Home Loans
Kapiti Advice is licenced to provide advice in relation to lending products provided by a wide range of New Zealand’s banks and lenders.
We can provide tailored advice to take account of your personal circumstances, whether you are:
- Self-employed or a contractor
- Single or dual income earners
- A first-time buyer
- A non-NZ resident trying to get a home loan
- Wanting to re-fix your rates, or take advantage of lower rates
- Considering restructuring your existing loan
- Thinking about an investment property.
For impartial mortgage advice, book your free meeting to discuss your options and how I might take care of the application process for you. A coffee catch-up might suit, if you just want to touch base and talk about property and the mortgage process.
From
- Reviewing your lending needs
- Finding the right lender
- Arranging pre-approvals
- Correctly packaging your application and supporting documents
- Assessing the right mortgage structure
- Liaising with your solicitor, the bank and other professionals
- Answering your questions and concerns
- Right through to settlement
- And developing a plan to pay-off your loan faster
we help our clients through every step of the process.
Fees
Generally, there is no cost to you the client when arranging finance for a residential property or investment property. This is because the lender that approves your loan pays approved financial service providers for successful applications. The lenders do not charge clients extra for using this channel – in fact some lenders give clients of ours better deals than they would get directly. There are no hidden costs.
Fees and expenses are discussed in my Publicly Available Disclosure statement.
First Home Buyers
Access to a wide selection of lenders provides MortgageLink advisors with the flexibility to advise which lender is best suited to your position, for example if your Loan to Value Ratio is above 80%.
We can help you structure your home loan and consider appropriate interest rates to fit in with your finances and financial plan. This will allow you to pay off your mortgage sooner and reduce the amount of interest you pay across the life of the loan. This will be done in consideration of your financial position, other investments and future plans.
We will guide you through the process of:
- Advising on how much deposit you will need
- Using your KiwiSaver funds for a deposit
- Applying for a loan and arranging documentation through our lending platform
- Structuring your repayments to fit in with you finances and future plans
- Advising on fixed, floating or interest-only
- Getting pre-approval from a bank or other lender
- Kiwibuild
- How to get a property valuation
- Liaising with other local professionals, such as a solicitor
There is generally no charge for this service. This is because the lenders pay service providers for successful applications [see fees below]. So feel free to get in touch to make an appointment.
Buying a New Property
Have you grown out of your existing home, or do you need to relocate? We can discuss the options available to you.
This may involve bridging finance to allow you to go unconditional on a new home purchase, while you sell your current home. Or we could discuss holding onto your existing home as an investment property.
Investment
Purchasing an investment property? I can work with you to find a suitable lender and establish an appropriate loan structure.
Re-financing or Re-fixing
Refinancing is the process or rearranging your loan. The reasons you might consider refinancing include:
- Debt consolidation if you have acquired higher-cost short-term debt (credit card, personal loans, hire purchase) and want to arrange for these to be consolidated into your mortgage to reduce the cost of servicing your debt
- Restructuring your mortgage to allow for better money management, for example to make use of revolving credit, or to better suit your present financial position
- To take advantage of better interest rates on offer with other lenders
- Accessing funds to spend on alterations or home improvement
- Investing in an additional property
- Increasing repayments to reduce the term of your mortgage and overall servicing costs
- Refinancing a home following separation, or divorce.
We will be available help ensure that the structure and pricing of your mortgage continues to meet your needs. You will also need to be aware of the costs associated with break fees, should you wish to restructure your loan during a fixed-term period.
KiwiSaver
KiwiSaver members may be able to withdraw some of their KiwiSaver savings to put towards purchasing their first home. To be eligible:
- Applicants must have been a KiwiSaver member for 3 or more years
- The member can use personal contributions, the employer’s contribution, government contributions, plus any investment returns, provided they leave a minimum balance of $1,000 in their KiwiSaver account (note 1)
- KiwiSaver funds can only be withdrawn to purchase a first home – not an investment property.
- If the applicant currently owns a home, land or has a share in a property, they will not be eligible for this feature.
- The applicant must intend to live in the property for at least six months.
- The member must have their KiwiSaver account with a KiwiSaver provider that allows saving withdrawals.
- The applicant will need to apply to their KiwiSaver provider to make a first home withdrawal, which if approved administers the payment of the funds to the applicant’s solicitor on or before settlement day.
It is important to apply for your first home withdrawal early, as you generally need to provide a KiwiSaver eligibility letter as part of the process of confirming your deposit. This letter includes confirmation of your eligibility to make a first home withdrawal, as well as an estimate of the amount available for withdrawal. This is a relatively simple process for most KiwiSaver providers, with most providing the ability to generate an eligibility letter and first home withdrawal application form through their KiwiSaver app or on-line, or providing instructions on their website.
Notes: 1. Funds transferred from an Australian Complying Superannuation scheme cannot be withdrawn for the purchase of a home; 2. If a member has owned a home before, they may still be eligible to withdraw their savings in some circumstances. If the applicant has previously owned property, but no longer own any property and their finances are considered to be in a similar position to that of a first home buyer, they may qualify to withdraw funds towards buying a home. The applicant will need to apply to Housing New Zealand for a KiwiSaver First-home Withdrawal Determination for Previous Home Owner. This can be done by the applicant without the help of a lawyer on the Housing New Zealand website below, which includes a list of the conditions regarding realisable assets considered in determining the application: https://www.hnzc.co.nz/ways-we-can-help-you-to-own-a-home/kiwisaver-features-for-previous-home-owners/
We always advice that our clients review their Will at a significant life event, such as the purchase of a residential property and update it if necessary.
Every adult should have an up to date will, otherwise their wishes may not be accommodated on their passing. Furthermore, it can take significant time and money to administer the estate if there is not an up to date Will.
It is also important to keep a copy in a safe and accessible place, for example with your solicitor – and let the executor and loved ones know where it is.
Enduring Power of Attorney
We also recommend that anyone over 18 years of age considers an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPoA). An EPoA is used to take care of a person’s personal or financial matters if they cannot.
EPOA’s are usually associated with people heading into their senior years. However, an unexpected accident or illness can happen at any time, rendering you unable to make decisions for yourself. An EPOA will allow you to say in advance who is to speak for you in this situation, rather than having a court step in to decide who is to take charge.
Family Trusts
17th June 2020
A Trust is a legal structure to protect property and manage assets, such as your family home or investment properties. There are a number of good reasons to establish a Family Trust, however, it is generally not effective to establish a trust with the principal objective of avoiding tax.