Justcol

If you're happy buying houses for other people with the rent you pay then carry on as you are and continue being happy

Moses2013

You just have to decide what's more important for you and great that you have a job you like + friends. You still never have a guarantee that you'll have the same job, same friends/band in a few years and true friends will remain friends no matter where you are. It's always best to buy in the place you live and work, so if you see yourself in Auckland then you'll have to accept the prices. If it's not worth it just keep renting and be happy that you have a decent amount of money. What you do is up to you.

Charismatic

If you want a third way just buy a boat .

The Weezer

Hi,
What about buying land in an "unfashionable" suburb, but still within 20 km of the city? Houses may be horrendously expensive, but an empty section may be affordable as an investment. Your loan can go towards building costs. You live in a comfortable new home, rent out the extra rooms (nowadays the best money is in 4 bed homes) and hopefully if you decide to sell on, you can make a profit on it, depending on the market. If the prices stay about the same as they are now, you'll probably do very well.

This section is actually bigger than the average, and is near the train, hospital, airport and major motorways:

Build your dream home here | Trade Me Property

Chocoholics

I'd say if you are happy in Auckland then stay and rent. I get the impression that you are worried about owning a property because everyone else is saying you should own one. I'd go with what your instincts are telling you i.e. stay in Auckland where you are obviously happy and perhaps rent and save for now. There are other investments out there, here and overseas, with more potential returns like bonds, shares etc but they are also riskier than a savings account. Depends what you are comfortable with and how much you can afford to lose if things go the wrong way.

Angeshirl

Gosh thank you all so much! Super helpful and has given me so much to think about. You are all right in one way or another and yes, the influence of people telling me a should own a house sent me into a panic. My first step is to start diversifying where my money is, I think that's the most important thing I've taken from this. Not to have all my eggs in one basket.
I've used term deposits before so it's probably about time I did that again to let the money grow. I would still be keen on a property elsewhere in NZ somewhere to look to retire to, but perhaps not until my savings are stronger.
Plus, I've just discovered we're having car issues so I guess my rainy day money is about to take a hit shortly anyway...

Moses2013

As mentioned, you could buy a piece of land that's affordable, because building is getting cheaper and in a few years time there will be even better materials available. I wouldn't rush into buying a property, because many people who thought they could climb the property ladder will be stuck in their 1 bed homes for life. Otherwise keep saving and buy the property you like when the time is right. In most countries you buy a home for life.

The Weezer

I think better materials are becoming easier to find. When we renovated back in 2011, double glazed aluminium windows with insulation in the frames were hardly known. Now you occasionally hear mention of it, same with PVCu. They're still not common, but at least there are suppliers now.

A bit off topic - if you build a new home, and insulate it properly, in other words, don't just meet the insanely inadequate Auckland council building code, but properly insulate your house, you'll find you'll hardly have to use heating. We only occasionally use our heat pumps in winter, as the ambient temperature inside is quite comfortable. (We haven't turned on the heat yet). We love our air conditioning for sleeping, so use heat pumps more in summer than we do in winter. In fact, we have to go outside to get an idea of how cold (or hot) it is. Central heating would have been a waste of money for us, which I suspected, as the Auckland winters really are pretty mild, relatively.

Although the build costs would be more to properly insulate, that is offset by the pleasure of living in a comfortable home and not having to worry about insane electricity/gas bills.

jmh

If I was in your situation I would be inclined to buy a nicely located inner city apartment. The balance I would keep in kiwisaver in a higher risk fund, and as someone has already said, diversify any remaining investments so that you don't have all your eggs in one basket. If the Auckland property market crashes the big losses will be on the higher end houses - I doubt it will affect apartments much - if it does, your losses wouldn't be great in $$ terms.

Re the Scottish option, you might want to research capital gains tax if you are not living in it. Still might be worth it. I think there is good investment potential in Pukekohe and Hamilton. In due course the rail links will improve which will see prices skyrocket (if Auckland prices are still high). Worth a dabble methinks.

Struan

Hi.....

With all of the previous points considered, have you looked at investing in property in the Waikato region. For example Hamilton is proving very popular with investors due to high yields and solid capital growth.

I personally have had dealings with John Kenel who's business Assured Property Investments comes highly recommended and I'm sure his team would be happy to give you some excellent advice.

Hope this helps...

Robbo25

I completely sympathise with this as I am not willing to jump into the Auckland property circus as it stands for a few reasons. However I have been looking at financial investments and the financial advice market here feels very limited with poor quality and narrow advice from what I have experienced across a few providers. In terms of investing in stocks an the like they seem limited to NZ/AUS listed stocks and wanting to invest wider is problematic at best it would seem.

I have also considered buying a place on the coast that I can rent out to a local, or alternatively buying a piece of land somewhere and being ready to build on it down the line.

I'll be interested to see what you decide.

McLeod

You really need to speak to an IFA, if you are happy to sit on your savings a bit, perhaps look at buying some bonds? Safer than shares. I am not an IFA, so check with them.

Or look at buy to let elsewhere in NZ. Why buy in Scotland, half the world away?

LoCarb

Wow! Certainly not bonds. There is a bond crash coming later this year (see Martin Armstrong among many others).
Not banks either as there is no government deposit guarantee in NZ and deposit CONFISCATION was legislated for in NZ last year by John Key. Cash under the bed, gold coins, any material asset where you can at least get some ownership... property outside Auckland...Don't trust any anyone with your money!

McLeod

There's a bunch of people who live in the woods in America who say all those same things, and have been for years

LoCarb

If you were in NZ you would personally know (as I do) some of the thousands of investors who lost their life savings when the Finance Companies here went under just 5-7 years ago. Nothing to do with woods in America, they live in NZ and that is their reality.