New Zealand’s climate, lifestyle and breathtaking landscapes make it an attractive destination to overseas investors.  In the recent United Nations Report on The Real Wealth of Nations, New Zealand was placed third out of 169 nations in the top places to live in the world.

As a specialist property lawyer I often get approached by overseas residents asking if it is…

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We are all “married” to a Bank in a sense. You can get a mortgage from any lender (if you meet the criteria) but you generally only have your income(s) credited to a single Bank at a time.



Traditionally, the Bank we save & have an everyday account with is the one that we try to borrow from first and, if we’re successful and want to build a portfolio of properties, then we tend to keep going back to the same Bank. This is good from the point of view that you can use equity from one… Continue

Now that you've got your loan approved here's some simple tips for making sure you don’t fall into traps...

 

Structure, structure, structure

 

Setting up…

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Fixing your mortgage gives you the benefit of knowing exactly what payments you’ll be making on the loan for the period of the fixed rate, and ensures that the rate cannot go up during that time.



As we’ve seen, and a lot of us have experienced, over the past three to four years the danger is fixing at a rate for a period of time only to have the market rates fall away. The only choices open to you then are to hold on or to break and refix at the lower rates. Under most Bank’s current… Continue

High property prices and strict bank lending criteria make it difficult for Kiwis to enter the property market. The good news is that Kiwisaver is providing real and accessible assistance to first home buyers.

I admit I was a skeptic at first, but over the last  month I have had several clients who with the assistance of Kiwisaver have been able to purchase their first home. Its still early days, Kiwisaver has only been…

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Even though every Bank looks at your ability to get a mortgage in a different way, they all have things in common they look for to make sure you are a good risk for them – especially if you are a new client to the Bank.



Below are some guidelines on how to get the Bank to say “yes”:



Savings history



A new Bank has no idea how well you will pay off a loan. The best way for them to get an idea is to see how well you save. A deposit saved over at least 6 months…

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No matter what anyone says properties are still expensive to buy and, unless you are fortunate enough not to have to borrow to afford one, this is a question most of us will ask ourselves.



There are two answers to the question. Firstly, how much the Bank says you can afford and secondly how much do you feel comfortable borrowing.



How do Banks measure Affordability?



As lenders do not want to their borrowers failing to meet loan…

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As an emigrant or overseas property investor, there may be some things about buying property in NZ that you’re unfamiliar with. This glossary-style guide explains the terms you might come across while seeking to buy property in NZ, and

explains some of the differences in NZ real estate that you might not

have encountered in your home country.…

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