April 2019's Property Gazette

Buying A Home In New Zealand

Bank wars, slow lending assessments, & looming rental shortages

There’s a bank war heating up, and it’s looking good for home buyers! The major banks have one by one been dropping their fixed one and two-year rates to a record low of 3.99%.

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of these extremely low rates, call us now. We can make obtaining the home of your dreams easy by talking with the banks on your behalf and get you the best deal possible.

These rates are also available for those looking to re-fix their existing loans that are about to rollover.

Slow Lending Assessments Stall Home Buyers

Due to the high levels of applications the lenders are receiving the banks turn-around times are a little stretched at the moment. This means it is taking 4-5 days to have our applications accessed.

Having a pre-approval completed before purchasing can simplify the process and reduce waiting times due to having an approval in the system. There is no need to wait for the full assessment process, and you are likely to hear back quickly on the outcome of finding a property.

If you don’t have mortgage pre-approval, acting quickly to secure a loan when you’ve had an offer accepted is critical. We can help with this: book a time to meet up now.

Looming Rental Shortages in Christchurch

If low interest rates haven’t tempted you to purchase your first home, perhaps higher rents will. As residential rental property shortages appear, Christchurch tenants will see rents beginning to rise. Why pay more rent to your landlord when you could be using it to pay off your home loan instead?

If you are looking at purchasing an investment property, now is the right time for you too. Low interest rates coupled with rising rents are a landlord’s dream. We can help you gain a foothold into the rental market to allow you to reap the rewards of becoming a property investor.

It Really Pays To Count The Cost.

Committing to a mortgage is for most the biggest financial commit that is made during a life time, so it really does pay to count the cost so you can reduce the risk of financial hardship.

What should I count?

Suggest you start with the basics the day to day cost of living, if your under financial stress when life does go out of shape if you can pay the bills that’s a help.

Ask the following:

• What is the risk I would be insuring against? This could be death, a fire at home, or the car getting stolen. Or getting sick and not being able to work.
• What are the chances of it occurring? There’s probably a small risk of a fire in your home, but it will cost a lot if it happens. The chance of your car being damaged or stolen is much higher, but the costs probably won’t be as high as losing your home.
• What would happen? Would your family be able to pay for funeral and legal expenses in the event of your death, and how would they manage without your income? If there was a fire in your home, would you be able to replace the house (if you own it, that is) and all your possessions, or would you lose them completely?
• How much would it cost? Would you have enough money saved to cover the cost and would you want to use your savings for this? (Would you be forced to dip into your retirement savings?)

If you can’t afford for something to happen, you should seriously consider taking out insurance.

Statistics

Income/Mortgage Cover

• The average household expenditure is around $1,300 per week
• In 2018, the Jobseeker Support Benefit was $215 per week for a single person aged 25 + or $358 for a couple
• 24% of the general population in NZ have a disability
• In 2017 the average weekly household mortgage repayment expenditure is $436 per week

Disability Cover

• During the June 2018 quarter, there were 92,642 people aged between 18-64 in receipt of Support Living Payment.
• There are an estimated 60,000 stroke survivors in NZ; many are disabled and in need of significant daily support.

We have seen the benefit for Advanced customers who have the above policies and have needed to claim.

The financial options it gives them during a time that is difficult is a positive helping with recovery and protecting the home and loan.

Give us a call on 0508 466 356 and let’s meet up for coffee to discuss buying your dream home.