Buying Your First Home
Getting into the property market might be the best investment of your life! Getting out of the rental market and into your first home can provide a world of benefits, but it’s not something you should rush into.
Buying your first home is a major financial commitment and can have impacts on your financial health for decades to come.
Your first home may not be your dream home, but it could be an integral first step towards getting there. A realistic and affordable shift onto the property ownership ladder could help you budget, save, and make strides towards owning your dream home. Let MyFuture help you get there!
Whether you’ve been in the market for a while or you’re just contemplating making the move to owning your first home, there are important factors to take into account that can make or break your decision.
Trust us, that delightful sense of accomplishment once you move into your first home will make the journey worthwhile.
Buying Your First Home
Buying your first home really is exhilarating, but it can also be extremely stressful. Real estate and mortgages can be a minefield of new jargon and legal requirements. The financial aspects at play for first-time home buyers don’t end with the price of the house.
Other important expenses to keep in mind will include your deposit, your mortgage, insurance, inspections, possible repairs, and legal fees.
When you work with the MyFuture team, we minimise the stress for first-time home buyers so you can spend more time revelling in the excitement of it all.
Get in touch with us today for your FREE no obligation Discovery Session to get a headstart up the property ladder.
How To Save For Your First Home
Buying a house is likely to be one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make because it will probably be the most expensive thing you’ll ever purchase!
There’s no way to make this decision lightly because it will take time and planning. Beyond expected monthly payments, you’ll need to have a home savings plan for a down payment and other ancillary expenses.
When you’re ready to take the leap, the experts at MyFuture are ready to discuss your financial health and guide you through the process wherever you stand.
We have worked with countless first home buyers to optimise their assets and income and ensure they come into the process with eyes wide open.
Get Ahead With Quality Financial Advice
Our Qualified Financial Advisers can help you to get on the property ladder with a tailored savings plan and proven financial expertise.
First Time Buyers Checklist
Financial Adviser
The MyFuture team will work with you to create a financial plan including budgeting, saving and affordability to get you from start to finish. We work closely with trusted mortgage advisers to help you make the most of your finances.
Budgeting
Once you’ve figured out how much you need for a deposit, you’ll need a financial plan to help you get that deposit as quickly as possible. Obviously, budgeting, and sticking to that budget, is an important consideration, but you also need to know which investments are going to give you the best returns – while taking into consideration your relatively short time frame.
Saving
Saving money is no easy feat when the cost of living is rising faster than the rate of inflation. That’s why you need a savings plan that can protect your assets and maintain or grow their spending power.
Affordable
Your monthly income minus expenses determine what payments you can realistically make and, ultimately, how much house you can afford.
Mortgage Adviser
A mortgage adviser can tell you how much you can borrow so you know the price range of homes to consider. They will look at your income, assets, liabilities, and available cash to make sure everything is in order.
Mortgage pre-approval
Once you are happy with your mortgage proposal, a mortgage lender will run a credit check to see if, in principle, you’ll be loaned the money. A mortgage pre-approval can give you an advantage over another buyer when making an offer.
First home search
Both web-based and in person real estate services, or a mix of the two, can help you find the home you’re looking for. Consider location, size, amenities, community, condition, and value when searching for properties. If you’re considering making an offer, it’s worth doing a proper inspection.
Make an offer
Making an offer on your first home can be nerve-wracking. Having doubts about whether it’s too low or too high are expected which is why it may be a good idea to work with a real estate professional. At MyFuture, we have the experience and qualifications to provide you with reassurance that you’re making the right choice. Offers can be conditional based on the results of inspections, valuation, and other legal reports or they can be unconditional meaning you’ll take the house as-is.
Apply for mortgage
If your offer is accepted, congratulations are in order! Both you and the seller will sign a contract agreeing to terms of transfer.
If you haven’t done so already, you will then need to formally apply for a mortgage. A mortgage pre-approval should speed up the application process. At this point, your mortgage lender will likely send out a surveyor to do a valuation of the property and make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for. Valuation and inspection may also highlight if there are any issues with the house.
Settlement
The legal agreement once a Sale and Purchase Agreement has been signed include a number of important steps:
- An initial deposit is held in trust until the settlement is finalised.
- Finalise details with your bank or lender
- Contact a solicitor to represent your interests
- Reviewing any contracts
- Complete and review any inspections or property reports
- Arrange for transfer or setup of utilities and home services
- Transfer the agreed upon amount of the sale
- Get your keys and move in!
How Much Deposit Will You Need For A First-Time Home Buyer In NZ?
The property market in New Zealand is constantly in flux. With recent spikes in house prices, there are opportunities to borrow from your bank with as little as a 5-10% deposit. However, these low deposits are difficult to secure. A 20% deposit is more widely accepted.
Keep in mind, the lower the deposit, the more risk there is to both the borrower and lender. If you take out a mortgage for more than 80% of the property’s value, you’ll likely have higher fees and payments to cover the higher risk that the lender faces in case you default.
To reduce this risk, lenders typically require a minimum deposit of at least 20% of the full house price. If the house is worth $700,000 you would need a deposit of at least $140,000. Yes, that’s a big deposit but that’s where a Qualified Financial Adviser is worth their weight in gold as they will be able to help you reach that deposit as quickly as possible.
Wherever you are in the home buying process, MyFuture is here to help you make the most of your resources and get you into your first home. Reach out today for a FREE no obligation Discovery Session with our real estate and finance professionals.
What is our 6-Step Financial Advice Process?
The 6-step financial advice process is the international benchmark for financial planning. This holistic approach is proven to increase the likelihood of you achieving your financial goals.
Discovery Session
This is our opportunity to get to know you better, understand your financial goals (short, medium and long-term), and what resources you have to achieve those goals.
Research & Recommendations
During these steps, we do the research, run the numbers, document and present our recommendations to you. This can be a comprehensive financial plan focused on long-term wealth creation and/or a statement of advice focused on your more immediate financial needs. We will need to verify the information you provided during the Discovery Session by requesting supporting documents such as loan and savings account balances, payslips, etc. This ensures we are using highly accurate information when developing our recommendations.
Implementation
This step is all about implementing the recommendations. We don’t just provide the recommendation; we take responsibility for helping you implement it. This could involve helping you to complete application forms, working with a broker to restructure your lending, or finding you suitable investments. We understand you’re busy, so our goal is to make your financial world as easy as possible by doing as much as we can in-house for you. However, ultimately, we never have access to your money and cannot sign anything on your behalf, so you need to be an active, willing, and ideally enthusiastic participant in this process.
Ongoing Service & Reviews
This is where the real fun begins—managing and tracking your long-term financial success. We have periodic reviews to ensure your strategy is still appropriate if your goals or circumstances have changed. We adjust when necessary and provide annual snapshots so you can see your progress over time. Most importantly, you have your very own trusted Personal Financial Adviser available anytime to help with the little or big stuff. Worried about making next month’s mortgage repayments? Call us. Your parents gave you an early inheritance? Call us. Broke up with your partner and split all your assets? Call us! We’re here for you every step of the way to ensure that whatever life throws at you, you stay on track with your long-term financial goals.
Frequently Asked Questions