[Tentun]

Hi everyone

Apologies if this is a topic that has come up before. I did a search but couldn't find much.

Could someone give me a quick run down on what it's like to get a mortgage in NZ.

What is a typical deposit?

What amount are we likely to be offered for a mortgage (ie 3 x salary or less or more etc)

What are we likely to pay for a house with 3 beds, small garden, reasonable size, probably Auckland and surrounding.

I've heard interest rates are pretty high, can someone give me an example. I don't want to extract personal financial information from anyone so perhaps if everyone feels better with it, I'll do a poll re this question, but I'm interested to know sortof what mortgage repayments we will be making if we buy a house, can anyone give me examples of what an average mortgage amount would be for the type of house I mentioned above. I just have not got a clue!

Also, if anyone can advice on what it would cost to rent the above type of property.

Sorry if this is a big ask, just really starting to think about it and have lots of questions as we have plenty of grey areas in our knowledge..

Thanks

[suebeenz]

Hi everyone

Apologies if this is a topic that has come up before. I did a search but couldn't find much.

Could someone give me a quick run down on what it's like to get a mortgage in NZ.

What is a typical deposit?

What amount are we likely to be offered for a mortgage (ie 3 x salary or less or more etc)

What are we likely to pay for a house with 3 beds, small garden, reasonable size, probably Auckland and surrounding.

I've heard interest rates are pretty high, can someone give me an example. I don't want to extract personal financial information from anyone so perhaps if everyone feels better with it, I'll do a poll re this question, but I'm interested to know sortof what mortgage repayments we will be making if we buy a house, can anyone give me examples of what an average mortgage amount would be for the type of house I mentioned above. I just have not got a clue!

Also, if anyone can advice on what it would cost to rent the above type of property.

Sorry if this is a big ask, just really starting to think about it and have lots of questions as we have plenty of grey areas in our knowledge..

Thanks


Somone else will be able to give a more precise answer, but here's my stab at it

15-20% deposit
8%+ interest at the moment i think?
$500K ? (rough guess)

If you search through the forums, you should definitely find more precise info. Avalon has made some fanastic posts, as have many others (my appolgies, can't remember the handles off the top of my head).

If you want to take a look at houses, I'd recommend using trademe.co.nz and that should give you a great idea of what money buys you.

Good luck!

[pinkpiggy]

Here's a link to Avalon's Money Thread. There's a lot of information and takes a while to read but it's very good.
http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9357

[jubjub]

What amount are we likely to be offered for a mortgage (ie 3 x salary or less or more etc)

We got offered about 3 x by one bank and 4 x by another, so I guess it depends!

What are we likely to pay for a house with 3 beds, small garden, reasonable size, probably Auckland and surrounding.

At the moment, anything from $450k, cheaper if you are lucky, and are not overly fussy about area/school zones. Look on http://www.realestate.co.nz/ for an idea.

I've heard interest rates are pretty high, can someone give me an example.

Current fixed rates are around the 8.9 mark, general consensus is that this is about as high as they are likely to go, but hey, you never know :roll .

Also, if anyone can advice on what it would cost to rent the above type of property.

Maybe around $4-450, again depending on area, you can prob get a little lower, have a look at the www.trademe.co.nz (http://www.trademe.co.nz) rental section.

Like Pinkpiggy said, have a read through that money thread by Avalon, she is very thorough!

[able]

I did a google search and the first thing that came up was an article on the ENZ website. It seems to answer some of your questions about mortgages

http://www.emigratenz.org/getting-a-mortgage-in-new-zealand.html

[KerryS]

What is a typical deposit?
Usually at least 10% of the property. Although there are 100% mortgages available.

What amount are we likely to be offered for a mortgage (ie 3 x salary or less or more etc)
I was offered 5 times my income by my bank! I think it's more usual for 3 or 4 times though.

What are we likely to pay for a house with 3 beds, small garden, reasonable size, probably Auckland and surrounding.
That really depends on where in Auckland you want to be. In my current suburb you'd be lucky to get anything under 750k, further out you'd be looking at around about 500k.

I've heard interest rates are pretty high, can someone give me an example. I don't want to extract personal financial information from anyone so perhaps if everyone feels better with it, I'll do a poll re this question, but I'm interested to know sortof what mortgage repayments we will be making if we buy a house, can anyone give me examples of what an average mortgage amount would be for the type of house I mentioned above. I just have not got a clue!
Currently almost at 9%, but you can get fixed rates for less, and haggle the rate down with your bank. I negotiated 0.75% off my mortgage rate.

Also, if anyone can advice on what it would cost to rent the above type of property.
Rents vary depending on the area. A 3 bed in Ponsonby rents for about $700 a week. But, you can pay far less in other areas. Have a look on TradeMe for ideas about rental prices. (You can search on area and no of bedrooms to fit your needs.)

[willowshouse]

I'm interested to know sortof what mortgage repayments we will be making if we buy a house, can anyone give me examples of what an average mortgage amount would be for the type of house I mentioned above. I just have not got a clue!

Also, if anyone can advice on what it would cost to rent the above type of property.


So, just to show a rent/mortgage comparison, if you bought a typical 3 bed house where I live in Auckland it would cost you $750,000. With a 10% deposit and at 8.75% interest this would cost you $1135 per week INTEREST ONLY (God only knows what a repayment mortgage would be). You would rent the same home for around $500 - $650 per week.

[Tentun]

Thanks guys. I've checked out the websites and the links you've all recommended and have found them very useful. I feel like I'm getting to grips with it all now.

[jubjub]

Well, remember I said general opinion is that they wont get much higher, we got our 8.9% by the skin of our teeth, the next day they put it up to 9.3. Our mortgage payments have just skyrocketed by over $300 a month, just due to interest rises..... waaaaahhhhhhhhh, bang goes the moving house dream for now.

[jubjub]

Well, I have to say the remortgage was totally painless. Within 24 hours of our one mortgage fixed fee ending, we have the next one set up, the extra money in our bank account (good job cos the car got totalled today!) and the legal fee contribution refunded.

In all it took about half an hour with our mortgage broker, couple of signatures, 15 mins in the bank to set up the current account and we are all set for the next couple of years.

Easiest remortgage ever.

[jess]

(good job cos the car got totalled today!) :uhoh sorry to hear that!!

[Chiba]

Forgive the dumb question: isn't it possible to get a mortgage in the UK for a house purchase in NZ? Sure, you'd be at the mercy of fx rates, but you'd be paying half the interest. I mean, as a British citizen wouldn't it be like buying a holiday home in France or something?