September 2017's Property Gazette

How to Avoid Paying Extra Mortgage Fees

Interest rates remain low and the Reserve Bank has recently indicated they do not see them rising soon. While this remains great news for new and existing mortgage holders, there is one small catch…

Banks Are Receiving Lower Margins on Interest Repayments

Banks lend borrowers money to make a profit. No one disputes this, and there’s nothing wrong with it. After all, when we take out a mortgage, we borrow someone else’s money to buy a property. In return, we give them money back in the form of repayments and interest. In the past, this has been perfectly okay with the banks as margins between what they purchase the funds for, and then sell them for has been reasonably profitable. They have taken our interest payments as a profit and been satisfied.

Nowadays the problem is that as the interest rates are so low, the banks are not making as much margin as they would like to. They can’t raise their own interest rates as that would make them less competitive, reducing the number of new borrowers they attract. So instead, they have been reintroducing the ability of charging a fee to new borrowers when they take out a mortgage, or a restructure fee for existing clients looking to change their existing loan structures.

With a fee ranging from several hundred dollars up to a thousand dollars, it’s something borrowers have accepted as part of getting a mortgage. We disagree.

Don’t Pay Extra Fees. Here’s How …

As mortgage brokers, we know the ins and outs of all the lending products on the market. We know which banks charge mortgage establishment fees and which don’t. Before you talk with the bank, talk with us first! It won’t cost you anything – we work for free for you!

If you are not quite sure about the differences between a bank and a broker, then check out our blog and find out which one is best!  Remember, we’re not here to make money from you …

Give us a call on 0508 466 356 or fill in our Contact Page form today.

First Home Buyers Seminar

At the start of August, we were pleased to run a First Home Buyers Seminar in conjunction with Brent Selwyn from Kannangara Thomson, and Kyle Pitman from Harcourts Grenadier. We had a full house of eager first home buyers, armed with plenty of questions around conveyancing, Kiwisaver, and deposit amounts. A big thank you to all who attended and helped make the night a huge success.

Our next First Home Buyers Seminar is being held on the 25th of October. Look out for more details on how to book or contact us for more information. 

  • Greg was excellent to work with throughout purchasing our first home. Highly recommend!
    Anna Van Dissen - 13 July 2026
  • Scott was so helpful. He broke the process of buying our first home down into manageable steps. He was also incredibly patient with my endless silly questions. Couldn’t be happier with his service
    Georgia Norling - 11 July 2026
  • Greg from Advanced Mortgage Solutions helped us purchase our first home, and we couldn’t be more grateful for his support.
    Ted Bajamundi - 06 July 2026
  • Super helpful, Scott was always a phone call or email away for a quick question and had no issue doing so.
    Ryan Chisholm - 25 June 2026
  • Great work from Greg and the team at Mortgage Solutions. Helped us buy our first home, lead us through the process and gave valuable advice. Lots of documents and information to read through. Great communication as well. Have already recommended them to friends and family.
    Sam Burrows - 17 June 2026