Getting your first mortgage
Buying your first home is exciting but can feel overwhelming. A mortgage is likely the biggest loan you’ll ever take, so good advice can make the process easier and help you avoid surprises.
Got a deposit, what's next?
Start by getting pre-approved before buying a home. It helps you know your budget before you start looking. If you have a deposit of 5 – 20%, the banks may approve your application subject to their lending credit criteria.
Eight stages to home ownership
Eight stages below to make sure you're on the right track to buying your first home
1. Preparing to buy a house
– Saving for a 5 – 20% deposit
– Understanding your affordability
– Accessing Kiwisaver
2. Applying for a home loan
– Documents required by the bank
– Acceptable income for the bank
– Your account conduct
– Missed payments, or defaults
3. What is a pre-approval
– Understanding what is a pre-approval
– How long does the pre approval last for?
– What are pre-approval conditions?
– What if I get declined?
4. Finding your first home
– Types of property banks favour
– Dealing with real estate agents
– What is a conditional offer?
– What is an unconditional offer?
5. Making an offer
– Sales & purchase agreements
– Finance conditions
– Days for finance required
6. Going unconditional
– Satisfying your finance conditions
– Paying your deposit
– LIM & building teport
– Registered valuations
7. Settling the property
– Finalising your settlement date
– Types of loan structures & offsest products
– Signing loan documents with your solicitor
– Getting onboarded by your bank
8. Reviewing your mortgage
– Annual fixed rate reviews
– Restructuring your mortgage
– Topping up
– Planning towards your first rental
Why Moose Mortgages & Insurance?
Our service is free
The mortgage and insurance companies we work with pay us, so you don’t have to. If there’s ever a fee, we’ll talk to you about it before we do any work.
Personalised advice
Personalised advice helps make sure your mortgage or insurance fits your financial goals. This could save you thousands over time.
Compare your options
If you want to apply to more than one bank, we can do that for you without making you fill out the paperwork again. If you go directly to the banks, you’ll have to start from scratch, which takes a lot of time.
Full support
We’ll walk you through the whole process, answer all your questions, and keep you in the loop every step of the way. We’ll also review your mortgage or insurance every year to make sure it still fits your needs.
Why should I use a mortgage adviser?
Our service is free for you when working with a major bank. The banks pay us when you settle a home loan with them. We make the whole process easy, explain everything in plain language, and help you get into a home faster.
Getting expert mortgage advice can help you pay off your home loan sooner and save thousands in interest. We’ll recommend a loan that’s tailored to your goals.
We work with over 15 lenders in NZ. This means we can apply to more than one bank if required without you having to fill out the paperwork more than once.
- Most banks will pay us so you don't have to. If theres ever a fee involved we'll talk to you about it first.
- We support you every step of the way.
- Get expert mortgage advice tailored to your goals.
- Access to over 15 major and non-bank lenders.
Use our link ‘Get Started’ to create a profile and answer a few questions to outline your home lending goals and financial position. It only takes a few minutes.
Once you’ve completed our online fact find, an adviser will contact you to arrange a meeting in person, online, or over the phone. We’ll use your answers to estimate how much you can borrow and what your repayments might be, making sure they fit your property goals. We’ll also discuss which banks might be the best option for you.
You’ll receive a document explaining what our adviser does, their Financial Service Provider (FSP) number, and how we’re paid by most lenders. If there’s a fee for our advice, we’ll tell you upfront before you decide to use our service.
After our meeting, we’ll prepare a bank application for the lender(s) that best suit your needs. You’ll have a chance to review it via email before we submit it.
Once you’re approved, we’ll guide you through your lending conditions and make sure the property you’re interested in meets the bank’s requirements.
Once your lending conditions are met, we’ll review pricing and meet to discuss your loan structure. Then, we’ll prepare a statement of advice with our recommendations for you to review.
If you need any changes, the adviser will adjust the recommendation to ensure it suits your needs before you decide to accept or decline it.
If you accept the adviser’s recommendation, we’ll arrange for your bank to document your loan structure and send the loan documents to your solicitor.
Next, you’ll sign the documents with your solicitor and get the keys on settlement day.
Your adviser will check in 30 days before your fixed rate renewal or once a year to review your mortgage. This helps ensure it still suits your needs as your life changes.