Frequently Asked Questions

Mortgage Advice & Finance Process

When you think about applying for home loan in New Zealand, the two most popular channels you approach are banks (including branches, mobile mortgage managers) and mortgage advisors. The choice is yours.

Is it worth getting a mortgage advisor? Should I use a mortgage advisor? Do mortgage advisors get better deals?

In New Zealand, about 40% of home loans are written by mortgage advisors, and this number keeps growing. Here are the pros of using a mortgage advisor in New Zealand:

  • Mortgage advisors are not bank employees. Their job is to work on your behalf to find the best possible finance solutions to help you achieve financial goals. Unlike bank employees, who receive a salary (plus bonuses) for writing loans for that lender only, and they have sales targets.
  • Mortgage advisors like us work with approximately 30 lenders, and some lenders work exclusively with mortgage advisors, which means, if your bank declines your loan application, we are more likely to be able to help you.
  • Getting a good home loan approval outcome is not just about number or calculations. Lots of other things go into it, such as loan structure, legal structure, borrower character, repayment risk evaluation etc. Good mortgage advisors have the ability to package your loan application to improve the chance of approval or get better outcomes, such as fewer approval conditions.
  • Mortgage advisors like us are advice focused. Although we only get paid by the lender if your home loan is settled, we spend considerable time (free of charge) during the consultation stage trying to help you becoming a qualified borrower sooner. We also hold your hand throughout the application process to help you remove any roadblocks and answer questions. Banks normally give you either an approval or decline outcome. There is nothing in between.
  • Mortgage advisors do all the legwork for you to evaluate lenders and loan products to ensure you have the best possible solution and price (interest rates and cash backs) and can save you the time and money with all those daunting details. Good mortgage advisors will continue service after loan settlement because it’s very important that your home loan and financial circumstances are reviewed regularly (at least every two years) to ensure they are still meeting your individual needs. Not putting it away and forgetting about it for the next 25 or 30 years.

How to a buy a house in New Zealand? For most people looking to buy a first home in New Zealand, the process of buying a house may be complicated. Here is our step-by-step house buying guide:

  1. Book a discovery session with Prosperity Finance Advisor to discuss your plans and current situation so we can provide you with a solution plan, free.
  2. We help you obtain a Pre-Approval on your behalf.
  3. House hunting – the fun part begins!
  4. Placing an offer by signing a Property Sale and Purchase Agreement
  5. If the offer is accepted by the vendor, you pay a deposit (5% -10%) as agreed on the Sale and Purchase Agreement. At the same time, we help you meet all finance conditions.
  6. We work with you to find the best loan structure and interest rate strategy
  7. We negotiate on your behalf to get the best interest rates and cash back (if applicable) and lock the rates. At this stage, we will also discuss your insurance needs.
  8. We instruct the lender to issue loan documents and arrange loan account opening process.
  9. Once the loan documents arrived at your suitor’s inbox, your solicitor will arrange an appointment for you to sign the documents and answer any questions you may have.
  10. We remind you to conduct pre-settlement inspection a couple of days ahead of property settlement to make sure all chattels are working properly
  11. Before settlement, you send any remaining deposit funds to your solicitor to complete the settlement.
  12. Finally, it’s your BIG day – settlement day! Your solicitor will handle the transfer of funds, title register and mortgage on this date, and we stay alert and work with your solicitor if he/she has any questions. Once settled, you will be handed the key and can move in.
  13. We will follow up with the lender to make sure your cash back incentive is paid within a week and another follow up at one month after settlement to make sure the 1st payment is okay.
  14. We will keep in touch and provide you with the opportunity twice a year for loan review to ensure the loan structure still meet your circumstances.

How mortgage advisors make money?

Most of the time, mortgage advisors get paid a commission by lenders for their services after the loan settles. The commission varies from one lender to another. We can be liable for a commission ‘clawback’ if the client repays their loan within 3 years.

Good mortgage advisors should work in the client’s best interest; therefore, when it comes to choosing the best lender, it should NOT put their remuneration level into consideration.

Sometimes, though, mortgage advisors must go to non-banks to deliver a solution. Generally, non-bank lenders do not pay; therefore, we must charge the client directly. If that’s the case, the advisor should communicate this with the client upfront, leaving no surprise in the end.

Not all advisors are equal. Unfortunately, at the moment in NZ, the commission only structure and entry into the industry attract “a certain kind of person” who does not necessary always act professionally (The process is tightening.).

Here are some common attributes of a good mortgage advisor. We hope they are helpful in finding a good mortgage advisor in New Zealand.

  • Good advisors are solution focused, rather than price focused and loan size. We are not saying the interest rate etc. are not important. We don’t want our clients to waste any of their hard-earned money, but only if the solution meets their needs and facilitates future goals. To provide a good solution, they must listen and ask lots of good questions to understand people’s situations and goals.
  • Good advisors should have access to at least 20 lenders to provide the best possible solutions. Just request a copy of their terms of engagement to see who they work with.
  • Good advisors should keep you up to date about your application process and respond to your questions.
  • Good advisors focus on relationships, not transactional model. Once the loan is settled, they should continue to look after you, renew your loan, refix, and keep in regular contact. The reason they do these things is simply because these are important to you, so they should care!
  • Good advisors have strong relationships with lenders and understand how to package your application to get the best chance of approval with fewest approval conditions.

Finally, we suggest you read other clients’ reviews and see what people have to say about them

What is a home loan pre-approval?

A home loan pre-approval is an offer in writing from a lender that outlines how much you can borrow, providing you can meet specified conditions. Please note, when the bank issues a pre-approval letter, they have not evaluated the acceptance of the property you are looking to buy; therefore, even if you have pre-approval in place, you still must get written confirmation from the lender, confirming they are happy with the property you want to purchase.

Why do you need a home loan pre-approval before you looking to buy a house?

Pre-approval from the lender gives you the confidence of your borrowing capacity and property budget and what conditions you must meet before taking out a home loan. Once you have that in hand, you will have an idea where to look and what type of property you can afford, etc. When you are interested in buying a particular property, all you need to do is contact the bank or your broker to make sure the property is acceptable by the lender (for a straightforward sale and purchase agreement, the acceptance can be provided within the same day), and if you have no other finance conditions to be met or you’re confident you can meet the conditions (e.g., cancelling credit card), then you may want to make an unconditional purchase offer, which gives you bargaining power over other buyers. It’s also very important to have a pre-approval before attending an auction because you can’t list any conditions if you buy via auction. If you don’t have a pre-approval in place, there is risk of not obtaining finance. You don’t want to be in a stressful situation and lose your hard-earned deposit.

What’s not covered in the pre-approval letter:

  • Property acceptance by the lender
  • Interest rate and cash back (these can only be negotiated once you have found the property and met all conditions)

We always recommend getting a pre-approval before looking at properties to eliminate the risk factors. 

It depends on your circumstances and loan application purpose and if you are an existing customer with the lender you are looking to apply with. We will advise you after understanding your situation. 

LVR stands for loan to value ratio. Effectively, LVR is the calculated borrowing amount as a percentage of the property value. If you buy a property for $1m and borrow $800k, the LVR is 80%.

LVR rules are set by the Reserve Bank NZ to put restrictions on the lending that registered NZ banks may do.

As at 1st Jan 2018, to buy an owner-occupied property, the max LVR is 80%, which means the borrower must come up with a 20% deposit or equity. For investment property purchase, the LVR is only 65%, which means the borrower must have a 35% deposit or equity.

If you don’t have enough deposit or equity, your loan application will be affected by the LVR restrictions, which means the Reserve bank allows no more than 15% of their residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 20 percent deposit) borrowers who are owner occupiers and no more than 5 percent of residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 35% deposit) borrowers who are investors.

Every bank has their own rules for the restrictions to make sure they don’t get close to the limit and lose their bank licence.

Some banks even put restriction on how high the LVR can go. The number is between 85% and 90% subject to their capacity, and you must be one of their main bank clients for at least a few months.

LVR is a tool controlled by the Reserve Bank to ensure the NZ economy is more resilient to shocks, like the Global Financial Crisis, and give protection during property cycles.

For NZ banks, it’s also a good risk management tool. If the borrowers have skin in the game, it protects the lenders from getting into a bad debt situation.

LVR stands for loan to value ratio. Effectively, LVR is the calculated borrowing amount as a percentage of the property value. If you buy a property for $1m and borrow $800k, the LVR is 80%.

LVR rules are set by the Reserve Bank NZ to put restrictions on the lending that registered NZ banks may do.

As at 1st Jan 2018, to buy an owner-occupied property, the max LVR is 80%, which means the borrower must come up with a 20% deposit or equity. For investment property purchase, the LVR is only 65%, which means the borrower must have a 35% deposit or equity.

If you don’t have enough deposit or equity, your loan application will be affected by the LVR restrictions, which means the Reserve bank allows no more than 15% of their residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 20 percent deposit) borrowers who are owner occupiers and no more than 5 percent of residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 35% deposit) borrowers who are investors.

Every bank has their own rules for the restrictions to make sure they don’t get close to the limit and lose their bank licence.

Some banks even put restriction on how high the LVR can go. The number is between 85% and 90% subject to their capacity, and you must be one of their main bank clients for at least a few months.

LVR is a tool controlled by the Reserve Bank to ensure the NZ economy is more resilient to shocks, like the Global Financial Crisis, and give protection during property cycles.

For NZ banks, it’s also a good risk management tool. If the borrowers have skin in the game, it protects the lenders from getting into a bad debt situation.

Fixed Interest Rate

Fixed rate mortgage provides certainty. Once a loan is fixed for a specific period, the repayment is the same for each payment, which allows you to budget. Knowing the exact payment amount makes financial planning easier. However, the downsides are:

  • You may incur penalties if you want to make an extra payment.
  • If interest rates decrease, your payments will remain the same during the fixed period 

Variable/Floating Interest Rate

Floating rate has the benefits of enjoying lower interest rates if rates decrease and has the flexibility of making a lump sum repayment without penalty. The main risk is the interest rate can fluctuate, and your payments may increase if the interest rate increases.

Floating rates are generally higher than most fixed interest terms.

Your mortgage broker will be able to give you a recommendation and provide reasons according to your situation and plans. 

  • Mortgage interest rates – what is the most competitive? If you can take this advantage, it will help you minimise the interest costs over the course of the loan terms. You can go to the bank’s website to see current interest rates.
  • Predict how the interest rate will move in the near future? If you don’t closely read news about finance, it’s hard to keep up to date about all the factors that drive interest rates. Good Mortgage brokers should be able to provide advice. At Prosperity Finance, we record a video each month for the interest rate trend. Some factors that drive interest rates movement are OCR / inflation, local deposit rates, wholesale offshore rates, bank profitability, and the lender’s appetite and competition.
  • Your personal situation and plan – If you expect the income for debt servicing to be lower or uncertain in the next few years due to having an additional child, job change, travel, starting a new business, or health issues, then longer term probably weighs more than having a lower rate for 1 year & 2 years rates.
  • Personal Risk Tolerance –  You should also consider your appetite for uncertainty. Are you the type of person that will worry about the possibility of rates going up?
  • Finally, if you want the best of both worlds, one common strategy is to break a mortgage into several tranches and spread the rates across different fixed rate periods.

Interest only repayments are exactly as the name suggests – you only pay the interest with each repayment. The principal (the amount you borrow) must be repaid at the end of the loan term.

Principal and interest repayment, also called ‘Table loan’, means your repayments stay the same over the term of the loan. You generally pay more interest at the start, so initially, you’re not building much equity (the amount you own) in your home. However, the balance changes over time, and later, you repay more principal than interest, and your equity builds faster.

What is better interest only or principal and interest loan?

Interest only mortgage is commonly used by property investors, especially if they still have personal debt, such as their family home loan. It is mainly for tax reasons –  interest costs generated from investment property debt are tax deductible. It makes perfect sense to consider paying off personal debt prior to paying off investment debt. Other reasons for investors to have interest only loans are so they can free up cash to purchase more properties and grow their property portfolio and gain wealth.

Some first home buyers have their home loan on an interest only term because they want to take time to use to the new debt repayment obligation. Normally, they take a year to adjust their lifestyle and then start paying principal. Occasionally, people change from paying principal to interest only because of experiencing financial hardship.

We recommend for owner occupied property loan, If you can afford paying principal and interest, it’s the best way to save money. The interest costs you pay over the 30-year loan term are approximately the same as what you borrowed in principal if not more.

 For investors, we recommend you pay interest only if you have other personal debt. However, make sure you are disciplined to put money aside as if all mortgage debt was on principal and interest. That way, once you must start paying principal, you won’t struggle.

Note: interest only terms are generally available up to two years for the purchase of an owner-occupied property and up to five years for the purchase of a residential investment property.

  • Existing relationship with the lender
  • Their credit policies
  • If the lender can maximise your borrowing capacity
  • Approval conditions
  • Branch network
  • Online Banking
  • Allowing for redraw
  • Client service
  • If the lender can support your future goals
  • Lender’s capacity and appetite
  • Lender’s turnaround time
  • Interest rates and cash back, and fee charges Other features, such as ability to make extra payments, clawback clauses, allowance for 2nd mortgage etc.

  • As we have our client’s best interest at heart, we won’t just accept the lender’s price the first time. This is how we do it at Prosperity Finance:

    First, we advise the client on how to choose interest rate terms.

    Our clients then give us up to 3 interest rate terms, so we can narrow the options and get the best rates quicker (lenders know clients are serious and know what they want).

    We then compare the offer with recent rates we have received for other clients in the similar situations (e.g., same lender, similar loan amount, and LVR etc.). If we feel there is room for negotiation, then we go back to the lender until we get the best deal. We have a system that can track rates and cash back for each lender’s offer.

    Sometimes, a client may see their family and friends receive a better deal. It’s almost impossible to compare the two because we have little knowledge about their circumstances, plus the lender and time the offer was given can be different, making it difficult to compare apples with apples.

    You can rest assured it’s unlikely you can get a better price by going to the bank directly, as almost all main banks have a policy to remove the price differentiation between sales channels (branches, mobile mortgage managers, and mortgage brokers). We can get the best price for our client quicker as we know the bottom line.

    In our business, we don’t promote this because this should be a given if we do a good job for our clients. We offer other values that are also very important. 

Buying a House & KiwiSaver

When you think about applying for home loan in New Zealand, the two most popular channels you approach are banks (including branches, mobile mortgage managers) and mortgage advisors. The choice is yours.

Is it worth getting a mortgage advisor? Should I use a mortgage advisor? Do mortgage advisors get better deals?

In New Zealand, about 40% of home loans are written by mortgage advisors, and this number keeps growing. Here are the pros of using a mortgage advisor in New Zealand:

  • Mortgage advisors are not bank employees. Their job is to work on your behalf to find the best possible finance solutions to help you achieve financial goals. Unlike bank employees, who receive a salary (plus bonuses) for writing loans for that lender only, and they have sales targets.
  • Mortgage advisors like us work with approximately 30 lenders, and some lenders work exclusively with mortgage advisors, which means, if your bank declines your loan application, we are more likely to be able to help you.
  • Getting a good home loan approval outcome is not just about number or calculations. Lots of other things go into it, such as loan structure, legal structure, borrower character, repayment risk evaluation etc. Good mortgage advisors have the ability to package your loan application to improve the chance of approval or get better outcomes, such as fewer approval conditions.
  • Mortgage advisors like us are advice focused. Although we only get paid by the lender if your home loan is settled, we spend considerable time (free of charge) during the consultation stage trying to help you becoming a qualified borrower sooner. We also hold your hand throughout the application process to help you remove any roadblocks and answer questions. Banks normally give you either an approval or decline outcome. There is nothing in between.
  • Mortgage advisors do all the legwork for you to evaluate lenders and loan products to ensure you have the best possible solution and price (interest rates and cash backs) and can save you the time and money with all those daunting details. Good mortgage advisors will continue service after loan settlement because it’s very important that your home loan and financial circumstances are reviewed regularly (at least every two years) to ensure they are still meeting your individual needs. Not putting it away and forgetting about it for the next 25 or 30 years.

How to a buy a house in New Zealand? For most people looking to buy a first home in New Zealand, the process of buying a house may be complicated. Here is our step-by-step house buying guide:

  1. Book a discovery session with Prosperity Finance Advisor to discuss your plans and current situation so we can provide you with a solution plan, free.
  2. We help you obtain a Pre-Approval on your behalf.
  3. House hunting – the fun part begins!
  4. Placing an offer by signing a Property Sale and Purchase Agreement
  5. If the offer is accepted by the vendor, you pay a deposit (5% -10%) as agreed on the Sale and Purchase Agreement. At the same time, we help you meet all finance conditions.
  6. We work with you to find the best loan structure and interest rate strategy
  7. We negotiate on your behalf to get the best interest rates and cash back (if applicable) and lock the rates. At this stage, we will also discuss your insurance needs.
  8. We instruct the lender to issue loan documents and arrange loan account opening process.
  9. Once the loan documents arrived at your suitor’s inbox, your solicitor will arrange an appointment for you to sign the documents and answer any questions you may have.
  10. We remind you to conduct pre-settlement inspection a couple of days ahead of property settlement to make sure all chattels are working properly
  11. Before settlement, you send any remaining deposit funds to your solicitor to complete the settlement.
  12. Finally, it’s your BIG day – settlement day! Your solicitor will handle the transfer of funds, title register and mortgage on this date, and we stay alert and work with your solicitor if he/she has any questions. Once settled, you will be handed the key and can move in.
  13. We will follow up with the lender to make sure your cash back incentive is paid within a week and another follow up at one month after settlement to make sure the 1st payment is okay.
  14. We will keep in touch and provide you with the opportunity twice a year for loan review to ensure the loan structure still meet your circumstances.

How mortgage advisors make money?

Most of the time, mortgage advisors get paid a commission by lenders for their services after the loan settles. The commission varies from one lender to another. We can be liable for a commission ‘clawback’ if the client repays their loan within 3 years.

Good mortgage advisors should work in the client’s best interest; therefore, when it comes to choosing the best lender, it should NOT put their remuneration level into consideration.

Sometimes, though, mortgage advisors must go to non-banks to deliver a solution. Generally, non-bank lenders do not pay; therefore, we must charge the client directly. If that’s the case, the advisor should communicate this with the client upfront, leaving no surprise in the end.

Not all advisors are equal. Unfortunately, at the moment in NZ, the commission only structure and entry into the industry attract “a certain kind of person” who does not necessary always act professionally (The process is tightening.).

Here are some common attributes of a good mortgage advisor. We hope they are helpful in finding a good mortgage advisor in New Zealand.

  • Good advisors are solution focused, rather than price focused and loan size. We are not saying the interest rate etc. are not important. We don’t want our clients to waste any of their hard-earned money, but only if the solution meets their needs and facilitates future goals. To provide a good solution, they must listen and ask lots of good questions to understand people’s situations and goals.
  • Good advisors should have access to at least 20 lenders to provide the best possible solutions. Just request a copy of their terms of engagement to see who they work with.
  • Good advisors should keep you up to date about your application process and respond to your questions.
  • Good advisors focus on relationships, not transactional model. Once the loan is settled, they should continue to look after you, renew your loan, refix, and keep in regular contact. The reason they do these things is simply because these are important to you, so they should care!
  • Good advisors have strong relationships with lenders and understand how to package your application to get the best chance of approval with fewest approval conditions.

Finally, we suggest you read other clients’ reviews and see what people have to say about them

What is a home loan pre-approval?

A home loan pre-approval is an offer in writing from a lender that outlines how much you can borrow, providing you can meet specified conditions. Please note, when the bank issues a pre-approval letter, they have not evaluated the acceptance of the property you are looking to buy; therefore, even if you have pre-approval in place, you still must get written confirmation from the lender, confirming they are happy with the property you want to purchase.

Why do you need a home loan pre-approval before you looking to buy a house?

Pre-approval from the lender gives you the confidence of your borrowing capacity and property budget and what conditions you must meet before taking out a home loan. Once you have that in hand, you will have an idea where to look and what type of property you can afford, etc. When you are interested in buying a particular property, all you need to do is contact the bank or your broker to make sure the property is acceptable by the lender (for a straightforward sale and purchase agreement, the acceptance can be provided within the same day), and if you have no other finance conditions to be met or you’re confident you can meet the conditions (e.g., cancelling credit card), then you may want to make an unconditional purchase offer, which gives you bargaining power over other buyers. It’s also very important to have a pre-approval before attending an auction because you can’t list any conditions if you buy via auction. If you don’t have a pre-approval in place, there is risk of not obtaining finance. You don’t want to be in a stressful situation and lose your hard-earned deposit.

What’s not covered in the pre-approval letter:

  • Property acceptance by the lender
  • Interest rate and cash back (these can only be negotiated once you have found the property and met all conditions)

We always recommend getting a pre-approval before looking at properties to eliminate the risk factors. 

It depends on your circumstances and loan application purpose and if you are an existing customer with the lender you are looking to apply with. We will advise you after understanding your situation. 

LVR stands for loan to value ratio. Effectively, LVR is the calculated borrowing amount as a percentage of the property value. If you buy a property for $1m and borrow $800k, the LVR is 80%.

LVR rules are set by the Reserve Bank NZ to put restrictions on the lending that registered NZ banks may do.

As at 1st Jan 2018, to buy an owner-occupied property, the max LVR is 80%, which means the borrower must come up with a 20% deposit or equity. For investment property purchase, the LVR is only 65%, which means the borrower must have a 35% deposit or equity.

If you don’t have enough deposit or equity, your loan application will be affected by the LVR restrictions, which means the Reserve bank allows no more than 15% of their residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 20 percent deposit) borrowers who are owner occupiers and no more than 5 percent of residential mortgage lending to high LVR (less than 35% deposit) borrowers who are investors.

Every bank has their own rules for the restrictions to make sure they don’t get close to the limit and lose their bank licence.

Some banks even put restriction on how high the LVR can go. The number is between 85% and 90% subject to their capacity, and you must be one of their main bank clients for at least a few months.

LVR is a tool controlled by the Reserve Bank to ensure the NZ economy is more resilient to shocks, like the Global Financial Crisis, and give protection during property cycles.

For NZ banks, it’s also a good risk management tool. If the borrowers have skin in the game, it protects the lenders from getting into a bad debt situation.

Fixed Interest Rate

Fixed rate mortgage provides certainty. Once a loan is fixed for a specific period, the repayment is the same for each payment, which allows you to budget. Knowing the exact payment amount makes financial planning easier. However, the downsides are:

  • You may incur penalties if you want to make an extra payment.
  • If interest rates decrease, your payments will remain the same during the fixed period 

Variable/Floating Interest Rate

Floating rate has the benefits of enjoying lower interest rates if rates decrease and has the flexibility of making a lump sum repayment without penalty. The main risk is the interest rate can fluctuate, and your payments may increase if the interest rate increases.

Floating rates are generally higher than most fixed interest terms.

Your mortgage broker will be able to give you a recommendation and provide reasons according to your situation and plans. 

09 930 8999
support@profin.co.nz
Prosperity Finance (FSP762831)

112C Bush Road, Rosedale, Auckland 0632

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