whitesand

Yes, Geneses, if folks thought like you and considered their home as personal and not something to make a quick buck on then we wouldn't be in the financial mess we're in today. Houses shouldn't double or treble in the course of two or three years without it bouncing back on the economy, and I have little sympathy for those who are now whinging because their houses are in reality only worth half what they were silly enough to pay for them.

Browner_

Personally , I wouldnt touch the stuff.

Eggshell I call it, it is as thin as, and stains up dreadfully. And behind it , there is often untreated timber, so any leaks and your house will be rotten through and through before you spot it.

Genesis

I have always far exceeded expenditure on my homes in relation to their worth..ie I would have probably got exactly the same money for them if I was not so obsessed with my homes and how their interiors work for me. I could never get back in a million years what I have spent on the NZ home but I hope to be in this one for about 20 years..if you divide the expenditure over the 20 years it seems cheap!!

And I have not done the work on extended loans, we used our money thus I am at liberty to say I care not a jot what my house is worth as it is our money not some other poor bugger's who has invested a load to a finance company..like muggins 'ere did!!!!

I feel for those in negative equity. Having 'lost' a large sum to Hanover for how ever many years (if not forever) I know what its like!!!!

Batty

In my experience the Kiwis don't have that many conditions - it's the 'foreigners' who are more cautious Tbh, we hardly ever have anything more than a building inspection because we make sure the vendors have the LIM report from the get-go.

southerner

I think there was also concern around how independent the building inspector is. Some buyers have been using their mates to do this....something for sellers to be aware of.

alanmacc

Hi Lou

As said in most of the posts get a LIM and if you can use a Surveyor, I can give you the one we used here if you want, drop me a mail.

We looked at a few houses to buy and then opeted to build for ourselves in Rolleston, what you can get for your money by driving 20min from the city is well worth the drive.

We too gave ourselves 6 months to buy a house and all said the build process only took 17 weeks start to finish !!!

zummerzet_lou

Thanks for the tips, and offers of help .. . :-)

We are still very much new to the area, and are keeping our options open.Well, last Sat we'd decided upon Kaiapoi/Rangiora and then after visiting some folks on Sunday, are now completely undecided again. He lives in West Melton, which is way out of our budget, but are now also considering Rolleston and surrounds. I work in Burnside, so guessing it'd be about a 15-20min drive? Don't really want to commute much more than 20 mins if I can help it.

We're definately go to look at loads of open homes ... seems to be loads of choice at the moment which is great for us!

Lou

zummerzet_lou

Quick guys .. I need your help!

We found a house on Sunday in Kaiapoi that, whilst not "perfect", will suit us, and could mean we are mortgage free.

Spoke to the agent, as price is neg over $289k, and he started talking contracts, ownership dates etc.

What should I do now ... supposed to be meeting him today to look over the contract, and give him a solicitor name etc ... have said the offer will be subject to LIM, title search and building survey. He says they already have the LIM ... do we trust that, or should we get it ourselves?

What would I do without this forum?

Lou

jueinnz

see what the date is on the LIm but still put is as part of the contract, as you haven't seen it yet.

pixi-dust

I think everyone has said everything!
It is incredibly easy to buy a house in NZ, we found.
We were even more mad than Genesis and had our offer in before we even moved here! I think back now to it and realise that we were completely insane! We did get a lim and a building report though so at least we did something right.
For us it has worked out brilliantly and again, like Genesis we love our place more than anything. It's our home.

What sort of house are you looking for, do you have an idea?
We have an old villa and they definitely need more upkeep than some of the more easycare modern houses. ( wouldn't change it for the world though) I'm sure there's another thread here somewhere about things to actually look out for in the house, like borer, rotten piles stuff like that.

zummerzet_lou

When we emigrated, we were set on a lifestyle plot. However, the houses we'd sourced on the net, were not commutable to work, hence why we could afford them.

So 4 beds, garden big enough for kids to have some toys (trampoline, playhouse), and a veg patch.

We were thinking of a newer place ... with insulation, double glazing, but the place we have found has a heat pump.

Hang on ... will post the link, and see what you think .... also, what do you think would be a reasonable offer - open home yesterday drew a huge crowd!

http://www.raywhite.com/cgi-bin/rsea...&tm=1223233430

pixi-dust

well that looks lovely!

zummerzet_lou

Thanks ... we liked it at first sight, but overnight started having doubts at the enormity of the decision.

When I spoke to the real estate agent, I suggested 310k ... but this morning am thinking more of 300. Thinking that fate will play her hand - if 300 is turned down, we're not meant to buy it? Bit of a gamble, but am not a very impulsive gal.

Garden is quite small from our initial plans ... but is enormous compared to what we had in the UK!

Meeting real estate guy at 4.30pm now .... to discuss offer contract, and sign our savings away

jueinnz

Absolutely no harm in starting at $300k they will probably come back and counter offer anyway.
If you are going to stick to your guns then tell the agent that this is a once only offer and tell them not to come back with a counter sign as you are not prepared to go any higher. makes the seller a little more nervous otherwise they will see what they can push you to.

jads

Hi

Looks a good house, how did you get on with the offer?
We are looking at Rangiora areas aswell, why were you put off after speaking to your friend?

We have approx 350k budget to spend on a home, does this seem doable to you?

Good luck

Jads