Education is the bedrock of everything we do – so let’s arm you with some knowledge! Below are some of our most frequently asked questions, but please reach out if there’s anything else you want to know.
Anytime is a great time to refinance – and the best time is now. We’ll assess your situation and provide you with expert advice on how to structure your home loan, reduce your payments, and become debt-free faster. By helping you understand all your options, and demonstrating the impact of those different options on your finance – sometimes saving tens of thousands of dollars. And because we get paid by the banks, there’s no cost to you (just savings!)
That’s a tricky question! It depends on a range of things, including your financial situation and the type of home you’re buying. The Reserve Bank placed restrictions on the percentage of home loans banks can lend to people with a less than 20% deposit, although this has been suspended for a year following COVID-19. Regardless of whether this is in place or not, there are other options to help you get your deposit together and purchase your house.
Whether you’ve got 20% or not, get the ball rolling now by getting in touch with our mortgage experts – we’ll help you understand the options available and give you an indication of what you can expect.
Equity is the difference between a property’s value and the amount you owe on it. If you sold your property and repaid your mortgage, your equity would be the amount left over.
For example if you have a house worth $400,000 with a $100,000 mortgage, you have $300,000 of equity in the property.
If you have family who would like to help you get into your first home, you may want to explore gifting or guarantee options. They can be effective if you’re able to meet the repayments on a home loan, but don’t have the deposit you’d normally require.
This type of solution is for people looking to buy a new property who either:
1. Have a mortgage and do not wish to pay it off but wish to live in a different house;
2. Have found a new house and have not sold their current property; or
3. Would like to change the structure of their lending from joint to trust and/or company.
Getting the solution right all depends on your specific needs and financial situation. Get in touch to find out if you’re eligible, and we can help you decide if this would be a good fit for your needs.
It’s easy to get confused when navigating the different types of mortgages available. A floating or variable mortgage is one that doesn’t have a fixed interest rate – instead, the lender will lift or lower the interest rate depending on what’s happening in the wider market. Normally this number will be linked to the Official Cash Rate (OCR). This means your repayments may go up or down – so great for when interest rates are low, but not so great when they go up again.
This depends so much on what’s happening in your own life – which is why we’ll talk you through all the options and help you understand the right choice.
A few things that may come into play here: whether you want to sell your property in the short term, where interest rates are likely to be when your mortgage expires (ideally lower at that point), and whether interest rates are rising significantly.
Splitting your mortgage between fixed and floating is one option. This gives you stability for a chunk of the debt, as you’ll know how much you are paying back each instalment, plus gives you some protection from interest rate increases. It also offers the flexibility to make some extra payments.
However, it’s important that you understand all implications before signing something you could later regret. Education is incredibly important to us, so we’ll ensure you understand all your options before you make a decision.
Table repayments are the most common option, with your repayments staying the same over the term of the loan.
The total amount of interest that must be paid over the term of your loan is added to the principal (the amount you borrow). This amount is then divided into equal repayments over the term of the loan.
With table repayments, you pay more interest than principal at the start, so initially you won’t build up much equity in your home. However, the balance changes over time so later on you repay more principal than interest and your equity builds up faster.
Interest only repayments are exactly what the name suggests – you only pay the interest with each repayment. The principal (the amount you borrow) must be repaid at the end of the loan term (you can choose a one to ten year loan term).
With these repayments, your payments will be larger at the start but reduce a little each time, and you pay slightly less interest over the term of the loan.
Different options are right for different people – so we’ll discuss all your options and help you come to the right decision.
It’s a bit like a piece of string – it depends! Because insurance should be catered to your needs and your budget, we’ll work with you to determine several options that could work. We’ll help you understand the differences between each option and what you get for each of those so you can choose something that will suit you.
Smokers and vapors pay a higher premium than non-smokers. This is because the risk of a smoker dying or becoming ill is statistically higher than that of a non-smoker.
If you start a policy as a smoker and then give up for at least a year, you can send us a smoking update form and apply to have your premiums reduced.
If you start a policy as a non-smoker and then start smoking, your premiums do not change because of that. It’s important to be honest about your smoking habits, as incorrect information can affect any claim you might make.
Your adviser will step you through the application process, but generally you will need to provide your name, contact details, occupation, how you want to pay, and information about your health and lifestyle. For some types of cover, like Income Protection, we will also need some financial information and evidence.
To make things even easier, in some situations you can fill in your forms online or use our express telephone service to go through the health questions with someone from our specialist underwriting team instead of filling in the application form.
In many cases we can still offer you cover even if you have an existing condition. We may need to exclude that condition from your policy or increase your premium so it can be included.
Chat to your adviser and they can help you find the right cover for you.
To calculate your premium we look at your age, gender, smoking status and medical history. For some cover the insurer might also consider your income, occupation and lifestyle choices.
This gives them an overall picture of what the risks are for you. Along with the type of cover you have, this allows us to calculate your premium.
Products you can buy directly tend to be one-size-fits-all, whereas adviser-based products are customised to you and allow you to pick options that best suit you.
What’s more, there are so many differences between insurers – but unless you’ve spent years understanding those differences, it can be tricky to know which one to go with. An advisor will help you understand those differences, ensure that there aren’t any tricky policy holes that mean you might miss out on cover later, and choose the right option for you.
What’s more, you won’t pay any more to go through an adviser – our fees are covered by the insurers and often we’re able to negotiate better terms.
ARAPETA ALBERT
Financial Adviser | Partner
021 0271 2712
[email protected]
JOANNE WALKER
Financial Adviser | Partner
021 660 307
[email protected]
ALEX TALOPA’U
Business Development
0272 452 395
[email protected]
ALVA TALOPA’U
Financial Adviser
027 672 2280
[email protected]
Lending, Insurance and policy criteria and terms and conditions apply. Content on this website is general in nature and is not a recommendation, opinion or guidance to any individuals in relation to acquiring or disposing of a financial product. Readers should not rely on this content and should always seek specific financial advice appropriate to their own individual circumstances.