We’ll meet and discuss your needs
We’ll go and get approval from the best bank for you
Pre-approval!
We’ll negotiate interest rates and meet to talk about how you’d like to structure your mortgage
You’ve got yourself a house!
You’re so close, you’ve been scouting the property market for months, you’ve been to countless open homes and talked to seemingly every agent in town and now you’re ready, you’ve found it… the one! Your dream home or investment opportunity!
Unfortunately, now comes the hard bit… getting it over the line. You need to tick many boxes and finance approval is one of the big ones.
We will walk you through the process of buying your first (or next) property, making sure to provide you with crucial information every step of the way, pulling out all the stops to get you over the line in time so that you don’t miss out on your dream home or investment opportunity.
If you would like this important information as an A4 PDF, click here.
Our services include:
Please refer to each adviser’s profile page for their particular service.
Almost all Mortgage Lab services are at no direct cost to you as our brokers get paid a commission by the banks and other lenders when a mortgage is finalised or refixed.
The exceptions to this:
The commissions paid are below. These commissions are accurate at the time of writing – 12/09/2024
Lender | Upfront | Trail | Refix |
ANZ | 0.85% | N/a | $150 |
ASB | 0.85% | N/a | $150 |
Bank of China | 0.88% | N/a | $150 |
BNZ | 0.55% | 0.15% | N/a |
Go Home Loans (AIA) | 0.60% | 0.20% | N/a |
KiwiBank | 0.55% | 0.15% | N/a |
SBS Bank | 0.75%-0.85% | N/a | $150 |
The Co-operative Bank | 0.85% | N/a | $150 |
TSB | 0.85% | N/a | N/a |
Westpac | 0.60% | 0.20% | N/a |
ASAP Finance Limited | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
Avanti Finance | Up to 0.80% | N/a | N/a |
Basecorp | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
China Construction Bank | 0.88% | N/a | N/a |
Cressida | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
DBR | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
First Mortgage Trust | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
Liberty Financial | 0.6%-0.8% | 0.15% | N/a |
Pepper Money | 0.6%-0.75 | 0.15%-0.2% | N/a |
Plus Finance | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
Southern Cross | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
Unity | 0.7%-0.8% | N/a | N/a |
Our list of 27 approved providers is as follows
Main Bank Lenders
Non Bank Lenders
Please refer to each individual adviser for the full list of lenders that adviser can work with.
We may also receive a referral fee from some partners. These include:
Mortgage advisers (often called mortgage brokers) are paid by the bank when a mortgage is drawn down. If that mortgage is discharged (repaid and closed) within a short amount of time – typically 27 months – the broker must repay some or all of the commission (often referred to as a clawback). In this instance, the mortgage broker has essentially done the work for no pay.
We reserve the right to charge for our time if a clawback is incurred. The fee will be the estimated amount of hours the mortgage took at an hourly rate of $250 per hour. Unlike other fees, such as Break Fees from the bank, we have capped the amount we can charge clients at $2,500.
If you are refinancing or selling your house, the best thing to do is immediately talk to your adviser and discuss if any clawback fees will be charged.
Our Advisers can work with the following KiwiSaver providers:
Please check the individual adviser profile pages to see who that particular adviser works with.
From time to time we may receive additional referral payments from our business partners. Some advisers may receive payments for referring Life and Health insurance, KiwiSaver, currency exchange, Real Estate Agents or Fire and General insurance. Mortgage Lab and the advisers do a significant amount of due diligence to make sure that all referrals are to companies of the highest quality and compliance standards. The decision to refer to a partnering business is based on quality service first and the payment received second.
From time to time a product provider may give us a gift, hamper or ticket to an event. The decision to refer to a product provider is based primarily on the best product for the client, not because of any gift received. We follow a six-step advice process to assess which product is best for you.
We are bound by the duties of the Financial Markets Conduct Act (431I, 431K, 431L and 431M) to:
Mortgage Lab holds a Full license as a Financial Advice Provider. All Advisers are Financial Advisers (FAs) belonging to Mortgage Lab’s license.
Mortgage Lab’s Financial Service Provider number is: FSP587228
Our office contact details are:
Address: Level 2, 14 Jervois Road, Ponsonby, Auckland 1011
Phone: 09 886 9779
Email: info@mortgagelab.co.nz
Website: www.mortgagelab.co.nz
Click here to find the latest NZ Interest Rates for major banks. Info for current home owners and new buyers.
Applying for a mortgage is much like creating a Tinder profile. You want to make your mortgage application as attractive as possible to get a bank to “swipe right”. Banks…
While house prices have eased, getting the deposit together for a first home is still a big ask. Kiwis are asking whether it is worth buying with friends instead of…
As you may know from our other blogs, there are some key levels of deposit that you need to get to in order to buy a new home. The main…
If you have less than 20% deposit, you are referred to (by the banks) as a Low Equity (or Deposit) Borrower. You are required to meet a different set of…
So you’re looking to purchase. Could a flatmate help you purchase a more expensive house? Will a bank take that extra income into account? How much interest will flatmate income…
For the past 16 years, interest rates (both mortgage and the Official Cash Rate) have been on a roller-coaster journey. That means that almost most people who have fixed their…
If you happen to be a salary earner, proving your income is relatively easy. As long as your employer issues decent quality payslips, you can provide the 3 most recent slips…
As of 2nd April 2024, the Official Cash Rate (OCR) for New Zealand is set at 5.5%. What is the Official Cash Rate? The Official Cash Rate (OCR) is an…
New Zealanders are no strangers to credit cards, but while these cards are a mainstay in many wallets, they can also be a stumbling block on the path to home…
It’s a question we get asked a lot. If we have an extra amount of money in our salary, should we use the money to pay down our mortgage or…
If you’re not in finance, you probably most often hear and see the word “leverage” discussed negatively. News articles about failed investors and companies will no doubt (accurately) list overleverage…
As we approach the end of the first quarter in 2024, many New Zealanders with mortgages are contemplating their financial futures amidst a dynamic and unpredictable economic landscape. Understandably, one…
Recently we looked at some tips for bidding at an auction. But what if the house you love is for sale by tender? Tenders are much less time-pressured than auctions…
Buying at auction can be exciting but also intimidating. Much like your year 5 school production, knowing what to do and when to do it will help you feel more…
If you have ever tried to tidy up your financial affairs, it can be overwhelming to try and do everything at once. Like most big projects, the best way to…
Saving is a long, slow process. That’s why so many of us are so bad at it. You could put $20 aside every week and after a year, you’ll have…
A common phrase in mortgage world is the “one bank trap”. It’s when you have all your lending with one bank which gives the policy makers at the bank all…
Good news! You’ve completed your application, handed over a mountain of paperwork (just kidding, our system is paperless) and now you’re pre-approved for your mortgage! After a phone call from…
One of the simplest ways to grow your deposit is KiwiSaver. Below, we take a quick look at how quickly your deposit could grow and the numbers around this. Let’s…
Whether you’re getting serious about buying a house or are thinking you’d like to buy sometime in the future, doing these three things today will help you get ready for…
When buying your own home, you need to be good at negotiating with your partner over issues such as whether an outdoor pizza oven is a must-have or a nice-to-have.…
Fixing/refixing your mortgage isn’t as exciting as buying a new house. Or, for that matter, as exciting as getting a pizza coupon in the mail. But gives you a valuable…
Think of the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) like this: What percentage of the house is covered by the mortgage… Or, in other words, what percentage of the house does the bank…
When you start thinking of owning your first home and considering the steps and challenges involved, it can feel like an impossible goal. There’s no getting around the fact that…
This month’s case study looks at a client that found themselves almost at the magical 20% deposit. Almost… but not quite. Let’s call the couple Bill and Hillary (obviously not…
We all enjoy saving a bit of money, especially if you’re looking to buy your first home or if you’ve just got your first mortgage. There are all sorts of…