in your corner that believes in you, that can give you that hope Because being through that experience myself when you are outside of, your relationship breaks down. You've got children, you want to keep the roof over your head or buy a house to feel secure. You need someone in your corner holding your hand and saying it's going to be fine, it's going to be okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because it's a big step. Like your first home, my first home was just a dream really. You know, especially when you have kids and whatnot, you really want to be able to provide a nice, safe nurturing place for them to grow up with all the opportunities that most of the time, you never had when you were a kid. You know, so being able to give that to them has been quite amazing, you know. And even then it's a decent-sized house, Like it's a good place, it's a good house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you managed to have a flatmate there as well which also helped your application because we included some of the border income in there. And I think the other thing that maybe the other broker overlooked for you was your overtime, because you also worked a lot of the hours and we managed to convince the bank that, given your industry giving you experience and given the overtime you know, your income was quite stable.
Speaker 1:So that actually added another like twenty thousand dollars a year to your income that you wouldn't have had otherwise. So I think all those different things made a difference, by me knowing what I can use for your income and what I can't use for your income. We just excluded the dog. I just didn't tell them about the dog.
Speaker 2:You didn't tell them about the dog. Yeah, well, fair enough.
Speaker 1:No, the dog is not a big thing, but you know what I mean. I think it just comes down to experience. So my message to the listeners often is look if, even if you don't come to see me and but if you do see someone, look out the reviews you know, read to make sure they've got that experience to fight your battle for you.
Speaker 2:Definitely yeah.
Speaker 1:So what's next for you, Jordan?
Speaker 2:Next. Well, I've already started with some renovations on the house, which has been great, just trying to make it a bit nicer, converted it from a two-bedroom to a three-bedroom, which has been great as well. But in the future, I'd like to be able to get an investment property. Really, now that I know I can do this, I feel like I can move towards a bigger goal. You know, to get an investment property to secure a better future as well, you know, like for my retirement or even for my kids like be able to help them later on in life.
Speaker 2:I think my investment properties are, from what I know so far, a great way to do that. So that's really my plan Work hard, break down my loan as best as I can.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think we'll be talking again soon about renewing my loan and what steps we can do with that and what works for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and we structure it in a way that you can get rid of those low equity margins as well. So when you don't have 20% deposit, you get punished by the bank. So to call and they add low equity margin, your home loan. You remove those. Well, the bank will remove those margins, making it cheaper for you on your mortgage, and if you keep the repayments the same I mean I've done some math for you recently I think it will save like five to ten years of your mortgage straight away.
Speaker 2:Now we're talking.
Speaker 1:Right, by going onto the lower rate, but keeping the repayments the same, because you're already used to paying that anyway, I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't need to drop it down. I think like it would. Obviously it'd be nice to have the extra money and whatnot, but I feel like I'm just gonna spend that on on extra stuff. If I can keep like the same payments and whatnot and drop the loan term down, then I think that's gonna work out more towards the goal that I want you know personally like obviously wanting that investment property.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:It gets me closer to that goal? I think yeah.
Speaker 1:And there are two ways to get there right through capital gains, so as your property continues to go up in value, we can use your property to buy the next one with zero deposit. Really, that's the ultimate goal is that you don't put any money onto the next one. We just use maximize your current property to buy the next one, and then it just goes from there onwards. It just snowballs.
Speaker 1:Snowballs, and that's the thing. Like it's what you don't have to know at all. You just have to know the basics, and this is what I'm here for. So if you just stick around with me, jordan, I think we'll get you there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll give you my goals and then you help me.
Speaker 1:We'll make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. What's your final message to the listeners that you would like to share?
Speaker 2:I think the main one is pretty much what all this is about is like don't get deterred, Like there is a way forward and to get it done and get what you want and achieve your goals. You know, even if it's not the first time, you can try again and it will align, it will come true. You just got to keep pushing for it. We'll find the right people that will help you out. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, thank you, Jordan. It's been amazing to have you here today. I can't wait to have you back when you buy your investment property and we can talk about how you did that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that sounds exciting.
