Buying guide
How to get a mortgage
Will I get a home loan, how much can I borrow and what are my repayments?
Last updated: 18 July 2024
Content provided by our partner mortgages.co.nz
When you’re looking at property - to live in or for investment - thoughts about finance constantly churn around in your mind. Can you get the loan you need? How much could you borrow? What would the repayments be? What is my DTI ratio? How should the loan be structured? Who could give you advice about the best approach to borrowing? How do you know if the advice you’re getting is any good?
Getting answers to these questions is essential because they point to the type of property you can buy, where it could be located and how long it will take to pay back the required loan.
Getting the home loan answers you need
Understanding your home loan position isn’t always quick or easy - especially when the borrowing landscape is constantly changing. Fluctuating interest rates, loan-to-value restrictions (LVRs) and new debt-to-income (DTI) rules are challenges that make it hard to get a clear picture of your borrowing potential.
You can talk directly to a lender or mortgage broker about your situation, but this doesn’t always happen quickly. The process can sometimes take several days or weeks of emails, missed calls, voicemails, text messages, returning calls, budget reviews and meetings. And then the outcome could be disappointing, so it feels like you’ve wasted a lot of time, energy and emotional commitment.
Also, you might feel like you’re not talking to the best person – the mortgage broker space is increasingly crowded, so the quality of the advice you receive might not be ideal.
A fresh approach to home loan information
At mortgages.co.nz we understand your problems and feel your frustration. Since 2020 we’ve been building resources that aim to help New Zealand property buyers. These include:
- A large online library of unbiased educational material about home loans and getting mortgage advice
- Access to the latest home loan interest rates from a broad range of bank and non-bank lenders
- Calculators that help you to create a budget, understand your borrowing power and ballpark your loan repayments
- A service that connects people to a hand-picked selection of mortgage advisers who are among the best in their field
- NEW! LoanMatch on mortgages.co.nz is a quick and easy online tool that provides a real-time digital assessment of your chances of getting a home loan approval
Try the LoanMatch tool, then find good advice
If you’re curious about LoanMatch and what it might tell you, we urge you to give it a try. It’s a free service that can really help you to understand in a few minutes where you stand in the borrowing market.
If LoanMatch suggests you have a good chance of getting home loan approval, you can move to the next step – getting trusted advice from an expert mortgage adviser.
LoanMatch provides a selection of advisers from our hand-picked panel and lets you read their profiles and customer feedback before choosing the one you’d like to connect with. Every adviser available through mortgages.co.nz has been carefully selected for their expertise, reputation and track record of successful loan applications. Also, the advisers we recommend work with a wide range of bank and non-bank lenders, so you get the benefit of more options for borrowing.
Working with a mortgage adviser has become the most popular way to get a home loan in New Zealand. More than 60% of Kiwis now engage a mortgage adviser when they want a new loan or to refinance.
Your relationship with the adviser you choose begins by providing details about the property you want to buy (or refinance), your deposit, income and contact details. There’s no charge and no obligation to move to the next step. You stay in control at all times.
Try LoanMatch on mortgages.co.nz today.
Authors
Jo is one of New Zealand’s most experienced web content writers. Her special talent is being able to slip into the audience’s shoes, to make articles relevant, useful and engaging. Jo’s work for the financial services sector spans more than three decades.
Head of Strategic Partnerships - mortgages.co.nz
Karina has worked in the mortgage sector for the last two decades, and is considered an industry expert. As a content author she has a database of financial advisers who share her weekly commentary through their social and digital channels. A well-respected and popular member of the industry, Karina was recently recognised as one of the ‘Elite women in mortgages 2023’.
