Briana McDonagh - Mortgage Adviser

07/09/2026

Having debt doesn’t mean you automatically can't buy a house 🏠

A lot of people think you have to be 100% debt-free before getting a mortgage, but that’s a myth. Plenty of first-home buyers get approved while still having credit cards, car loans, student loans, etc.

Here is a quick breakdown of how banks view each type of debt when you apply.

25/08/2026

One thing that can catch a lot of people off guard is that if you've got a credit card, the bank will typically factor in the full limit.

This means that if you've got a $10,000 credit card limit but had only used $2,000 of this limit, the bank will treat it as if it was fully maxed out.

As a result of this, it can then impact your borrowing power.

The bank does this because it is available debt, which you could then go and use tomorrow.

But this is something which we will sit down and discuss together, so if you have a credit card, we can review how it looks with versus without the credit card 🏠

24/08/2026

Using KiwiSaver for your deposit? Here is some information on how to access it 🏠

18/08/2026

There's a huge number of first home buyers out there right now! Plus many are purchasing with less than a 20% deposit 🏠

Sources: Cotality, Cotality-Westpac First Home Buyer Report (May 2026)

17/08/2026

Kiwi Saver is a massive help when it comes to purchasing your first home 🥳

05/08/2026

Thinking about a second property but don't want to save a massive deposit from scratch? You might not have to 💡🏡

Your current home might have enough "usable equity" to get you started. Check out my latest blog where I explain how equity works, what the banks look for, and how you can use it to buy your next home or investment property.

Already own a home? Learn how usable equity, LVR, and DTI affect funding your next property purchase, plus try a free calculator to estimate yours.

04/08/2026

The average house price in NZ is $906,443 currently. But we have a range of different deposit options 🏡

29/07/2026

Here's the average amount of Kiwi Saver for the age bracket of 26-30 year olds!

This is a great boost to your first home deposit 🎉

28/07/2026

Settlement day is the most exciting day of the house buying process, but there is some things you should know!

Here's a few things that catch people off guard, the kind of thing I walk every client through properly before it happens, so nothing feels like a surprise on the day 🏠

24/07/2026

This week's blog post is up 🥳

Learn what you should know about cashbacks and refinancing 👇

Thinking about refinancing for the cashback? Learn what it actually is, the LVR requirement, clawback clauses, and get a free estimate for your loan.