It is easy buying property in New Zealand. Legal documents (particularly mortgage documents) will need to be witnessed by the New Zealand Consulate or Embassy or a public notary. Non-residents can borrow up to 80% of a property’s value. We can look after you no matter where you are. The benefit of coming to Squirrel is that we will manage the whole transaction for you, end to end, including working with your solicitor, arranging a building inspection, and arranging a valuation if required. Overseas transactions take longer and we’ll need to do more paperwork. Apply Online Now.
We will need:
Low-documentation (low-doc) mortgages have a lower threshold for proving your income, but in the current market we’ll still need to see good proof of income coming through your bank statements. With a low-doc mortgage you sign a declaration of your income. This can be a really good option for self-employed people, especially if they have been in business for less than two years. The maximum loan for low-doc is currently 65% of the property value.
As a rule of thumb, you can borrow your income multiplied by 5. It differs if you’ve got kids or lots of cars! Of course the real calculations are a little more complicated then that, but that’s what we can work out for you. Apply Online Now
The table below gives you a rough idea. Make sure you think about your total household income including any boarder income.
In short – no! Most banks now only lend up to 80%. If you have good income we can typically get you to 90% and for some 95% but the borrowing costs are higher. Other options to think about are to use you parents as a guarantor or vendor finance.
For mortgages over $100,000 our service to you is free. For a standard mortgage we are paid an upfront commission of between 0.50% and 0.65%, which varies slightly by lender. This commission is before our own costs and is also used to pay for any of our promotional offers to you. Non-bank lenders (which we may use for credit impaired deals) also pay us a small trail commission of between 0.15% to 0.25% per year to provide ongoing support to you.
Good advice and a ton of experience. We help you through the whole buying process (not just the mortgage.) Property will be one of your largest financial investments. When it goes wrong, it can go horribly wrong! Mortgages (and helping people like you buy property) are what we do – so we know all of the things to look out for. As mortgage brokers we also have more options available to us when it comes to finding a mortgage solution. Lenders have very different credit policies. By only talking to one lender you are potentially selling yourself short and getting a poor deal. Why take the risk when our service to you is free?
Squirrel is a mortgage advisory and brokering service. It is New Zealand owned and squirrel is not a franchise. We focus on friendly, quality advice from a team who have been in the industry a long time. We launched at the start of 2008 and write over $12m in home loan applications every month. Our office is in Auckland but we write mortgages for clients all over New Zealand and around the world.