Book a meeting with the bank.
The first step to gaining pre-approval is arranging a meeting with the Bank.
Booking a meeting with us is quick and easy. You can either drop in to your nearest SBS Bank branch or phone our helpful Contact Centre team on 0800 727 2265. These meetings can either take place in person if you live close to a branch, or via a call for your convenience.
Once you have a date and time for your meeting, it’s time to gather your documents. Banks need access to a few different bits and pieces to help determine whether you’re able to be pre-approved, including pay-slips and bank statements.
Proof of citizenship or permanent residency.
The first thing you need to bring along to your pre-approval meeting is proof of Citizenship, Permanent Residency or Resident Visas.
If you are a New Zealand Citizen, this means you will need to bring your New Zealand Passport or Birth Certificate. If you are a permanent resident or resident you will need to provide a copy of your Permanent Resident Visa or Resident Visa.
You also need to provide identification so that we can make sure it’s really you. Here are our acceptable forms of ID.
Proof of income.
In order to borrow from a Bank you have to be able to prove that your income will allow you to meet all of your mortgage repayments. To help with this, you need to provide a few different documents as proof of your income. These documents are needed for each person that will be buying the house, so if you’re buying with someone else they’ll also need to provide this information.
For Wage or Salary Earners
- An ‘Earnings last 12 months’ statement from the IRD
- At least three recent consecutive payslips
- An original signed letter from your employer that states your income, start date and length of time employed (you can use a copy of your employment contract if it is no more than six months old)
For Seasonal Workers
As well as the above, you must also provide confirmation of the past three years annual accounts or IRD Tax Returns.
For Self-Employed Workers
If you are self-employed you will need to provide full financials supported by business and personal tax returns from the past two years.
If you have received any government subsidies in the last 12 months, such as from Working for Families, WINZ, ACC or IRD, you’ll also need to provide written confirmation from the relevant organisation of income received.
A breakdown of your spending.
As part of the pre-approval process the Bank will ask you for information on how much you spend on your regular expenses, such as power, internet, food, subscriptions and more. This is used to help calculate the level of mortgage repayments that you can afford, which affects the overall amount that you are able to lend.
Having an idea of how much you spend on different items each month before you meet with the Bank will help make this process much easier, and will ensure that your serviceability is calculated fairly. Before your meeting, think about how much you would spend each month on average on items such as:
- Groceries
- Power
- Internet
- Subscriptions
- Insurance
- Petrol
- Any other regular expenses
If you have a student loan you should also know your current balance, as this will affect the overall amount that you can borrow. If you are unsure what your current balance is you can check with the IRD.
Meet with your bank.
Take a deep breath, you’ve got this – and we’ve got you!
Now that you have all your documents, you’re ready to meet with the Bank. The team may still ask you for more information to help assess whether you meet the criteria for pre-approval, but if you’ve gathered all the information above you’ll be off to a great start.
Our SBS Banking Specialists are especially trained to help first home buyers, so don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand. There are no stupid questions when you’re a first home buyer.
Once the Bank has collected and reviewed all your information, they’ll get in touch to let you know whether you’ve been successful in gaining pre-approval. If you’ve been given pre-approval, they’ll let you know exactly how much you can borrow so you can start step 3: house hunting.
The best bank for first home buyers. Again and again.
Canstar has rated us the best bank for first home buyers for the third year in a row. They found we offered better rates, better support and more innovative approaches to getting first home buyers into their first home. But to be fair, we’ve had over 155 years of practice.
Talk to us today about your first home dream.
Your first home loan is a big deal. If there’s anything you want to know, or if you want some advice on how to get a loan and how to set them up, give us a call. We’re happy to chat, and we’re on your side when it comes to getting that home.
Or if you’re ready to go, start your application online. You can save it and come back to it any time.
Important information.
The information contained within this web page is factual and general in nature and is not financial advice. You should consider the appropriateness of the information as it relates to you. Our product information webpages may cover deposit products and lending information which may contain some general advice. The product information webpages may also contain information about other investments such as, superannuation and insurance, the content of which is factual information and is not intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about the suitability of any of our financial products for you. If you would like to obtain financial advice, we suggest you speak with one of our Nominated Representatives.