M_and_M

This is one of my big worries. Personal circumstances are such that we need to use all the equity from the UK house sale to make the move possible. This means we start all over again on the housing ladder.

I am 41, hubby 48.

What's housing prices and mortgages like in NZ? We we even be able to save up and buy another house, or are we destined to rent well into retirement?

scottishstacey

Have you had a nosey on 'trade me'

M_and_M

Yes I have. What I actually meant was what's the state of the banking system? How easy is it to get a mortgage? Are there age restricted terms? What size deposit do you need? That sort of thing.

MrsFychan

Husband started working in the Sept, October he had a mortgage offer. He had proviso's in it, like proof of deposit obviously the bigger the deposit the better (we have always approached mortgages with the amount we would want to spend each month and then seen what sort of mortgage we could get for that), visa status etc but then all mortgages have those sort of things. We didn't take the mortgage out until July the following year as we wanted to make sure the area we rented in was where it was best for us and then we needed to find the right house.
No drama's, no unreasonable requests. We used a mortgage broker who was a little gem and made everything easy and the solicitor he recommended was the bees knees. all in all much easier than the UK in my experience

scottishstacey

Ahh right sorry. I havent a clue tbh, i didnt get that far last time. Best talk to mark smith - he said he bought a house recently

BEVS

No age restrictions AFAIK. Mr BEVS was 45 when we got our mortgage here in NZ back in 2004.

The bank will look at your income - and any debt you may have here, like HP for a car or credit card balance.

They look at the house value and your available deposit.

It's a bit different here as the bank grant you a loan facility in a way. Even though we now own our house outright , the loan facility is still in place with the bank

Getting ahead of myself here, but you could think to take out a Kiwi Saver plan to help save for a deposit.

It is possible to get what is called a pre-approved mortgage with the bank , so when it comes to looking for a house , you will know what you can afford

M_and_M

What's a Kiwi saver? I think I saw that on one of millions of forms my employers wanted filled in!

How do you get 'pre approved' ? That sounds like a good idea!

MrsFychan

Getting pre approved you just ask the bank what they would loan you once all you finances are in place to move ahead.

Have a look here for details on KiwiSaver
http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz/

passthevalium

When we came 2 years ago NZ banks required at least a 20 per cent deposit for a mortgage from new immigrants, don't know if it's still the same but I think it is.

lisamct

I'm in the process if arranging a mortgage at the moment and everyone has been happy to accept a 5% deposit as long as you have residency.

passthevalium

Yes, residency is different, but we are on WTR visa.

chocolate cake

I'd guess it would be difficult to get a 100% mortgage, so you'll need to have some savings I think.

You don't say where you moving to, but Auckland prices are ridiculously high, they didn't drop a great deal with the GFC, and are now well above those levels.
Elsewhere prices are more reasonable.

Shouldn't have too much difficulty getting a 90% mortgage, but rates low historically low here, are more than in the UK, and traditionally are too. So it's more not what can you afford with today's rates, but budget for them going up.

Actual house prices can be difficult to find out, as so much goes to auction (it's an easier method for the overpaid agents).

M_and_M

I am headed to Invercargill, so cheaper I hope! I know Auckland is expensive, i have visited the North, not the south though

GoingIn2011

If you are buying a house for 500,000, then if you have residency you need a 5% deposit. That is, 25,000.
This is roughly, 13k-14k pounds.

You can easily get this on a 0% card, or take out a bank loan before you come.

With the exchange rate getting stronger kiwi-wise by the minute you will probably offset any cost to the loan over time by needing fewer dollars to service it.

I have not done this, and I am not recommending that you do this. All I am pointing out is that it is possible for you to get a bank loan out before leaving and then service it over here...

M_and_M

An idea for sure, but I am a bit nervous to do that when as yet I do not know the cost of living, what my rent will be etc and what therefore I could afford to send back to the UK for bills.