How do you finance your new build or renovation? Borrowing money in mortgages and construction loans can be confusing and overwhelming.

If you want to learn the mistakes to avoid when seeking finance for your renovation or new build, Caroline Jean-Baptiste from Mortgage Choice tells us all.

Caroline Jean-Baptiste owns award-winning Mortgage Broking business, Mortgage Choice, and is located in Brisbane.

Caroline is on a mission to get people talking about money. She believes money is everyone’s mate, there to help us through life and to live comfortably. She wants to remove the negative emotions around money such as shame, denial and blame and show people how they can take control of their spending and build a solid future for themselves and their families.

Caroline knows that stress around money can affect relationships and she is here to empower people to take back control, take responsibility and start good conversations around an historically taboo subject. She calls us all to start talking about money, tackling debt small steps at a time and building financial resilience through mindful spending, not denying ourselves a good life.

Also sharing this podcast episode is Peta Charles, Brisbane Town Planning (head here to learn more about Peta).

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:

Caroline is a specialist in finance with more than 12 years working as a Mortgage Broker in her own business. Her passion is working with her clients to achieve the life they want through home ownership and wealth creation. She is dedicated to helping first home buyers get into their home and existing homeowners renovate and upgrade.

She owns award-winning Mortgage Broking business, Mortgage Choice, based in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. And she and her team serve all of Brisbane.

Getting finance to fund your renovation or new build project can be stressful and full of challenges. And yet, making it happen is often key to your project happening – or not!

I’ve collected together some fantastic questions … my own, and those that some of you in the UA Community also shared with me.

I ASKED CAROLINE JEAN-BAPTISTE, MORTGAGE CHOICE, THESE QUESTIONS …

• How did you get into the world of home loans and mortgage broking?
• Do you have tips about how to find a good broker?
• It’s a real struggle to understand what a mortgage broker’s actual fee structure is and/or their relationship to all potential lenders prior to meeting with them. Is there a standard format or response that ordinary borrowing folk can understand?
• Things have tightened up a lot in home lending over the past few years. What are some of the key things anyone who’s wanting to borrow needs to be aware of?
• You’re in an existing property you want to renovate? How do you need to convince a lender to finance you for your renovation plans? How much can you leverage the value of your existing home?
• Are you always needing to do it as a home loan? Or can it ever be better to structure it as a personal loan?
• How do you best recommend homeowners structure their lending when buying land to build on … first in buying the land, and then borrowing to build?

Caroline shares very candidly and generously some fantastic advice, as well as case studies to help you see how this can relate to your own situation.

You’ll hear about homeowners who started renovating with their own cash, and then ran into problem borrowing what they needed to finish. And homeowners who bought land, which then got downgraded in value, so they couldn’t borrow as much as they needed for the house build.

Listen to the episode now. And be sure to get in touch with Caroline to let her know you heard her on Undercover Architect, and to thank her for all she shares!!

In the full interview, Caroline shares more information about how to assess your mortgage broker, whether it’s better to go to a broker or the bank, and some key strategies for more successful borrowing in your renovation or new build project (especially if you can’t access all the cash you need straight away).

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

Visit Caroline’s Website >>> CLICK HERE

Follow Caroline on Facebook >>> CLICK HERE

Follow Caroline on Instagram >>> CLICK HERE

Follow Caroline on Twitter >>> CLICK HERE

Check out Caroline’s LinkedIn Profile >>> CLICK HERE

Her YouTube channel >>> CLICK HERE