Local mortgage advice
I’m Yatin Kainth, a mortgage adviser based in Hobsonville. I help Auckland buyers and homeowners compare 30+ lenders for first homes, refinancing, investment property, new builds and lending the main banks find harder to place.
By Yatin Kainth, Financial Adviser FSP1007497. Last reviewed
A mortgage broker in Auckland compares home loans from many lenders and handles the application through to settlement. For most bank home loans it costs you nothing, because the lender pays the broker when the loan settles. Brokers must be on the Financial Service Providers Register and put your interests first.
A bank can only offer you its own loans. A broker starts with your situation and finds the lenders that fit it. Day to day, that’s four jobs.
If you’d like a rough figure first, try the borrowing calculator or read how banks work out how much you can borrow.
If your situation is simple and your bank is keen to lend to you, going direct can work fine. It tends to go wrong when people apply to their own bank, get declined or offered less than they need, and then try somewhere else. Each application leaves a mark on your credit file, and a run of them can make the next lender cautious.
| Going direct to one bank | Using a mortgage adviser | |
|---|---|---|
| Lenders compared | One | 30+ banks and non-bank lenders |
| Who the advice is for | The bank’s own products | You. Advisers have a legal duty to put your interests first |
| Cost for a standard bank home loan | Usually none | Usually none. The lender pays the adviser |
| If your case is unusual | You find out after applying | Matched to a lender whose policy fits before applying |
| Help after settlement | Depends on the bank | Refix reminders and reviews |
I’ve written more on this in mortgage broker vs bank, direct to the bank or go to a mortgage adviser? and how to choose the best bank for your home loan.
For most people, yes. When a bank home loan settles, the lender pays me a commission, so you don’t pay anything for the assessment or the application.
There are a few situations where a fee can apply, for example some non-bank or short-term lending, or if a loan is repaid or refinanced within a short period and the lender claws back the commission. If a fee could apply to you, I’ll tell you up front and put it in writing before we go ahead. You’ll also get my disclosure statement, which sets out how I’m paid and which lenders I work with.
Being paid by lenders doesn’t change who I work for. Under the Financial Markets Conduct Act, financial advisers have to put the client’s interests first and follow the Code of Professional Conduct, which is overseen by the Financial Markets Authority.
My office is at 7/3 Workspace Drive, Hobsonville, right by the Upper Harbour Motorway. Most clients meet me there or by video, and plenty never need to come in at all. I advise under the Mortgage Managers licence.
I help clients outside Auckland too. Lenders care about the property and the borrower, not where the adviser’s office is.
A lot of Auckland homes sell at auction, and an auction bid is unconditional, so your finance has to be sorted before the hammer falls, and some banks want to see a registered valuation first. Tenders and multi-offer sales have their own quirks too. I cover them in auction, tender or multi-offer: how the sale method decides what you can offer.
Pre-approval means a bank is willing to lend in principle. It still has to approve the specific property you buy. Read how mortgage pre-approval works before you start bidding.
Some properties narrow the list of lenders: small apartments, leasehold titles, cross-lease units where the flats plan doesn’t match what’s built, and 1990s or early 2000s homes with monolithic cladding. You want to find that out during due diligence, not after you’ve gone unconditional. See the due diligence clause.
Once your offer is accepted, the condition dates come round quickly. Your offer got accepted: what happens now? walks through the usual steps.
Check that they’re registered on the Financial Service Providers Register, ask how many lenders they work with (including non-bank lenders) and how they’re paid, and read their disclosure statement. Then talk to them. A good adviser will tell you plainly what’s realistic, including when the answer is to wait.
For most bank home loans, yes. The lender pays the adviser a commission when the loan settles. A fee can apply in some cases, such as some non-bank lending, and it must be disclosed and agreed in writing first.
Yes. In New Zealand the legal term is financial adviser, and people use mortgage broker and mortgage adviser to mean the same thing.
Often a broker can get a rate at least as good as the bank’s advertised rate, and sometimes a cash contribution on top. The bigger gains usually come from choosing a lender whose policy fits you and from getting the loan structure right.
No. Most of my clients are in Auckland, but I can help anywhere in New Zealand by phone and video.
It usually helps. Because I check which lenders suit you before applying, you avoid making several applications that each show up on your credit file. See how your credit score works.
Don’t rush to the next bank. Find out what caused the decline first, because it’s often one fixable part of the application. Read home loan declined in NZ, then talk to me.