Who Should I Refinance My Investment Property Lending With in NZ?

Refinance your investment property lending with the lender that will actually approve the whole portfolio at a structure you can service — which is often not the bank that holds your home loan, and not always the one advertising the lowest rate. Lenders shade rental income differently, apply different test rates, and have different limits on how many properties they will fund. A mortgage adviser compares your file across those policies and places it where it fits.

When refinancing an investment loan makes sense

• A fixed term is ending and the re-fix offer is uncompetitive
• Your current bank has hit its limit for investment lending or your number of properties
• You want an interest-only period extended, or a loan split differently across properties
• You are buying another rental and the equity and servicing work better at a new lender
• The loan structure no longer matches how long you intend to hold the property

The three options, honestly

Your current bank is the first call. Staying avoids legal costs and a fresh valuation, and banks will sometimes sharpen the rate to keep a portfolio. A different main bank makes sense when its servicing calculator — how much rent it counts and the rate it tests you at — leaves more room, or when it will take properties your bank will not. A specialist or non-bank lender is the third option when the file sits outside bank policy, usually at a higher cost that has to be worth it.

What to compare (it is not just the rate)

Compare how much of the rent each lender will count, the test rate it applies to all your debt, whether interest-only is available and for how long, break costs to leave your current loans, cash contributions and their clawback period, and whether your home loan and rentals can sit with different lenders so one bank does not control the whole portfolio. On a portfolio, the servicing answer changes more between lenders than the rate does.

How the refinance runs

• We review every loan: balances, rates, fixed-term end dates, and which property secures what
• We run servicing across 16+ lenders using the rent each lender will actually accept
• You see the stay-put offer beside the switch, including break costs and legal fees
• The application, valuation if required, and your solicitor are lined up before the fixed term rolls
• Loans are re-documented and split the way the portfolio needs, not the way they happened to land

Start about 90 days before the fixed term ends. Bring the latest loan statements, tenancy agreements or a rental appraisal, and rates and insurance for each property. This is general information, not personalised financial advice. Orange Network is FMA licensed (FSP665511) and mortgage advice is free to you.