Moving House
Changing properties is a bit more complex than it was buying your first home. You might have questions like "should i buy or sell first?" and "what happens to my mortgage when I move?"
If you’re looking at getting into your next home, talk to us first. It’s a great time to review your financial position and make sure you’re getting the best possible deals and advice.
When you're considering a move, there's a lot to think about. We can help.
- Should you buy or sell first?
- How do you sort out bridging finance?
- What IS bridging finance?
- Should you pay to stage your home for selling? How do you choose a good agent?
We'll answer these and more. Our brokers are here to make the process easier, so you can spend more time on the important stuff like searching for your next dream home.
Why talk to Squirrel when you've already got a mortgage?
Review your financial situation
We'll make sure your mortgage is taken care of when you move house and ensure you've got the best rate and mortgage structure.
More lending options
We've got relationships with all the banks, plus non-banks too. More options means a better deal for you.
Our advisers aren't incentivised by lenders
They're paid the same no matter which lender you end up with, so you know you won't get pushed into a loan you don't want or can't afford.
Sort the deals from the duds
We love putting properties under the microscope. When you find a potential home, we'll check it out and make sure you're not buying a lemon.
Let's get started
Book a time to talk to an adviser today.
Check out the video of Courtney's story.
She's one of our favourite clients and we helped her and her family into their second home.
What happens to your mortgage when you move house?
What a lot of people don’t realise is when you move house, you can move your mortgage with it.
Say you’ve got a really good rate on your current mortgage and you don’t want to lose it. If you're still borrowing the same amount, we can move the mortgage rate from one property to another. This is a smooth process if settlement for both properties is the same day. Of course lining both up for the same day isn't always possible, so don't fret - there are options for that too, like bridging finance.
Another common option is paying off your home loan in full when you sell, and taking out a new one against the new property.
If you need to borrow more for the new property, we can approach the bank on your behalf and make sure you get the best deal.
When you’re repaying your loan once you’ve sold, you may have to pay break fees so before you sign anything, get in touch with one of our team to chat through your options.
Bridging finance
In a perfect world, you'd sell your house one day and land the perfect gem the next, then settle both on the same day. But we live in the real world where that's not usually the case. If you end up buying first, there are two kinds of bridging loans you could go for:
Open-ended bridging
is where you buy first and intend to sell (but haven't sold yet.) Banks are reluctant to do open-ended bridging finance unless you are in a strong enough financial position to support both mortgages.
Closed bridging
is where you buy, and before settlement your existing house is sold under unconditional contract but is yet to settle. This is generally easy to finance.
JB explains what happens to your mortgage when moving in 2 minutes and 5 seconds
Chat to a mortgage whiz
Not sure where to start? Book a chat and we'll give you a call to talk through your situation, and provide advice for your next move.
More lenders, more options
Should you buy or sell first?
What comes first, the chicken or the egg? It can be a bit of a juggling act. Lets weigh up the pros and cons.
Have a gander at our blogs
You'll find some useful insights on the joys of moving house.
Wellington property market update – Outlook for 2025
There are several factors which could influence what happens with interest rates—and how quickly New Zealand's economy bounces back—in the coming months and years. Wellington mortgage adviser, Nick Virtue, shares his take in his final market update of the year.
NZ property market update – Outlook for 2025
The last few years have been a rollercoaster—but all things being equal things should (finally) be looking up in 2025. For his final market update of the year, Squirrel founder JB shares his predictions for 2025, looking at the OCR, interest rates, housing market and New Zealand economy.
Beyond interest rates: Key factors that can drive up the cost of development funding
People tend to get a bit hung up on interest rates—but with development finance, it's all the other rates, fees and hidden costs that can really drive your costs up. Here are some key considerations to help you understand (and minimise) the total cost of development funding.
After some advice?
We're here to help.
Don’t just take our word for it
Fraser Worthington
New Zealand
Aatish is excellent to deal with. Gave great advice and guidance through the process. A++, would trade again.
Mario
New Zealand
We dealt with Emma Wallace for our first home purchase and she was excellent. Emma is knowledgeable and very sensible, she gives the necessary information and makes things easy to understand. I would highly recommend Emma to anyone who looking to buy a property.
Lisa and Erick
New Zealand
Tessa was amazing, she kept us on track, and explained everything- we always knew what was happening. Her responsiveness was excellent, she was a real legend. We are so so happy with the result and will recommend her to everyone we know!
Scott
New Zealand
Mayank was fantastic and a pleasure to work with.