kiwisteph

Can anyone give me some advice please.

We have seen a 2 year old house we like which has 5 year still on the builder guarantee. We have been advices by the estate agent we really dont need to get a building survey as its still under guarantee. But i'm not so sure about this and think we should get one anyway. Will i be wasting my money?????

Any advice on this and buying a house will be appreciated. Thank

Rezza

Get a survey, never trust an agent who tells you you don't need one.

Genesis

The agent needs reporting in my opinion to the MREINZ. This is terrible advice. I know a realtor and when he is selling a house he ALWAYS advises the buyer to get a report, written from a Building Surveyor. Get a private valuation too...and the wiring checked. I learned the hard way and was really shafted with my 1st NZ house purchase..also you MUST get the report from your local council..a dossier held on all properties that contains the good the bad and the ugly. Its called a LIM. It stands for Land Info memo and also contains all that stuff about the house build etc. Just because its newish does not mean there are no problems..in fact the newer a house was the more concerned I would be as its not stood the test of time. It seems like overkill to get wiring reports et al..but just remeber what you are going to pay for it. You should pay no more than $500 for a written survey, about $300 on a valuation, the wiring shouls cost under $200 to check I reckon and the LIM is in the 3-$400 mark. Good luck.

Batty

Always, always get a building inspection. Especially on a 'new' house The fact that the agent suggested not to get one doesn't necessarily that they're guilty of duplicity - in my experience Kiwis don't bother so much. My friend put an unconditional offer on a house last week - built in Auckland in the 90s I couldn't believe they'd do this but..... anyway thank God, there were another 3 offers on it and they lost out

Am Loolah

Not good advice from the agent.

Get an LIR - it's a builders report + the LIM already mentioned, would be my advice.

kiwisteph

Thanks everyone that's great advice, it will be worth every penny if there's a problem.

Wiz'n'Ton

Hiya - I fully agree with the above. Get a LIm and builders survey, and anything else that may be of concern to you. Ask the builder to look for insulation (we didn;t and our house is now brrrrrr! - would have given us some bargaining power).

Finally, don't feel bad about making any offer subject to a satisfactory builders report, LIM and finance, so then you've a few 'get outs' if these bring up issues or your situation changes.

Good luck to you - house buying here is SUCH a welcome relief from all the BS that you get in the UK. We LOVE it!

kiwisteph

Thanks again for all the advice, this is our first NZ home so we just want to get it right

So here's a question - if the BEO says $630,000 can you still put in an offer, if so how cheeky can we be with the offer? How much should we go below the $630,000????

Browner_

First of all, as others have said, treat the Estate Agents as the devil, not your best friend. Get a LIM report and a builders report from someone reliable and experienced at it in the area. If there is anything you dont understand on the builders report, show it to one or more builders for an estimate or advice

As for the offer, in the current market I would make any sort of offer you like. Come in with a stupid offer unless you know for certain you are up against other vendors - why not, you can always increase it if you want.
In the current market I would suspect most sellers are still expecting an unreasonable amount for their house, so play it hard. For $630k, its got to be seriously nicely built , in a nice area with swimming pool I should think.


What area is it, whats the rateable value?
Maybe offer them $500k

Browner_

ps

Some other things to consider.....

If there is a nice bit of greenery opposite the house, this could be tomorrow's new housing estate. Check to see if its designated reserve on the LIM report.

If there are are more than about 10 homes further down your road, you will be probably be regularly pestered by annoying cars with their stupid exhausts. If you have any brick cladding or double glazing that may be more than appreciated before long.

whitesand

Remember, the estate agent is working for the seller - not you. That's the one who pays his commission. Get that survey!

CarolineSwan

hey steph

if its the house you were talking about in dudley road, dont see more houses getting built opposite to be honest as at end of inglewood

also houses in np dont go for much less than asking, its worth putting in an offer but houses in np are still selling and for not much less than asking it seems.. we havnt been hit with a resession here yet. though i would still put in a bid as even if they dont accept its a starting point to work from

how did you find inglewood btw , shame we finally got the rain here too.

my friend arrived from glasgow yesterday to the rain but hey she thinks its really warm so cant be that bad lol


caz

TeamEmbo

Don't be afraid to put in a ridiculously low offer. From what I've heard most people do. Our friend recently bought a 1 yro house. It was on for $550. She offered $450 and got it accepted.

Look at the government valuation (can never remember if its the RV or GV) but it should be on the details for the house. That's the value for the specific house and its land and the rate used by the council to set the rates for that house. Its a useful guide.

Browner_

$630k in Inglewood must be a mansion.
I assume its a well above average house which could be difficult to shift in the current market.
Definitely come in low.

Am Loolah

GV = Government Valuation - used to assess rates, also called CV - Capital Valuation.

RV = Registered Valuation, payment made to a Registered Valuer to get an idea of value not set by the Council.

HTH