That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
First Home Buyers Guide: Navigating the Pre-Approval Process
Ready to step onto the property ladder? Our latest episode demystifies the first critical step every aspiring homeowner needs to understand: pre-approval. As we've seen a surge in first-home buyer inquiries, we're breaking down the entire home purchasing journey into digestible episodes, starting with the foundations.
Pre-approval isn't just paperwork—it's your financial compass for the house hunting process. We explain exactly what information lenders examine, from income and savings to expenses and employment status. We distinguish between pre-assessment (your initial consultation with an advisor) and formal pre-approval (the bank's conditional lending commitment), clarifying how each stage guides your home buying journey.
The power of proper preparation became evident with recent clients who progressed from their initial advisor meeting to viewing properties within just two hours! This illustrates the confidence and clarity that comes with understanding your financial position. We also share an unexpected insight many first-time buyers experience—the emotional shock when they realize their homeownership dreams are genuinely achievable.
While pre-approvals typically last 60-90 days (with extension options), knowing your numbers transforms your property search from wishful browsing to purposeful hunting. Construction loans follow a different pathway, which we'll address in a dedicated future episode. Join us next time as we continue the journey, exploring what happens after securing your pre-approval and how to navigate the next exciting steps toward homeownership.
Welcome back to the episode of KunjCase. Hello Kunj Kia ora. How are you? Wonderful thanks, kunj. I've been thinking a lot about a few things lately. What's on your mind?
Speaker 2:Well, we've had an influx of first-home buyers, so I thought we should go back to basics and step through the process of first-home buying.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I did YouTube videos a few years ago. I have short hair there. You should look it up but I broke it down into different steps. So I think we should do that through the next few episodes and cover off what happens when you buy a house. Yes, absolutely, we should. Awesome. So I want to buy a house. Kunj, where do I start? What's my first step? Well, you need an approval. Oh, what is an approval? What does it mean.
Speaker 2:So pre-approval is basically you providing your financial details, so like your income, your deposit, like your income, your deposit, your dependents and your expenses and all that jazz that gets all captured, collected with evidence to back up you know what your income is, things like that and then that information gets submitted to one of the lenders or one of the banks to get a pre-approval.
Speaker 1:So do you actually look at people's numbers? Do we look at people's numbers?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely we do. Yeah, we look at the numbers, we look at what you've got, we look at the possibilities you know, like your borrowing power, things like that. But it's yeah, definitely get a pre-approval to see where you're at, like, even before the pre-approval, actually have a chat, like have a chat to an advisor to just understand your position.
Speaker 1:Pre-assessment, I would say so. Normally the first step would be us doing a pre-assessment. We will look at your numbers, we will look at what's your current position, deposit, any dates you've got, what's your income whether you're working full-time, part-time, you're a contractor, you're self-employed and we will point you in the right direction, whether you're ready or not. So if we think you're ready, we will see if we can do a pre-approval for you with a lender and then we'll take you through the next steps. So, to just cover off, what are the pros of getting a pre-approval? Conch?
Speaker 2:Well, the pros is like you know where you're at, you know where you can go hunting or shopping for a property.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what are the cons you reckon?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the cons of approval. Well, I guess it's um. The pre-approval lasts for 60 days or 90 days. So if you don't find anything in that time, then though it it expires. But there's always an option to extend that expiry date as well.
Speaker 1:So so if nothing changed in your situation, we can roll it over again for another 60 to 90 days, unless you're doing a build, and that's completely different story. So we're going to cover that off at another time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that deserves its own little episode. When you're doing a build, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:But what I'm thinking of the cons could be and I've seen it time and time again is when we sit down and we tell people, hey, you can actually get a house. The con for them is suddenly to realize oh my God, I can, I have to move, I actually have to pack and I actually can make my dream come a reality. So it's sort of an interesting one, how people can suddenly get you know, reality check and realize that, yes, it is possible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually that's quite funny because last week we met with a first home buyer and we went through their numbers quite quickly, did a pre-assessment. At the moment some banks are, you know, wanting live deals if they're new to bank or they're not the existing customer. So we had this couple that came in, we met them, lovely couple, and we did some numbers and they were like able to purchase an amount of, let's say, 650k or something like that. Then we also had a property that was on the top of our mind and we kind of was like, hey, there's a property.
Speaker 2:So pretty much within, I guess, two hours of meeting us, they had already gone to have a look at a house. Unfortunately that house wasn't suitable for them so they didn't go through with it. But that's how quickly, from meeting an advisor to going to look at a house. So the clients just like, I think in a bit of a shock, because they were like, okay, we just met you guys, now we're going to meet the agent and seeing a house. But that's also, you know, the power of seeing an advisor, seeing what their numbers are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, awesome. So, just to recap, we have talked about the pre-approvals and how to get one and what the steps will be. So tune in for the next episode that we're going to do. On the next step, what happens after the pre-approval.
Speaker 2:Thanks Kunj, thanks team, bye.