body corporate
For apartments and some units, the body corporate is the owners' group that maintains shared areas (lifts, roof, insurance, grounds). You pay a regular body-corporate levy on top of your mortgage — factor it into the true cost of owning.
break fee
A charge for ending a fixed-rate term before it expires. If wholesale rates have dropped since you fixed, the bank recovers its lost interest — that's the break fee. It can be small or large; always get the bank's exact figure before deciding to break.
DTI
Debt-to-Income ratio. How much you can borrow measured against your income. The Reserve Bank caps most owner-occupier lending at about 6× your household income, so on $135,000 income the borrowing ceiling is roughly $810,000. It's one of two limits on your buying power — the other is the servicing test.
equity
The part of your property you own outright: its value minus what you still owe. A $780,000 home with a $520,000 mortgage means $260,000 of equity. More equity (a lower LVR) unlocks better rates and more borrowing room.
FHB
First-home buyer — someone buying their first property. NZ first-home buyers can access KiwiSaver first-home withdrawals and, if eligible, the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan.
fortnightly
We show repayments per fortnight (every two weeks) because that's how most NZ mortgages are paid. Fortnightly means 26 payments a year — the equivalent of 13 monthly payments, not 12 — so paying fortnightly quietly clears your loan faster and saves interest. To roughly convert to monthly, multiply a fortnightly figure by about 2.17.
FSP
Financial Service Provider. Licensed financial advisers in NZ must be listed on the public FSP register. It's how you check an adviser is legitimately authorised to give advice.
Kāinga Ora
The government's housing agency. Its First Home Loan lets eligible first-home buyers borrow with as little as a 5% deposit (instead of the usual 20%), through selected lenders. Income and price caps apply, so it's worth checking whether you qualify.
low-equity margin
An extra slice of interest (or a one-off fee) banks add when you borrow with less than a 20% deposit — i.e. an LVR above 80%. It's the price of a low deposit. Getting to 20% removes it and unlocks every lender's sharpest rates.
LVR
Loan-to-Value Ratio. Your mortgage as a percentage of what the property is worth. Borrow $600,000 against an $800,000 home and your LVR is 75%. It matters because banks price risk by LVR: under 80% you get the sharpest rates; above 80% (a low deposit) they usually add a low-equity margin.
offset
An offset account links your savings to your mortgage: the balance is subtracted from your loan before interest is worked out, so you pay less interest while your money stays yours and available. A revolving-credit facility does a similar job in a single flexible account.
pre-approval
A conditional agreement from a bank to lend you up to a set amount, subject to final checks. It lets you bid or make offers with confidence. It usually takes a few weeks to arrange and lasts around 3 months, so timing it near when you're ready to buy matters.
RBNZ
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand — the central bank. It sets the rules banks lend under, including LVR restrictions and DTI (debt-to-income) limits, which shape how much you can borrow.
refix
Choosing a new fixed interest rate when your current fixed term rolls off. It's the moment to shop around — banks often quote you a carded rate, but a lower one is usually available, plus cashback to switch.
revolving credit
A flexible mortgage that works like a big overdraft: your income sits in it and reduces the balance interest is charged on, and you can redraw up to your limit. Like an offset, it saves interest if you keep a healthy balance — but takes discipline.
servicing test
The affordability stress test a bank runs before lending. Rather than checking you can afford today's rate, they check you could still pay at a higher 'test rate' (often around 6.5–7%), so you're safe if rates rise. It's usually the real limit on how much you can borrow, alongside DTI.