Buying at auction is basically the same as an unconditional offer, so there’s nothing to negotiate after you go under contract. That means it’s much shorter from the time your offer is accepted (or you win the auction) to closing and move in. For us it was about four weeks. Which meant getting our loan sorted quickly.
We used a mortgage broker that was recommended to us by some friends. He was great at helping us understand all the options, and when I say options, I mean options, It felt like there were 100 different varieties of mortgages available. In the US you typically decide between a long-term fixed rate or adjustable rate (we’d done the traditional 30-year fixed in the US) and your done. Here a long term fixed rate is very unusual – you can get them , but the interest rates will be much higher. It typical here to split your loan into different parts which you’d do with different types of loan, time period, etc. Other options exist for loans that can be used like a home equity line of credit, loans that are linked to your savings which can act to pay down the interest or something. I still don’t totally understand it.
In the end we went two mortgages, each for half of the amount we need. They’re both 30 years, but the first half was fixed for one year, the second for two years at a slightly higher rate. When the year is up you work with your mortgage broker again to find the best deal & figure out what time period you want to go with, It was (is still) a bit uncomfortable doing such a short time fixed loan, but they are pretty standard here, and you’ll pay quite a premium for the long term fixed rate loans we’re used to.
In the end, it turned out to be a pretty easy process. Next up was settlement.
Kiwi Bound 