Home Buying Toolkit — Guardian Smith Mortgages

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Briana McDonagh — Mortgage Adviser

Your free home buying toolkit

Tools, guides, calculators and interactive checklists — everything you need from first thought to settlement day.

Calculators and tools

Income, expenses and monthly surplus

Repayment calculator

Loan, rate, term and extra payments

Equity calculator

Property value minus your mortgage

Savings and goal tracker

Deposit target with milestone timeline

Split loan calculator

Build and compare loan structures

Getting ready to buy

Are you ready? quiz

Find out where you stand as a first home buyer

Deposit sources explained

KiwiSaver, savings, gifts, assets and equity

Saving tips for your deposit

Practical strategies to save faster

Bank statement check

How does your account conduct look to a lender?

Jargon glossary

LVR, DTI, OCR and more in plain English

Hidden costs of buying

LIM, builder's report, legal fees and more

Loan and finance guides

Loan structure types

Fixed, floating, revolving credit and more

How equity works

Building, accessing and using equity

Green loans explained

Solar, EVs, heat pumps at 0–1%

Kāinga Ora explained

First Home Loan guide and eligibility quiz

The buying process

The mortgage process

From first chat to getting the keys

House sale types

Auction, deadline, tender and negotiation

How to make an offer

Conditions, deposits and negotiation

Open home tools

Open home inspection tool

Checklist, flag concerns and rate properties on your phone

Moving and settling in

Moving checklist

Personalised dates from your settlement day

Existing homeowners

Refix comparison tool

Compare rates and see what you could save

Mortgage review checklist

Is it time to review your mortgage?