Interviewing the bank

We have been advised both by our own knowledge of people, and by several individuals who seem experienced in such things, to approach meetings with banks about home loans as though we are interviewing the banks to see which we'd like to borrow from, rather than the other way around. I tend to approach conversations with planning councils in much the same way - this luxury will obviously end when we actually buy a property, but until then we can just decide to live somewhere else.

Although we've been talking about buying a rural property for several years, it's only recently crystallised into an actual plan. We're quite lucky, then, that this process has coincided with what appears to be a fall in the prices of such properties. People don't necessarily want to take on what they perceive is a large amount of risk at times when things are changing around them - buying a hobby farm and building a house yourself definitely seems an endeavour of considerable risk by conventional thinking.

Last week, after considerable reading around, we met with our current bank to interrogate their representative about their processes and products and potentially decide if they're a suitable lender for our unconventional purpose. We were aware from the experience of several friends that many financial institutions will require a larger deposit on rural properties of considerable size, though opinions vary on what the size and zoning rules might be. It's worth being aware that rules are considerably different for land with no existing dwelling than they are for large properties that have an existing house.

So now we begin the onerous journey of comparing various loans and subjecting ourselves to the whims of mortgage brokers to find a deal that works for us. The irony of having to buy in to the whole mortgage debacle in an effort to escape ever having to do it again is not entirely lost on us.