Get started on your mortgage
Buying your first home, investing in property or just keen to review your mortgage?
Fill out our online applicationMortgage Calculators
If you're looking to find out how much you can borrow or what your mortgage repayments might be, you've come to the right place.
Give our mortgage calculators a whirl.
This will take about 30 seconds
Banks want to lend to you. That's how they make their money. This means they'll often let you borrow more money than you can actually afford. We’ll help to give you an idea of how much you can afford to borrow. Simply enter a few basic details into this handy mortgage calculator.
Already know how much you can borrow but keen to know how your repayments will be affected by a change in the total amount of your mortgage, the term or the interest rate? Just pop your details into our quick mortgage repayment calculator below and see how the payment amount is affected.
How much can I borrow for a house?
We'll quickly work out how much you could borrow towards purchasing a home, just tell us a little about your financial situation.
What will my Mortgage repayments be?
Work out your regular repayments and how quickly you could pay off your home loan.
Our advisers are paid salaries, not commission
This means our advice is impartial, and you know you won't get pushed into a loan you don't want, or can't afford.
Better mortgage rates
We arrange around $1billion of loans per year which gives us negotiating power and access to better rates.
Better technology
Our online application takes less than 10 minutes, and will help us focus on what's most important to you.
More banks, more choices
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Getting your ducks in a row
Basically, banks won't lend the full amount for a house - you need to be able to put down a deposit, and the more the better. You may be familiar with 20% as the magic number, but the reality is if you're in a strong financial position we can work with as little as 5% deposit. Most people will need around 10% deposit, and if you can fork out a whopping 20%, you'll access the banks' most competitive rates and avoid low equity fees.
The banks' appetite for lending more than 80% has been increasing recently which is excellent for first home buyers. In January 2018 the RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) loosened their rules, and then again in January 2019 to allow 20% of total lending for owner-occupied houses with less than a 20% deposit.
Bank of mum and dad
If you're eager to put down a 20% deposit but don't have enough, the easiest and cheapest way is to use your parents to guarantee that part of your 20% deposit you don’t have.
Their guaranteed portion will be secured over their property or it can be secured over a term deposit, so you're not asking them to fork out cash, it's more like putting a 'hold' on their existing equity until you've paid that portion back.
In the event they use a term deposit as security, the term deposit stays in your parent’s name and they continue to earn interest on it. Guaranteed home loans are treated the same as loans under 80% so you get great interest rates, there are no fees, and you’ll even get a cash contribution from the bank. On a loan size of $400,000 you will save around $10,000 using this option. Using a guarantor makes strong financial sense, even if you can go it alone.
See why our clients love us
See for yourself what our clients think with over 1134 5 star reviews on Shopper Approved.
Eva
Auckland , New Zealand
Emma was fantastic to deal with. She was fast to respond to emails and always took the time to answer all of our questions, no matter how trivial. She managed to get us a great rate, and provided us with some valuable advice as first home buyers.E
Lutz H
Auckland, New Zealand
Lindsay was very thorough and approachable. Nothing was ever a problem and his attention to detail is outstanding. Felt safe and in good hands.LH
Maria N
Our broker was always on hand to answer queries and provided open and honest information and assistance. This was our first rental property we had purchased and we were very satisfied with the mortgage outcome and would recommend this service to others.MN
Venkata M
Wellington, New Zealand
The whole process went very smooth with squirrel. The person handled my case was very much interacted with me and explained every case in a very tidy way since it's my first mortgage. I have quite recommended few friends already. ThanksVM
Kerry W
Auckland, New Zealand
Squirrel arranged our finance, living in Wellington we liaised via email & phone which worked perfectly, was easy & stress free, highly recommend & will definately used Squirrel againKW
Jordon W
Sudam was great! Very helpful and very informative. I was pleased with everything and would highly recommend squirrel, especially Sudam. Thank you so much for all the work that was put in to get us into our first home.JW
Kahu S
Auckland, New Zealand
I liked there services, gave me options and a better understanding on what best suits my loan type very grateful for there professional staff have recommended to other family members.KS
Kyle
Emma was ultra responsive, very helpful and made the mortgage process for a first time buyer (from overseas) super simple and pain free. Would highly recommend her and Squirrel! Planning to get in touch on the next purchase.K
