A deposit target feels abstract until you split it into pieces you control: withdrawable KiwiSaver, cash in the bank, and any genuine gift that will be available at settlement. The percentage on a listing (5%, 10%, 20%) is only the start. Lenders and solicitors also care whether you still have a buffer after you pay the deposit.
Pick a door, then reverse-engineer the number
On a $700,000 home, 20% is $140,000, 10% is $70,000, and a 5% First Home Loan path is $35,000. Those are different products and different levels of rationing and cost. Choose the pathway you are actually aiming for, then set the dollar target — not the other way around.
KiwiSaver is often the bulk
After 3 years of membership you can usually withdraw your balance minus $1,000, subject to the first-home rules. Contributions you make now still help if settlement is more than a few months away. Confirm the withdrawable figure with your provider before you go unconditional; the planner is an estimate.
Cash is for the deposit gap and the friction
Legal fees, building reports, LIM reports, movers, and insurance from settlement day rarely come out of KiwiSaver. A deposit plan that spends every liquid dollar tends to fail in the final fortnight. Many buyers keep a separate “friction” pot even when KiwiSaver covers most of the percentage deposit.
Gifts need clean paperwork
Family gifts are common and legitimate when documented properly. Banks want to know the money is a gift, not a loan that adds debt. Get the gifting letter right early; do not leave it to the week of unconditional.
Where the cash should sit while you save
Deposit money has an unusual job: it must be safe and it must be available on a date you cannot yet name. That rules out anything whose value can fall in the short term, however good the long-run case for it. It also argues against locking a term deposit past a plausible settlement date, because breaking one to meet a deadline is a poor trade. A straightforward, separately named savings account is usually right — and the separation matters more than the rate, because money that never touches your everyday account is far harder to spend by accident.
Banks read the pattern, not just the total
Lenders often want to see evidence of genuine saving over several months, not merely a balance that appeared last week. Regular automatic transfers on payday build exactly that record, and they also demonstrate the surplus you claim on the application is real. It is worth starting the habit earlier than the arithmetic strictly requires, because the pattern itself becomes part of your case. Unexplained lump sums, by contrast, invite questions — every large deposit into the account will need a story and, often, a document.
Turn the gap into a calendar
If you have $45,000 withdrawable KiwiSaver and $15,000 cash toward a $70,000 (10%) target, the gap is $10,000. At $500 a fortnight saved, that is about ten fortnights — plus whatever you still need for costs. The first-home planner is built for that arithmetic: balance, cash, gift, target price, and saving rate in one place.