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Should I break and re-fix?

With interest rates climbing for the first time in over five years, we're getting a lot of queries across our desks asking whether it's worth breaking and refixing existing loans. But the question is - should you break yours? There's no doubt that we're under some rate pressure at the moment - but conversations in our office are always about taking the customer centered approach of - what's right for you and your situation? The key things we're asking our clients are; 1. How much risk are you wi...

New Build Series - Part 4: The Build Process

Planning Like buying any kind of home, you need to have a plan. Where do you want to build, what type of house do you want to build and what is your budget?  A good place to start is with your mortgage advisor. Firstly, what can you afford? This will narrow your options down a bit and will give you an idea about what is realistic.  Once you have a pre-approval you will be ready to go and approach a builder about the best way to build your new home. Keep in touch with us once you’ve b...

New Build Series - Part 3: The cost to build

Just like purchasing an existing home, there are additional costs on top of the build contract that you need to think about and budget for. Registered Valuation - $900 - $1300Solicitor - $500 - $2000Insurance - $1200 - $2000 per annum to cover home/contents. Depending on the type of build and the builder you are using you may be required to have an insurance policy in place while the house is being built. Check with your solicitor and building company.What if I want to change something during th...

New Build Series - Part 2: Types of builds

New builds have a slightly different process to fund versus existing properties when it comes to arranging lending. The method in which you plan to build your home will determine the way your lending works and each method requires a different set of criteria. We have a whole blog series on funding builds which you should check out. There’s a quick summary on each type of build below and heaps more information on each type of build, just click the heading of the type of build to go to check out...

New Build Series - Part 1: Why build a new house?

Building a home can be an exciting process and there are heaps of good reasons why you might build new over purchasing an existing house. There are a range of different ways about getting into a newly built house and each of them has their pros and cons. Understanding the difference between each type of build and the process involved with each will let you make an informed decision about what is right for you. But first...why build? Make it yoursFirstly, you can have your say in how your new hom...

ANZ announces 'Blueprint to Build'

To read about the 2023 update to Blueprint to Build, go here.The new-build interest rate wars are really ramping up now. ASB and AIA's record breaking low 1.79% Back My Build rate has a new contender! ANZ has announced Blueprint to Build with an even lower, 1.68% floating rate for new builds. So, what are the fish hooks and how does it compare to Back my Build? ANZ's Blueprint to Build is a market leading offer to support those building a new home. The offer is available from July, 5th...

First Home Series - Part 1: Why buy a house?

Why would you buy a house? We’ve got quite a few different thoughts about why buying a home in New Zealand is a good idea. We tend to think that owning our own home is a mark of achievement and success. It’s security for you and your family.  You need somewhere to live...The first reason being is that you’re always going to need somewhere to live. Seems obvious but owning a home means you always have a place to live on your own terms, not someone else's.  It’s generally a prett...

First Home Series - Part 2: How to save for your new home

You need a deposit There’s no two ways about it; when you’re looking at buying your first home you will need some kind of deposit! At the very minimum you will need 10% - 20% of the purchase price as a deposit. For many people the prospect of having to save a minimum of $60,000 - $150,000 is enough to make them kiss their home ownership dreams goodbye. With a bit of planning and commitment, you can get that deposit together and it doesn’t all have to come from squirreling away!...Here’s ...

First Home Series - Part 3: Who's involved in your first home purchase?

When buying a property, there are a bunch of important things that happen in the background but rest assured there are a team of professionals you can assemble who will deal with all this stuff so you can just focus on getting the house!  1) Mortgage adviser We may be biased but we reckon it’s always a good idea to get a great mortgage adviser on your team! So what exactly does a mortgage adviser do? A mortgage adviser typically will look at your overall situation and make their best reco...

First Home Series - Part 4: What's it all going to cost?

A lot of the time, people forget that there are costs on top of the purchase price of the house! Here, we look at what additional costs come into play when purchasing your new home... Firstly, there are costs involved in using some of the professionals above. Mortgage advisers are usually free and you wont need to pay anything to the vendors real estate agents but there are costs involved for the below services/professionals; Solicitor: $500 - $2000Registered Valuation: $800 - $1200Building Insp...

First Home Series - Part 5: What are banks looking for?

While you’re saving for your first home, it's a really good idea to get ‘bank fit’. What exactly does ‘bank fit’ mean? Basically if you can present yourself in the best light possible and tick a few boxes the bank has, you are more likely to be approved. So what exactly are the banks looking for and how can you get ‘bank fit’?  Size of deposit Firstly, the bank will look at the size of your deposit and the value of the home you want to purchase. You can start seriously co...

First Home Series - Part 6: The five steps to buying

Step 1: Pre-approval So you’ve budgeted, saved, put in some extra hours and you’ve got your deposit ready to go! Now it’s time to get pre-approved. Your mortgage adviser will handle everything to do with your pre-approval. They’ll check out your deposit, income, expenses etc and give you a rough idea about what you may be able to spend or whether you can afford to spend what you have in mind. From here, the adviser will go out and get you a loan offer. This could be multiple offers, from...

You may be losing your banker, but your adviser is still here!

It’s no secret that the face of banking has changed over the last few years. It’s a topic close to our heart, working in a lot of smaller, provincial towns. Banks are downsizing, by reducing branch hours, reducing the amount of branch support staff and even closing branches altogether in some areas.  Times are changing and most things can be done via internet banking, which is awesome but at times, we understand you still need someone to talk to. You might be losing your bankers, but yo...

Do I have to break my fixed rate if I buy another property?

We get asked quite often “If I sell my property, can I transfer existing lending and its interest rate to a new property?” While this used to be common, it is much less obtainable these days. Therefore, many are left facing break fees on existing lending when they sell their property to buy a new one. When you sell one property and buy another you will likely have to break the fixed term on your lending and that leads to break fees. You’d entered into a contract with the lender that y...

Loan Term vs Fixed Term - What's the difference?

Adam explains the difference between a 'loan term' and a 'fixed term' and breaks down the jargon.  Watch the video and check out the examples below to learn more. ...

Top tips on making offers

Arguably one of the most exciting parts of the "purchasing a home" process is making your first offer on a property! I've heard plenty of stories (especially in the last few years in a busy market) of people making multiple offers which fall through (due to a range of factors) and we're always keen to break down some of those barriers and help make this process easy.Our top tips are as follows;Get pre-approved - this is the first step and you can find out a little more about this on our blo...

A Guide to Back My Build

(For information on ANZ's Blueprint to Build scheme, check out this blog)The team at My Mortgage are receiving heaps of questions around the recently announced Back My Build variable rate that ASB and AIA/Sovereign are offering. We have already arranged Back My Build home loans for clients and have some helpful information below to help you understand whether you are eligible and should take advantage of this product.  Back My Build is a new product offered exclusively by ASB and AIA/Sovere...

Why can't I buy a more expensive property if I have a large deposit?

It’s very common for a client to come to us and talk about their deposit. In the past banks were more lenient and may have lent money solely based on the size of the deposit. These days, banks are looking at more of a combination of deposit and serviceability. So what exactly does this mean?  When borrowing money the bank will look at what size deposit you have as well as the makeup of your household income and expenses. Basically, how much money do you have available once you have covere...

Low Equity Margins & Low Equity Premiums - What are they?

You’ve probably heard the terms Low Equity Margin or Low Equity Premium thrown around lately, so what exactly are they? What are Low Equity Margins & Premiums? Low Equity Margins and Premiums (LEM’s and LEP’s) are a fee the bank charges borrowers when they have less than 80% equity in their property i.e. less than a 20% deposit. For example, if you want to purchase a house for 500k, but have less than 100k deposit, then you are borrowing more than 80% of the value of the property. This is...

Buying a house from family at below market value - How to make that work.

With the way house prices are going, a lot of parents, grandparents and "adoptive family" are looking at ways to help people out to get on the property ladder. One of the ays we are seeing this happen is family members selling property they already own, to their families at discounted rates. e.g The property is worth $700K but mum and dad are happy for you to pay them $500K for it. This is great and totally possible, but there are a few things to consider here and it is good to put some tho...

Refinancing your home loan in 2021

With interest rates once again at historic lows, and a busy 12 months in the property space, we're getting a lot of enquiries from existing and new clients who are considering a refinance of their home loan.Firstly - what's a refinance?Unlike a Re-fix - which is simply choosing a new rate and time period on your existing home loan, a refinance is effectively switching banks - either for a slightly better rate or situation, a bank which suits your needs, or perhaps some cashback offered by the ne...

Meeting finance when there are still outstanding conditions

Meeting your finance clause is one of the most exciting parts of the process in buying your next home. Not only do you have the money ready to go, but you're more often than not also meeting your other conditions which means you're ready to confirm that you're on your way to being a home owner! I'd like to explain a little bit about that final part of the finance process and it all fits together. In some cases there will be remaining conditions to meet, but most of the time these are providing e...

Using Second Tier Lenders to get to where you want to go

At My Mortgage the large majority of the clients we work with we are looking at the main banks as the best option for them. At the main banks you can get the best interest rates usually and utilise things like their great online banking and other products like credit cards etc. However, not everyone or every situation fits with the main banks and when that is the case, second tier lenders can be a great options. These lenders are reputable trusts, credit unions and other lenders that have b...

Why would I have to lower my credit card limit or pay off interest free lending?

When we do new applications, we get asked all the time “why does the bank care about my credit card limit if I don’t have a balance on it?” or “why do they care about short-term interest free lending?”...Greg's got the answers in the video below, or read on for more info. ...

Buying with others - Being Jointly & Severally liable for the lending

With the cost of houses increasing as they are currently, it can feel a little overwhelming for people to buy on their own. Teaming up with someone else is a great option to increase deposit and income without doubling your expenses.  Buying with a friend or family member when you are both living in the property is fairly simple and is basically the same as being in a defacto relationship with that person and so there aren't a lot of differences from normal "couples" lending. The banks usua...