Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
May 5th 2009, 8:54 pm
#1
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Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I found this site the other day and hopefully it'll be of use to some of you.
Frequently Asked Questions About House Buying
Frequently Asked Questions About House Buying
Last edited by Am Loolah; May 6th 2009 at 8:40 am. Reason: Readjusting link
May 6th 2009, 8:42 am
#2
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,208
Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I found this site the other day and hopefully it'll be of use to some of you.
Frequently Asked Questions About House Buying
Frequently Asked Questions About House Buying
I find too that the community board under Real Estate on TradeMe is a good tool to ask questions for a pretty quick response. The usual responders seem to be other agents, investors, tenants, buyers and sellers so a good all round sounding block...however, they are not covered by any legal recourse so probably best for general queries.
May 6th 2009, 9:59 am
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Location: In a large village called Auckland
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Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I think it pays to have a solicitor lined up prior to making any offers or at least establish a relationship and let them know your intentions. It is useful to just run past them the terms you should or can include. The first offer we made, we didn't get the solicitor involved until after the event and he was quite horrified at the terms we had agreed to and that we had done so without really knowing what we were doing. 
Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.
The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
Last edited by Bo-Jangles; May 6th 2009 at 10:02 am.
May 6th 2009, 10:28 am
#4
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Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I think it pays to have a solicitor lined up prior to making any offers or at least establish a relationship and let them know your intentions. It is useful to just run past them the terms you should or can include. The first offer we made, we didn't get the solicitor involved until after the event and he was quite horrified at the terms we had agreed to and that we had done so without really knowing what we were doing. Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.
The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
May 6th 2009, 7:53 pm
#5
By name and by nature
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,852
Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I think it pays to have a solicitor lined up prior to making any offers or at least establish a relationship and let them know your intentions. It is useful to just run past them the terms you should or can include. The first offer we made, we didn't get the solicitor involved until after the event and he was quite horrified at the terms we had agreed to and that we had done so without really knowing what we were doing. Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.
The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
May 6th 2009, 10:54 pm
#6
Cow on the Beach
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Seatoun, Wellington
Posts: 699
Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
I think it pays to have a solicitor lined up prior to making any offers or at least establish a relationship and let them know your intentions. It is useful to just run past them the terms you should or can include. The first offer we made, we didn't get the solicitor involved until after the event and he was quite horrified at the terms we had agreed to and that we had done so without really knowing what we were doing. Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.
The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
Mostly around the amount of the deposit and when that would be paid, it was way too high and payable way sooner than was necessary. A stupid mistake we made in listening to a hungry estate agent.The second time we primed the solicitor and had him ready on stand-by, so I was able to e-mail him and tell him what we were thinking and just asked him to comment of we had omitted anything vital.
May 7th 2009, 12:48 pm
#7
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
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Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
According to the Sales & Purchase Agreement the deposit is payable "immediately upon execution of the agreement". I had a right earful from a vendor recently where the agent I work for didn't get the deposit until the contract went unconditional. He was threatening to pull out of the sale. He couldn't of course but he shouted a lot.
Traditionally a deposit was payable by the buyer once the seller had signed the contract. It is common now for a buyer to negotiate not to pay the deposit until any conditions of the contract have been satisfied.
Afterall, it should be of no business to the vendor, since the estate agent is supposed to keep it in a trust account anyway. The only purpose served by paying it earlier is that the estate agent earns interest on it in the interim period.
May 7th 2009, 7:59 pm
#8
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Re: Guide to buying a house in New Zealand
The Trust account is a non-interest bearing account. The only time a deposit is put into an interest bearing account is when it is paid on an unconditional contract that may not go unconditional until, say, the purchaser's property is sold - which doesn't happen very often. Most vendors and I have to say, particularly non-Kiwi vendors, are very interested in when the deposit is paid
