Mortgage Insights.

One way to reduce some of the stress of finding and owning your first home is to plan ahead for the extra costs involved. That

There are two main types of mortgage insurance – mortgage repayment protection insurance and lenders’ mortgage insurance. The first is similar to the other types

Creating future retirement income by buying investment properties is a time-honoured way to build your wealth, so you can achieve freedom from work. And we’re

Most people think about breaking their fixed rate mortgage when interest rates are falling and they see lower rates than the one they’re on. But

Whether you’re a first home buyer or looking to upgrade, one of the most important rules is to know what you can realistically afford. And

For some years now, New Zealand’s main banks and other mortgage lenders have been known to offer a cashback reward to eligible customers when they

Moving from one mortgage provider to another involves applying for and getting a new loan, then using that loan to repay your old one, so

Understanding how lenders calculate your mortgage interest is the first step to finding ways to pay less interest over the life of your loan. To

The yield on any investment usually refers to how much money it makes each year as a percentage of the amount invested. This percentage sometimes

Also known as a ‘variable mortgage’ or ‘floating home loan’, a floating rate mortgage has an interest rate that can increase or decrease at any

When a home loan lender is checking you out as a potential borrower, they’ll take a long, hard look at your credit score, which is

The short answer to this intriguing question is ‘as often as you want to’. Refinancing, aka remortgaging, can be something you do regularly, to either

The golden rule for the deposit required to buy a first home used to be 20%. But now there are opportunities to get a home

When a registered valuation isn’t high enough, you may need to rethink your plans – although you can appeal the valuation if you’re sure it’s

A fixed rate mortgage has an interest rate that doesn’t change over an agreed period of time – six months, or one, two, three, four

When you start planning to buy a home, there’s a lot of jargon to get your head around. But most of it is easily understood,

Until recently, the commentary around interest rates has been a bit like taking a roadie with young kids. It’s been dominated with that age-old question,

Back in the mid-1980s, it was perfectly normal to pay around 20% interest for your home loan. Sure, houses were a lot cheaper back then,

The question ‘how long should I fix my mortgage for’ has much in common with questions like ‘what are interest rates going to do?’, ‘how

Going shopping for a home can be one of life’s best moments. The secret to making it a positive experience is having a realistic picture

One of the simplest ways to see what your regular mortgage repayments would be is to use our mortgage repayments calculator. You can also use

If you’re 60 or older and own a home, a reverse mortgage lets you borrow money for any purpose and not repay the loan or

An offset mortgage lets you use money in a separate account (savings or everyday) to effectively reduce the balance of your mortgage when it comes

As its name suggests, an interest-only mortgage means your regular weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments only include the interest charged. So you don’t repay any

Getting a mortgage is a big deal. Where do you go to find the best lender for your circumstances? What criteria will you have to

When you originally set up your mortgage, it would have been subject to the floating and fixed lending rates for that particular day, with your

A revolving credit mortgage is like an all-in-one bank account with a large overdraft facility. It lets you draw down a loan, put money in