Tomsk

Hi, just wondering if anyone out there could give me some advice re Christchurch properties/ areas to buy in. Or avoid like the plague

My daughter & her partner are considering buying their first home in Christchurch. She's a student at Canterbury uni although she's just coming to the end of a year out in full time employment and has managed to save a reasonable amount of cash this year. Her partner is in full time work & by all accounts is earning quite well. So they're planning on buying a 2, maybe 3 bed property & then renting out the additional bedroom/s to friends. She feels quite strongly that the rental properties that they've seen so far are not suitable and that they'd rather buy than pay rent. But she is well known for being a bit picky

Schools etc are irrelevant as they don't have any children. Travel into uni & the CBD needs to be easy-ish (especially given that they hope to attract a lodger/s to help cover the mortgage costs).

They're looking at entry level properties in cheaper areas of course as they have a limited budget

She's currently looking at Waltham. What's the opinion on the area? Is it safe? Crime? Is there much damage to properties there post earthquake?
Any areas anyone would recommend? Or avoid?

It's quite hard as a parent trying to give good advice but knowing nothing at all about Chch. If a purchase does go ahead I can see us going down there armed with paintbrushes etc, & we've already told her that if she does proceed her Christmas present this year will be a full structural survey, or whatever they call them here, but I'm very anxious to make sure that the real estate agent doesn't take advantage of her youthful enthusiasm and naivety and sell her a lemon. And we simply can't make frequent trips down there to guide their property searches. Even assuming that we'd be welcome.

Any help or opinions would be gratefully received. Thanks.

The Weezer

Hi, We don't live in Christchurch so can't comment too much on neighbourhoods, although my husband went to school in Waltham when he was a little boy. He said it's a bit industrial. Anyway, have a look on Google maps, although I'm not sure the images are pre or post second Christchurch earthquake.

When your daughter finds a property she's seriously interested in purchasing she might consider having it tested for contamination with Meth making chemicals, especially if she's looking at a property that was previously a rental. Former P Labs have been sold to the unwary:

House WOFs could include P-lab testing | Stuff.co.nz

Pom_Chch

Hello Tomsk,

Hopefully I can help as we have been through the rigmarole of buying a house in Chch recently! In the end we couldn't find what we wanted in our areas of choice in Chch so we opted for living out in the Waimakariri district.

I'll try and give you some general info based on a first time buyers budget (I'm guessing around $300k?)

Generally the east side of town was and still is the most affected by the quakes. That's not to say you can't find a nice home there though and is probably where your daughter will be buying with a first time buyers budget. I have friends and colleagues who live over that way and are happy with the location. My ex supervisor is living in New Brighton near the beach and loves it. Personally I find a lot of the east to be a bit bleak at the moment. A recent job took me out that way and, I'm sorry to say, but a lot of areas such as Wainoni and parts of South New Brighton looked terrible. Such a state of disrepair and it all felt a bit rough/dirty. I used to rent in Avonside about a year ago (another eastern suburb) and it seems that side of the city hasn't been tended to at all since the quakes. There are some better eastern suburbs though so try and aim for Shirley, Mairehau and North New Brighton, which are the better ones. Shirley might not be a bad shout as it's close to the Palms mall with a Countdown, a couple of decent cafes/restaurants, has some nice parks and is very well connected by public transport. We used to cycle to the beach from where we lived along the river, which isn't far away from Shirley either.

Eastern suburbs to absolutely avoid would be Phillipstown, Aranui and Avonside. As my Kiwi colleague says "Phillipstown is like Grand Theft Auto without the guns." 'Nuff said! Linwood could be an option, but is a little rough round the edges but not as bad as the previous three.

Across the west side of Chch are the more desirable areas and probably not suited to a limited budget. Anything that would be in a small budget would probably have serious issues.

Southern Chch has some lovely suburbs, but again, probably not suited to a small budget. I work in Beckingham, which is lovely. Cashmere and St Martins are also very nice.

General info would be to always get a building inspection by a reputable company. Especially the way Chch is the moment with earthquake damage. They also look for leaky home syndrome and other general factors that may cause a problem.

Also, if a home still needs repairs completed make sure the vendor will sign the repairs over to you. If this does not happen your daughter will not be able to deal with the claim as her name will not match the policy holders. We viewed a house where the vendor didn't want to hand the repairs over to us. She insisted that her tenants move out, she deals with the repairs and then we move in. We would have preferred to have had the tenants move out, we take over the claim, move in and do the repairs ourselves seeing as it was going to be our house. Turns out she had been given a payout months ago but had used some of the money to decorate her new house! She basically wanted to deal with the repairs herself to hide the fact she had spent the cash already. Ultimately this would mean repairs being done on the cheap.

Also make sure that if repairs still need doing that the amount quoted is going to be enough to cover the work. A friend of ours got caught out by this - he had been given $100k ish to fix the house but it ran over by about $30k and had to then come out of his own pocket.

Bit of an essay I'm afraid! Any more info or questions just ask!

Timmy Chch

My Property | Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority lets you know what TC zone your house is in. It's not the be all and end all but affects you when it comes to alterations etc but generally gives you an idea of how poop the ground underneath you is/rates how damaged that area generally suffered. TC1 = good, TC2 = ok & TC3 = bad. Generally speaking of course, read up more

Tomsk

Thanks for your responses, & your generosity in taking the time to reply to me. Some great info there to help us research further in helping with this process.

Tom H

Could you possibly provide information on the following

1: Region of deposit that they have saved. Do not give the exact figure but at least an approximation so I can work out what sort of areas they have

2: Cars - Do they drive or would they be relying on Public Transport

3: Handy work - Are they good at the DIY?

4: Moving Out - Would they be able to find somewhere else to put up sticks for a duration? Just whether or not the search could include properties awaiting to be fixed by ************************.

5: Payments - what sort of monthly or weekly payments could they afford to make?

I see you noted that they are looking at the Waltham area. I looked at a house valued at $325,000 on MacKenzie Road which was classed as Waltham. Lets just say, potential there may be, it required a shed load of work doing. I am not a diy person at all and would have had to go back to school to learn the basics of hammering nails properly etc. I also thought that the asking price for the state of the house was a joke. Now, if they are prepared to spend around that amount, on a house that could require at least $10,000+ improvements urgently, then they are opening themselves to the market more than tight arses like me.

Another thing they need to know is whether they'd qualify for things like the government grant for insulation. I know we would not be able to have the grant which was another negative in the current houses available in Christchurch. Also, would their deposit cover it as coming out of university, they're going to find it tough meeting the requirements for high LTRs. I hope they have no issues and if they need any financial help, I can recommend my mortgage broker Tony who will gladly take anyone on.

Tomsk

Thanks for the response Tom.
I don't actually know the answers to all your questions, but, to the best of my knowledge they can currently afford a deposit in the region of $30,000. They have saved some themselves & my mother in law has recently downsized her property in the UK resulting in her suddenly having a small windfall by way of the proceeds from her house sale and she's promised her granddaughter a sum to help her get on the property ladder. Hence the $30,000 total. I also suspect that Nanna would be forthcoming with a little more if necessary.
DIY? My daughter's pretty handy with a paintbrush. As far as anything more goes I don't think she's ever tried! But she's enthusiastic!. Her partner used to be a motor mechanic, which isn't a lot of use when it comes to household renovations - but I'm hoping it might suggest some practical skills. But who knows!
They both have a car, but would probably want to rent out a spare room or 2, depending on the size of property, possibly to students or city workers, and suspect that ease of access could be an advantage in attracting potential tenants. But that's something they can be flexible on.
Currently they're paying $130 each a week for their rental. given that they expect to be in a house of 3 or 4 people they could look at $390 - $520 weekly, although they'd have to cover rates & insurance within that amount, plus possibly some renovation costs.
As my daughter is returning to uni in February she'll be back on a student loan. Which I believe qualifies her for a CSC. Would that make her eligible for an insulation grant?
Thanks for the recommendation re your mortgage broker. So far we've taken some casual advice from our mortgage broker here, but of course he can only give limited advice as it's not our mortgage and he/ we don't their exact circumstances.
Thanks again, Cate

Pom_Chch

Just thought I would add - check to see whether they will be eligible for a Welcome Home Loan: The Welcome Home Loan | Supported by Housing New Zealand Corporation

Potentially your daughter could buy a place with a 10% deposit, but do check the terms and conditions.

Tomsk

Thanks for that. Definitely worth investigating.

Mark Smith

FYI Right house did our insulation in chch 5 months ago. We don't have a csc or kids and it was subsidised by about 80%. The other companies that offer grants turned us down. The whole house top and bottom was about $1000.

Tom H

$30,000 deposit should get them a house around the $250,000 - S300,000. I recommend they talk to Kiwi Bank about a mortgage or SBS Bank. Them two in particular have mortgage products that would be obtainable given their deposit amount. I'd also tell them to speak to their current banks as being a current customer can give them an advantage.

I think she'd qualify for a CSC, that's a money saver right there! She'll need to take someone who knows houses and building when visiting. Agents have been known here in Christchurch to mislead buyers. Especially with the older style houses. If that fails to happen, get an inspection report and when they purchase - put that in the contract for it to be done before signing. Highly recommended when buying old sheds in particular around certain areas

Would they also need money for furnishings or have they got all of that?

Tomsk

Thank you. We do plan that she should get an inspection report, we've agreed to pay for that for her, I think they're essential - especially in Christchurch. I think they're sort of hoping to manage as far as furniture goes. They'll no doubt do a few garage sales, op shop & trade me searches for stuff but they're happy to start with the bare minimum & gradually furnish the place with whatever they can find. His parents have promised them some furniture, & assuming we can get down there we've got some bits & pieces we can let them have. So they'll manage. It might not be luxury to begin with, but that's fine.

Tom H

Shoddy repairs but big mark-ups - the-press | Stuff.co.nz

Here's an article about the baffling valuations/reasons why we love auctions when selling our houses in the Christchurch market

Although valuations/reports will cost and may annoy the seller (bring them back to the land of reality, not fantasy) - at least you will have the knowledge that a house they want $400,000 for as an example is actually only worth $220,000.

Also, it may mean difficulties at auctions if the reality price doesn't meet the fantasy minimum the seller has put on.

Pom_Chch

Hello Tomsk,

Just following on from what TomH posted. I saw this article today in Stuff:

Poor repairs to haunt buyers | Stuff.co.nz

Not meaning to put a downer on things, but definitely make sure you get a high quality inspection. I would be inclined to pay a little extra and go for the highest report possible. When viewing a house really make sure they have a good poke around. Ask a friend to tag along, extra pairs of eyes are always useful. I know that sounds obvious but I wasn't very good at looking at certain things.

I know a couple who received their payout for repairs of about $20,000. They spent half that on repairs and did it all themselves (not trained to do so) and then suddenly could afford to go on holiday to Australia