Refinancing to a lower interest rate sounds like a good idea. But do the numbers stack up? Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough takes you through what to consider before making the move.

"Today we are talking to all those people who currently have mortgages and are looking for a better mortgage rate from another bank.  We’re going to look at what you need to know about interest rates and when it’s good to refinance and when it’s not a good strategy.

So, you’ve got a fixed-term interest rate maturing soon and the bank or your broker has sent you some interest rates. Maybe your current bank is offering 0.1% higher than another bank in the market; should you refinance your mortgage to get the better rate?

Before we can answer that question, we need to consider how much of a difference the interest rate difference will make.  In theory, it should always make sense to move to a cheaper bank however, even with very large dollar numbers, the first calculation we need to do is find out if it is worth the bother."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/ProZ9fq0ZK0

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Want to increase the amount the bank will lend you for a mortgage? Mortgage Lab CEO tells you how it can be done.

"In our last video we asked the question, what is your mortgage number.  Essentially, what is the maximum you can borrow at the best bank for you in your current financial situation.  Today we’re going to look at what you can do when your mortgage number is not enough to get the house you want.

Everyone who is paying rent can borrow something.  You’re already making regular payments to a landlord so some part of your income is going to living costs.  The problem is that banks test what you can afford at a much higher servicing rate - at the time of recording, around 7.3%.  And for most people, their current rent when put towards a mortgage of 7.3% doesn’t add up to much.  The rest of your purchase has to be made up from your savings or, in other words, is made up of what you don’t spend from your income in any given month.

Based on that, here are 5 tips for increasing your mortgage number or 5 tips on how to get the bank to lend you more.  If you think we’ve missed anything, drop us a comment and tell us how you managed to increase your mortgage number."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/IBeVP7cGlHg

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Everybody has a mortgage number.  That is, everyone has an amount of money that a lender is willing to lend to them to purchase a house.  Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough talks you through what your mortgage number might be and how you can confidently calculate it.

"When you hear that a friend or a workmate or just a random person in the news was declined for a mortgage what you’re actually hearing is that the mortgage amount they applied for exceeded their personal mortgage number at one or more lenders.

And here’s the first thing you need to know about your personal mortgage number.  It varies from lending institution to lending institution.  And I know what you’re thinking; it can’t be that much, it must be a standardised way of calculating affordability.  But because this is a leveraged transaction, in other words, you only need about $9,000 per $100,000 that you are borrowing, a small difference in the way the banks calculate income makes a big difference in the amount they will lend you..."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/2bVeGkW-Q3E

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Wondering how the bank would take into account income from a boarder or flatmate? Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough takes you through what you need to know.

"Firstly, let’s clarify the difference between a boarder and a flatmate because it’s important for your application.  A flatmate is someone who rents a room at a fixed price and shares the costs such as food with others in the house. A boarder, on the other hand, pays a set amount which might include the room, prepared meals and laundry etc.

The policy for including flatmate income in mortgage applications changes as banks welcome or shy away from higher risk lending.  As a general rule, banks don’t like applications to rely on flatmate income if the mortgage is over 80%.  So those with, what the banks class as a small deposit - being under a 20% deposit - generally need to be able to afford the mortgage on their own income..."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/utkX-qHz1gk

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough wraps up what's been happening with interest rates in May 2022 and shares big news about the First Home Loan and First Home Grant schemes. This is a must watch for first home buyers!

"Firstly, with the First Home Loan, there is now no price cap for getting a First Home Loan. In other words, there is no maximum purchase price when using the First Home Loan scheme.  That means, whatever you can afford on your income, up to the threshold of $150k for couples and single parents, you can buy with just 5% deposit. This is huge news for anyone in the smaller, more affordable towns who may be able to get a decent sized house around $800k to $850k where previously they could only spend a maximum of $500k..."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/cK7Y7o2MuoI

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough shares what you need to know about the new government initiative, First Home Partner, and why it could be the key to buying your first home.

"A number of initiatives are already in place from the government - administered and processed through Kainga Ora.  The main ones are:

The First Home Loan: This allows first home buyers, buying under a certain price cap, the ability to borrow with as low as 5% deposit with a portion of the loan being guaranteed by the government (taking the risk of low deposit borrowing off the banks).

The First Home Grant: The government gifts money towards a deposit for first home buyers who meet the particular criteria.  Again these have property price caps and income caps.

Enter the latest initiative, the First Home Partner, where the government doesn’t guarantee a loan for you but instead takes an ownership in the property with you..." 

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/JO6a2sqvSow

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough shares what's been happening in mortgages throughout April 2022, giving you everything you need to know about the mortgage market.

The big news this month was, of course, the OCR announcement when Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr announced a 0.5% or 50 basis point increase to the official cash rate. This was the biggest OCR increase in 22 years on the back of massive inflation of 6.9% well above their target inflation rate of 2%. 

Not since 17th May 2000 has the Reserve Bank increased the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points when the then Reserve Bank Governor and future leader of the National Party Don Brash  raised NZ’s OCR to 6.5% because of an inflation rate of 5.8%. That’s right, it’s been so long since we had a 50 basis point jump on the OCR that, at the time, you would have heard about it on your monochrome screen Nokia 3210...

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/HpGbw-zbgJM

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Thinking about buying a house with friends in order to get on the property ladder? Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough talks you through everything you need to consider beforehand.

With high house prices and not everyone having access to help from the Bank of Mum and Dad, many Kiwis are asking whether it is worth buying with friends instead of on their own. 

So let's look at the pros and cons of purchasing a house with friends, what is involved with getting a mortgage together and at the end, I’ll give you the 6 important topics you will need to discuss long before you start searching for a home...

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/MGimFLkZm2g

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough shares his top five tips to boost your house deposit. 

"The first thing is look around your house and see what you can sell.  It might be a spare car that you don't use anymore, just sitting down there on the driveway, slowly (or quickly) depreciating in value. It might be the camping gear that you went away once with and almost had a divorce over. It could be the mountain bike that you bought and took out to ride once. There's a tonne of stuff sitting around your house right now, that isn't being used and could be sold to increase your deposit.  Grab a camera, take photos and list them on Trade Me.  That money is just sitting there not being used. If you’re borrowing at 90%, $5,000 worth of old stuff you don’t use means another $50,000 of borrowing that is possible..."

You can watch a video on the same subject here: https://youtu.be/h5iL4NYuNbk

If you are unsure where to start or have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the team at mortgagelab.co.nz/contact-us, we're here to help.

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