New Give Way Rules

Next Sunday, the 25th of March 2012 is when the new Give Way rules in New Zealand take effect.
Are you prepared? Are you insured?

Whether you've been driving from way back when you could get your Licence at 15 and off you went, or if you've just got your Restricted or Full Licence these changes require you to take a moment and think before you move forward from an intersection!

We all need to retrain our brains on the "give way to your right" rule that has been programmed into us all!

If you haven't already, check out the NZTA's website

here, there are simple illustrations that actually make it seem quite clear... although it will be a different story when you are in your car and on "auto pilot", doing your usual drive to drop the kids at school, get to work, the supermarket or the gym.

So, where does this leave you with your car insurance? If you are "at fault" then its your excess thats going to be hit and possibly your no claims bonus!

When was the last time you checked your car insurance?

Or, perhaps you are looking to change cars. If you need a top up on your mortgage to fund your next car purchase, contact us today our services are free.

Mortgage People & Insurance People

freephone 0800 823 823 email us

OCR left at 2.5%

The Reserve bank has left the OCR (Official Cash Rate) at an all time low of 2.5% and has signalled that there will not be a rise until this year's December quarter. They have also indicated that there potentially will be only two more increases over the next two years, so floating interest rates look to remain low.

Inflation has also dropped below the midpoint of the banks 1 - 3 per cent target range and inflation expectations have also fallen sharply. However, not everyone seems to agree with the Reserve Bank, one bank economist believes the rebuilding of Christchurch, the back log of leaky homes requiring repair and the pent up demand for property in Auckland after a slump in residential building (something we have indicated before) will add to inflationary pressures over the next few years. What does this mean, well we could see rising house prices and a construction boom coming our way as we have done in the past.

If you would like to have a chat with a mortgage expert who deals with most main banks and many other lenders about your situation then click here or call now on freephone 0800 823 823

Written by Glenn Christie, Director - Mortgage People

Disclosure Statement available on request, free of charge.

How much of your mortgage should you fix?

Now if I was a cynical man I’d wonder why all the bank economists are suddenly coming out and so called independently telling everyone to fix their mortgages.

The banks have been extremely competitive with each other of late and have been providing discounted rates and other incentives to retain existing clients and attract new ones, great for anyone with a mortgage or those requiring one.

By fixing the banks are locking customers into their client base which sometimes is not a good thing for clients, if for some reason you have to sell or you find yourself in a position of being able to reduce your debt or you want to rearrange your debt you could be up for significant costs.

We are not saying don’t fix but what we are saying is think carefully about the term you fix for and also how much of your mortgage you fix.

In the time you have a mortgage you are guaranteed to go through a few major life changing events, like getting married, having a family, starting a business, buying a bach, changing jobs... so, you want to make sure your home loan is structured to suit your lifestyle, with long term flexibility and short term certainty.

This is what mortgage advisers do best - focus on what you want and need, giving you the best possible home loan options and “advice”. We don't work for a bank we work for our clients - people like you. So please don’t hesitate to chat to us about your future plans and how these may be affected by fixing your mortgage long term...

CONTACT a mortgage adviser EMAIL a question

Written by Glenn Christie, Director - Mortgage People

Where to now with your mortgage

If you're thinking where to now with your mortgage... the answer is Mortgage People.

Believe it or not it was back in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers one of the most respected banks in the world led the collapse of the American banking system that transformed into a global financial crisis (GFC) and ultimately word recession. However as they say the darkest hour is the one before dawn and a lot of people including ourselves believe that now is the time to look forward with optimism.

As you are aware, interest rates are at the lowest levels for many years and unless Europe falls over we are probably at the lowest for this period. Times like these present good opportunities for existing borrowers to reduce debt by repaying their loans faster – something we can show you how to do more easily. Likewise low interest rates also provide opportunities for first home buyers, people wishing to upgrade into a more expensive home or for those wishing to purchase an investment property. We are however led to believe from recent NZ Herald articles that there is evidence of a sharp tightening in property availability in the Auckland market and it is hard to see this situation improving given the low interest rates and the lack of residential development.

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly tell you about some of the additional financial services we can provide clients through Mortgage People.

Things don’t always go the way they are supposed to and for one reason or another you might find yourself in a financial jam, this could be through a multiple of reasons particularly at this time of the year when credit cards and other debt cause cash flow problems. If you find yourself in this situation then please talk to us about rolling all your debt into one monthly repayment. We have even helped people who have had credit problems and others who have been facing mortgagee sales!

Also if you are a small business owner don’t be suffocated by your bank if you are experiencing liquidity problems, have a looming tax bill, need a cash flow injection call us for a tailored business solution.

Finally look out for our new website which will arrive this month it covers everything we do including personal and business insurance, domestic fire and general insurance as well as commercial loans and personal loans for almost anything.

We value the relationship with our clients and will always put your best interests first and foremost so if you have any queries at all then please don’t hesitate to call your Mortgage People broker, myself or my fellow director Carey Brunel (DDI 361 0390).

If you are not a client of Mortgage People we welcome your call... freephone 0800 823 823.

Written by Glenn Christie, Director - Mortgage People Limited

Seasons Greetings from Mortgage People

As another year nears an end, looking back reveals a period of mixed signals, the lows of an economic crisis, the highs of an exciting 6 weeks of world cup rugby and then the election! What will we all do now?

Thanks to you all for your support and for helping to make this year rewarding from allowing our team do what they enjoy most ~ making sure you are financially sorted & well protected.

Merry Christmas, happy & safe holidays to you and your family.
We look forward to seeing you in 2012.

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Office Hours
Below are the office hours over the christmas period; in case of emergency feel free to call freephone 0800 823 823 anytime for further information.

Friday 23rd December ~ Closing 3pm
Wednesday 28th to Tuesday 3rd January ~ Closed
Back to business from Wednesday 4th January 2012 ~ 8.30am to 5pm
Office Freephone 0800 823 823

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Fire & General Insurance - Claims & Help
For AON Stylecover Insurance Claims or Queries freephone 0800 505 152
For Lumley Insurance Claims or Queries freephone 0800 781 782

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Contact your adviser
To find your mortgage adviser's details click here

Taking advice from friends who mean well....

Breakfast out is always a treat. Well nearly always……
"We were seated next to two ladies, who didn’t seem to mind who heard their conversation as they didn’t regulate their voices at all. That’s no big deal; I can do a pretty good job of toning out other conversations. Some words do trigger interest though and while I was doing my best not to listen to them I heard ‘can’t afford’, ‘what area should I look?’. Hmmmm, now I’m interested – trying not to be, but I can’t help it.

The other lady then started to spout forward her words of wisdom, and I became very uncomfortable in my seat. I started whispering to my husband “she doesn’t know what’s she’s talking about’. I was inwardly groaning and to my dismay my ability to tone out other people’s conversations completely escaped me.

And then! The ‘knowledgeable’ woman told the other one (who was frantically taking notes); she couldn’t go to an auction. I couldn’t help it! I interrupted their conversation, very politely, and asked did she have mortgage pre-approval. The ‘knowledgeable’ woman commenced to tell me yes her friend did have pre-approval but she was a first time home buyer and so she couldn’t go to auction."

Seriously!! It’s scenarios like this that emphasize the need to get your advice from an expert in the field. I personally have assisted first time home buyers to get a pre approved home loan and they have purchased at auctions without any problems. - Angela Peters, Mortgage Adviser at Mortgage People

RELIABLE ADVICE...
The key message to take from this is that friends mean well but are not necessarily right in their information; and their opinion is exactly that – their opinion not always fact... perhaps, not always reliable advice when you need it most. Buying a house is a really BIG deal - and just like you seek legal advice from a Lawyer or financial advice from an accountant so you should seek professional advice when it comes to getting a mortgage.

For free unbiased home loan advice you can contact Mortgage People anytime - more info

freephone 0800 823 823

OCR on hold...

Once again the Reserve Bank Governor announces the Official Cash Rate is on hold for now, pushing out the timing of future rate hikes saying uncertainty in financial markets could force up funding costs for local lenders and is threatening to hinder New Zealand's recovery.

Earlier this year, Bollard indicated he was keen to remove the extra stimulus he added in response to the February earthquake, though that was put on hold as financial markets tumbled after the United States credit rating was downgraded and the Euro struggled with the high level of debt among some of its members.

Since the last monetary policy statement in September, NZ's sovereign credit rating has been downgraded by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings due to the size of the country's external debt, though the Reserve Bank are expecting household savings to improve as people use the record low interest rate to repay debt and improve their personal balance sheets...

This is something that Mortgage People fully supports and as expected we are already working with many clients to better structure their debt and provide options on better debt management - now really is the time to take advantage of the low interest rates!

What you can control?
We can't control the globally uncertainty, but we can control our own financial situation and give ourselves financial certainty!

* How well do you know your budget - what you get, what you spend, what you could save?
* Is your mortgage structured to suit you or your lender?
* What term is your mortgage on?
* How old will you be when your mortgage is repaid?

Did you know:
At a rate of 5.75%, for an extra $250 per month per $100,000 borrowed you could HALVE your mortgage term. True.
This is something that you can most definitely control, with a little advice and guidance from Mortgage People.

Call us today to arrange your one on one meeting >>> freephone 0800 823 823
or Email us now and we'll be touch soon.