Buying your first home in New Zealand

​​First home buyers

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Most first home buyers are told a number and given no working. Twenty percent, or ten, or five, depending on who is talking. What actually matters is the combination of your deposit, your income after existing commitments, and whether you have family able to help.

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The other thing nobody explains is sequencing. Pre-approval is not approval. An offer without the right conditions can cost you your deposit. Knowing the order things happen in is most of the difficulty.

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What advice covers

• What deposit you realistically need, given your income and the property type

• How KiwiSaver withdrawal and the First Home Grant fit into your deposit

• How a family guarantee works, what it exposes a parent to, and how to structure the exit

• Why new builds sit under different LVR rules and what that opens up

• The difference between pre-approval, conditional approval and unconditional approval

• Which conditions belong in an offer and what happens if you waive them

• How to structure the loan once you have it, so the first refix is not a shock

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Tools and downloads

First Home Buyer Pathway Tool

Family Guarantor Impact calculator

First Home Buyer Roadmap PDF

Open Home Inspection Checklist

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Related reading

How a Family Guarantee Works, and What It Actually Exposes a Parent To

How Much Deposit Do You Need to Buy Your First Home in NZ?

Financing New Builds: Why LVR Exemptions Still Make Them the Best Entry Point

Inheritance and the Property Market: How the Great Wealth Transfer Is Shaping Demand​

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