house prices
 

I know it's a bit of a personal question but how much did you pay for your house and was it value for money?
We have been looking at all the property websites and going on the bank websites to see how much we can borrow but none of the answers we are getting seem to get us a nice house (In Tauranga).
We will have about £35000 deposit and our income will be around $100k+ p.a. :(
Do you have to mortgage to the hilt in order to get something good and have a mortgage over a longer period of time than you had in the u.k?

Re: house prices
 

Hi there. First off, the answer entirely depends on your definition of 'good'. If we go at it from the financial side of things, it may help:

On 35k ukp at a conservative $2.40 to the ukp = $84000 deposit. This is hefty and a great place to start. If you use this as a 20% deposit (which you'd have to if a non-resident (and I'll go worst case scenario here) then you have a purchase price of around $420k. Take off the deposit gives you a mortgage of $336k, which to service at current rates (guestimate $1050/ month repayment for every $100k borrowed) fives you roughly $3.3k/ month mortgage payments.

100k salary for one person (working to worst case scenario again - it'll be different if 2 people earning 50k etc) minus tax (from https://www.ird.govt.nz/cgi-bin/form...orm=incrates): and excuse the formatting:

Income tax rate Income Tax
Income up to $38000 taxed at 19.5% $38000.00 $7410.00
Income over $38000 up to $60000 taxed at 33% $22000.00 $7260.00
Remaining income taxed at 39% $40000.00 $15600.00
Totals $100000.00 $30270.00

So, your net income will be $69,730/ 12 months = $5,810 a month.

Deduct your mortgage of 3.3k (appx) = $2,510 a month to live on.

So, if this is acceptable to you, how much of a house will $420k buy you? Search TradeMe, Harcourts and the like and you'll pretty much have the answer to your question.

Mortgages here are typically over 30 years, although you can do them for as short a time as you are comfortable if you want and can afford to.

Ultimately, if good to you means 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, double garage, and 1000 square metres of land then here in ChCh you'd be out of luck for $420k. I don't know about Tauranga. However if good means 4 bed, 1 bath, older 'villa' style, close to the beach and river in Kaipoi then you'd be in luck.

Define your own 'good' and you'll be on your way to sussing it out.

Hope this helps a little,

Wiz

Re: house prices
 

We paid $440,000 for our house May 2005, the full asking price, an offer of $420,000 was refused. All our neighbours said we paid well over the odds but I would have paid another 25% for it, as I said in another post a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The house was well within our allocated budget and seemed very, very good value to me. Maybe because it was 50% less than the house we sold in the UK. Mind you the one in the UK will still be standing in another 100 years...I doubt very much if no 6 will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any profit we may have earned in the last 3 years has been eroded by the personal stuff we have done to it. No doubt if we sold now we would lose out, but we are here for the long term and have spent the money on the place with a 20++ year view. Well that's the plan anyway. What did they say about the mice and men??

Re: house prices
 

And is $2,510 enough for a family of four to live on after rates, car, electric, and all other bills:confused::confused:

Re: house prices
 

Depends how you live. About $1000 a month on general house bills say, about $200 per month per car (excluding payments if any for it)..thats gas, tax, ins, mots etc, and about $250-300 for for food per week. So yes you can live on it, like most of us though you won't be rich!! Those bills can be pared down if you are really frugal.

But normally the lifestyle makes up for what the paypacket lacks!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: house prices
 

Some good posts here. We are a family of 5 and budget for $3000 per month for non mortgage costs.

Re: house prices
 

Sky with one (sports) package = $69 p/month
Electric = $130 p/month (summer), $320 p/month (winter) (very variable, depends on house, insulation, heating methods, but gives a general idea)
Food = at least $300 p/week for 2A, 2K (incls household cleaners etc and packed lunch stuff, toiletries), so that's $1,300 p/month
Rates = again variable, we have a 4-bed (but in Cch) Rates are $185 p/month
(incl. water)
Telephone/Broadband internet = $100 p/month
Vodafone pre-paid monthly top ups = $20 (min per phone)
Car/petrol/6 monthly WOF/6 monthly service/Rego/insurance = $200 p/month (roughly)
Household/contents insurance = $50 - $150 p/month (depending on requirements)

Plus if kids at school you need to put some aside for school fees/contribution, uniforms (not cheap), school trips, all school exercise books, shoes.

You could do it on $2,500 but you wouldn't have any over for savings, holidays, luxuries.

We looked at Tauranga a year ago. Saw a house in (sp?) Ohuaiti (according to Real estate agent located in the 'better end'. 3-bed log cabin up on the hill, fantastic location, no heating, no garage, but a real peaceful retreat. It was $479,000. We made an offer of $449,000 at the time and had a conditional offer accepted on it. However, we ended up with a great job offer in Cch so came here instead and bought a far bigger house in a quiet cul de sac with double garage, workshop, 4-beds, spa pool, log burner, stream in garden; for over $100k less than the log cabin.

Re: house prices
 

In English terms that is about £1000. I know people say do not convert but the costs here are about the same in most cases. So I think it gives you some or a better indication. On that amount you will never see the Uk again. The flight alone would cost you £4000. Dentists here cost silly money ( a replacement crown will set you back around £500) You even have to pay for the kids (for braces etc around £1400). Food is generally more expensive though and there is no choice. Whitegoods are expensive ( fridge/freezers £800 region etc etc) Schools expect you to chip in or the kids miss out on certain things ( for example certain activities) Opticians are pricey too. And before you say "well they are in the UK" in NZ it takes it to another level. Real estate fees are 4 times higher here. The tax system is shit. You hit the high rate when you earn only £15000. Kids have to pay 15% tax on paper rounds. No personal allowance here even for children.

So I think you would struggle big time. No spare cash for you or the kids. Few holidays. No hobbies and I think you would feel trapped in this situation.

I know this sounds all doom and gloom but you really need to look into it very seriously. We have friends in the same situation with 3 kids and they are not happy at all. Good luck what ever you choose to do.

Re: house prices
 

So is every one on here on serious wages then? My wife is a midwife and I am a truck driver, She has a contract for $58k and i would hope i could make $48k as a truck driver which makes $100k So what the hell do you lot do in order not to struggle? Airline pilots:confused:Dentists:confused: Doctors:confused:

Re: house prices
 

My OH is in IT which mostly seems to pay ok for the kind of work he does. We're bringing about £100,000 equity with us but we're still looking to buy in the low $400,000 so we don't have a big mortgage and hopefully still have some for saving/holidays etc.
My sis in law has been in NZ for 7 years and she's always said its a relatively tough place to make a go of it if you're not earning a lot. She had two friends who moved to Auckland from London and they moved back to the Uk after a couple of years cos they couldn't afford the cost of living.....
Am planning my fruit and veg garden already!

Re: house prices
 

I have said before that while NZ is a wonderful place the last thing you want in a new life is money problems or not enough of it. Only we know as individuals how we will fare fiscally in our new choice of country. I knew we would be better off here, not because of wages (Kates a part time nurse), but simply because of my extended years I had a bit more property equity than younger folk. Did the sums and knew (what with cheaper houses my comparison to the UK) that we would be significantly better off here than in the UK. I really don't think it would have been the success for us that is has been had we not had a good financial start. Harsh words for NZ but true. Whilst the lifestyle is good it won't pay the bills. Skinnt in NZ or financially sound in the UK...give me the UK any day. It just happened that for us it was the other way round!!! Think carefully, do you sums, get those cost of living sheets and work out all your projected bills with nasty things like dental/optician bills factored in!

Re: house prices
 

As far as opticians go, screw these avaricious greedy bastards in the eyeglass business here in New Zealand. They are total rip-off merchants. We're talkin' NZ$400 for basic frames and I don't know how many hundreds of dollars for lenses. You will probably shell out a minimum of NZ$700. Bloody oath! :curse:

As an alternative get your eyes checked and order your eyeglasses online. I recently got two pairs of glasses, one pair really nice rimless with titanium frames and with progressive lenses and another pair of simple plastic framed single vision for playing sport. Total cost around NZ$90 if I remember correctly. The glasses are good quality. No problems with them at all.

Re: house prices
 

*Some* UK equity is the key to a decent life here. For people starting from scratch NZ is a harsh place to begin, as harsh if not harsher than the UK. 1st time buyers on the 'median' wage haven't got a hope of getting on the property ladder without a big leg-up from the bank of mum & dad or a lotto win, and even then only with both them and their partner working full time. I now 100% see why there are so many Kiwi's in the UK!

I'm considered a 'professional' by NZ Immigration and I'm in recruitment, my wife is a primary teacher. We make well above the median household income here, yet even so it's not as easy to make it stretch as we had first hoped it would be. Then again, some of our property buying decisions could be construed as risky and we will either pay the penalty or reap the rewards in the years to come.

The main thing is that unless you have 100k ukp or more to convert to dollars and pay off a large slice of a property, you may well find a move to NZ leaves you with a bigger mortgage. Ok, you have a 'better' house, but what's the point if you are always at work?! We encourage people who ask to consider 'like-for-like' when looking at property out here, and compare a UK 3 bed house to a NZ 3 bedder etc. Only then do the advantages of UK equity buying NZ property shine through.

If you are expecting to leave your 1910, 3 bed terrace in the UK and use the equity to buy a 'nice' house here outright with the equity then you'll be disappointed. If you change focus to buying a 3 bed house here, of a similar floor size (say 100 square metres or so...?) then you'll be pleasantly surprised!

My bro and sis-in-law have just moved out here, and put an offer in on a beauty of a house, which was fortunately rejected as on reflection they realised it would take all of her income to fund the mortgage, where as in the UK it was only 2/3 of her income for the same.

It is SO easy to get carried away, but once that UK equity is gone, it's gone. Always tie that money up in an appreciating asset like a house and NOT in boats, big cars and all the toys whilst renting. Some people do, and when the money runs out it is NOT a pretty sight, for them or their families, when they realise that they are stuck here as they have no money to make the move back home/ elsewhere.

Play the game carefully, consider each move and don't get carried away and it is very possible to have a great time in NZ - and good luck to all of those here that have done it, or are in the process of trying :thumbsup:

Re: house prices
 

so the general consensus is that unless you have a wod of cash to start you off over in nz then you are going to be worse off.:ohmy:

Re: house prices
 

So our minds are split now:confused::confused: Go or not, And today we got a letter saying we had been approved in principle for pr.:confused::confused:WHAT NOW?