On 31st December 2009 Matt asked:

How do I find out ownership details of a prospective property?
I have just found out that the person who owns a property I am interested in purchasing has gone bankrupt and abandoned both the property and his business. What I would like to know is whether there is any way to find out who holds the mortgage on the property so that I can approach them about purchasing his house and land?

Our expert John Bolton responded:

Your mortgage broker or solicitor can do a search on the Certificate of Title to see which lender the mortgage is with and also the priority amount.  Most banks reserve 130% of the actual mortgage as priority.

That will give you a far idea of what is at stake and what sort of price the lender might be looking for to recover its costs

John Bolton is one of New Zealand’s leading experts on interest rate risk management and mortgage structuring. Squirrel help Kiwis successfully buy over $10m of property every month. Their expert advice is free and will save you more money for beer and shoes.

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