Rob, which Lender if you don't mind me asking?
I've got one currently in the cue with CBA...
Will be six weeks this Wednesday...
I had one in the queue with CBA for a few weeks. I ended up putting it in the "far queue" and I switched the application to RAMS (WBC). Conditional approval in 2 days and valuer called 2 days after that to arrange access.
Got the same speedy result from Homeside (NAB), too. Very impressed with Homeside. This will be my second loan with them.
The problem with CBA was that their service model uses P&I loan repayments and an assessment rate of nearly 7% to calculate the serviceability, despite the fact that I'm after an IO loan.
Apparently, they would have looked more favourably ay my application if I had another loan with them. Well, I tried that earlier this year. I had signed a 30 day unconditional contract on a property. CBA had a backlog of FHB applications and told me they couldn't even open a file for 6 weeks!! It's hardly my fault I don't have loans with them, although I have all my other banking with the CBA.
I've had similar experience with ANZ 6 months ago. They kept my application in the queue for 3 weeks. Never declined it, just didn't process it. I was told, off the record, that it was because they didn't believe I could live as cheap as I do.
It's a game. You just have to learn the teams, players, rules and then work out how to play the game to win.
I've learned a lot about how they do their service models. Once you know that, you can avoid wasting time with banks that are either going to say no or simply not move your application forward.