You’re approved under Kainga Ora First Home Loan. Congratulations! What do we need to know?

Disclaimer: The below guide is general in nature and do seek individual financial advice to see how this applies to your situation. Our experienced advisers are on hand to help at no cost to you (T’s and C’s apply)

This guide is for those already approved under the scheme, to find out more about Kainga Ora First Home Loans, click here.

Kainga Ora First Home Loans can have quite specific requirements, even once approved.

This guide is to be used as a handy reference through the next steps.

Step 1 - Meet any remaining Easy conditions

There will be a number of conditions that we can get cleared out of the way before we find our home. These things are usually things like

• Any extra payslips or proof of income that are required

• Any proofs of closure of credit cards or other loans

• Tax forms - your adviser will send these to you with your approval

• Boarder declarations, confirming who the boarder is and how much they will be paying - your adviser will send these to you with your approval
  
  Your adviser will confirm via email which of these conditions apply to your approval.

  These are some of the easier conditions and they can vary slightly. There will be some conditions left over like registered valuation, signed sale and purchase agreement and home insurance. We can’t complete these just yet!

Step 2 - Speak with your adviser to understand how sale and purchase agreements work and what conditions are required

Pretty much all properties in NZ are sold using Sale and Purchase Agreements.

Agents and industry professionals deal with these every day, day in day out, so it’s important to make sure that we feel confident in signing these before we are making our offers. Unless your adviser has said otherwise, we generally require 10 working days to get finance unconditional with the lenders and check with your solicitor for any conditions that they may require.

Do note that a builder’s report is not a requirement of Kainga Ora First Home Loans, unless the lender specifically requests it or if it is a condition on the Sale & Purchase Agreement.

Further conditions we will need to meet

• Signed Sale & Purchase agreement

• Registered Valuation

Step 3 - Go shopping!

Make sure the house you are looking for meets these basic conditions.

• Within your budget as outlined by your adviser

• It must be in reasonable condition - no ongoing roof leaks, serious damp issues, bad cladding, broken windows. The litmus test would be something like, could you move into this tomorrow and live in it? If it’s a bit tired a bit old, but liveable, then it might be ok. If it needs $50,000 worth of remedial work first, it would be unlikely to pass.
  
  Kainga Ora set a cap of no more than $10,000 worth of work needing to be required. This must also either be funded by the vendor making the repairs before settlement, or by the buyer finding out a way to bring the funds to cover that work. It’s determined by getting quotes from tradespeople to conduct the repairs.

• Not monolithic

• New build or existing is fine

• Auctions and some tenders can be really challenging to do under First Home Loan - do not attempt without input from your adviser

• No issues with the title - This is a legal issue and your solicitor will conduct these checks.

• Not a ‘Home and Income’ - This is a legal definition and your adviser can look up the property and give advice on if it falls into this category.

It is strongly recommended that before you consider putting an offer in, send the details of the property to your adviser and they will give you an indication of if this property may work.

Once your offer is approved, send the Sale & Purchase Agreement, signed by both the vendor and you to your solicitor and your adviser as soon as you receive it.

Remember - We must have 10 days for finance as a condition!!*

*unless your adviser advises otherwise, do check first.