First Home Buyers, you're in the right place.
Stressing about buying your first home? You're not alone. We've helped thousands of kiwi into their first homes and we can help you too.
How much can I borrow for a house?
Tell us a little about your financial situation and we'll work out how much you could borrow towards purchasing a home.
We're here to guide you through the process
We'll arm you with all the info you need, help you steer clear of the traps and sort you out with the best possible deal from the bank. We've even put together a handy First Home Buyers Guide with answers to questions you probably haven't come up with yet.
We've built our entire business around making sure the house buying process runs as smoothly as possible for you, from saving for a deposit to getting the best mortgage rates - leaving you to get on with the fun stuff, like planning your first BBQ.
Heard about Launchpad, the home loan for first home buyers with high income and low deposit? See if you qualify here.
Why Squirrel you ask? Well - in a nutshell (ha) we've been around the block a few times. We know house buying inside out and arrange a whopping $3 billion of home loans every year, helping tons of kiwis in the process.
So what does a Squirrel mortgage broker do?
We do a lot more than negotiate a good deal with the bank. Here's a snapshot of what we'll do for you:
- Help you figure out how much you can afford to borrow
- Work out where to buy your first home
- Access property reports on potential homes
- Help arrange inspections and valuations
- Look over your LIM, Sale and Purchase agreement and building inspection reports (those things are loaded with jargon which we can translate for you)
- Get you a great deal from the bank and the best structure for your mortgage
- We're just an email or phone call away if you get stuck with something. No question is a stupid question in our books.
If you're still unsure about why a mortgage broker is the way to go, find out more about what we do here.
Don't know where to begin? Book a chat with us.
Sometimes it's easier to just chat through everything with someone who knows the answers. Luckily, we can help. Choose a time in our diary and one of our team will give you a call. Easy!
Some tips before you get started
We've been around the block a few times, here's our advice to get you prepped:
We've been around the block a few times, here's our advice to get you prepped:
Get your ducks in a row so you can jump on the right deal
If you’ve got all the legal and financial stuff sorted early you’ll get in first on the great properties. Almost makes you feel sorry for everyone else. Almost. Tip: we can help you with this.
Don't settle for any old mortgage
A mortgage is a huge sum of money, which means squeezing what feels like loose change out of your bank can save you thousands of bucks in the long run. Seriously. Get your mortgage right and it's the easiest money you'll make.
The banks will do anything to make you choose them
Don’t fall for their free-tv-cash-back-free-groceries-for-a-year trickery – get the right mortgage, and you’ll be able to buy your own TV. Our advisers aren't incentivised to put one provider's loan over another including our own, so their only motivation is to make you better off.
Want more tips? Get our guide to buying your first home
We've popped together tons of information and our top tips to help you get onto the property ladder. It's all in one easy-to-read PDF guide, which you can get sent straight to your email inbox.
We have access to all the banks
Our online application is designed to help us get to know you faster, so we can focus our time on the stuff that's most important to you.
Ready to get the ball rolling?
Our online application is designed to help us get to know you faster, so we can focus our time on the stuff that's most important to you.
Hear from JB (the chief of Squirrel) about what NOT to do.
(ft Jack, the dog).
Do the research before you start looking at houses
How much can I borrow?
It's usually the first thing to figure out, so you have a realistic idea of what house you're going for, what area and what kind of houses are in your price range. Our handy dandy calculator will help figure this out for you.
How to use your KiwiSaver
Most first home buyers will use their KiwiSaver as part of the deposit. But how does it work and how do you get it out? Here's everything you need to know.
Getting your deposit together
The bigger your house deposit the better. 20% is the goal but before you lose hope, there are options. On top of KiwiSaver, there are solutions to help you make up that 20%. And if your savings need a boost, we've got products to help grow your money faster too.
Mortgage rates aren't everything
When it comes to hundreds of thousands of dollars, a fraction of a percent change in interest or repayments can save you a packet. Having said that, chasing short-term savings doesn't always work for everyone. We can help you make the right choice.
Get schooled on everything property
We have tons of blogs just for you, young home buyer. Arm yourself with all the knowledge you can so you've got the edge above your competition.
Why interest rates could be likely to tumble
With NZ's latest inflation numbers out in late January, it looks like we're finally winning the battle — and we could see annual inflation come down relatively quickly in the coming months. So what would that mean for interest rates?
How saving with Squirrel could get you into your first home faster
If you've been working hard to get to that 20% house deposit, you'll want to make sure your savings are working as hard as possible, to get you into your first home even faster.
First home buyers: Ways to get into your own home with just a 5% deposit
Lenders will usually require you to front up with a deposit of 20% of the purchase price for an existing property – 10% if it’s a new build – before they’ll consider giving you a mortgage on it. If you’ve been saving hard only to have your deposit goal feel like it’s getting further out of reach – or you just don’t want to have to wait years and years (and years) to get into your first home – there are options out there.
FAQs
When it comes to buying a house, there are so many things to think about. We've answered a few questions you may have on your mind.
Don’t just take our word for it
Victoria
New Zealand
Outstanding guidance and service from Adam. I don't know why someone wouldn't use Squirrel. Accessible responsive knowledgeable understanding of our situation and goals and making it all so easy, we were so grateful to work with Adam and Squirrel and recommend the them both without hesitation!
Luke Murray
New Zealand
It was a great experience. The refinance helped me greatly and put me in a position to keep my apartment
Christa
New Zealand
A huge thank you to my advisor, Kat. She worked so hard to get a mortgage offer for me. She admitted that as I did not tick all of the boxes, she would have to present my case differently. I'm so grateful that she didn't give up on me, as other mortgage brokers had. She is so hard working, clever, lovely and friendly. I would recommend Kat to anyone looking to purchase a house.
Mark Karen
New Zealand
We've used Squirrel investment and mortgage services. On the investment front, we found it easy to use and the interest rates were excellent, selling our investments was easy when we needed to as well. Mortgage services were great too - Emma listened to what we needed, and our circumstances and got us a fantastic deal. The process was smooth from start to finish, with excellent communication and advice along the way.