Hard work has a purpose for new home owner

Saturday, 9 May 2026

Victoria Stoker is not afraid of hard work, but these days when she gets out of bed in the dark preparing for a 5am start at the butchery, she’s feels like it’s finally for a purpose.

Last month, the 34-year-old assistant butchery manager picked up the keys for her own home.

Stoker says she’d wanted to buy her own place for many years, but living in Auckland and being single made buying more of a challenge.

She’d been living in and out of her parents’ home in Whangaparāoa for some time, including a three-year stint living and working in northern England, but this time when she moved back, she decided she wanted to have her own place in the city.

“There’s not much for me up there (Whangaparāoa),” she says, “not for someone early 30s, single: It’s all retirement and young families. I decided to seriously focus on saving.”

Despite not being a high income earner, she cut back her lifestyle drastically for a year and managed to save $25,000.

“I quit all luxuries, all the streaming services, I went to a cheaper gym, and worked any extra hours I could.” Some weeks that meant doing 55 or so hours, “just picking up whatever shifts were going”.

Her social life was put on the back burner. “I just told my friends: ‘Please don’t invite me to anything. It’s going to be a no.’”

She was paying her parents what she considers a modest $250 a week board, and piling up cash.

A few months ago, she contacted mortgage adviser Brad Luiten from Squirrel Mortgages.

She thought he was going to tell her she could afford “a cardboard box under a bridge”, she jokes, but was surprised at how positive he was.

“I told him the rundowns of everything I had, what I earn, and he said, ‘You’ll be fine.’”

With her $70,000 KiwiSaver balance added to the $25,000 in savings, she was in a great place to borrow enough to buy an apartment in the central city.

She says Luiten had to answer many emailed questions from her, as she was anxious about her spending.

“I was very worried about the bank declining, that in their eyes I’d look irresponsible. I work in a supermarket so it’s easy to spend a couple of dollars here, a couple of dollars there.”

Luiten says many buyers are concerned about discretionary spending as, when the CCCFA (Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act) first came in post-Covid, banks were going through statements line by line, and “everything was being highly monitored” right down to Netflix subscriptions, takeaway or coffee purchases.

However, after industry pushback, he says lenders are no longer required to do such a forensic analysis of spending: “More common sense is being applied to the ruling.”

He says buying is still a challenge for first home buyers, especially those on one income, and some people needed to lower their expectations about what they could buy as a first home.

“It’s not just mortgage payments. You do have to factor in rates, insurance, water bills, maintenance. And banks test affordability at a higher rate (about 7% at the moment).”

During the hunt for a suitable property, Stoker’s parents were a great support, urging her to take her time, and stick to her budget.

She eventually set her sights on a one-bedroom apartment in a 70-plus apartment block in Eden Terrace.

She borrowed $320,000, fixing her loan for two years at 4.6% with ASB. She left a small amount in her KiwiSaver.

Stoker is finding the mortgage payments “absolutely fine”.

“It’s my first time dealing with bills. I’ve got a spreadsheet because I was so worried about missing something.”

Other expenses include body corp fees of about $5000 a year, rates, water, contents insurance and her power bill.

She’s got all the furniture she really needs and says she’s now just saving for her “wants”.

She’s rapt to be in her own home.

“I absolutely love it, just that everything’s mine. Everything belongs to me and I’ve worked for this.

“Getting up, if I start at 5am, or if I have to get up at quarter to four, that has made it worthwhile because I’ve got something to work for. Previously, I’d think, ‘It’s too early, why am I doing this?’

“It’s also made me a bit more switched on at work. I need to do the best job I can: I’ve got something new to work towards.”

What advice does she have for other prospective first home buyers?

“It’s doable. You’ve just got to do your research first.

“And, make sure that when you buy, you’re not going to be scrimping just to own something.”

She says many people don’t realise that mortgage adviser services are free to the customer (they are paid a commission trail from the bank or lender).

First-home buyers made up almost a quarter (24.4%) of new home loans written up in the second half of last year, according to the New Zealand Banking Association’s latest retail banking insights.

That share is similar to the previous six months, even as the average first‑home buyer loan size reached $524,850, a 3.4% increase.