Waikato Business News August/September 2021

12 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS August/September 2021
Q&A with Joseph Daoud CEO
and founder of It’s Simple
How COVID is impacting the first home
buyer and what do they need to take
into consideration when applying for a
mortgage in the pandemic?
While we are
extremely lucky to
live in a country
with so many benefits when
purchasing our homes such as
the First Home Owners Grant
and Stamp Duty Relief, it is
impossible to say that this
pandemic has not affected
those looking to purchase their
first home. With a decrease in
hours and a shift in mindset,
many first home buyers are
now finding difficulty with
purchasing their first property.
Things like underemployment
and fear of deflation
have reduced consumer confidence,
while those who have
acquired wealth in the past
are continuing to drive prices
up since they cannot spend
money externally from Australia.
Many suburbs are setting
records with regard to their
purchases, and the first home
buyers are being left behind.
Considerations that home
buyers need to make with
current lending conditions
The major consideration for
anyone purchasing a property
is whether their employment
income has been affected by
covid.
Banks are now asking for
commentary on if employment
has been affected at all, and
will it decline if hours have
been reduced due to the pandemic.
Buyers need to consider
if they have the capacity
to purchase, and should really
speak to a broker or lending
specialist before making any
offers.
Will applying for government
support grants have an
impact on an individual’s
lending approval?
As with the support grants
these are dependent on client
income and revenue. A
business can only apply for a
grant if it has experienced a
loss in revenue, and an individual
can only apply if they
have experienced a loss in
hours. By applying for these
grants, while the income may
be good, it will affect the
approval as it will affect the
borrowing capacity.
Background
Joseph Daoud, aged 30, is the
founder and managing director
of It’s Simple, a platform
that connects people to the
right financial lender for their
specific borrowing needs, and
educates clients about home
loans through the entire process.
Before founding It’s Simple,
Joseph was working at
Macquarie Bank in home
loans. By the third month in
the role, Joseph was one of
the top home loan specialists
at Macquarie Bank. He had
closed more than $20 million
in loans in one month and
was skyrocketing to his career
success. Six months later he
closed $31 million in one
month. He found that helping
borrowers with home loans
had quickly become second
nature to him.
He had a knack for making
the whole process stress-free
and seamless for the client.
His clients would often say
‘Thanks for making it so simple,
Joseph’ which is where the
name for his company came
from.
In 2018 Joseph’s dad had
a heart attack. Joseph left this
position at Macquarie Bank to
take over the family business
in construction and property
management. Joseph learnt
about managing and building
hotels, apartments and
heritage buildings. With the
help of his brothers and team,
Joseph was able to complete
the final projects and his dad
was able to retire.
Joseph kept working in
property management and
started working on a financial
business as a side gig with a
mate. There were delays due to
the COVID pandemic but they
finally launched It’s Simple
in February 2021. They had
built up a whole business and
became visible in the market
without any referrals.
It’s Simple grew quickly.
Joseph left the property management
role to work on It’s
Simple full time. He tripled
the team by May 2021. And in
July 2021, It’s Simple settled
$12million. He believes that
they are well on the way to hitting
$144 million in lending.
They had also become educators
on home loans through
their online tools such as their
Facebook group ‘The Homeloan
University’ which boasts
more than 3000 members. It’s
Simple makes sure their client
is getting the right advice on
their home loan and connects
the borrower with the right
lender.
The team at It’s Simple follows
Joseph’s philosophy that
borrowing money shouldn’t
be intimidating or confusing.
Joseph has a down-to-earth
nature and believes in transparency
which helps build
client relationships. He promotes
this attitude through his
business, client contact and
entire life.
About It’s Simple
It’s Simple believes every Australian
deserves to own their
own home and homeowners
should get to spend their hardearned
on what matters most.
Purchasing a home, an
investment property, or refinancing
your current mortgage
can be daunting.
The policies, regulations,
and mind-boggling jargon
around lending make it more
difficult than it needs be to
obtain finance, especially for
first home buyers unfamiliar
with the ins-and-outs of loan
finance.
It’s Simple is on a mission
to make the lending process
seamless and less intimidating.
Locked-down Hamiltonians flushing
‘wet wipes’ and other debris, increasing
pipe blockage
Hamilton City Council
are urging Hamiltonians
to not flush ‘wet
wipes’ and other debris down
their toilets as the wastewater
system deals with increased
pressure during Alert Level 4.
Workers at the Pukete
wastewater treatment plant
have noticed an increase in
blockages since the nationwide
lockdown was announced on
17 August, including 22 in
pipes and 10 wastewater pump
faults. One of the biggest contributors
to these blockages is
fabric wipes and other materials,
which are being flushed
down people’s toilets.
“Blockages caused by foreign
objects like wet wipes
can create wastewater overflows
and damage to our pipes,
pumps, and other infrastructure,”
said Emily Botje, City
Waters Unit Manager at Hamilton
City Council.
“Blockages and failures
at pump stations caused by
these materials take essential
staff out of their home bubbles
and away from managing and
maintaining the city’s wastewater
network.”
While many brands of wipes
are marketed and labelled as
‘flushable,’ they contain plastic
and other non-woven fibres.
These fibres don’t break down
in the same way that toilet
paper does, so they collect and
clog up the city’s pipes and
pumps. Everything put down
the drain or flushed down the
toilet is transported through
the hundreds of kilometres of
underground pipes and over
140 pumping stations that
make up Hamilton’s wastewater
system, before being
pumped through to the treatment
plant at Pukete.
Throwing wipes and other
items in the rubbish, rather
than flushing them down the
toilet, can help to prevent
blockages and in turn, protect
our environment.
Some everyday items that
should not be flushed include
wet wipes, nappies, sanitary
items, cotton buds, oils and
grease, food scraps, paper,
plastics, paints and paint
rinse water.
+++++++
+++++++
+++++++
+++++++
+++++++
Procuta Associates
Urban + Architecture
Contact us 07 839 6521
www.pauaarchitects.co.nz