Already own your own home? We could save you thousands of dollars on your mortgage.
It’s amazing how a small tweak can save you thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars over the term of your mortgage.
When you first purchased you may have been forced to go with a particular bank. Maybe your income has changed or you’ve had a baby. Or you’re dreaming of using some of the equity in your house to do some renovations.
Whatever your situation, now you’re a couple of years on, it’s time to reassess.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- Are you happy with the bank you are with?
- Do they offer all the mortgage products you need to pay down your mortgage quickly?
- Have you reviewed your mortgage in the last 2 years?
That’s where we come in.
We will:
- Assess your current structure and situation
- Consider what the other banks provide
- Provide specific advice on the best mortgage structure and bank for you
- Manage any changes to your mortgage as a result of the review.
If you’re looking to refix your current mortgage we can help you negotiate the best deal with your bank. Click here for more information.
Our mortgage brokers can help you…
- Save money on interest rates
- Find the best bank for you
- Pay your mortgage down more quickly
- Upgrade your home
and much more!
Not sure whether now’s the right time?
Even if you’ve got fixed mortgage rates, we can review your mortgage at no cost and see whether a complete change is right for you. There’s no cost and no contracts. If we help you into a better financial position, we’re paid by the banks.
FAQs
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:
- If a mortgage is paid off or discharged within 27 months, a fee may be incurred. See our FAQ: What if I sell my home or refinance my mortgage shortly after using a mortgage broker?
- Finance companies may require a fee to be added to the loan rather than paying us a commission. You’ll always be made aware of these fees long before they are locked in.
- If, following the service provided by the adviser, you elect not to continue engaging Mortgage Lab to settle the mortgage or finalise the insurance product, the adviser may charge you an hourly rate of $250 for the work provided. The maximum charge we will typically invoice for is $2,500.
The commissions paid are below. These commissions are accurate at the time of writing – 21st June 2022
Lender | Upfront | Trail | Refix |
ANZ | 0.85% | N/a | $150 |
BNZ | 0.55% | 0.15% | N/a |
ASB | 0.85% | N/a | $150 |
Westpac | 0.60% | 0.20% | N /a |
Sovereign Home Loans | 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 |
Cressida | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
DBR | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
First Mortgage Trust | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
Heartland Bank (Reverse Mortgage) | 1.50% | N/a | N/a |
Liberty Financial | 0.60% | 0.15% | N/a |
NZCU (Personal Loans) | 1.00% | N/a | N/a |
RESIMAC | 0.60% | 0.15% | N/a |
SBS Bank | 0.80% | N/a | $150 |
Southern Cross | Fee Charged | N/a | N/a |
The Co-operative Bank | 0.70% | N/A | $150 |
This is called bridging finance. It can get a little expensive but is possible if you have enough equity in your current home. Generally, if the total of your current mortgage + the new purchase = less than 80% of both properties it is achievable. You would need to commit to selling your current property within 6 months.
For more information on bridging finance, read our article here.
The first step to upgrading your home is to know what is financially possible. There is no cost when consulting a Mortgage Lab broker so we recommend talking to an adviser early to see what is possible for your financial situation.
The banks all have different policies and risk tolerances. Buyers can get frustrated and waste a lot of time going to banks that won’t suit their needs.
Using a mortgage broker gives you a view of all the banks and their policies. It means you find the right bank faster and with less stress. With a mortgage broker, getting a mortgage isn’t complicated. It’s about proving you have enough deposit and enough income and then heading to the right bank with that information.
Some tips to making your mortgage application easier: get your documentation sorted early and keep your spending as low as possible in the 3 months leading up to your application.
If you’d like to learn the basics, we have a course which teaches you everything you need to know about buying your first home. You can find out more here.
Using a mortgage broker generally means no direct costs to you but there will be a couple of unavoidable costs there. These may include:
- A Registered Valuation ($800 – $1,200)
- Solicitor Costs ($800 – $1,500)
- LIM report ($150 – $400)
- Builder’s Report ($100 – $500)
- Weather Tightness Report for Monoclad houses ($300 – $1,000)
- Finance fee for non-bank lending (~1%)
Prices can vary. Always request a quote before ordering a report. For a list of property professionals that you’ll likely work with, see our article here.
The banks typically try for 5 working days. The timer starts when we receive all the required documentation and submit your application. Sometimes turnaround can be as low as 2 days or sometimes it can be slightly longer. If your application is urgent (required in less than 10 working days), let us know as soon as possible and we will mark it as urgent.
It’s important to get us all the documents before we can submit the application. This includes proof of income (payslips or year-end financials) ana bank statements (click here to learn how to correctly export your bank statements).
As above, sometimes a bank just isn’t looking for you as a client. In this instance, they can either decline you or make the terms of your lending so ridiculous that you either accept (sucker!) or you go away. We know what banks have an appetite for and send you to the right bank without you shopping around banks.
What Past Clients Say…

Lynne was great to work with as a broker.
She was clear about what could be achieved and was available to field questions.
In what have been challenging times she worked really hard for us and was most interested getting the right outcome rather than the quickest solution.
We will be working with Lynne in the …
Lynne Dent

What a fantastic service! Brett is a pleasure to work with, he is highly professional, communicative and was able to sort our mortgage out for us at very short notice. He really went the extra mile to make sure everything was in place for our settlement.
Brett Davies

Matthew was very good to deal with. Explained everything well and can tell he has your best interests at heart.
Matthew Grace

Great experience, Lynne found the best mortgage option for me, was so considerate of my situation and kept me informed throughout the process.
Lynne Dent

Thank you for Brett’s assistance and patience with all my questions along the way.
Brett Davies

It was a hard 4 months getting through the new banking changes and dealing with the change in market conditions. Brett was there every step of the way and we are now happily settling into our new rural property. Thanks heaps!!!
Brett Davies

From start to finish Karen Latimer was there every step of the way. It was challenging for her and for us, but we got there in the end.
Without Karen’s knowledgeable help we would not be where we are today.
Thank you so much from Diana, Nigel and Kimberly for all your hard work. We are so grateful for e…
Karen Latimer

Roger is very good and understanding of us inexperienced non tech savvy clients and was a great teacher as I filled in the forms required.
I will be recommending his services and MortgageLab to friends and family.
Roger Fairbairn

Cindy is very professional and passionate to help our mortgage application, I am very appreciate and look forward to work with her next time, definitely to advise her to other friends if they needed.
Cindy Huang

Keith has fast communication and is able to work with unusual situations creating a positive outcome for us.
Keith Munro

Serina is fantastic. Fast, good communication and helps explain the complicated terms in simple words and no judgement towards you and your finances.
Serina Nicholson

Brett has helped us a couple of times and he’s been fantastic. We’ve recommended him to our friends and family as well.
Brett Davies

Lynne was very helpful and her advice was brilliant.
Lynne Dent

I found Cindy extremely helpful and professional. Her personal approach makes me feel so comfortable when I need to ask her any question. She is amazing and highly recommend her.
Cindy Huang

Laura made this process painless. We have some advantages in our favour but it was effortless from our end. Highly recommended.
Laura Cates

Serina was very professional and was realistic with me about what I could afford to take on now I’m heading towards retirement.
Serina Nicholson

Keith overcame some huge hurdles and in a couple of days had a mortgage sorted at a very good rate. Really pleased.
Keith Munro

Susan has helped us to get mortgages for our recent two purchases. We were very impressed with her prompt and professional services. She is knowledgeable in terms of her professionalism. Both of our purchases went smoothly, and we are very happy with the results we got. We highly recommend Susan and wil…
Susan Wu

I literally cannot fault the process or the advisor, or suggest any improvements. We recognized the challenge posed by the bank’s demands, as they sought full financial disclosures and measures to limit our/their risk. ML and Brett made this as painless as possible for us.
Brett Davies

Laura Cates was amazing she worked with us to secure a construction loan and worked really hard to help us achieve our dream of home ownership Thank you.
Laura Cates

We bought a house in very difficult times like I’m sure a lot of people. The Mortgage Lab but especially Roger made this a seamless process. I could not think of anything they could have done better. I would never use anyone else when buying my next property. Highly recommend them. Roger did every…
Roger Fairbairn

Susan Wu is a very kind and patient advisor. She was super friendly and helpful during my mortgage application. Highly recommend her.
Susan Wu

Laura was such a lovely person. Not only did she do an excellent job, she really cares about her clients. She made the process so easy. She also recommended a KiwiSaver adviser as well. I think everyone should use a mortgage advisor and Laura is highly recommended by me.
Laura Cates

Serina went above and beyond to help us. She was honest, friendly and genuinely wanted the best for our family. She actually ran the numbers for us initially about a year ago and had the integrity to tell us that it wasn’t worth moving banks at that time, forgoing her own commission. Then a few mo…
Serina Nicholson

Johnny was really helpful and professional in mortgage field. He explained and gave solution what the best for his client.
Johnny Ang

Keith truly went above and beyond to help us throughout the journey and what a long journey it was for us and the purchase of our new build.
Fabulous work from Keith Munro – his patience and support throughout the process was phenomenal. Really grateful to have worked alongside someone so experien…
Keith Munro

Cindy was extremely helpful and had supported us all the way through our journey in buying a new house. She was patient and professional!
Cindy Huang

Michael was fantastic to work with. He communicated well and kept us in the loop with progress. He achieved what we couldn’t by ourselves and we have no hesitation in recommending him to others.
Michael Shrubsall

Considerate professionally, highly recommend.
Susan Wu

Brett was great to work with, very supportive and genuinely committed to helping me buy my house.
Brett Davies

Had a trickyone for the banks, as a contractor and a few other things going on it was difficult to get the banks to understand the situation.
Serina did a great job getting all the details in and a mortgage approved.
Serina Nicholson

Smooth and quick refinancing to other bank. Thank you.
Johnny Ang

Cindy was brilliant! She got us a mortgage when I thought we wouldn’t have a chance because of our age!
Cindy Huang

Christiana was an amazing support and soundboard. Constant communication and reassurance in a time of uncertainty. Nothing was too much and it was never too late to call. Would definitely recruit her services again. Thanks, Christiana!
Christiana Pollock

Bryony was a pleasure to work with and went beyond our expectations. She was very friendly, knowledgeable and supportive. Bryony was amazing.
Bryony Tesar

I am really happy working with Johnny Ang as he always ready to answer my question and understand my situation.
Johnny Ang

I was buying a house on my own and was very unsure of what the next steps were. Right from the beginning I was stepped through what I needed and who I had to call. When I was overwhelmed by the process and panicked that it wasn’t going to happen. Laura reassured me and supported me with the next s…
Laura Cates

We could not have asked for a better adviser than Brett. We would recommend Brett to anyone.
Brett Davies

We would recommend to anyone looking for a mortgage to engage with Roger Fairbairn from Mortgage Lab, as he was fantastic to work with and we know that we got the best outcome for our family. By working with Roger we were able to know what we could afford to purchase and he helped us work through the …
Roger Fairbairn

Roger was very helpful and always responsive to questions we had about the mortgage process. Coming from Australia there are some slight differences in the process and Roger was able to talk us through everything in a straightforward way making it easy to understand.
He provided sound advice and found a solut…
Roger Fairbairn

Would not have asked for anything better but to get an experienced broker at my very doorstep. I applaud your care & support and irrespective of the results of all this, you have really gone above & beyond.
Lynne Dent

Serina was warm, friendly, experienced, professional, and super helpful. I would recommend her to anyone and all my family!
Serina Nicholson

Lynne was very helpful in getting our refinancing across the line with the minimum of pain for us. She was able to guide us through the entire process without any confusion at all. we are very happy with both her service, and the result 🙂
Lynne Dent

Brett made it a streamlined process. We valued his expertise and guidance through the whole process.
Brett Davies

Lynne was great to deal with and always available to answer any questions we had. Lynne made the process easy. Thanks Lynne!
Lynne Dent

Brett was very helpful and we felt that he went the extra mile for us.
Brett Davies

She is excellent. She is very helpful.
Cindy Huang

Karen was absolutely lovely to work with throughout my whole mortgage approval and house buying process. She was always available to chat, responded promptly and explained everything in a way that was easy to understand. I’m so grateful for having had Karen’s assistance, it really did make the process s…
Karen Latimer

Roger was incredible from start to finish. He answered every obscure and annoying question I had with patience and integrity. Roger worked with me for over 6 months, through multiple scenarios until I finally was able to purchase a home. I really can’t thank him enough for his support, patience an…
Roger Fairbairn

Much better outcome than what I expected. Very nice person with great knowledge and advises.
Johnny Ang

Susan was excellent to work with throughout the entire process. She helped us refinance our mortgage and get a better rate than we could have on our own.
Her knowledge, contacts and dedication were outstanding and she constantly reassured us during what can be quite a complicated process for those who haven…
Susan Wu

My wife and I used Michael to obtain a new mortgage for our dream property. Michael was brilliant, communicative and importantly got the deal done. It would be fair to say that we more than made him work to get the deal done as it was a complicated multifaceted deal to enable us to sell and buy in a dif…
Michael Shrubsall

Cindy is a really helpful and trusted consultant who handles my case in professional and sufficient way. Much appreciated.
Cindy Huang

Lynne was fantastic to work with, totally honest all the way through and she really understood the way my pay worked (as I am self-employed). I felt that she was totally in my corner all the way through.
Lynne Dent

Serina was lovely throughout the whole experience. She quickly came back to us as we changed what we wanted and was easy and professional to deal with. Highly recommended.
Serina Nicholson

Nicola was so awesome to work with, she helped us through every step of the mortgage process and really took the stress out of it for us. She was really lovely and knowledgeable and we would recommend her to everyone!
Nicola Winters

Brett has been fantastic. He’s knowledgeable and accomodating. There wasn’t anything I asked of him that he couldn’t work with and figure out some option for. I’ll never use anyone other than Brett again.
Brett Davies

Thank you for your outstanding work on our recent mortgage application. Your expertise, professionalism and attention to detail made the process seamless and stress-free. Any query we had as first time builders was never an issue, and all payments and process was dealt within a very fast manner. We were…
Brett Davies

Enjoyed working with Brett as he can explain the process in Layman terms.
Brett Davies

Roger guided us through the whole home buying process with his expertise for a great outcome. We started our mortgage journey together with Roger while we were in the UK and it ended in the smoothest in our own home.
Thanks heaps Roger.
Roger Fairbairn

Lynne did a brilliant job organising us into our first/down sizing home. We didn’t think we had things quite in place but non the less when a place popped up we were really interested in she was able to work her magic and we have now been in our own home for a couple of months.She was so knowledge…
Lynne Dent

Lynne was amazing to work with. We were referred to Lynne by another Mortgage Lab team member who was no longer able to look after us and since we were moving to another area they chose Lynne to be the most suitable and she really was 🙂 Not only did Lynne always make the time to answer our questions …
Lynne Dent

Thanks to Mortgage Lab and especially Roger Fairbairn – you were amazingly helpful and did a fantastic job securing my new mortgage! I can’t recommend them enough 🙂
Roger Fairbairn

We were introduced to Johnny as our broker from a family member. Johnny has been there with us in every step of the way from sale to settlement. Every bump in the road Johnny was there to guide us through. He would always get right back to us, answered every question. Johnny is transparent and with us all the…
Johnny Ang

We found Michael to be very helpful, friendly and great to deal with. Thank you Michael!
Michael Shrubsall

It’s a very frustrating time at the moment working with the Banks. For many years we have used the services of a Mortgage Broker and been completely satisfied. Recently we had to change to Nicola and ask for her service. We couldn’t have been more delighted. Efficient, responsive and communi…
Nicola Winters

I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for all of the amazing work you did to help us secure our mortgage. Your expertise, knowledge and unwavering support throughout the entire process were truly invaluable. Throughout the application process you were always available to answer any…
Roger Fairbairn

Lynne was amazingly helpful! Always communicated quickly, clearly, and she was so extremely kind and personable, patient, sensible, I can’t recommend her highly enough. I so appreciated having Lynne at the other end of the emails – such a calming influence through a pretty stressful process….
Lynne Dent

I thought Lynne was great, managed to get our mortgage sorted very quickly.
Lynne Dent

Karen is lovely to deal with. Efficient and took a load of work and stress off me especially as I was unable to take the time off work.
Karen Latimer

Matt explained things to us in a way that was easy to understand, gave us good advice for our unique situation and got us a great deal. Thanks Mortgage Lab!
Matthew Grace

Johnny was very helpful. He helped us secure a good rate with a great cash back and got us the products that we wanted. He is very approachable and always gets back to you no matter the time of day. He is also very professional and honest with his recommendations and answers to questions.
Johnny Ang

Brett was so patient with the ongoing fiddly issues that I was having with the bank. He was so prompt to reply to my queries no matter how big or small. I really appreciated his expertise and support.
Brett Davies

We had the pleasure of working with both Robyn and then Nicky.
I can’t expand how grateful we felt having them. Their communication was so prompt and clear which reduced a lot of stress when it came down to quick deadlines. Dealing with them felt very personal and we never made to feel like we were anno…
Nicky Cornish

Johnny Ang is a reliable professional with great character. He had exceeded our expectations and went extra mile helping us. We will definite engage him again!
Johnny Ang

Glen was absolutely amazing to deal with. We had an extremely tight turn around. Glen worked super hard, has great communication and was very efficient in getting everything in place for us. Glen went above and beyond. Highly recommend him.
Glen Casey

Christiana was professional, so helpful and made the whole process easy. Would recommend her and will use her services again.
Christiana Pollock

Nicola was wonderful to deal with when it came to our restructure of our mortgage, she listened to what we wanted to do moving forward and worked hard to bring the best option for us in these uncertain times. Nicola keep us both well informed during the process of moving banks and made the move as stres…
Nicola Winters

Roger has been amazing on my journey to purchase a new home. Communication was fantastic, all my questions were answered, and Roger was always so friendly and a pleasure to work with. Without Roger’s help, I don’t think I could have achieved my goal of a new home, and I am so grateful to hav…
Roger Fairbairn

Brett was amazing to deal with – our case wasn’t straightforward but he persevered and got it over the line. We’re so grateful for everything he did – we would absolutely recommend him.
Brett Davies

A huge thank you to Johnny. My husband and I have been dreaming of owning our own home for years! Johnny delivered on what we had written off as never possible. We have been in our home for two weeks and can’t believe it’s ours. We will never forget Johnny and his hard work getting us over the line….
Johnny Ang

Michael Shrubsall, was an amazing advisor. He was very professional and prompt from the very first contact. Michael gave us great advice and assisted us with our refinancing in record time. His relationship and communication with the bank and myself couldn’t be faulted. We would highly recommend h…
Michael Shrubsall

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for your exceptional assistance in facilitating the refinance of our mortgage.
Your expertise and dedication throughout the process were truly invaluable. Your guidance made the entire experience smooth and efficient. We appreciate your commitment to ensuring we understood each step, and your prompt …
Nicola Winters

She was great. Great service, good time frame in getting back to us and always reachable.
Serina Nicholson

Laura was awesome to deal with. She made everything so simple and extremely stress free
Laura Cates

I had the pleasure of working with Lynne Dent, I couldn’t be happier with her service.
Lynne was not only professional but also incredibly knowledgeable, always staying updated with the smallest details in the ever-changing world of finance. Her expertise and dedication made the entire process smooth and stre…
Lynne Dent

Laura is perfect! Smart, efficient, get to the point, proactive, no complicated docs and no emails going back and forth, just perfect!
Laura Cates

Cindy was one of the best brokers we have ever worked with. We found her at a time we were at a crossroad, not knowing if our loan was possible. She was patient with us, assured us of the way forward, and turns out she was right after all. She was conscientious and professional in her approach, always c…
Cindy Huang

Brett was very forthcoming and worked hard in getting our loan secured during a weird time with getting loans. He went above and beyond to make sure any oddities/confusion was sorted out in time for settlement date. Our accounts are quite complicated and we sure gave him a good workout but he succeeded …
Brett Davies

10/10 Mike. Thanks for your support and for getting me across the line through challenging times. I found him to be very committed and professional in all areas of our business. Great to have a person to person chat and a great contact like Mike. I will always use Mortgage Lab to help me move forward …
Michael Shrubsall

Serina was very professional and helpful. She helped us to purchase our home. She communicates well and we felt she worked to get the best outcome for us. Its also the thoughtful extra services she provided that made it a personal experience with her.
Serina Nicholson

Thanks Lynne, all credit to you for keeping up with our ever-changing plans and grasping our preference for managing the paperwork online digitally which was so much more efficient and convenient for us during this hectic period. You were a pleasure to deal with.
Lynne Dent

Lynne made the process of refinancing our home loan very easy and straightforward. She was always very easy to get hold of and constantly kept us up to date with the progress of our application. Would definitely use her again and recommend her to others.
Lynne Dent

Lynne took all the hassle and stress out of remortgaging my home, infinitely capable, Lynne had me “sorted out ” in double quick time. Even while on holiday Lynne kept me up to the minute on progress……. Legend
Lynne Dent

Johnny Ang is quick and excellent.
Johnny Ang

Lynne has been fantastic at helping us achieve our dream of buying our first home. Her advice and guidance was so thorough. Would highly recommend her.
Lynne Dent

Big thank you, everything went smooth, easy, professional.
Nicky Cornish

Laura was so amazing and understanding. Really helpful especially as all the work was done during level 4 lock down. I can’t recommend the service and experience highly enough.
Laura Cates

We cannot recommend Christiana enough! She is super easy to communicate with and so knowledgeable, she’s helped us change our spending habits for the better and got us approved quickly and easily.
Christiana Pollock

Michael was very helpful and engaging. He was available at any time and provided valuable knowledge and support.
I could not recommend Michael enough.
Michael Shrubsall

Michael was very prompt with his communications and actions on our behalf. Everything was processed smoothly and Michael advised us with the utmost professionalism. Thank you!
Michael Shrubsall

It’s been a pleasure working with you and we have really valued your honest advice and fast responses. I know our situation wasn’t straightforward so we are extra appreciative of all your work you did to get this progressed this far.
Roger Fairbairn

Lynne was absolutely fantastic! She is simply the best mortgage advisor I have ever dealt with. Lynne worked really hard to help me, she worked really hard to help me achieve my goal. Lynne was the best broker I have ever dealt with. Thanks again Lynne!!
Lynne Dent

…
Lynne Dent

Keith is always very professional, friendly, helpful and has excellent communication skills. I would highly recommend him.
Keith Munro

Lynne was perfect for us. I know that the Mortgage Lab have great systems and support and Lynne was excellent.
Lynne Dent

Lynne was phenomenal, and a real asset to your team. Nothing was ever a problem, she responded quickly and was genuine in her efforts to help us buy a home, even with our fairly complex income arrangements. She’s a star.
Lynne Dent

An awesome advisor, excellent explanations that made it easy to understand the process. Very well balanced professional advice with the much appreciated personal touches throughout especially the small words of encouragement that actually meant the world and made a great difference to my wife and I, in …
Bryony Tesar

Lynne Dent

Brett is excellent, we’ve worked with him for over 3 years now. From his initial consultation for a simple (ish) mortgage to our recently sorted construction loan Brett works hard to make sure the job is done. We would recommend his as your finance partner!
Brett Davies

We are very happy with Johnny, he understand very well our needs, our ability and he also understand how the financial institution works therefore he is able to provide us some solutions.
Johnny Ang

Brett did a great job! Excellent communication. He was very patient. It took all the stress out of it with Brett handling things.
Brett Davies

Karen was fantastic to work with again – helped us navigate our mortgages for weeks through a complex separation situation, and worked hard to get an amazing rate locked in. Communication was excellent – we appreciated the frequent updates and follow ups!
Karen Latimer
Why Choose Us?
Because when it comes to your first home, you deserve the very best…
Stress-free process
We act quickly to reduce the hassle and hold-ups of the financial approval process
Expert advisers
We’re highly experienced and trained to help you through the mortgage approval process
Friendly service
We’re here for you and we genuinely care about helping make your dream a reality

In This Book You’ll Learn:
The Investment basics every property investor needs to know
How to easily calculate the most important numbers in your head
Who you need in your investment team
What you’ll need to get a mortgage
Send us a message:
Get in touch with Mortgage Lab. Simply send us a message via the form and we’ll be in touch shortly.
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This article is current as of 1 September 2021 It’s Covid-19 lockdown déjà vu for New Zealand. While most of the country is now at level 3 Auckland will remain…
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This article is current as at 1 September 2021. Interest-only mortgages can be the right strategy in certain circumstances. Unfortunately freeing up money in order to go on holiday isn’t…
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Surrounding yourself with property experts is not just a good idea; it’s absolutely necessary. And while it sounds expensive, you don’t need to be rolling in cash. In fact, in…
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When you think about mortgage broking (okay, you probably don’t think about mortgage broking but stay with us) you probably think about it in the context of buying a house.…
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Buying your first house is quite a linear process, you get pre-approval, you buy a house. When it comes time to sell your home and buy a new one, the…
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Heat pumps are great. They are efficient and quick to work. In fact, GenLess says that a heat pump is the most energy-efficient way of using electricity to heat your home.…
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99%的新西兰人的梦想和目标是拥有房产。一旦实现了,人们通常就开始转向购买其第一笔投资物业。
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Debt can be a bit of a scary word, but don’t worry, this is a safe space! This article covers what it is, how it affects your mortgage application and…
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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…
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Updated 16th February 2021 It might feel like decades ago, but on 30th April 2020, the Reserve Bank announced the removal of LVR restrictions on banks in New Zealand. In…
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Apartments are a very tempting purchase, especially for first-home buyers. They tend to cost less and therefore be much more within reach. And you can pretend you’re living in Manhattan,…
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With more employers than ever allowing staff to work remotely, you may be thinking of buying outside the city limits. Without the long commute to work limiting your thinking, suddenly…
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The question of whether to renovate or pay down your mortgage is not an easy one to answer. It depends on your situation, the state of the property, and what…
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The thinking behind weekly payments saving you money is this; If you pay $2,000 in monthly payments there are 30/31 days of interest charged before your next payment reduces your…
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Below is a list of standard mortgage terms to help buyers and investors understand the finance journey. This list is taken from “The Successful First Home Buyer” book. Asking price…
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An offset mortgage is when you have one or multiple bank accounts allocated to your mortgage The money in these accounts lower the amount owed. Instead of earning interest on…
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对冲账户(Offset Account)是与房屋贷款账户相关联的日常交易账户。顾名思义,它的功能就是对冲您房屋贷款帐户中的本金,因而降低您所需要支付本金所产生的利息。
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This article is current as at September 2021 Being prepared isn’t just for Scouts. When applying for a mortgage you can significantly reduce wait time by providing all required documentation…
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Most homeowners are familiar with fixed-term mortgages. Over 80% of NZ mortgages are on some sort of fixed-term; the majority are currently for 1 to 2 years. But it’s easy…
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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…
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Article current as of 1st April 2020 (no April Fools jokes are contained – all information accurate) With the recent announcements with bank relief packages and mortgage holidays, we are…
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The Reserve Bank today announced that the OCR would be reduced by 0.75% to a new level of 0.25%. International markets around the world have been severely affected by the…
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Kiwis like Credit Cards… a lot. If you’ve got 10 minutes, you could get one online right now (don’t). And the price for easily-acquired, unsecured debt is usually ~20% p.a.…
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It’s the time of the year when the Mortgage Lab buffs up our Crystal Ball, gazes into the infinitely complicated world of economics and comes up with sufficiently generic interest…
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Smoking is a difficult habit to quit but there are some powerful motivators to do so. For some, it’s the wish to live a healthier, longer life. For others, it’s…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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This month our Mortgage Advisers take a good look at the property sector in the beautiful city of Tauranga. Tauranga Property Prices It would be fair to say that property…
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Repeat after me.“The interest rate I pay on my mortgage is 8%…”“The interest rate I pay on my mortgage is 8%…” No it’s not You’re right, it probably isn’t. If…