southerner

Why's that then?

alanmacc

Well thought Id throw my input into this one, we arrived in October, have been renting since then but are in the process of building, we are of the thinking, why rent and pay somebody else for a house to live in when you can own your own .......... prices may fall but by 30% I very much doubt it, here in chch houses still seem to be turning over pretty fast and out in rolleston there are plenty of new builds going on that seem to contradict the current news trend

Nerine

We get more than that in interest, even after tax is deducted! so we're living for nothing, in the meantime property prices are falling whilst our capital increases.

You may've missed it before
I'm not saying anyone else should do it, it just happens to work well for us and if we were to buy property now it would be an investment, either in NZ or back in the UK but only when the market has really bottomed out and that won't be for a while in either country.

lardyl

I think a bit of decorum wouldn't go amiss.......

I'll also beg to differ - as your IRD payments are subsidising my rental to the tune of ...... mmm .....quite a few dollars a week.

Deciding to rent or buy is a bit like being in business, cash is king and if you don't have it upfront why pay NZ interest rates rather than sitting on a small cash investment earning interest - all depends upon the market.

Have you read the number of threads where people bought a house here and lived to regret it......and you realise that there are other costs in buildings insurance, rates, etc that are built into the rental, so quoting figures like that is not the whole truth.... our place costs $370 a week and is sandwiched between some very nice real estate and a fair few $1m+ places, nice area and the landlords are good. So for us, at the moment it works....horses for courses...

Just looking at the Herald website:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10502027
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10501995
straight off the press shows that there is at least a blip in property here.....

Clearly you have made your decision based on your circs and others make theirs. Many people who come to NZ ain't cashed up or choose to keep their UK property. Each to his/her own......there's certainly no black and white on the rent/buy front, especially with an unstable (and most commentators would argue) overvalued NZ property market......just ask the developers of all those apartments that can't be sold to service the loans from Lombard.

Nerine

We've built houses too, and it was a cheaper option to buy them off-plan in the UK from an established builder than to build in NZ.

In the UK the price is fixed from the outset when the deposit is paid and there are no staged payments to be made to the builder until it is completed, unlike NZ. In NZ you pay a lot at various stages eg. Roof on, enclosure, etc. and will still have to pay rental fees for 6-9 months whilst covering loan payments on the new build. Some people find they can't cover both, especially if they're on floating loan payments and it's not unusual to hear of people needing to sell as soon as they've built because they've overstretched themselves.

Building in NZ is never as cheap as you think it's going to be and there are always extra costs (landscaping, floor covering, drives, decks, planting etc) for things that you would expect as standard in Britain. These can add a significant amount to the project. You just have to be really careful with the dollars and keep an up to date spread sheet of all that is being spent.

lardyl

So the Nerine school of economics/real estate would suggest buy a newly built off someone who is struggling to pay for it............leaving them with all the grief ?

Nerine

No, why take on their liabilities?

lardyl

just squeeze them down in price as they are desperate to sell and have had all the stresses to deal with,,,,,,,,,

southerner

But other people's taste is just awful, I'd have to redo it all.

lardyl

true - but think of all that money you'd save over new.......
all I have to do is visit the Op-shop, Sally Army or whatever to remind myself of the power of a "bargain" in NZ!

Nerine

Seems a bit harsh, besides which why go through all the hassle?

lardyl

not sure you get my drift......
Me: exploit them then!!

Nerine

Yes I got your drift. And I've seen some pretty shoddy almost builts too, Southerner made a good point.

southerner

Just picked myself off the floor after that comment...you should warn me about these things...

Nerine

I just hope it was a good solid Kauri or Matai one