Lenders will usually require you to front up with a deposit of 20% of the purchase price for an existing property – 10% if it’s a new build – before they’ll consider giving you a mortgage on it. If you’ve been saving hard only to have your deposit goal feel like it’s getting further out of reach – or you just don’t want to have to wait years and years (and years) to get into your first home – there are options out there.
Saving for a house in the post-covid age isn’t easy. With house prices becoming stratospheric, the Kiwi dream might start to seem more like a pipe dream.
There’s been a lot written about the 'First Home Loan’ programme in the press recently, particularly around changes to the deposit requirements. We thought it would be a good time to cut through some of the noise around these loans and explain what it means for your average first home buyer.
Most New Zealanders know about KiwiSaver, but not everyone knows how it can benefit you as a potential home buyer, or how the process works when you want to use it.
Let’s take a look at deposits, what support the government offers first home buyers, and a few other ways that you can pull your deposit together for your first home.
Looking to finally upgrade the kitchen or add a touch of class to your bathroom? It might be easier to do than you realise, potentially without adding anything extra to your monthly financial commitments.
We've been following our clients Alisha & Dom as they start the journey of doing up their first home. In this post Alisha shares the experience of what it's really like redoing the walls of the lounge.
In part 2 of this mini-series, the Preests pick apart their new home, and decide on how to tackle the quirks, starting with the ugliest vanity known to man.
In a world of articles about young couples buying their first home 'on their own' but with a gifted deposit, it's nice to hear a success story with a touch of reality. Where hard work paid off, and avocados weren't given up, and a house was purchased.