The couple withdrew more than $10,000 from their KiwiSaver accounts, and also qualified for a $6000 KiwiSaver first-home subsidy through Housing New Zealand.
"It made all the difference. We wouldn't have got the house without it," Ms Tahana said this week.
Mr Greene echoed that, saying the money "gave us a good help".
They move into their new home in Brockville next week, something Ms Tahana (25), a laboratory assistant, and Mr Greene (24), a mechanic, are looking forward to.
"We're excited now. The processing of buying the house has been a little bit stressful, but once it was all set we were relieved," Ms Tahana said.
For the couple, the decision to use KiwiSaver money was deliberate.
Ms Tahana had been reading up on the savings scheme and knew if they joined, they could accumulate all or most of the money they needed for a house deposit by the time they were allowed to withdraw it.
"I'd recommend it to anyone. At the end of the day, it is easy money.
"It is savings you can't touch but you can use it for a home."
They had originally planned to begin looking for a house at the end of this year but spotted an "open home" sign in Brockville recently, went inside, decided the house had everything they wanted and put in an offer.
Getting the money from KiwiSaver was "easy" and it took only three days for the money to be transferred to their lawyer's trust fund, Ms Tahana said.
But securing the Housing New Zealand subsidy was "not user friendly".
The paperwork was complicated and she had communication problems, with telephone calls not answered or returned and confirmation of subsidy approval not being emailed to her solicitor as requested.
The HNZ subsidy is called a deposit subsidy, which Ms Tahana and Mr Greene believed meant it could be used towards the property transaction deposit paid to the vendor.
However, well into the process, she learnt the money was not paid until the day of full settlement.
The couple quickly came up with a "Plan B" - borrowing money from family - but in the end did not need to do that, as other arrangements were made.
Applicants can apply for pre-approval for the subsidy before starting the process of buying a home.
Ms Tahana said she and Mr Greene would have done that if they had known that option was available, and she advised others to do that to make the process easier.
