There is, its called kiwisaver.You have to have lived and worked in NZ for at a minimum 3 years ($6k per couple) or 5 years ($10k per couple) to receive it.

The system also allows you to access your kiwisaver superannuation contributions to help pay for the house.

http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz/new/benefits/home-sub/

What are the chances you could be a speaker at the next one Nathan? Maybe have a chat with Steve McKnight. I think you could provide a good perspective on some of the opportunities out there that other speakers won’t be covering.

fWord wrote:
And so the debate rages on. You know, there was an irritating voice that started to play in my head. It sang annoyingly,'Would you like to take a survey??!!'A survey that reveals the following:- Are you a bear, bull or a 50-50?- How many properties do you control?- If you control properties (whether your own home or an investment…[Read more]

I have a property currently for sale in the area with Sudha Pon from Sanctuary Lakes Real Estate. I originally purchased from her also. I have been impressed with her, she is very good at keeping you up to date on the status of your property and what is happening in the market.

Europe is a mess right now, the flow on effects in the debt markets from a default from Greece could be greater than GFC1

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/andrewlilico/100010332/what-happens-when-greece-defaults/

Resource depletion will be the only issue of note in the next few years.

Silver runs out first, (within 2 decades) then oil. Resource depletion will be the only high impact issue. Climate change won’t be seen as an issue at all in the future by…[Read more]

Great thanks Kong, very informative video.

Confirmation of some of my predictions in the last couple of days:

Concerns about banks being able to rely on LMI providers to bail them out.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mortgage-insurers-a-greater-threat-to-banks-fitch-20110517-1eqns.html?rand=1305700251520

Credit downgrades for the big 4 Australian banks as they are highly reliant on…[Read more]

I was under the impression that you were allowed to have one or two wraps without a license and that it was only when you turned it into a business that you needed a license.

June 10-12

I was going back through some of my older posts and found this gem…

the average mortgage in NSW is $414k,
Source: last line of this Jan 2010 article http://www.smh.com.au/business/westpac-rate-rise-pushes-customers-to-switch-banks-20100105-lsbd.html

while the latest median household income is I could find was only $1036 in NSW (2006 census),…[Read more]

In Surry Hills where they were enquiring, $500k is a 1 bed apartment.

Thanks for your contribution Mosqui.

I have been looking at US property investment for the past few months, the main thing that would stop me is the risk of the USD crashing as happened in Argentina. The other side of the equation however is that this would most likely occur in a hyperinflationary environment.

In Argentina during hyperinflation,…[Read more]

Here is an earlier benchmark from a news article http://www.news.com.au/money/property/first-home-buyers-urged-to-beat-rate-rise/story-e6frfmd0-1225791082144
“BANKS are urging first-home buyers to lodge mortgage applications ahead of the next rate rise so they qualify for the biggest possible loans, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has…[Read more]

I am planning to track the borrowing power calculators of the major banks on a semi-regular basis to see if borrowing power is affected over time in line with…

Step 4. Since Australian banks can no longer fund their debts on the international market, they restrict credit to home buyers.
The current 7-8 times income offered for mortgages is now…[Read more]

This is the kind of deal that Carly typically does, although it would never come with the DA already. That is normally what you are contributing to the deal…. find a property where the owner doesn’t realise its potential and create a deal that cuts you in on the action at no risk.

What the exercise didn’t seem to include, was Carly’s 80% cut of…[Read more]

I was thinking through Bernanke’s plight today.

His role as the Fed’s Chairman as set out in the Federal Reserve Act is to “promote effectively the goals of
1. maximum employment
2. stable prices, and
3. moderate long-term interest rates.”

He has a significant problem however….

In order to keep maximum employment (i.e. not lose even more j…[Read more]

A must read article on the Australian housing bubble,recently posted by another contributor to this forum in another thread.
http://www.unconventionaleconomist.com/2010/09/australian-housing-bubble-in-search-of.html

Great article thanks Cheeves. I previously posted a very similar scenario to that outlined here https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/general-property/4336193

The article also clearly backs my assertion that removing 20% deposits is a direct contributor to housing bubbles in this section

“As explained in the book, The…[Read more]

Thanks for this, very interesting reading.

I find the fact that Texas has had the highest growth since 1991 and hasn’t crashed to be very telling.

Texas has survived the GFC very well, with reasonable house prices that didn’t go through the boom-crash cycle that many other states went through.

I have read that Texas has a law that the minimum…[Read more]