How to Make an Offer on a House in NZ: A First-Home Buyer's Guide
Finding a property you love is one of the most exciting parts of buying your first home.
It's also the point where everything suddenly feels urgent.
You've spent months—maybe years—saving your deposit. You've sorted out your KiwiSaver, obtained mortgage pre-approval, and spent weekends going through open homes.
And then you find it. The house.
Suddenly, you're worried someone else will buy it. The real estate agent wants to know if you're making an offer. Everything feels like it's moving too fast.
That feeling is completely normal. But it's also exactly when first-home buyers need to slow down enough to make sure the right checks have been completed.
Here's what I believe: buying your first home shouldn't feel like you're navigating a minefield blindfolded. You deserve to understand the process clearly—so you can make confident decisions instead of anxious ones. That's why I walk my clients through this step-by-step.
Because here's the thing: a sale and purchase agreement is a legally binding contract. New Zealand's Real Estate Authority recommends having your lawyer or conveyancer check the agreement before you sign it, not afterwards.
As a mortgage adviser, I'm not there to tell you whether you should buy a particular property or what it's worth.
My job is to help make sure the finance works, the bank is comfortable with the property as security, and you understand what still needs to happen from a lending perspective before you commit yourself.
Here's how I approach it with my first-home buyer clients.
You've Found a House. What Should You Do First?
If one of my clients calls and says:
"Andre, we've found a house we love. We want to make an offer tonight."
I don't start by asking them what they're going to offer.
I want to see the draft sale and purchase agreement and the relevant disclosure documents provided by the vendor or real estate agent.
Why?
Because having mortgage pre-approval doesn't necessarily mean the bank has approved the property.
Pre-approved for the money doesn't mean approved for the property
A mortgage pre-approval is based primarily on your financial position and the information available to the lender when it assesses your application.
The property you're buying will become the bank's security for the loan, so the bank also needs to be satisfied with the property.
Even official NZ home-buying guidance warns that a lender may want specific details about a property before you make an offer, despite you already having pre-approved lending.
Before my clients make an offer, I therefore want to identify anything in the agreement or disclosures that could cause the bank concern.
I will generally forward the draft agreement and relevant disclosures to the lender and seek clarity on two things:
Will the bank accept this particular property as security?
What is the maximum purchase price the client's finance will support?
That's a very different question from: "How much should I offer?"
Your Maximum Approved Price Isn't What the Property Is Worth
Let's say the bank confirms that your finance supports a maximum purchase price of $800,000.
I can tell you: "From a finance perspective, the maximum you can offer is $800,000."
What I can't do is tell you that you should offer $800,000.
I'm a mortgage adviser, not a property valuer or property specialist.
The fact that a bank will lend enough for you to purchase a property for $800,000 doesn't mean the property is worth $800,000, nor does it mean that's what you should pay.
Those are separate decisions.
My role is to establish the financial boundary within which you can operate.
Talk to Your Solicitor Before You Sign
This is probably one of the most important pieces of advice in this article:
Have your solicitor or conveyancer review the sale and purchase agreement before you sign it.
Not afterwards.
A sale and purchase agreement is legally binding once the parties have agreed and signed it, subject to whatever conditions are included. The conditions themselves can be negotiated.
I often work alongside the client's solicitor when we're considering conditions such as finance.
The solicitor deals with the legal implications of the agreement.
I deal with the finance and lender requirements.
Those are different roles, but they work very well together.
Should Your Offer Be Subject to Finance?
That depends on your circumstances, and you should discuss the wording of any condition with your solicitor.
From my perspective, if the bank hasn't yet given me the approval I need for the particular property, you need a finance condition. It's your safety net.
The length of the finance condition also matters.
In my experience, 10 working days is reasonably standard, but I don't believe the number should simply be picked because it sounds normal.
I need to ask: Can I realistically obtain the necessary bank approval within that timeframe?
There could be additional work required. The bank may require a valuation, further documents, or clarification about the property.
A finance condition needs to provide enough time to obtain the finance approval you actually need.
What Happens After Your Conditional Offer Is Accepted?
Once my client's offer has been accepted, I generally:
Send the signed sale and purchase agreement to the bank
Arrange a valuation if the lender requires one
Work through any outstanding lending requirements
Obtain the bank's final finance approval
Check the approval carefully for any remaining conditions
Email the approval to the client and copy their solicitor into the email
The solicitor can then advise the client on satisfying the finance condition and the legal process for taking the agreement unconditional.
But there's an important point here.
An Approval Letter Doesn't Always Mean You're Ready to Go Unconditional
Here's the thing: an approval letter doesn't mean we're done. Not yet.
Suppose the bank issues an approval but it still requires:
a satisfactory registered valuation
repayment of a particular debt
evidence of part of your deposit
additional documentation
I don't consider my job finished simply because an approval letter has arrived.
Where possible, I want the substantive lending conditions completed so that we have a clean finance approval before my client goes unconditional.
There can be some conditions that remain until settlement. House insurance is a common example.
But insurance deserves special attention.
Confirm You Can Insure the Property Before Going Unconditional
The bank has an obvious interest in making sure the property securing its mortgage is appropriately insured.
The precise insurance requirements vary between lenders and properties, but the client ultimately needs to make sure they have insurance that satisfies their lender's requirements before the loan is drawn down.
My practical recommendation goes further:
I encourage clients to establish that appropriate insurance is available before they go unconditional.
We've seen why this matters following significant flooding events in Auckland.
Some properties can present additional insurance challenges because of flood or other natural-hazard exposure.
You don't want to become unconditionally committed to purchasing a property and only then discover there's a problem obtaining the insurance required by your lender.
That's not a situation you want to be in.
What Property Issues Can Concern a Bank?
I'm not a building inspector, lawyer, or property specialist, so I don't try to do their jobs.
I recommend clients discuss the LIM report and building inspection report with their solicitor and obtain appropriate specialist advice.
In my experience, solicitors may also be reluctant to recommend that buyers simply rely on reports supplied by the vendor and may suggest obtaining independent reports.
From a mortgage perspective, however, there are things in the property documentation that will make me want to get clarification from the bank.
These can include matters such as:
unconsented building work
weather-tightness or leaky-building disclosures
clauses attempting to limit the vendor's responsibility for structural issues
potentially problematic older electrical wiring
unusual title or ownership arrangements
leasehold property
One of the first places I look is the Further Terms of Sale in the sale and purchase agreement.
For example, if I see wording indicating that the vendor isn't accepting responsibility for the structural integrity of the building, I don't simply ignore it.
I want the lender to see it.
Don't assume that because a property is within your approved price range, it's automatically acceptable to your bank.
Be Particularly Careful With Leasehold Property
If a first-home buyer is considering a leasehold property, I want them to speak with their solicitor and I want the bank's position established before they commit themselves.
Leasehold can change the lending assessment significantly.
Depending on the lender and property, a larger deposit may be required. There may also be ongoing ground rent, which needs to be taken into account when the bank assesses affordability.
So an $800,000 freehold property and an $800,000 leasehold property aren't necessarily the same proposition from a mortgage perspective.
The client's application may need to be reassessed.
What About the Deposit in the Sale and Purchase Agreement?
Another area that can confuse first-home buyers is the word deposit.
The deposit payable under the sale and purchase agreement and the overall deposit/equity you're contributing towards your purchase aren't two completely separate piles of money.
For example, if the bank has approved you on the basis that you have a 10% deposit, you don't then need another 10% for the bank on top of the purchase deposit.
The purchase deposit forms part of the overall money being contributed towards the purchase.
A deposit of around 10% is common in NZ property transactions, but the amount and timing are set by the agreement and can be negotiated.
This can be particularly important for first-home buyers whose deposit is largely in KiwiSaver.
Can You Use KiwiSaver to Pay the Purchase Deposit?
Potentially, yes.
Eligible KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal funds can be used towards a purchase deposit, including while an agreement is still conditional, provided the statutory requirements around the funds being held by a stakeholder are satisfied. The process is handled through the purchaser's solicitor and KiwiSaver provider.
That's another reason I encourage first-home buyers to sort out their KiwiSaver eligibility before they find a property.
Your solicitor will handle the legal process associated with withdrawing and applying those funds to the purchase.
If you haven't already done so, read my guide to KiwiSaver first-home withdrawals before you start making offers.
Buying at Auction Is Different
An auction deserves special attention because, if you're the successful bidder, the purchase is generally unconditional.
Settled specifically warns buyers that because auctions are unconditional, finance needs to be confirmed beforehand. The lender may need details of the particular property even where the buyer already has pre-approved lending.
This is not the time to think: "We'll win the auction first and sort everything out afterwards."
I want my clients to have completed their due diligence before they bid.
My pre-auction checklist
From my perspective, I want to see:
Finance approval: The bank has approved the property as security, any required valuation has been completed, and we know the maximum purchase price supported by the client's finance.
Home insurance: The clients have established that they can obtain appropriate insurance.
Building inspection: The clients are satisfied with the building inspection after obtaining appropriate professional advice.
LIM and legal documents: Their solicitor has reviewed the LIM, auction documents, and other relevant legal information.
Deposit: They know exactly how they will pay the deposit required under the auction agreement.
Official NZ guidance also recommends completing property research and having the legal documents reviewed before the auction.
Using KiwiSaver When Buying at Auction
This requires planning.
The auction agreement will specify the deposit payable if you're successful, and buyers will usually need to pay the purchase deposit on auction day.
But what if most of your deposit is sitting in KiwiSaver?
Don't assume you can win the auction and negotiate the payment terms afterwards.
If you need different deposit arrangements or additional time to access your KiwiSaver, discuss this with your solicitor and the real estate agent before you bid.
Changes to auction terms need to be proposed beforehand, with the seller deciding whether to accept them.
If you need different deposit terms, negotiate them before the auction—not after you've won it.
You've Gone Unconditional. Don't Take Out New Debt.
This is one of my strongest warnings to clients.
You've finally bought the house.
You're excited.
You need a fridge, washing machine, lounge suite, and perhaps some new furniture.
And someone offers you interest-free finance.
Don't do it before settlement without discussing it with your mortgage adviser.
The bank approved your mortgage based on your financial position at the time it assessed your application.
If you subsequently finance a $30,000 car, open new credit facilities, increase credit-card limits, or take on other debts, your financial position has changed.
Some lenders may undertake further credit checks before settlement.
If new debt means you no longer meet the bank's servicing requirements, the application may need to be reassessed.
And this is happening at precisely the wrong time—because you're already unconditionally committed to purchasing the property.
If you can't settle, the legal consequences can be serious. Your solicitor should advise you about those consequences. NZ guidance confirms that once the conditions in the sale and purchase agreement have been met, the purchaser must complete the purchase, and a buyer who doesn't settle on time may have liability under the agreement.
I know this sounds extreme. But I've watched clients get so excited about finally buying that they financed new furniture before settlement—and then watched their mortgage approval fall through. The legal and financial consequences can be devastating.
My rule is simple:
Once you've gone unconditional, don't celebrate by financing the furniture and the new car. Wait until your home loan has settled.
"Sign Now and Let Your Solicitor Check It Later"? Don't.
This is probably the biggest mistake I see first-home buyers risk making.
They've found a property they love.
They're worried someone else will buy it.
Emotion takes over.
They feel pressure to get the agreement signed and think: "We'll get the solicitor to look at it afterwards."
That's backwards.
Your solicitor should review the agreement before you sign it. That's also the recommendation of the Real Estate Authority.
And remember who everyone in the transaction represents.
Unless you've specifically engaged a buyer's agent, the real estate agent is working for the seller. They must still treat you fairly, disclose known problems, and act professionally, but they don't represent you.
That's why I see the solicitor and mortgage adviser as valuable guardrails for first-home buyers.
Your solicitor is looking at the legal issues.
I'm looking at the finance and the bank's security requirements.
When you're emotionally invested in getting the property, having professionals around you who aren't emotionally attached to the house can be extremely valuable.
My Checklist Before Making an Offer
Before one of my first-home buyer clients makes an offer, I want them thinking about:
Has my solicitor reviewed the sale and purchase agreement?
Has my mortgage adviser seen the agreement and relevant property disclosures?
Is the bank comfortable with the property as security?
Do I know the maximum purchase price my finance supports?
Do I need a finance condition, and is there enough time to obtain approval?
Have the LIM, building inspection, and other due-diligence matters been properly considered?
Can I obtain appropriate house insurance?
Do I understand the deposit required under the agreement and where that money is coming from?
If I'm using KiwiSaver, are the withdrawal arrangements sorted?
If I'm buying at auction, have I completed all of this before bidding?
And once you've gone unconditional:
Don't materially change your financial position before settlement without talking to your mortgage adviser.
Found a Property You Want to Buy?
Finding a house you love is the emotional part.
Making sure you can safely buy it is the process.
The people who succeed aren't the ones who rush in and hope for the best. They're the ones who take the time to understand what they're signing, get the right advice, and move forward with confidence.
Don't skip the process because you're worried about missing out.
If you're a first-home buyer and haven't yet established how much you may be able to borrow, whether your deposit is sufficient, or what you need to do to become mortgage-ready, you can complete my free 3-Minute Mortgage Quiz.
I'll review the information you provide, and you'll have the opportunity to book a free Results Consultation to discuss where you stand and what your next steps could be.