Melanie Robertson - Financial Adviser & Mortgage Adviser

07/09/2026

🏡 House prices are falling… but is that actually bad news?

When you hear that property values have had their biggest drop in two years, it’s easy to think:

“I’ll just wait.”

But falling prices can create some pretty interesting opportunities too.

💜 If you’re a first-home buyer, you may have more choice, more negotiating power and potentially a lower entry price.

🏡 If you’re thinking about upgrading, don’t just focus on what your current home might sell for.

You might sell for less — but the more expensive home you want to buy could have dropped by considerably more in dollar terms.

📈 And if you’re a property investor with equity, this could be a time to start looking at what that equity could actually allow you to do.

That doesn’t mean rushing out and buying a property just because prices have fallen.

And it definitely doesn’t mean trying to guess exactly where the bottom of the market will be.

It means running your numbers.

What can you afford?

How much usable equity do you have?

What would the repayments look like?

And does buying now make sense for YOUR longer-term plans?

Sometimes opportunity looks very different depending on which side of the market you’re standing on.

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines wondering whether now could be your opportunity, let’s have a chat and run the numbers.

📞 021 429 854
💜 Ask Mel

06/09/2026

🏡 29% of homes purchased last quarter were bought by first-home buyers.

That’s a pretty powerful reminder that first-home buyers are still getting into the market.

You don’t necessarily need to have everything figured out before you start. What you do need is a plan.

How much could you borrow?
How much deposit do you actually need?
Could KiwiSaver help?
What would your repayments look like?
And what should you be doing now to put yourself in a stronger position?

Even if buying is still 6 or 12 months away, getting those answers early can make a huge difference.

If buying your first home is one of your goals, reach out and let’s run your numbers and build a plan to get you there. 🏡💜

📞 021 429 854

06/09/2026

💜 September is Wills Month

Here’s a question I think we should all ask ourselves…

If something happened to me tomorrow, would my family know what to do?

A will isn’t just about who gets the house.

It can be about your property 🏠
Your savings and investments 💰
Your KiwiSaver 📈
Your personal belongings
And, most importantly, the people you love. 💜

But there’s another question that often gets forgotten…

👉 When did you last actually read your will?

Life changes.

You might have bought or sold property, had children or grandchildren, separated or remarried, started a business, built up investments or simply changed your mind about what you want.

Yet the will sitting safely at the lawyer’s office might still reflect your life from 10 or 15 years ago.

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September is a great little reminder to check:

💜 Do I have a will?

💜 Is it still up to date?

💜 Does my family know where it is held?

💜 Is the executor I chose still the right person?

💜 Do my wishes still reflect the life and family I have today?

Getting these things sorted isn’t about expecting the worst.

It’s about making things easier for the people you love if the unexpected happens.

I’m not a lawyer, so your legal advice should come from the appropriate legal professional.

But as a holistic financial adviser, I can help you look at the financial picture around your estate — your KiwiSaver, investments, property, insurance and wider financial planning — and help identify the things you may want to discuss with your lawyer.

📞 Ask Mel — 021 429 854

A little planning today can save your family a lot of uncertainty tomorrow. 💜

05/09/2026

🏡 Thinking about helping your child buy their first home?

It’s an amazing position to be able to help them ❤️

But before you transfer money, use equity in your own home, or agree to help with the mortgage, there’s a bigger question to ask…

What’s the best way to help?

💰 Is the money a gift or a loan?

🏠 Are you borrowing against your own home to provide it?

🤝 Could you be asked to guarantee some of their lending?

❤️ What happens if their relationship changes in the future?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 And if you have other children, how does helping one affect your wider family and estate plans?

Sometimes the deposit is only one part of the conversation.

Before Mum and Dad borrow another $50,000 or $100,000, or hand over savings they may need later, it’s worth looking at everyone’s numbers first.

The goal should be to help your children get ahead without putting your own financial future at risk. 💜

If helping your children into their first home has been coming up around the dinner table, have a chat with me before you make any decisions.

We can look at the lending, your equity, their deposit and borrowing position, and what the different options could look like.

And where legal or relationship-property advice is needed, I’ll always recommend getting the right legal advice too.

📞 Ask Mel — 021 429 854

03/09/2026

🏡 “But I don’t want to sell in this market…”

I completely understand why people feel this way.

If your property was worth more in 2021 or 2022, it can be really hard to accept selling it for less today.

But there’s another side to the equation that can easily get overlooked…

What are you buying next? 👀

If you sell your current home for $100,000 less than you might have achieved at the peak, that doesn’t automatically mean you’re worse off.

What if the home you want to buy is now $200,000 or even $300,000 below where similar properties were selling at the peak?

Suddenly the changeover becomes much more interesting. 💜

A softer market could potentially give you the opportunity to upgrade, move into an area that was previously outside your budget, or simply get more property for your money.

Sometimes we get so focused on what our own property used to be worth that we forget to look at what our money can buy today.

And that’s the number I think is worth looking at.

🏡 Selling and buying should really be looked at as one transaction, not two separate decisions.

If you’ve been putting off a move because you think this isn’t the right market to sell in, it might be worth running the numbers before ruling it out.

You could be pleasantly surprised.

📞 Ask Mel 💜 021 429 854

03/09/2026

🏡 Relationship over… could your KiwiSaver help you buy a home again?

This is a question that comes up more often than you might think.

And there seems to be a lot of confusion around it.

“I’ve owned a home before, so I can’t use my KiwiSaver… right?”

Not necessarily. 👀

If your relationship has ended and you previously owned a home, there are circumstances where you may be able to use your KiwiSaver to help buy again.

Here are 4 simple scenarios 👇

🟢 YES — potentially

You previously owned a home, you no longer own or have an interest in any property, you have never used a KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal before, and you meet the previous-homeowner criteria.

You may be able to apply to Kāinga Ora to be assessed as being in a similar financial position to a first-home buyer.

🔴 NO — you’ve already used KiwiSaver for a home

If you used a KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal to purchase your previous home, you can’t use the first-home withdrawal again.

It’s a one-time opportunity.

🟠 NOT YET — you’re still on the property title

You’ve separated and moved out, but your name is still on the title of the relationship property.

You’re still considered to have an interest in property, so you generally won’t qualify under the previous-homeowner pathway at this point.

🟣 MAYBE — you’ve sold and are starting again

This is where it’s worth getting advice before assuming you don’t qualify.

Your assets and overall financial position matter, and Kāinga Ora will need to determine whether you meet the criteria.

And remember, KiwiSaver is only one part of the conversation.

After a separation there may also be questions around:

🏦 How much can I borrow on my own?

🏡 Can I afford to buy again?

💰 How much deposit will I need?

📊 What happens to my KiwiSaver and other investments?

❤️ What does my financial future look like now?

Sometimes starting again doesn’t mean starting from zero.

It means understanding the options you actually have.

If you’re going through a separation and wondering whether home ownership is still possible, let’s run through the numbers and see what your options could look like.

💜 Ask Mel

29/05/2026

🏡💜 Could this be your first home waiting for you?

For many Kiwis, the dream of owning a home can feel just out of reach.

For years, we’ve been told that you need a 20% deposit before you can even think about buying a house.

But recent figures tell a different story.

Around half of first-home buyers are now purchasing with less than a 20% deposit, and around 12% have entered the market with just a 5% deposit. 🎉

That’s exciting news for many people who have been working hard to save while juggling rent, rising living costs, and everyday expenses.

Of course, a smaller deposit isn’t a free pass.

It can mean a larger mortgage, higher repayments, and greater exposure if interest rates continue to rise.

That’s why it’s important to look beyond simply getting approved and make sure your home loan is structured in a way that works for your future.

The property market may still have its challenges, but for many first-home buyers, opportunities are opening up that simply weren’t available a few years ago. 🏠✨

Your first home may be closer than you think. 💙💚

04/05/2026

It seemed like a good idea at the time…🏡💭

I was reading a story today about a retiree who just needed a bit of extra cash to make life easier.

Nothing extravagant…
Just a bit more breathing room.

So they took out a reverse mortgage.

No repayments.
Still living in their own home.
It felt like the perfect solution.

And for a while… it was.

But here’s the part that slowly crept up on them 👇

The interest didn’t just sit there…
It compounded.

Year after year.

A loan that started around $140,000 quietly grew…
and grew…

Until it was sitting closer to $400,000 😳

Not because they did anything wrong.
Not because they were reckless.

Just because of how compounding works over time.

And suddenly…
The equity they thought they had… wasn’t quite what they expected.

Less flexibility.
Less to pass on.
More pressure later in life.

Now here’s the thing — reverse mortgages aren’t “bad”.

For some people, they genuinely help.
They can ease stress and allow people to stay in their homes longer ❤️

But stories like this are a reminder…

💬 It’s not just about what solves a problem today
It’s about what that decision looks like in 5, 10, 15+ years

Because money decisions don’t just impact us now…
They shape our future options too.

Sometimes the smallest decisions… quietly become the biggest ones.

💛

Reverse mortgages can be useful, but only in very specific circumstances.

27/04/2026

“We just wanted to help them…” 💭

That’s honestly how it starts most of the time.

I was chatting with a couple recently who helped their child with a house deposit,
No contracts
No paperwork
Just trust… and a lot of love ❤️

At the time, it felt like the right thing to do.

But a few years later… things had changed.

The relationship shifted
Money became a hard topic to talk about
And what was meant to help… started to feel a bit heavy.

I read a piece in The New Zealand Herald today that echoed this so closely.

Because it’s happening more often than people think.

Parents stepping in with:

🏡 Deposits
💰 Loans
✍️ Guarantees

All from a place of wanting the best for their kids.

But without clarity…

It can lead to stress
Misunderstandings
And sometimes even impact their own financial future.

And no one ever plans for that part.

Helping your kids is a beautiful thing 💛

But doing it with the right structure around it…
That’s what protects both sides.

Sometimes it’s just about having the conversation early
And putting a few simple things in place.



w.nzherald.co.nz/business/helping-kids-financially-can-backfire-without-legal-safeguards/KL53XDJ6AZHARFUVT4ILW3ZOZY/

Why good intentions can end in lawsuits, lost homes and family fallouts.

25/04/2026

📵 No internet. No emails. No instant connection. No mobile phones.

Back in the mid-90s, when our Kiwi troops deployed to Bosnia under the United Nations Protection Force, staying in touch looked very different.

My husband at the time (now my ex) was there — part of the workshop/engineering team, helping keep everything running on the ground.

What I remember most isn’t just where he was…
It’s the silence in between.

Letters were everything. You’d wait for them, read them over and over, and hold onto every word.

And the satellite calls? Rare. Short. Shared.

You’d say something… pause… and wait for the delayed response to come back.
They weren’t really conversations like today — they were moments. And those moments had to last weeks.

Something many people don’t realise… this wasn’t just one deployment for me.

It was 17 years of being an army wife, through multiple overseas deployments.

Learning how to keep life moving. Holding everything together at home with my family and work. Often on my own… in a city that wasn’t my hometown, without family close by to lean on.

Just figuring it out as I went.

There was one moment that really stayed with me though.

Before they left, we had a meeting with families — a chance to ask questions.

I remember asking:
“How many body bags did the Army plan on taking to Bosnia for the NZ contingent?”

In my mind… maybe one or two.

But the answer was around 20.
They could even set up a morgue if needed.

I’ll never forget that feeling.
That was when it stopped feeling distant… and became very real.

Back home, life didn’t pause.

Families kept everything going. Held things together. Carried the weight quietly.

We don’t always talk about that side… but it matters.

🌺 As we remember our Anzacs — those who have fallen, those currently serving, and the families behind them… my heart goes out to you all.

If you or someone close to you has served — past or present — I’d love to hear your story 🤍
We don’t talk about this side of it enough.