Made Redundant.
Approved for a Mortgage 4 Months Later.

The problem.

Ryan, a 36-year-old marketing manager in Auckland, was made redundant in a company-wide restructure. After a 6-week job search, he secured a new role at a similar level and salary ($95,000) with a different employer. Four months after the redundancy, with 10 weeks into his new job, he and his partner found a home they wanted to buy.

Their bank's automated system flagged the redundancy and recent employment gap immediately, treating it as a significant risk factor regardless of the fact Ryan was now settled in a new, equivalent role. The initial response suggested waiting a further 6 months of continuous new employment before reapplying.

Ryan and his partner were concerned that waiting meant losing the specific property they'd found, in a market where good family homes in their target area were moving quickly.

How we solved it.

The result.

Pre-approval was issued in 21 days — well within the timeframe needed to secure the property they wanted. Ryan and his partner purchased a 4-bedroom home in Papatoetoe for $555,000, settling 6 weeks later.

Their loan was fixed 2 years at 5.75%, and Ryan's redundancy payout was kept aside as a genuine emergency buffer rather than being used toward the deposit, exactly as structured in the application.

Ryan's feedback: "The word 'redundancy' seemed to shut every conversation down immediately. Finch looked at the full picture — a new job at the same level, a clean explanation, and money in the bank — and found a lender who agreed that mattered more than the gap itself."

Useful NZ sources: the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for current lending policy, and Kāinga Ora for first-home support schemes.