The Mortgage Man - A podcast for everyone with or wanting a mortgage

Negative equity is a term most of us haven't heard in a while but is becoming a real possibility for some homeowners, especially those that brought in the last 12-18 months. But what exactly is it? Negative equity is when the property you own is worth less than the mortgage you owe against it. For example, you buy a property for $ 1.2 million, your mortgage is $ 1 million but then the house price...

As interest rates go up, mortgages get more expensive and you might have heard about "going interest-only". What exactly does that mean? First off, your mortgage is usually split into two parts; The " principal " which is the actual amount you borrowed or the loan itself. So when you pay off the principal the mortgage amount you owe actually decreases. And the " interest " which is the cost of bor...

We always hear "I'm going to wait until house prices drop before I buy" The problem is, that for house prices to drop, the cost of money has to go up. The cost of money, also known as interest rates are the highest we've seen since 2008. Does this higher interest rate cancel out any house price drops? We've done the maths and although it does in some cases, it's pretty clear that there is not one...

This week's episode talks about the very first step of the mortgage process. KiwiSaver... Getting this right or wrong can be the deciding factor of "when" you buy your first home. Are you making the correct contributions? Are you in the correct fund? Are you with the right provider? All of these questions have specific answers for your own situation. It is certainly not "one size fits all" when it...

Should You Listen To Your Parents Advice? The rebellious teenager inside you screams no... But you are no longer a teenager and some of the advice parents give their children is pretty helpful...after all they have been around a-lot longer. But financial advice is different. Some peoples parents don't even own property- so should they be giving you advice on whether you should buy a...

We made it to 50 podcast episodes! Free mortgage approvals for everyone!!​​ This episode I have both Chris and Ant joining me to go over our most popular episodes and if the information them is still relevant. Spoiler: some of it's not so its super important to get this update in your ears. ​Here are our most popular topics that we discuss.. ​​- First Home Buyer Grants ​- Home Buying Requirements...

With the cost of living and inflation at all-time highs, it's a real possibility that you might miss a mortgage payment- especially if you have over-leveraged yourself with other debts or decided to have a child (down to one income). If you already have a mortgage and your interest rate is going from 2.5% up to 5.35% then your monthly repayments could be going up by around $800. That's on a mortga...

Most people just want a home as a roof over their heads - but then what? It's very likely that your first home isn't going to be your dream home, so how can you use the first home you purchase as a way to also springboard you closer to that next home, or another home? The people we speak to don't usually think about that next purchase after their first home and how the first home they buy can spee...

Last week we spoke about how to figure out how much money you could get from the bank in 3 different ways. But what if you were expecting more? Or that number is way less than you know you could actually afford? Is there a way to magically increase the loan amount? Well no, But also yes.. Let me explain. If you’ve just gone into the bank and told them your usual details the person you speak to is...

As soon as people decide that they want to buy a house, the next question is how much can they borrow. Sound familiar? So then you go onto your favorite bank's website to use one of their basic calculators to get a ballpark figure. However, they are just that. Very simple. In fact we have tried them all and there was a difference of $210,000 between the highest and lowest loan amounts based on the...

To this point, most of our content has been about how to get a mortgage or buy a house. But what happens once you have actually got a mortgage? Are you stuck with it for 30 years? Or are there some ways to pay it down faster? Yes, there are 3 main ways. Depending on how actively or passively you want to manage your mortgage will depend on which one might be best for you. Or a combination of the th...

Lots of different opinions on what fixed rates are doing, and what you should do with either a new mortgage or a part of your mortgage that you need to refix; these options are more important during times of high inflation. The current rate for 1 year fixed is 4.95% and the floating rate is around 6.75% The main thing when deciding what to do with your rates is your personal situation, how you get...

Banks have been getting a bad rep lately with all the new rules and them just trying to de-risk themselves in a property market full of unknowns. But if you want a home, you kinda need a bank to give you money. So, which is best? Well, it depends on your situation and the current rules at the bank. If you want a new build, then some banks are better. If you have a smaller deposit then you might on...

It might be tempting to want to buy in a different town to where you work to make it more affordable for you to buy your first home. However, it doesn't work like that. There are rules.. Firstly the commute - it kinda needs to be less than a 1-hour drive from where you work. But now if you can work from home. If you are thinking you can live in one place on the weekends (your home) and then rent i...

Revolving credits are complicated. It's one of those things that you learn by doing; but in this episode, Chris & I try our very best to describe how these accounts can save years off your mortgage & save you $10,000's in interest. We cover who these kinds of faculties are good for and who should stay well clear. We also go over how to make the most of the accounts and what pitfalls to loo...

We sometimes forget that the language we use when talking to first-home buyers is not appropriate. I don't mean we use swear words or shout profanities but more so we use words that you may have never heard of. Our fault. But also lawyers, real estate agents, and other pieces of educational material use these same terms. So in this podcast, we get to be a walking, talking dictionary - with a bit o...

It's tempting. Pooling your money & income with a friend or family member so you can buy a home or a better bigger home that usually wouldn't be able to afford. Although it's a great idea at the start of the process, what about at the end? What if one of you no longer lives there or wants to sell? Or has to sell? There are many things that could happen and not all of them turn out great for th...

It's been a busy month in July for mortgages and offers. This podcast covers all of it. We go over 7 key things. 1. 1% cash back from BNZ 2. 1% interest rate for top-ups at ANZ 3. Inflation is at 7.3% 4. OCR is up 0.5% 5. Test rate is up at ASB 6. Which banks are offering loans to people with less than a 20% deposit. 7. Today's current interest rates. And a whole lot of banter. Enjoy!

It's taken us a while to realize that after 36 episodes we haven't done one on the benefits of using a mortgage broker instead of going directly to the bank for your mortgage. There are a lot of benefits that we discuss within this episode but it comes down to a few key benefits; - Advice; we teach you how to buy a house - Personalisation; We know which bank and which products suit your situation...

Did you know that the average first home buyer in 2021 put 49% of their household income towards their mortgage? Back in 1949, the average house cost was only 2x the average household income. Now it's up to 10x. So is now the worse time to be a first home buyer and should that stop you from buying? We can't change the past; only learn from it. And although that might speak true for the last 65 yea...

Kāinga Ora is great - if you meet their eligibility criteria for help. In this episode, we discuss the three ways that Kāinga Ora can help you buy your first home. - Home-Start Grant (that's up to $20,000 of free money towards your deposit) - Shared Ownership ( you both own the property, they can contribute up to $200,000 for this) - 5% Deposit Lending (they will lend you money to top up your depo...

Right now, first-home buyers have got it tough. And it's easy to blame that on the banks or the government which tells the banks what to do. But instead of just complaining about it (don't worry we do that too); we wanted to give you a helping hand to use this tough time to your advantage. Are banks making it harder for you? Yes. If you have a less than 20% deposit then you will be treated as a "r...

Having friends and family is great. Especially when they can help you buy a home. But how? In this podcast, we cover three ways that your nearest & dearest can help you buy depending on if you need help with your deposit, the income side of things, or both. These are 1. A guarantor 2. A Gift 3. More people Ultimately everyone's situation is different and having a First Home Buyer Expert like u...

We are hearing a lot of headlines about the struggles of builders, new builds, and the cost of living. All this adds up to the end buyer to represent extra risk - that is an extra risk for you. Is a new build still worth looking at for a first home purchase? Yes! But; you just need to be a little more careful with your due diligence. Not only on the land and the area and the plans but also on the...

Believe it or not - the buy now pay later facilities are debt and need to be treated as such when applying for a mortgage. We see some people manage these well and others manage them not so well. Like any debt, if you have too many and miss payments - it's unlikely you will be given a mortgage. But if you are paying them on time then your chances are better. The bank likes to see that you are livi...