[maracuja]

I have a question about how these quirky NZ mortgages work.

So what happens at the end of the 3 years, if you take out a mortgage for a 3-year fixed rate? Do you just choose a new rate from the rates then being offered? Do you have to pay fees for that?

Do they look at your credit or current job etc. to determine which new rates to offer you?

Thanks!

[Moorf]

Hi

We went through re-arranging our fixed mortgage earlier this year. It's very simple. Once your term for the current rate is up they then put you on their general floating rate, we got a letter saying our fixed mortgage was ending a month or two before it did and that gave us time to check around the other banks rates and then negotiate a new one with the bank. We refixed ours at a good rate by threatening to change banks... glad we did after the recent rises.

HTH
Moorf

[maracuja]

ok, thanks!

I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to try to buy a property in NZ now, while I'm still in the USA and making a good salary. I think any job I get in NZ is going to pay a lot less, so this way I'd already have a place to live and a mortgage in place, and I don't think the payments would be much worse than any rental payments would be.

I have 2 dogs, and 2 cats, that I'll be bringing with me, and from what I've read it could be a big headache trying to find a rental with this pack of animals...

Anyway, I think the plan could work, as long as the bank doesn't reevaluate my worthiness at the time of resetting the mortgage rate, because by that time I don't expect that I'd have the same salary. So thanks for your response!