First Home Buyer Calculator

This is the price that is agreed for the property purchase.

This is your contribution as a deposit, which is usually ~20% of the purchase price.

This is the remaining sum of money owed, which the lending institute will provide to cover the balance of purchase price minus the deposit.

The Loan to Value Ratio or LVR is the ratio of the amount borrowed against the purchase price.

Mortgage Lenders Insurance or LMI is an insurance premium payment, that is added to the standard loan interest rate to protect the lender.

This is the period in terms of years that you want to pay off the whole mortgage (principal and interest). The longer the term the lower the repayments will be each payment, but the higher the overall total repayment amount will be due to the additional incurred interest over time.

This is the interest rate that you have agreed to pay the bank over the course of the agreed term, which could be 0.5years to 5 years on your agreed deal. Once that time frame has elapsed, a new deal can be struck at the interest rate at the time for the remaining term of the loan.

This is a flag for the calculator based on the result of the LVR ratio above. If the LVR ratio is above 80%, then the Mortgage Lenders Insurance (LMI) will likely apply.

This is the loan interest rate used for the calculator's calculations. If an LMI doesn’t apply then it uses the standard interest rate, if it does apply then it uses the standard interest rate plus the premium you have chosen in the cell above.

This is the frequency or regular cadence in which you pay back the agreed repayment. Changing the repayment frequency to a more frequent payment will help you pay off the mortgage sooner and reduce the total interest charges over the life of the loan.

This calculates how many payments will be made per year based on the decision you have made for the loan payment frequency above. It is worth noting that there are technically 52.18 weeks per year, 26.09 fortnights, 12 months, 6 bi-monthly instances and 1 year in every year.

This is the amount that you will repay every repayment frequncy period that you have decided above using the standard loan interest rate with no LMI adjustment.

This is the amount that you will repay ever year using the standard loan interest rate with no LMI adjustment.

This is the total amount that you will repay per repayment period.

This is the total amount that you will repay per year.

This is the total amount you will repay across the entire loan over the loan term.

This is the principal amount that you will repay, which is the amount that you borrowed from the lending institute initially.

This is the interest that you will pay on the loan, over the length of the loan.

This is the ratio of principal to interest that you will pay over the loan term. A lower interest ratio, closer to 0% is most preferable.

Council taxes or rates are a charge (tax) against a property set by the local and regional councils. The charge value differs between councils and regions in New Zealand, however this is a compulsory charge.

Bodycorp fees or home owner association fees are a payment to pay for maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or other costs that are charged through levies to unit/apartment/townhouse owners. These fees are likely to increase every year, and can fluctuate in value depending on the need of the association at the time.

This is a compulsory requirement of most property based loans to insure against any large scale events that could impact the value of the property, such as fire or flooding.

This is a compulsory requirement of most property based loans to insure against any large scale events that could impact the value of the property, such as fire or flooding.

This is an automated calculation on the likely costs of maintaining a property each year. As with any asset, property requires upkeep to ensure that it stays in the same condition, or better than when it was purchased.

This is the total cost per year of the associated costs of owning the property you have chosen.

This is the adjusted cost per repayment period taking into account the cost of the loan repayment, the council costs (rates/taxes) and the bodycorp or homeowners association fees (if any).

This is the adjusted cost per year taking into account the cost of the loan repayment, the council costs (rates/taxes) and the bodycorp or homeowners association fees (if any).

For a property deal to be completed, you will require property conveyancing work completed. This is usually completed by a Lawyer. The fees for this differ significantly dependent on the complexities of the deal. If the property deal includes a KiwiSaver purchase, a Trust, a company or multiple parties then it will likely cost more due to the additional billable hours required, and the AML (Anti Money Laundering) work required.

One of the conditions that would be prudent to have as a condition of purchase in the building report, or builders inspection. This is a check by a certified professional over the property to give you feedback in an official report on the overall condition of the property. This does cost money, however it will give you a much more informed set of information to make a decision on whether to purchase the property or not and will allow you to quantify the potential repairs/fixes that the property needs to be at the standard you require/

The LIM or Land Information Memorandum is a report that is issued by the local council that summarised all of the information that the council has on the property. This is an important document that is not always supplied by the vendor. As this can take up to 10 working days to prepare depending on the council, and many unconditional deal periods are ~10 days, this should be one of the first questions asked before the deal is offered/accepted.

As part of a property deal, the lending institute may require that the property has a professional property valuation undertaken so they can be sure of the current value of the property.

The moving cost is a tangible cost in the purchase process, as it can range from $400 - $4,000 depending on the distance and complexities of moving the belongings.

Some new properties do not come with all chattels (washing machines, dishwasher, fridge) which are items you may need on day 1, therefore these would have to be purchased before the settlement date, for delivery on or after the settlement date.

For a first home purchased there will be furniture items you may need on day 1, therefore these would have to be purchased before the settlement date, for delivery on or after the settlement date.

Depending on the property, it may be a good idea to get the installation of an alarm, or security system done as the start before you are fully moved in.

If the property is a significant distance from your current home, such as in a different city, or island, then attending the viewings and inspections may incur a significant cost.

This cashback is a payment to your bank account by your lender after the settlement has completed. It is a payment that is made as an incentive by the lender for you to stay with them. It is usually around 0.6% of the total lending value.