First Home Buyer
Crosses the Line with an 8% Deposit + Family Guarantee.

The problem.

Liam and Aroha are a young couple in their late 20s living in Christchurch — Liam works as an early-career civil engineer ($82,000) and Aroha as a registered nurse ($78,000). They'd been saving for 4 years and had $41,000 in savings plus $19,000 in combined KiwiSaver. On a $520,000 starter home in Halswell, that gave them an 11.5% deposit including KiwiSaver — well short of the 20% main-bank threshold.

They'd been told repeatedly by Christchurch agents and one bank visit that they should keep saving for another 18-24 months. Aroha's parents, who owned their Hornby home mortgage-free, had offered to help — but Liam was uncomfortable with the idea of accepting cash from family, and her parents preferred not to liquidate any savings either.

When they approached Finch, we explained that the family guarantee structure available across all main NZ banks allows family equity to support a deposit without requiring family cash. Aroha's parents would essentially co-pledge a portion of their home equity (which they'd never need to liquidate) to bridge the LVR gap for Liam and Aroha's loan — a clean, well-established NZ structure.

How we solved it.

The result.

Pre-approval was issued within 28 days. Liam and Aroha purchased a 3-bedroom Halswell home for $518,000, just under their $520,000 ceiling. Settlement occurred 5 weeks later. Their loan was structured 70/30 — 70% on a 2-year fixed at 5.69%, 30% floating to allow extra repayments.

The $8,000 cashback contribution from the new lender fully covered their solicitor fees, valuation, and moving costs — meaning the move was effectively cost-neutral despite the lender requiring no fresh family cash. Aroha's parents' home title carries a strictly limited second mortgage that will release automatically once equity hits 20%.

Liam's feedback: "We were told to wait two more years. Two months later we had keys. Finch found a structure that worked for everyone — including Aroha's parents, who got proper legal advice and were genuinely comfortable with the protections built in."