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Most home loans come with their share of fees. Don’t fret over the length of this list, as you probably won’t be subject to all of them. You may even be able to convince your lender to nix a few. It’s also not an exhaustive list as every lender has its own fee schedule. Important Make sure you understand your lender’s specific fee schedule as it can differ from lender to lender. Without further delay… your list of the most…
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Of course you want a home loan with low interest rates, minimal fees and an offset account that lets you deduct 100% of the balance from the amount owed. But other than that, the definition of the “best” loan varies based on your personal circumstances. Ready to apply? Check out our offers page for a range of home loan offers to suit your needs. See offers The basics As described in the intro, there are three basic things all hopeful…
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Online home loan calculators can be among the most valuable tools you’ll find as you seek to maximise your borrowing capacity, nab the best deal and work out the most cost effective way to pay the darn thing off. What is a home loan calculator? “Home loan calculator” is actually a catch-all term that applies to an entire category of calculators that each has its own function. For example, one type of calculator will estimate how much you can borrow,…
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Oh Tony. Tony, Tony, Tony. For those who don’t know, Tony Alexander is the chief economist at BNZ and he said a few things about Spendy Young Things (SYTs) not saving properly for a house. Tony would like you all to have a house, you see, but you do rather spend a lot on things he says you don’t need. Like landscape gardening (!), lattes and smashed avocado on toast at your favourite Sunday brunch spot. Of course, the real…
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It’s amazing, really, how many hoops you have to jump through these days just to earn yourself the privilege of borrowing hundreds of thousands dollars in a home loan. But how many hoops are we talking, exactly? How difficult is it in the current market to get yourself a mortgage? A bit tricky, says Maria Slade, author of Buyer Beware, A New Zealand Home Buyer’s Guide. For starters, you don’t really get past GO without a 20 per cent deposit…
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Is an apartment your way to get a foot on the property ladder? We’ve been talking to author Maria Slade about her new book on the New Zealand property market, Buyer Beware, A New Zealand Home Buyer’s Guide. It was an interview with John Key about the housing crisis that got Maria Slade started on a book about our boiling property market. Our then-PM was saying young people should move into apartments if they couldn’t afford a standalone home as our parents…
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What with Auckland houses selling for more than 10 times the average income and interest rates about to rise and who knows – maybe a crash ahead? – we thought we should ask: Is this this a good time to be getting into the property market? Do you grab the moment while you can? Do you wait for things to settle down? What’s the magic moment to act? Actually, there is no right time, says Maria Slade, who’s just written…
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Rental properties are a licence to make money, aren’t they? All you need to do is buy, and watch the price go up, up, and up. The answer to that is yes and no. Property investors don’t all become squillionaires overnight. It’s not a licence to make money. And long-term investors say capital gain is by no means the number one number they consider when buying. Sadly the world is littered with failed residential property investors who thought it would…
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Do you like baked beans? Unless you want to be eating student grub for the next few years it’s a good idea to figure out how much house you can really afford. Don’t be fooled by what the banks tell you that you can borrow. It’s not the same question. Can you really afford the repayments? Really? The banks’ calculators don’t always take into account all the other things you have to pay for when you’re a home owner. What…
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