zummerzet_lou

Spoke to a really nice solicitor (or lawyer as they are called here I believe?) .. and he suggested going in much lower, so yesterday we offered 293k.

Told the real estate agent guy that was it ... nowt left in the pool. The sellers have already bought a place so know they are desperate to sell, and quickly.

Anyhow - got a call last night to say they'd sign for 300 ... to which I said "no", so am waiting for round 2. All very exciting.

Jads - you can certainly get places for 350. Beaware though, that the houses are far more crammed together than we'd imagined. Even in rural places, unless you go for a lifestyle plot, the houses are built very close together on ajoining plots. Just something that shocked us to start with, but we've accepted the idea now. On the news last night, they were forecasting about a 20% drop in house prices over the next year or so ... gotta be good news for us buyers?

Lou

zummerzet_lou

Looks as though we have bought us a house!! Am sat here in shock, as was so sure they'd never accept our offer but they have.

Off to sort out a builders report,

Lou

Black Sheep

Lou, I'm not sure how that would be good news for you, with you just having bought a house, if prices now drop by 20% over the next year or so??

I didn't see the news last night so not sure exactly what was said about falling house prices... but I would caution anyone who believes that prices will fall that much, as New Zealand is unusual in that housing is the way many (possibly most) New Zealanders invest for retirement - they don't trust the stock market, and many have done very well with investment property, and those who didn't get on the property ladder earlier during the boom times are itching to get on now and will jump in as soon as they can afford to do so. The market started faltering last year as the interest rates soared upwards (NZ has about the highest interest rates in the world) and NZers were really starting to feel the pinch. But looks now like interest rates are finally on their way down again, plus the NZ dollar is falling fast (interest rates and NZ dollar value are strongly connected) which makes NZ more attractive again for immigrants - and immigrants buy houses and push the prices up. I just don't see prices falling that much, if only because of the fact that the majority of NZers will grit their teeth and try to ride out bad times (i.e. hold on tight to their houses) before they'll 'undersell' or 'give away' their properties. You'll always find the exception, where someone HAS to sell or really doesn't care about the money. But really good houses in sought after areas with the sorts of qualities that immigrants dream of have always been tightly held, and their value will never go down to anywhere near the degree of the majority of homes here, a too large proportion of which have something or another wrong with them and were overpriced to begin with.

Good luck with your new home, it looks pretty good and good price too!

zummerzet_lou

I wrote that before the offer was accepted.

and no, I dont' really believe they will drop 20% in 5 months. Lived through the scaremongering in the UK about how much house prices were to drop, and whilst they did, it was more of 1-5% drop, as opposed to the 15-20% predicted.

Besides, statistically houses grow in value .. I think every 10yrs they double? and as we have bought a house that we intend to stay in for quite a while, it really doens't bother me too much.

Lou

jads

Congratulations

Looks a great buy, lets us know how things pan out.

If it feels right then it will be right

Cheers Jads

whitesand

Although I agree with what posters are saying about the kiwis sitting on their houses when the market drops, places like the North Shore have seen mainly immigrants buying houses over the past years. The kiwis mainly were into buy-to-lets - which have been in trouble in the UK and the same may happen here. Personally, I see the houses going down by far more than 20%. The thing is they will eventually fall to the level that folks can afford - which used to be two and a half times their salary.

If salaries don't rise by the same amount as the house prices, then in the end, the prices are simply not sustainable.

I

eddie_nz

Naaa it will just change to an economic model where people rent all their lives, rightly or wrongly.

see my other bug bear student debt levels, once that is paid you don't have enough time/salary to save for a deposit.

One of the main factors on any cost price is supply and demand, gov keeps pushing for immigrants demand goes up.

Black Sheep

whitesand, the price is not as important as the mortgage interest rate where affordability is concerned. If interest rates go down, the cost to you of a property in terms of weekly/monthly outgoings goes down. So your salary does not necessarily have to rise at all to afford a house at current prices. NZ has highest home loan interest rates in the world at the moment. Those rates are set to drop very soon, with OCR tipped to drop by up to 1.00 as has just occured in Australia. KiwiBank is already offering 7.99% on 2-year fixed, and National Bank is offering 8.3% on 30-month fixed. At those rates, and with the almost certain prospect of rates dropping further shortly, there are now houses on the market (in the South Island anyway) that would put buyers of investment properties in or near positive territory either right now or very soon. With exceptions of course, generally speaking the point where investors can afford to buy again is the point where prices stop dropping, and that's well before this very arbitrarily predicted '20% fall' happens if interest rates go down. Purely IMHO of course.

whitesand

But, you can only take increases in mortgage repayments as long as you can afford to pay the extra from your salary. There comes a time when the payments are simply too much, and that is what is happening to many here and in the UK now.

Also, folks don't now buy their houses to live in as they have been encouraged by greed, and by governments who want them to have the 'feel good' factor, to expect them to double or treble - and that ain't gonna happen any more!

Your house is now only worth what someone else will pay for it. If you cannot afford the mortage as your salary is not up to it, or you lose your job (which is becoming increasingly likely for many) then you cannot hang on to your over-priced house. You'll have to sell in the current market, unless you are financially solvent for the future.

zummerzet_lou

Just a wee update ... we go unconditional today .... What have we done eh?

Building inspection found just a couple of minor things, and vendor has agreed to sort them - we've said we will arrange an inspection prior to settlement.

How does that sound guys? Chuffin' scary business!

Lou

shirl

Well done Lou - when do you take possession and when will you be moving in! What about your rental !! So many questions. LOL !!

jads

Sounds & looks Brilliant, and seems abit of a bargain, did it have any heating for that price? Our budget will be around $350 to start with, Is there much choice for this do you think? We are looking at Rangiora areas but do need good schooling aswell (16&11).

Any info always good

Cheers Jads

zummerzet_lou

Due for settlement on 31st Oct - 2 weeks tomorrow

and yes, it has heating - woodburner, and a heatpump. Also has "some" insulation in both the walls and roof! Not sure what extent the insulation is, but apparently post 1990, houses had to have it!

jads

Excellent, what about the 'are there many houses to choose from for $350 tops' question

Cheers Jads

shirl

Hi Jads

You will need to look on www.trademe.co.nz for houses for rent/buy. Go to real estate and then rent or buy tab. Last week's real estate books had quite a few properties in and $350 would buy something decent in Rangiora. You will most probably need to be in the Ashgrove School catchment if you have little ones at school as this is one of the good schools here in Rangiora. What ages are your children? How many bedrooms do you want and I will keep an eye open for you if you like.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Cate...0000&x=79&y=14

That link brings up a page to all Rangiora Properties up to $400 as it goes $300 to $400 but there are some bargains to be had at the moment.