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As a general rule of thumb, any property investor who has at least six rental properties is viewed as a "professional" property investor through the eyes of the bank. And the way these investors are treated by the banks is markedly different to someone whose main income is not from property.

There’s a lot of mixed messages out there about property at the moment. Some is from complete pessimists who think the world is coming to an end. Some is from the industry who are far too bullish and whose income is in some way tied to property. We’re arguably in the latter camp (given we’re mortgage advisers) – but we try to call it as we see it.

In response to Covid-19 and the financial stress that many Kiwis are suddenly facing, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is allowing banks to offer 6-month ‘mortgage holidays’. Although we prefer the term Mortgage Repayment Deferral because it’s not really a holiday.

Among all of the current madness you may have heard about the banks offering mortgage holidays, or repayment deferrals. Here's how the process works with each of the main banks.

In this ever-changing crazy quagmire of a world, there has never been a greater need for seamless online services. Fortunately, Squirrel is well set up to provide the same service for all our clients, whether you're stuck at home, or at the beach.

The adage 'cash is king' is never truer than in a crisis. Cash gives you the flexibility and freedom to respond to changes. Now is a good time to have a small cash buffer in your mortgage. The thing to remember is banks don’t want you to default on your mortgage, and they have temporary options in place which are designed to support those who find themselves in financial hardship.

Making it onto the property ladder is a huge milestone, but the journey doesn’t end there. Now you're in a huge amount of debt. We've put together some of our top tips for helping you manage and pay your mortgage off faster.

Anyone that’s moved properties knows just how exhausting it can be. Between getting your place on the market, heading to open homes and making offers, both buying and selling can be overwhelming in their own right.

Property development carries with it many risks and currently it’s perhaps the most difficult market to find finance. Often, I find clients who haven’t exercised much patience and as a result can find themselves in a pickle.

Our view is that mortgage rates will stay low for the foreseeable future, but they are unlikely to drop much further. To explain this, we'll look at the bigger picture, and shed some light on how the OCR affects mortgage rates.

Working with development and commercial property funding, price is often an obstacle that I come up against. Many people have little understanding of how risk-based pricing works, and it can come as a bit of a shock when pricing is uncovered.

When it comes to property, the risk is that borrowers (and speculators in particular) think tomorrow will be better than today and don’t act. Watching a speculator in action is like putting a frog in water and gradually increasing the temperature. The frog never jumps out.