Hi

We are in the process of putting together our EOI for hopeful submission in early March with a job offer (OH).

We have recently had our house valued and sold without it going on the market - risky I know, but to be honest we need to sell, the recession has hit us really badly. We have a fair bit of equity in the property which would result in us requiring a smallish mortgage in ChCh for a much bigger house.

However, are there restrictions on buying property in ChCh dependent on the type of Visa? We are hoping for a WTR Visa, my OH's occupation isn't on the stssl but he will qualify as a skilled migrant in a future growth area.

I had assumed we would be able to buy as soon as we found something suitable, but I thought I would check.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

not sure that but from reading this

http://www.enz.org/getting-a-mortgage.html

if you don't have PR then you will be required to stump up a bigger deposit.

Personally I would wait sometime before buying to make sure you know what area is best for you and yours

BNZ for sure will offer mortgages to non-PR (not all banks do), but they will load it 0.5% on the rate - but didn't require a bigger deposit. There are no property purchase restrictions but I'd advise you are in NZ long enough to understand the market and process before diving in...

Hi Larryloo - did you sell to a company for a lower value? We might be putting our on soon and worried it won't sell for ages.

Hi. We sold through an estate agent. We're just very fortunate that we live in a desirable location. X

We will have a good deposit. We are keen to buy quickly to help settle in and also because the rentals look pretty ht and miss with an emphasis on miss! Xx

Hi. Thanks. We're keen to buy so that we can settle, the rentals don't look particularly appealing. X

Serious word of advice

Put that money in a savings and rent until you become a resident

Saving rates at the moment are far better over here.

Plus there'd be a lot less hassle with the issue of you not having residency. We were advised by harcourts to wait until we became residents before considering applying. Banks tend to be more favourable and willing to do business with you then

Thanks for the advice. Do you mean wait until we're residents after two years on a WTR visa?

Would you regret wasting a year's rent money more than wasting the equity from your UK house ? Please don't rush into a property purchase. OK, the rentals seem dire. Ours was ok back in March 2011, wouldn't have liked to spend the winter there though.

Please do not underestimate how much houses were wrecked internally during the earthquakes. How unstable they still are from previous shakes. That's infrastructure things like the chimney, window frames, foundations, sewage pipes leading from the house, water pipes leading to the house etc.

Houses are being sold with their Earthquake Commission claim still valid. That's ok, but what does it really mean ? How can earthquake damage be proved in 'x' years time ?

Christchurch has turned into a town of have's and have nots, i.e. property not affected by the earthquake owned by the haves. Very nice too. Sell it a premium or just be pleased for the increase in value. Property destroyed or damaged by the earthquakes creates the have nots.

Look up the zoning of earthquake affected areas, i.e. red zone - property to be demolished, orange zone - properties to be repaired. Really, when ? By whom ? Who pays ? The govt or the insurance companies ? It is actually quite scandalous the way it's been totally mis-handled.

There's other zone colours too but I can't remember them all. Please rent first to get an idea of what's what. Surely renting a crappy house has got to be better than owning one ?

The areas outside Christchurch i.e. Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Lincoln might be safer. Anyone who thinks the earthquakes have stopped or have dropped in intensity is deluding themselves.

then i am deluded...

Phew, you must be glad the earthquakes are all over now.

We bought six weeks after arriving, using TSB Bank. They may have wanted a bigger deposit but we had 50% so they didn't care. They didn't charge us any more interest. We were on WTR visas at the time.

I don't like paying rent - it must be the Brit in me but let me start buying my own house asap.

There are some very nice houses for sale in relatively untouched parts of ChCh and also several if you look further north over the Waimak river. Yes the prices have gone up but they are not going down any time soon, IMHO

Jan

I can't answer your question directly but I would warn that the property market and processes are quite different here to the uk. Coupled with the unique circs of ChCh, I would do your research thoroughly and don't rush. If anything, from what I understand, the ChCh market is super-inflated at the moment so be very careful.

not going to bite....