Lena Bykova - Mortgage Adviser, Valar

20/10/2026

https://valar.co.nz/insights/articles/first-home-buying-steps-nz

From knowing your why to getting the keys: the ten steps of a first home purchase on one map, and the point after which walking away gets very expensive.

18/10/2026

Buying your first home in New Zealand can feel like a maze of terms, deadlines and numbers nobody explains properly.

So I put the whole journey on one map. 🗺

Swipe through the 10 steps, save this post, and bring it with you to your next open home. 🏡

If you want the detailed version with the numbers and checklists, it’s in the link in bio. 📖

I’d love to hear where you are in the process. Which step feels the most confusing right now? Tell me in the comments. 💬

Lena

ValarFinancialAdvisors

09/10/2026

How much can the bank lend me? 🏡 This is the wrong question.

Start with what you can comfortably afford, then work out what that borrows.

✅ 30 to 40% of your income on your mortgage: manageable
❓ But have you tested what happens if rates go up?

📈 Can your household still pay it at 50%, 60%, or 70% of your income? At what percentage would it start to hurt?

💡 Instead of the maximum the bank can lend you, focus on the amount that is manageable for your household, and that you can pay well.

👉 Comment “affordable” and I’ll send you the calculator and the guide: 10 ways to pay your mortgage faster.

🔗 Or run your own numbers in the Valar calculator (link in bio).

31/08/2026

🏡 Not sure what matters when choosing your first home?
Start with the right questions.

📘 Free First Home Buyer Guide + Coaching Workbook

👇 Check the link in the comments.

28/08/2026

After watching Elon Musk’s latest interview about a future of abundance where money may no longer be necessary, I started thinking about what our potential universal-income, post-information world could actually look like.
And what assets would still matter?

That took me into the economics of scarcity and scarce assets, and eventually I realised that buying a lifestyle property not too far from Auckland may actually have been quite a good investment decision, even though it was mostly intuitive at the time.
What do you think about this potential post-AI world? Especially those of us who sit in offices, scroll FB & LinkedIn and basically work with information every day. Any predictions?

Let’s talk about it.

AI could make almost everything cheap. It still can't make more land, energy, raw materials or hours in a day — and that changes where the next decade of savings should go.

26/08/2026

https://valar.co.nz/insights/articles/what-a-mortgage-adviser-actually-does

The paperwork is the smallest part of it. What comparison, lending policy and loan structure actually change, plus the two questions almost nobody asks.

26/08/2026

“Why do I even need an adviser?”

Fair question. Most people think an adviser gets you a better rate and sends your documents to the bank.

A lot of advisers do exactly that. But it’s the smallest part of the job.

The real work starts with the things you haven’t thought about yet.

✦ Strategy first — where you’re heading, before how much you’re borrowing.

✦ A structure built around your next several years, not just this purchase. Travel, a career change, a second property.

✦ I don’t just fix a rate. I build a split across different options, analyse each one, and show you the risk you’re carrying if rates rise.

The paperwork is part of the job. It isn’t the job.

The rate matters. But your strategy for the next several years and a structure built around your future goals matter far more.

Read Full article in comments 🔗

21/08/2026

The mortgage-rate bottom may already be behind us.
House prices, meanwhile, don't seem particularly impressed

That combination creates a very different market for borrowers and buyers.

Less competition for property doesn't automatically mean better affordability when borrowing capacity is moving the other way.

I looked at what has changed in August, where fixed rates now sit, and the decisions borrowers are actually facing.

Full update 👇

The OCR rose for the first time in three years, every main bank repriced, and unemployment hit a twelve-year high. Where the numbers sit, and what is driving them.

17/08/2026

“Rent is cheaper than buying.”

Sometimes it is. And sometimes by quite a lot.

💡But I think we often stop the comparison too early.
We compare this month’s rent with this month’s cost of owning a home and declare a winner.

The more interesting question is what happens to your finances over the next 10 or 20 years.

Buying has costs. No argument there.
But it also gradually converts part of your monthly payment into equity.

Renting can work financially too, especially if you take the money you save and invest it consistently.

❗️And there lies the small problem.

Excel table always invests the difference. Humans have weekends.

So I’m not really in the “rent is always dead money” camp.
Rent can give you freedom, mobility and lower costs at the right stage of life.

But if you choose renting for the long term, something else needs to be building in the background.

Because eventually the question becomes less about what you paid and more about what you built.

What do you think: buying or renting?
And more importantly, why?

       

15/06/2026

How I work❓

When people first reach me out, they usually have one specific question in mind.

A property they want to buy. A rate decision coming up. Something they saw on the news and want to understand.

That’s always a good starting point. But it’s rarely where the real work begins.

Swipe to see what we actually do together. ➡️