Mortgage advice – our process

A bit about our company

Before describing our process I would like to give you a brief look inside our company. This is the opening statement from our internal documentation around policies and processes.

"The foundational policy is to always put the client first. No ‘if’ or ‘but’ about this. We pay salaries at mortgagehq and have from the beginning to ensure that advisers are not incentivised to place business with banks or lenders that pay more. We often sacrifice revenue (happily) to put the client’s needs first and will provide advice and assistance to clients who do not change providers but need or want help getting good results at their current provider if the products and terms suit the client’s goals. 

To ensure clients get the best care and diligence on advice, we assign clients to advisers that have the right knowledge, experience and competency. Mortgagehq achieves this by first asking clients questions and for information relating to mortgages and their goals… Depending on the client’s requirements, they are assigned to the appropriate adviser who can help them reach their desired outcomes."

We will help you restructure, refinance, plan, or buy

Want to buy a property? From the banks’ perspective, what can you afford to buy right now? We help you understand what your options are right now, and how you could change them by adjusting your mortgage or finances.

We are here to help you buy; your first home, an investment property, or a holiday house. 

Want to maximise your mortgage? Mortgages are often 30 years long, but they should never be left alone for that long. They can be adjusted to minimise fixed expenses, provide interest rate security, reduce interest rate exposure, or topped up to access lending.

We can help you adjust your mortgage through refixes, restructures, or refinances. 

Building a property portfolio? We’ve helped many clients identify opportunities to get more out of their property portfolios, we can unemotionally analyse your portfolio and give you ideas for improvement.

Our mortgage advisers are tasked with 5 key things

  1. Help you get lower interest rates and better cash back incentives on existing mortgages and future lending.
  2. Help you choose and secure the right mortgage products and structure for your current situation and future plans.
  3. To help you understand which banks and lenders will be most helpful to your strategy and plans for financial freedom.
  4. To ensure you are in the ‘drivers seat’ and are fully in control of your mortgage, and financial future. 
  5. To manage applications and mortgage settlements for you so they go smoothly. 

Our belief

We believe that our advice is special in the marketplace and deeply appreciate the hundreds of clients who have used their time to leave us 5 star reviews on Google or Facebook. Our advisers strive to help you beyond the frustration you’re experiencing right now. 

All mortgage brokers can only give you the products and services that the banks or non-bank lenders approve to offer you. We can not create you a magical bank product that doesn’t exist. With this in mind we have built our business on offering high quality long term advice paired with online education. 

Many times people solve an immediate mortgage problem without realising that they have locked themselves into a sticky situation which will only appear in the future. When you get advice from our team we will advise you on what you are asking for right now. Then offer to discuss the future ramifications of these decisions with you. 

For example; you could be looking at what amount a bank would lend you to buy your first investment property. We can answer that question for you. But then, we would offer to also answer your unasked question ‘what will happen to my future options if I buy this property using all of my available lending?’. This then leads to a high value conversation which could conclude with an answer like: “If you can find a property with a 5.75% yield using no more than $700,000 of the $850,000 we think we could secure you, you would then probably be in the position to buy another property very soon – whereas if you purchase a $850,000 property with a 5.1% yield you will likely not be in the position to purchase again for several years.”

If this sounds like the advice you would value, read on to find the process we will take you through. 

Start with your free borrowing summary

What is included in your borrowing summary?

  • Up to date bank valuations. Find out how much equity you can use and what interest rate specials you qualify for
  • Advanced borrowing calculator with the new CCCFA rules in mind
  • Compound effect calculator to identify your retirement gap
  • And more…
  • It has everything needed to let you have a solid conversation with an adviser from our team.

Step 1. Book a 10 Minute call using the form below. We will email you a confirmation email with a link to our secure online portal.

Step 2. OPTIONAL. Follow the link to login and update your details (property addresses, income, expenses), you DO NOT need to upload any documents. 

If you complete your online profile one of our team will modify your booking so that it is instead a 30-45 minute session with an adviser. 

If you do not complete your online profile, we will have a chat to answer any questions, explain the process, and help you complete your online profile. 

STEP 1: BOOK A 10 MINUTE CALL, GET INVITED TO OUR SECURE PORTAL

Your mortgage advice process with our team

These introductory steps are encouraged but not required.

Online: Snapshot

This is an advanced online aggregate mortgage calculator designed to give you a 90-second estimate of your potential options. It is built as a general market borrowing power tool to save you visiting 27 different bank website calculators.

Phonecall: 10-minute call

This is a no-obligation opportunity for you to talk with someone and get a feel for whether you want to have us on your team. During the phone call we will ask you a number of questions to clarify your goals and current situation – your answers are used to match you with the best adviser for you. 

Secure Client Profile

You’ll be sent a link where you can log in to our streamlined online portal. We use this to save you from having to print forms, fill forms, scanning, emailing etc. Note there are still some important legal documents that require printing & signing but we have removed everything painful from the process that we can. We can also create applications for multiple banks from this same set of information, meaning that over time you only ever have to update your profile rather than starting from scratch. 

Free Borrowing Summary

This is a comprehensive spreadsheet we prepare for you in preparation for our discussion with you. It includes an up-to-date valuation of your properties using bank level e-Valuations. It is based off the information provided by you in your client profile. 

Four Meeting Types: 

  • Application or Renewal review
  • Stage 1 Mortgage Action Plan
  • Stage 2 Mortgage Action Plan
  • Stage 3 Mortgage Action Plan

These are typically held via zoom, otherwise by phone or face to face and last for 25-45 minutes depending on the complexity of your situation. 

During this meeting, we will take the time to answer any questions you have, and suggest talking points you may not have considered. We will refer to, and update, your MHQ Summary throughout this meeting. We will then create an initial plan for you to decide if you would like us to action on your behalf. 

For more information about the three stages of the mortgage lifecycle read about the mortgage lifecycle framework here

If you are keen to take action we will then begin preparing your application for the bank(s) in our plan. You will need to upload documents into your client profile. Your adviser will work with, and assign you a dedicated settlement adviser from our settlement team to process your application, discussing it when necessary with bank staff if appropriate. 

If we encounter problems with our first choice bank we will look at alternative banks and other options with you. After we get approval we will move onto the next step. 

Meeting: Loan Structure Confirmation

These are typically held via zoom, otherwise by phone or face to face and last for 20-30 minutes depending on the complexity of your situation. 

The purpose of this meeting is to recap what we previously discussed alongside any new thoughts you may have. Rather than long term advice, goals etc this meeting is focused on the details of your mortgage structure. Questions like:

  • How much of my mortgage should be in a revolving or offset account?
  • Should I put all my mortgage on a 5-year fixed term?
  • What is interest rate averaging and would it be wise to use it in my situation?

Legal Documents Produced: 

These documents get sent directly to your solicitor. Once your solicitor accepts them on your behalf you are ready for settlement day. Note having your solicitor accept these documents is your final chance to change things before settlement. 

On settlement day the bank sends funds and a statement to your solicitor who will distribute to relevant parties, typically the vendor, the real estate agent and their own bank account for their fees.

If you are topping up this doesn’t typically require a solicitor so the bank documents and funds will get sent directly to you. 

 

FAQ

With a conversation. We’ll get a clear picture of your goals, your current financial position, and where you want to go. From there, we can tell you exactly what’s possible and what we’d recommend.

We follow a clear eight-step process from first conversation to long-term partnership:

  1. Fact Find: You complete your client profile through our secure online portal. This covers your income, assets, liabilities, goals, and employment — everything we need to assess your full financial position. No printing, no scanning, no back-and-forth emails.
  2. Borrowing Summary We take what you’ve shared and prepare a comprehensive borrowing summary — including up-to-date property valuations using bank-level e-Valuations. This gives us a clear, accurate starting point before we sit down together.
  3. Strategy Meeting We meet via Google Meet, phone, or face to face — typically 25 to 45 minutes depending on your situation. We walk through your options, answer your questions, and raise things you may not have considered. By the end, you’ll have an initial plan and a clear view of what we’re recommending and why.
  4. Proposal We follow up with a written summary of our advice — what we’re recommending, the reasoning behind it, and what happens next. Nothing moves forward until you’re comfortable with the plan.
  5. Application Submission Once you’re ready to move, we prepare your file and submit to the right lender. You’ll have a dedicated settlement specialist managing the process alongside your mortgage adviser. 
  6. Loan Structure Confirmation Before settlement, we hold a focused meeting to lock in the details of your mortgage structure — fixed vs floating splits, revolving credit, offset accounts, interest rate strategy. This is where the plan becomes real.
  7. Settlement Legal documents are sent to your solicitor, who reviews and accepts them on your behalf. On settlement day, the bank releases funds and your solicitor distributes them to the relevant parties. You’re in your property.
  8. Ongoing Support Settlement is the beginning, not the end. As your fixed terms come up, your situation changes, or you’re ready to make your next move — we’re involved. Reviews, restructures, equity access, and long-term planning. That’s the relationship we’re building.

A pre-approval gives you confirmed borrowing capacity before you’ve found a property. It’s conditional — subject to the property valuation and final checks. Full approval comes once you have a specific property and the bank has assessed everything. We manage both stages for you.

Structure determines how flexible your lending is, how fast you can repay, and whether you can move again when opportunity arises. We look at fixed vs floating splits, revolving credit, offset facilities, and repayment strategy — not just the rate. A poorly structured loan can cost you years.

Once we have your strategy in place, we walk you through our full recommendation — what we’re suggesting, why, and what the alternatives look like. We cover repayment approach, interest rate selection, any advanced facilities like revolving credit, the risks involved, and how the structure might change based on your preferences.

No. We provide advice across mortgages, KiwiSaver, and insurance. Each affects the other, so we look at all three together. Your KiwiSaver strategy, your insurance cover, and your lending structure should all be working in the same direction.

Depending on your goals and position, we might look at interest-only periods, revolving credit, equity recycling, fixing strategically, or restructuring across multiple properties to free up capacity. It’s not one-size-fits-all — it depends on where you are and where you’re going.

We look at your full income picture — salary, rental income, business income, family contributions — and find ways to present your position as strongly as possible to the right lender. Sometimes it’s about structure, sometimes it’s about lender selection, sometimes it’s both.

That’s a significant part of what we do. Complex structures take more time to prepare properly, but we work through them thoroughly. The right preparation makes the difference between an approval and a decline.

We assess borrowing capacity, timeframes, the product you need, pricing, and how straightforward we need the process to be — then identify the best fit. We’ll typically narrow it down to two or three and recommend one to lead with.

Salaried or sole traders — 48 hours internal review, then 7–8 working days at the bank.
Business income — 3–5 days to work through the detail, then 8–10 working days at the bank.


Trusts or multiple entities — similar to business income, with additional verification steps.

We review everything within 48 hours. If anything is missing or unclear, we’ll come back to you straight away. We don’t submit until we’re confident the file is clean and complete.

We use lender feedback to sharpen the file and, if needed, approach an alternative bank with a stronger case. Our relationships with lenders mean we can often get a read informally before resubmitting.

Ongoing. As your fixed terms come up for renewal, your situation changes, or you’re ready to make another move — we’re involved. Reviews, restructures, equity access, next purchases. That’s the relationship we’re building.

We’re paid by the lender when your loan settles, so you get full financial advice at no cost to you. The one exception is if we go with a second tier lender who doesn’t pay us a commission — in that case, a fee may apply. This will always be disclosed to you upfront before we proceed.