Sunnyferns15

We are looking at moving to the Tauranga area, but this is dependant on jobs for myself and my wife. We are thinking of renting a property to start with, a 3 bed, rather committing to buying in NZ straightaway. Is this a sensible option to take?. Is it expensive to purchase a 3 bed property in Tauranga area? Is it cheaper to buy a property at auction or cheaper buying land and having our own property built?

What are the current job markets like for work such as police civilian staff or customs etc?

MrsFychan

not sure on job fronts but from my experience I would always advise everyone to a few properties in different area's for a few years as it could take you this amount of time to find a decent area you are happy to live in.
When buying a property you need to be aware that atm you generally need a 20% of the value of the home for the mortgage..the turn around on offer to unconditional is usually only 15 day or less where you have to get all your due diligence sorted. It is very much biased towards the seller on this and if you fail to met your obligations you will lose your deposit and may have other ramifications, so you really do have to be sure you want to purchase any property or land before you offer.

Justcol

Police support staff and customs jobs, there'll be a list of applicants as long as your are.
Look on the police and customs websites for info of any posts.

Renting when you arrive is always best, it gives you time to find your feet before commuting.
You'll save nothing at auction, there isn't the homes under the hammer style auctions here
People sell at auction for a better price, not because its a crap house that need work.
Have a look on trademe and real estate nz for both house prices and rental costs.
As with everywhere there are good and bad areas. Ask on here about which suburbs are OK or not

Sunnyferns15

Thanks for the advice. I knew deposits for houses were around 20%. I am also aware that Auckland is very expensive to live, due to investors buying up properties as offshore investments.

With regards to the police and customs, I do have over 10 years experience working in that kind of field, so would that stand me in good stead getting a job in that field of work.

Justcol

AllI can suggest is that you take you a look. Customs and police support roles dont come up very often
and when they do there will probably be a raft of people already on the ground in NZ ready and willing to fill them.
I know two police support roles that were recently filled b people I have worked with as corrections officers.
The police dont seem to advertise civi posts on their site so try the jobs.govt .nz site
all you can do is look and try

New Zealand Customs Service : Careers

https://jobs.govt.nz/

https://corrections.nga.net.nz/cp/in...AA79F23162155E

Montie

Hi All

We are a family moving from the UK hoping to arrive in June or July this year subject to visa, so can anyone advise me on the rental process and who to approach? Also which areas to avoid (if any) and which have got things going on in the North Island. As we are looking at places around Tauranga with 13 and 7yr old children so some advice would be great.

can anyone advise on schools within the area which would be suitable?

Thanks

Montie

Justcol

The north island is a big place, thats like saying where's ok in the north of england, we're looking at places around Sheffield.
If your looking around tauranga stick to tauranga as thats where you'll work.
if you want to live in hamilton, look for jobs in hamilton
if you want to live in new plymouth etc etc
you wont live in one and work in another.

for rentals, look on trademe and contact the agents for any other properties they might have.
schools, sorry I cant help you

escapedtonz

Tauranga is a great place to live for sure. We've been here 15 months and love it.
It'll be more difficult to find work here than say the likes of Auckland and Wellington as there are simply fewer opportunities.
My Mrs is an RN and has gone in to practice nursing and it was a year before a secure part time position even came up although even that wasn't suitable for her so had to let it go. There are numerous trained and qualified nurses here unable to find a permanent position.

Very good idea to start off with a rental property. Definitely the sensible approach until you are wise about the build qualities of NZ homes and the areas. There are many rentals, and the best place to look is Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me
I'd advise you to maybe get a motel or fully furnished holiday rental for a few weeks so you can view the rentals in person instead of trying to secure one unseen which will be very difficult. The agents will want to meet you, want to know all about you, work, references and the family before considering you for any property and you'll also have a lot of competition.
You also need to understand the areas and the school zoning etc etc and decide where you want to be or more to the point where you don't want to be.
Standard 3 bed bungalow like we are in will cost you from $450-$550 a week depending on area and you'll have to pay around 6 x that amount plus a bit of GST before signing a rental contract and moving in, then you'll have to start paying weekly from the date you move in to keep you in advance. 4 x the weekly rent is lodged with the government as a bond, 1 x weekly rent is the advance rent and the final 1 x weekly rent + GST is the rental fee payable to the agent which is lost money.

House prices have risen sharply in the last 12 months. We had been looking to buy for over 12 months and have been disappointed and easily outbid a few times by investors and families with the cash (especially from the Auckland region) and this in itself has pushed the prices up. We were looking for a 3 + study or 4 bed single level on a decent section for $500k at one point but they rose another $100k + within 6-9 months. In the end we've bought a section and will build so we get exactly what we want. Still an expensive route to take and will probably cost us around $800k in the end, but at least we have the right size section in a rural setting and can build what we want and not have to compromise. It's even difficult to find a decent section now and the competition is fierce. All depends where you want to live but in a really nice subdivision like say Bethlehem where we are living now you'll pay around $250k for a small section up to 500 square metres, $300k's for a medium section up to 700 square metre and then $400k + for anything bigger, although there isn't much out there as all the decent land has been snapped up by investors or building companies. Sections probably won't be flat so your earthworks will be a lot on top just to give you a platform to build. Big 1 acre flat section like we've got in a rural setting you won't get much change out of $450k and then you'll also have to factor in getting services to site like water and electricity etc. We've been told a new electricity connection can be $25k.

Auctions are carried out to drum up interest and get as many buyers in the room as possible to get the price up. Majority of houses here in Tauranga are sold at auction to get the top dollar possible.

Doesn't matter which way you look at it really, housing here is expensive and getting more expensive as every day passes. Doesn't matter if you buy by negotiation, at auction, by tender or you do a buy & build......it'll all work out just as expensive. Build costs of a new home here are around $1700 per square metre for medium standard. You can build for $1200 per square metre but that is using the cheapest materials possible and will be lacking all the finishing touches.

Deposits are a minimum 20% across the board for house and land whichever way you look at it. The mortgages are changing slightly now and you can go with a reduced deposit but you'll have an indemnity payment to make on top to satisfy the additional risk the bank is making by lending you the money. Interest rates are also higher which is a big factor when thinking how much you can afford to borrow. Mortgages are now around 4.29% fixed for a couple of years which'll be a few % more than the UK I expect.

Steer clear of Merivale and Parkvale. Some parts of Welcome Bay have a few gang members. Bethlehem is very nice. Pyes Pa is up and coming and nice. Greerton ok but older and closer to the likes of Merivale/Parkvale. Te Puna is where we are heading with the house build. Fairly rural but beautiful as is Oropi, Ohauiti. I wouldn't live in Brookfield or Cherrywood but many parts of Otumoetai are nice as is Matua. Some parts of Avenues is fine but then again some parts aren't as it's very close to the city. A lot of Mt. Maunganui is fine but again some parts of it aren't. Papamoa ok but can be a good way out and it's nicknamed Pommiemoa and for good reason. Little bit rough round the edges for our liking.

Just let me know if there's anywhere specific you wish to know about.

You really need to consider the schooling as the majority are zoned so you have to live in the zone to get in the school. Look at the ERO reports for the schools. These are done every 5 years and show their quality although you'll be hard pressed to find a bad report. Schools also have a decile rating but this just relates to the standard or quality of the children and families that live in the zone for that school and who's children attend the school. The rating goes from 1 to 10. 1 being the lowest. So a decile 10 school will be situated in a very affluent area, but the higher the score the less money the school gets per pupil in government funding meaning the parents will be asked to contribute more.....there are no free schools here (even the state schools). Our boy has just started this week at a state primary school and our fees are $300 a year, plus uniform + any trips + any clubs or extra curricular activities.
Schooling is a big deal for many parents.

Moses2013

Expensive now, but it could get cheaper at any point, so it's really all about timing.

Montie

Hi escapetonz

Thank you so much for the information you have taken time to write it is great and very informative. I will post a list of areas we are thinking of to you shortly for your view.

Thanks again Montie

Justcol

While prices in the provinces are climbing, being driven by the number of folks cashing in and leaving auxI don't know if they will drop by much if the bubble bursts in the super city.
I feel once the aux prices level off or start to dip, there will be an even bigger scramble of people desperate not to miss out
Of course I could be wrong and the exact opposite could happen

Parnell

Great post escaped to nz

Just enquiring on the build costs as we keep getting quoted $10k per sqm.

Perhaps better to import all building materials and offer work visa to qualified tradesmen wanting extended holiday?

escapedtonz

Ha Ha $10k per sq m......what a load of bull. Somebody's being ripped off

The rock bottom cheapest you will build a residential dwelling for is $1200 per sq. Middle of the road quality around $1500 to $1700 per sq. Upper level with top of the range options for carpets/tiles/kitchens and the like probably $2000 to £2200 per sq. If you cannot just go with a tested design and have to do a bespoke design and build with the builder and their architect then you may be looking at $2500 per sq. It's all about engineering design of the roof and how many corners the property has since everything is usually open plan and of course materials used.
A massive cost that many people may not be aware of is earthworks. It is the single most costly unknown item on the building a house list until a surveyor has been on site and taken all the levels etc. When you start getting in to levelling an area to put a pad down for foundations and then retaining walls using timber $50k can be given up in a heartbeat! Landscaping is also ridiculous prices, decking, flagging, fences, driveways.
Electricity supply to the property $25k, water to the property $15k, wastewater options $15k, phone line/fibre for data transfer $10k, anything that requires manual intervention like digging trenches with machines and laying driveways etc is big bucks. Concreting must be mixed with gold because of the price charged per sq m

Importing materials to build would be very costly indeed even if you got it at rock bottom prices. Just think of all the GST you'd have to pay and the people you gonna need to do the build. Many of your tradies also have to be professionally or trade registered so for the likes of an electrician, plumber, gas fitter, tiler etc etc....you gonna have to pay for all those people to have their qualifications assessed and pay for them to be registered in NZ just so they can build a house and so the council will sign it off at each stage of the build........that's a lot of trade applications/assessments and visa applications to pay for plus other expenses during the build etc. Can't see that would be at all cost effective.
What if a materials order was wrong??? Not as if you can exchange it for the right materials pronto so the job doesn't stop whilst you are paying your growing mortgage. Nah....not gonna work!

LittleGreyCat

Agree importing materials is not likely to be a good idea.

If you know a couple of reliable builders in the UK and you are prepared to work on "time and materials" plus their return air fare and accommodation then you could price this against the locals - although getting them visas to work might be "interesting". It isn't like shipping a couple of UK builders over to Spain or Portugal to work on your villa.

You might be able to do a deal with tradespeople who want to migrate - guarantee them a job to assist immigration - but the risk is being increased all the time.

What will a project cost? - The Drawing Board

"The Department of Building and Housing estimates that a small house of 145m2 cost $1,787 per square metre in the Auckland region and a large house of 202m2 costs approx $1,627 per square metre in Auckland."

So not sure where you are looking for your costings, unless you are looking at the budget end and added an extra zero by mistake.

Always worth looking at pre-built houses delivered in sections on the back of lorries. A bit more expensive per square metre than an on-site build but you do get to see the property being built in the factory and there is some assurance that the trades people building it are doing so under quality control and have previous relevant experience.

Hiring individual builders in the UK is a potential nightmare and even if you pay top dollar you can't guarantee you are getting top quality. I assume that the same applies in NZ. There is currently a shortage of builders and allied trades in this part of the UK, as everyone seems to be modifying and extending. Friends are refurbishing a property and they are having a lot of trouble sourcing plasterers and the like. They did another property about 2 years ago, and he is a building surveyor, so they are in a position to know what the current market is like.

[We had an extension built a while back and the amount of "liquid gold" which went into the foundations never to be seen again was quite frightening.]

Parnell

Thanks for the sanity check
I could not believe when three people told me this $10k figure. Having costed in detail a house build in Melbourne at $3k (difficult site as well so large foundation costs)
Take your point on the labour, but I was thinking about the big ticket items such as the windows and doors. Would also be claiming some of the GST back as its commercial/residential.