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
When Your Address Is a Deal-Breaker (And How to Fix It)
Geographical discrimination in mortgage lending is rarely discussed, but it nearly derailed the homeownership dreams of a hardworking Greymouth couple. Their story reveals a shocking reality that many New Zealanders may face when seeking to buy in regional areas.
Meet our clients: a couple in their 30s with three young children who had done everything right. They'd saved $68,000 for their deposit through KiwiSaver and personal savings. Both earned stable incomes of $55,000 in secure professions. On paper, they were ideal candidates for the Kāinga Ora first home loan scheme. Yet their application was declined by a major lender for one reason only – they wanted to buy in Greymouth on the West Coast.
This was unprecedented in my 15 years in finance. The same clients would have been approved had they wanted to buy in Wellington, Christchurch, or other major centres. We immediately regrouped and approached alternative lenders, eventually finding a major bank that assessed their application based on their financial merits rather than postal code. Not only were they approved, but they secured more than their initial requirement – and just in time to avoid the significant Kāinga Ora low equity premium increase coming on July 1st (jumping from 0.5% to 1.2%).
The takeaway is clear: if you're buying in a regional area and face rejection, don't assume it's your financial position at fault. Different lenders have different geographical restrictions, and finding the right match is crucial. Have you faced similar obstacles in your homebuying journey? We'd love to help you navigate these hidden barriers to homeownership. Contact us today to discuss your situation and discover options you might not know exist.
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Welcome back listeners. Today is an interesting one. We're going to delve into a case study for first-home buyer clients. They've reached out to me a few months ago. They live in Greymouth of New Zealand, young couple in their 30s, they've got three young kids, they work hard and good incomes and they've been trying hard to save some money. So let's have a look into their case and what went wrong and what went well, because today we're very, very excited for them after a big blip that we've had. So they have approximately $68,000 in deposit and that comes from KiwiSaver and savings, dollars in deposit and that comes from KiwiSaver and savings. They have few assets like cars and contents, but the main thing they had going for them well was their incomes. They're both on $55,000 a year in a profession that's not going to go out of market anytime soon. So from the bank point of view they were ideal clients to help them out under the first home loan with Kayanga Ora. So we thought we'll have no problem at all. We've applied them to our preferred partner that has fantastic rates for first-home buyers Now, only to find out two weeks later that this particular place does not land in West Coast of New Zealand.
Speaker 0:So these clients were not able to get approved just because of the location. Look, in my 15 years in finance, this is the first time ever that I see one of the lenders declining an applicant because of the location where they want to buy. If they wanted to buy in Wellington or Christchurch or anywhere else, they would have been fine, but because of where they were, the bank decided they were not ideal clients for them. So we had to regroup, we had to look at new options and we had to reapply them somewhere else. Now, because the banks are taking a very long time at the moment to come back to us, it took us a while to get a positive outcome for them, but the good news is today they have been approved for even more than what they were requiring initially from another big lender, and this big lender didn't care about the location. All they cared about is the quality of the applicants. They looked at their incomes, they looked at their deposit and they looked at their expenses. And the greatest news is they got in before.
Speaker 0:The low equity premiums are changing for Kayanga Ora Because, remember, from 1st of July the low equity premium will change. The fee will change from 0.5% to 1.2%, and that's a huge change. In one of the next episodes I will do a breakdown for you of how much difference it makes on the average loan for average first home buyer. So good news for those clients. If you have been told no because of the location of where you want to buy or the house, don't lose hope. Reach out to us. We will be able to have a look at it and let you know what your next steps will be. Thank you and bye.
