First Home Buyer Checklist NZ: What to Do Before You Start Looking for a Home
# The First-Home Buyer Checklist I Actually Use With My Clients
One of the first things I tell people who come to see me about buying their first home is this:
You may be able to buy a home much sooner than you think.
I regularly meet first-home buyers who have already decided they're not ready. They think their deposit is too small, they have some debt, or they've simply assumed buying a home is still two or three years away.
Sometimes they're right. But surprisingly often, they're closer than they think.
That's why I don't believe the first step towards buying your first home should be spending another year saving or trying to get your finances into some imaginary state of perfection.
The first step is much simpler: Find out where you stand today.
Here is the first-home buyer checklist I use to help people do exactly that.
## 1. Start With a Financial Sense Check
When I first meet a prospective first-home buyer, I don't ask them to arrive with six months of bank statements and a folder full of paperwork.
The first conversation is about feasibility.
Can you realistically buy a home, and if not today, what would need to change?
There are six things I generally want to establish first.
### How much deposit do you have?
This is usually my first question because the deposit is often one of the biggest barriers to buying.
But the headline number isn't enough. I also want to know where the deposit is coming from:
- How much is in KiwiSaver?
- How long have you been contributing to KiwiSaver?
- How much do you have in cash savings or investments?
- Is family going to help?
- Are there other potential sources of deposit?
Don't automatically assume you need a 20% deposit either. Under the current Kāinga Ora First Home Loan criteria, eligible buyers can potentially purchase with a 5% deposit, subject to meeting the scheme and participating lender's requirements.
### What is your residency status?
This can affect the options available to you, so I want to understand it early.
### How much do you earn—and how do you earn it?
I'm interested in more than annual salary. Do you receive overtime, commission, bonuses, allowances, or other regular income?
Banks can treat different types of income differently.
Income is also relevant when considering whether you could qualify for a First Home Loan. Current Kāinga Ora income caps vary according to whether you're buying individually, have dependants or are buying with someone else.
### Do you have dependants?
Household composition affects the amount of income available to service a mortgage.
### How old are you?
Age can influence the realistic loan term available, particularly for buyers purchasing later in life.
### What debt do you have?
This is a big one. I want to know about:
- Credit cards
- Buy Now Pay Later
- Car loans
- Personal loans
- Store cards
- Overdrafts
- Finance on things such as boats and jet skis
First-home buyers often underestimate how much existing debt can affect potential mortgage borrowing.
Sometimes reducing debt can do more for your borrowing position than simply continuing to build a bigger deposit.
## 2. Can You Demonstrate That You Can "Step Up"?
One of the questions I ask first-home buyers is:
Are you regularly saving money over and above your rent and minimum KiwiSaver contributions?
There's a reason.
Suppose you're currently paying $650 a week in rent. The mortgage on the property you'd like to buy might require a considerably higher repayment.
If you're already paying $650 rent and consistently putting additional money into savings, that's useful evidence that you have the capacity to step up to a higher housing payment.
It also helps explain a question I hear regularly:
"We've never missed a rent payment. The mortgage isn't that much more than our rent, so why won't the bank lend us the money?"
Because the bank isn't necessarily assessing your mortgage at the interest rate you'll actually pay on day one.
Banks typically use a higher assessment or test rate to determine whether you could continue making your repayments if interest rates increased.
So don't assume: "I can afford the rent, therefore I can afford the mortgage."
The bank is applying a more conservative test.
## 3. Find Out Whether Pre-Approval Is Available
If I believe you're in a position to buy, I'll generally investigate whether we can obtain home loan pre-approval.
Having pre-approval can make the property search considerably easier because you know what the lender is prepared to lend, subject to the conditions of the approval.
But there's an important distinction.
If you have a 20%+ deposit, there will generally be more lenders willing to consider pre-approval, assuming the rest of the application stacks up.
If your deposit is below 20%, pre-approval can be more difficult.
Under the Reserve Bank's current LVR settings, banks can make some lending to owner-occupiers with deposits below 20%, but they are limited in how much of their new lending can fall into that high-LVR category. As of August 2026, up to 25% of new owner-occupier lending can be above 80% LVR.
Individual banks still decide who they are prepared to lend to and can be more conservative than the Reserve Bank limits.
This creates an important situation first-home buyers need to understand:
No pre-approval doesn't necessarily mean no home loan.
A lender may not be prepared to have another low-deposit pre-approval outstanding but could potentially consider your application once you've found a property—what we call an application on a specific property.
## 4. If Pre-Approval Isn't Available, Work Out Your Numbers Anyway
This is where I don't like guesswork.
If we can't obtain pre-approval, I'll analyse the client's financial position in detail and determine what I believe is a realistic purchase range for an application on a specific property.
I'm deliberately conservative when I do this.
I don't want to tell someone: "You should be good for $800,000" just because an online calculation produces that number.
If I'm telling clients that I believe they can realistically buy around a particular price, I want the numbers supporting that conclusion to be robust.
That means when they find a suitable property and we take the application to the bank, I expect the lending application to stack up.
Financial clarity doesn't have to start with a bank saying yes. It starts with properly understanding the numbers.
## 5. Decide What You Actually Want to Spend
A few years ago, when the property market was increasing rapidly, one of the most common questions I heard was:
"What's the maximum the bank will approve?"
I'm hearing something different now. People increasingly ask:
"What will my mortgage repayments actually be?"
I think that's a useful change.
There's a difference between what the bank will allow you to borrow and what you're comfortable—or willing—to pay every month.
When I'm working through this with clients, I look at their current rent and how much they're regularly saving above that rent and their minimum KiwiSaver contributions.
Then I show them what the proposed mortgage repayments could look like.
And I watch their reaction.
Sometimes they'll tell me: "Yes, we're comfortable with that."
Other times they'll say: "We could probably afford it, but we don't want to spend that much every month."
That's perfectly reasonable. We'll adjust the target purchase price accordingly.
## 6. Expect Some Sacrifice—but Don't Give Up Your Entire Life
There's another side to this.
When I review people's finances, I often see a fair amount of discretionary spending.
That's understandable. When you're renting and have money left over, it's easy for that money to disappear.
Restaurants. Subscriptions. Entertainment. Shopping. Holidays. Cars.
None of these things automatically makes someone financially irresponsible.
But when buying your first home becomes a serious goal, priorities may need to change.
Your first home will probably require some financial sacrifice. It shouldn't require you to sacrifice your entire life.
You need to decide where that balance sits for you.
The bank doesn't have to live with the mortgage payment every month. You do.
## 7. Manage Your Debt Carefully
If you're potentially six or twelve months away from buying, this is not the time to finance a new car.
Debt is one of the biggest things first-home buyers underestimate.
A monthly debt repayment reduces the income available to service a mortgage. For example, a $15,000 car loan could reduce your borrowing capacity by $75,000 or more.
So my advice is straightforward: Don't take on more debt if buying your first home is the priority.
### Deal With Buy Now Pay Later
If you're preparing to apply for a mortgage and have Buy Now Pay Later facilities that you don't need, I'd rather see them repaid and closed.
From an application perspective, repeated reliance on short-term consumer credit isn't helping us build the strongest possible picture of your finances.
### Keep Your Accounts Clean
I also want to see clean account conduct. That means:
- No missed payments
- No dishonours
- Staying within agreed limits
- Demonstrating that you can manage the commitments you already have
You're trying to present yourself to the bank as someone it should feel comfortable lending a substantial amount of money to.
## 8. Think Carefully Before Changing Jobs
Another thing I tell clients who are getting close to buying is to speak with me before making a significant change to their employment.
Changing from one salaried position to another isn't necessarily fatal to an application.
But dramatically changing how you earn your income can be.
For example: Resigning from a stable salaried job and starting your own business immediately before applying for a mortgage can completely change the way the bank assesses your income.
So if you're planning a major career change at the same time as buying your first home, talk through the timing before you resign.
Don't discover the consequences afterwards.
## 9. If KiwiSaver Will Be Part of Your Deposit, Think About Investment Risk
For many first-home buyers, KiwiSaver represents a significant part of their deposit.
I don't automatically tell everyone who hopes to buy a house someday to change their KiwiSaver fund.
First I want to establish whether buying is realistically within reach.
If someone is genuinely in a position to buy and intends to do so soon, then I think it's appropriate to review how their KiwiSaver money is invested.
Why?
Because if you're going to need those funds for a house deposit relatively soon, you need to think differently about investment risk than someone who won't need their KiwiSaver for another 20 or 30 years.
At that stage, I'd suggest speaking with your KiwiSaver provider about your circumstances, or I can review the KiwiSaver position with you and provide advice on whether a more conservative or cash-type strategy is appropriate.
The important thing is not to make an automatic fund switch based on an article.
First establish whether buying is realistic. Then make an informed KiwiSaver decision based on your circumstances and timeframe.
## 10. Make Sure the Bank Will Accept the Property
Once you know your budget, the fun part starts.
Open homes. Trademe. Real estate apps. Driving around neighbourhoods.
But there's another part of the process first-home buyers sometimes overlook:
The bank needs to be happy with the property too.
You might be an excellent borrower. You might have sufficient income. You might have the deposit.
The bank can still decide it doesn't want that particular property as security.
If a client with pre-approval finds a property they're interested in, I'll generally ask for the sale and purchase agreement and relevant information supplied by the real estate agent so that the lender can consider the property.
If we're dealing with an application on a specific property, I'll also review the transaction from a finance perspective before we present the application.
Why? Because I don't want my clients wasting time making offers on properties where I can already see we're likely to have a security problem.
Official NZ home-buying guidance similarly notes that a lender may require specific information about the property even when lending has been pre-approved.
Remember: The bank can like you and still dislike the house.
## 11. Get Your Solicitor Involved and Understand Finance Conditions
This is one of the most important items on the entire checklist.
A sale and purchase agreement isn't simply paperwork the real estate agent needs you to sign. It's a legally binding contract.
I recommend getting your solicitor or conveyancer to review the agreement and advise you on the conditions you need before you sign it.
The New Zealand government's Settled guidance makes the same point: buyers should have their lawyer or conveyancer review the sale and purchase agreement and any conditions before signing.
### What a Finance Condition Actually Does
Even if you already have pre-approved lending, the lender may still need to approve the particular property. It may also require a valuation or other information before confirming finance.
New Zealand's official home-buying guidance specifically recommends making sure your finances are in order before making an offer or making finance approval a condition of your offer where appropriate.
Your solicitor should advise you about the appropriate conditions and wording for your particular purchase.
Once all conditions are satisfied and the agreement becomes unconditional, the consequences change significantly. If you then fail to complete the purchase, there can be serious financial and legal consequences.
That's why I don't want first-home buyers treating the finance condition as an afterthought.
## 12. Don't Confuse the Deposit on the Agreement With Your Home-Loan Deposit
This catches first-home buyers out because the word deposit gets used for two different things.
Your home-loan deposit is the contribution you're putting towards the purchase relative to the amount you're borrowing.
The purchase deposit under the sale and purchase agreement is money payable under the contract, often around 10% but negotiable.
They're related, but they're not necessarily the same thing.
If you're a low-deposit buyer, make sure your solicitor and mortgage adviser understand exactly where the funds are coming from and when they'll be available.
Don't assume that because you have enough overall deposit to satisfy the bank, you'll automatically have the required cash available at every stage of the transaction.
## 13. Don't Wait for "Perfect Finances" Before Asking for Help
This might be the most important point in the article.
People sometimes tell me: "We'll come and see you once we've cleaned up our finances."
My question is: How do you know what needs cleaning up?
You might spend the next twelve months trying to build a bigger deposit when your deposit was already sufficient.
You might concentrate on saving another $20,000 when eliminating a particular debt would make a much bigger difference.
You might decide not to speak to anyone because you're embarrassed about your credit cards.
Or you might simply assume: "We're nowhere near ready."
And you could be wrong.
## The First-Home Buyer Checklist I Would Actually Follow
If I were reducing everything above to the order I'd want a first-home buyer to follow, it would be:
1. Find out where you stand financially
2. Establish your deposit and where it comes from
3. Understand your realistic borrowing position
4. Deal with unnecessary consumer debt
5. Demonstrate that you can save above your current rent
6. Keep your accounts clean and don't take on new debt
7. Establish a mortgage repayment you're comfortable paying
8. Investigate pre-approval if it's available to you
9. Review your KiwiSaver strategy if buying is genuinely approaching
10. Start looking within a realistic property range
11. Have the property checked from a finance/security perspective
12. Get your solicitor to review the sale and purchase agreement before signing
13. Only become unconditional when you're satisfied the appropriate finance and legal requirements have been met
Notice where "start looking at houses" appears.
It's nowhere near the beginning. That's deliberate.
## Find Out Your Home Ready Score
A lot of first-home buyers start with a plan: Save more. Pay off debt. Cut spending. Wait another year.
But how do you know you're working on the right thing?
You can't know what you need to work on until you understand where your home-loan position stands today.
That's the difference between having a goal and having a useful plan.
The Home Ready Calculator is designed to give you a broader picture than a standard mortgage calculator.
A normal borrowing calculator typically tries to answer: "How much could I potentially borrow?"
The Home Ready Calculator is designed around a different question: "How ready am I to buy my first home?"
In a few minutes, you'll receive a Home Ready Score out of 100.
And that can lead to three very different—but useful—outcomes.
### You might discover you're ready now
This is the one people sometimes don't expect. You've spent months assuming you need to keep saving when your overall position may already be strong enough to start seriously exploring finance.
If you receive a Strong Position score, I'd encourage you to book a meeting with me. Let's find out whether we can turn that score into a real home-buying plan.
### You might discover you're getting close
That's valuable too. Now we can identify the areas that could make the biggest difference rather than trying to improve everything at once.
### You might discover you have more work to do
That's not failure. It gives you a starting point.
I'd much rather tell someone: "You're not ready today, but if you do these things over the next six months, this is where I think we can get you" than have them spend the next two years guessing.
## You May Be Closer Than You Think
Buying your first home can seem enormously complicated when you're standing at the beginning.
But you don't need to solve everything today.
You need to solve the first problem: Where do I stand right now?
Once you know that, the next step becomes much clearer.
And sometimes the answer isn't "Keep saving."
Sometimes it's: "You're ready. Let's get started."
Know where you stand. Know what's possible.