A deposit bond helped sea-changers win their waterfront dream

A deposit bond helped sea-changers win their waterfront dream

When Anne Moss found her dream home on the south coast of New South Wales, she knew it was a matter of moving fast or missing out.

“We’d been looking for a waterfront home in the area for ten years,” says Anne. “This property wasn’t even on the market – but the agent told us that if we made a certain offer, it would probably be accepted.”

The agent was right and Anne and her husband, Andrew, found themselves in the middle of a quick purchase. However, the couple was in limbo: they knew that selling their Sydney home would be enough to buy their new waterfront home plus an investment unit in the city. But until the sale went through, they didn’t have the cash for a deposit on the coastal property.  

“We couldn’t get money out of our super either. Everything is tied up!” says Anne. “So we tried the banks for some kind of bridging finance.”

With time running out and rising frustration from a slow bank loan application, Anne started searching online for another option. That’s when she found deposit bond provider, Deposit Assure.

“I had never heard of deposit bonds and had no idea how they worked,” she recalls. “But it turned out to be the perfect solution for us.”  

A deposit bond is a substitute for the cash deposit used to guarantee the commitment of a buyer to the contract of sale. A key advantage of deposit bonds is that there’s no need for cash upfront, which appeals to buyers like the Moss’s who are cash poor but asset rich. There is no lender red tape to slow down the process and, because it’s not a loan, there’s no interest to pay.

For Anne and Andrew, the best part was that the whole application process was quick and simple.

“The whole process was so fast!” she says. “Peter from Deposit Assure’s concierge team came back to us immediately and told us what information we needed to provide – which was less paperwork than the banks needed. He took care of everything.”

“Less than 48 hours after we first contacted them, Peter rang us to say we had the deposit bond. We still hadn’t heard back from the banks.”

Because Deposit Assure’s bonds are underwritten by QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd, one of the most respected and recognised insurance companies in Australia, the real estate agent was happy to accept the deposit bond and the sale went through smoothly.

Anne was so impressed with the whole process that she used Deposit Assure again when they bought an investment property soon after. Three months from starting the process, the Moss’s sold one property and bought three properties.

The couple, who have two adult children, have since moved into their beautiful waterfront home and Anne is busy painting and making it a home for their future.  

“You just don’t find property like this every day. If it wasn’t for deposit bonds and Deposit Assure moving so fast, someone else would be moving in. I can’t praise Deposit Assure enough.”

Dreaming of a sea change but finding that your cash is tied up? Learn how deposit bonds are the answer for Australia’s empty nesters.

You can also get the answers to 10 common questions about deposit bonds.