Talk to a mortgage broker about home and investment loans in Hamilton

Whether it's a first home in Nawton or Glenview, a move up to Rototuna or Flagstaff, a rental near the university or a refix on the home you're already in, the questions tend to be similar. How much deposit you'll need, how a lender looks at your income and what a new build or a home let by the room means for the loan all come into it, and the answers can differ from one lender to the next.

Pop a few details about your plans into the short form below and we'll pass them to one mortgage broker or lender. They can get in touch, usually within one working day, to talk through your home loan options with you.

Hamilton is a river city at heart. The Waikato River winds through the middle of town, so there's an east side and a west side joined by bridges, and over the years riverside walkways have been added after people felt the city had turned its back on the water.

That split goes all the way back to the start. Hamilton was founded in 1864 around two military redoubts on opposite banks and named after Captain J. F. C. Hamilton, who was killed at Gate Pā near Tauranga. Hamilton East and Hamilton West then grew up as separate settlements until they joined as one borough in 1877, and the Union Bridge between them was finished the following year.

Since then it has grown into the main centre of the Waikato, with students, visitors and a big farming calendar keeping the place busy, and Auckland still within easy reach up the expressway.

It's easiest to think of the city in four rough parts. The north takes in Rototuna, Flagstaff, Huntington and Chartwell, where a lot of the newer housing has gone as the city spread that way, and some lenders may look at a new build there a little differently from an older home. The east has Hillcrest, Silverdale and Hamilton East close to the university, and if you're buying an older place to do up, it's worth knowing some lenders may consider a top up down the track to cover the work.

Out west you'll find Dinsdale, Nawton, Rotokauri and Frankton, which was an important junction on the main trunk railway and its own borough until it joined Hamilton in 1917. Rotokauri is one of the city's growth areas, so the same new build questions often come up there, while an older home in Frankton might mean thinking about renovations as well as the purchase.

In the south, Peacocke is one of Hamilton's largest greenfield areas and the third to be developed after Rototuna and Rotokauri, so new builds are a big part of the picture down that end of town. If you're building rather than buying, some lenders may pay out a construction loan in stages as the build goes along.

Investors often look at homes near the university and Wintec, as well as family rentals in suburbs like Nawton, Dinsdale, Fairfield and Enderley. Some lenders treat a boarding-style rental, or a new build in Peacocke or Rotokauri, a bit differently from an older home, so it's worth mentioning the type of property when you get in touch.