Great comments everyone – keep ’em coming.
Westan, thanks for the airfares tips, I haven’t booked yet but am aiming for late September.
Rod.
Hi
Muppet I agree with you comment about Huntly having the potential to be treated as an outer suburb of Auckland. Hamiltonians already drive to Auckland work and the new State Highway will on encourage more people to consider this option. It may even help lower the unemployment rate in Huntly who knows.
I would be considering places in the Bay of Plenty. They tend to close to the sea, have high sunshine hours and certain spots are attracting plenty of CG. I think to add to Te Puke and Opotiki, Ohope, Whakatane would be worth looking at. I also would be looking on the northern side of Hamilton, but watch out for the State Highway which is being built you wouldnt want a property too close to it.
Personally I think that Papakura, outer Auckland, has postential as they are going to be a transportation hub for Aucklands bus and rail system.
Tamara
Tamara
If you are looking for excellent cashflow properties you should visit this website http://www.richmastery.co.nz.. They hunt out great investment deals and do the maths then charge a finders fee, usually well less than what you are saving as they are often below market value.
There are huge benefits to investing here, its well worth the trip!
Hi All
here is my 2 cents worth….> Wairoa,
Yeah – I was looking there.
Just the other day I saw a property advertised that was showing a staggering 35 percent yield, based on paying the full list price – and if you got it for a bit less, say 10 percent less, the yield would be and even more staggering 39 percent.
Unbelievable. The risks are – are those figures correct? What condition is the place in? What is the vacancy rate? What kind of tenant does it attract? Good or bad area?I was kinda looking in that area at a couple of 3 bdr houses a while ago, what put me off is that one, advertised as having a tenant, and which was being managed by the same agent who was selling it, turned out to not have one – and the RE agent only disovered this when I asked about some info about the tenant – ‘is the tenant happy with the house? Wants to stay?’ – then the agent made a call, went around there, and found out the tenant had scarpered. It’s a bit of a tenant scarpering kinda town.
I guess all properties at the bottom of the market run those risks, though!! What I am trying to do which I hope is gonna work out for me is provide a competitive quality of accommodation (i.e. fixed up, cleaned up) compared to others in the price-range so tenants never want to leave…!!!
A very nice RE agent Denise Whitmore there who seems to have lots of time for potential customers.
>Hawera….. (near where you have been buying i think)
yeah not far – I bought in Waverly which is 30K out of Wanganui. 1500 people approx. Hawera is toward New Plymouth a bit further, I think.
>Tokoroa
yeah – Tokoroa, missed out on one there, to someone who paid (in my opinion) far too much for it considering it was made of untreated timber….REALLY nice RE agent there too, one who is passionate about property and loves her job. Really. She told me!! Jenny Lamberton at Lamberton’s.
Wood/trees is the main thing there…not sure how it’s doing…however it’s within cooee of Hamilton which is a major growth place- I always thought that growth would eventually flow on to places like Tokoroa. Putaruru had some CF+ opportunities – in fact there was one I noticed that richmastery had stitched up on their property-finder’s service…in fact go check out what kind of places they are buying in….> Huntley.
I have heard there is some industry going in there? was it from you westan? Ditto Marton.> This is a dumb question.
it is so not, there are no dumb questions. In fact asking questions is THE smartest thing to do. Lots of ’em. And then some more!!!
>I have been talking to the other half about possibly
> buying in NZ. Apart from the fear of buying so far away from where we live.
I had that too and it was David U and Steve McKnight that pointed out it was not unusual for investors to never see some of their properties!!
Out of my three, I’ve seen on (for four days when we painted it) and the other two I haven’t. Eventually I might go check them out if I am in the area, my BF is going over to sort out one of them actually. I am buying in a price range so low that there tends to be some sorting out to do.> No stamp duty on loan
> No stamp duty on mortgage
> Costs will be:
> Application fee for loan
> Legal/conveyancing costs
yep to all the above, my lawyer costs about 550 per house including conveyancing, titles, lodging documents, and all that legal palaver
> Inspection costs; building, pest and LIM
lim is a bit extra, around $110 , it varies per area
Sometimes in the small towns you can ask them to look up the file for free and get away with the info without having to have paid for the LIM!!!
Some towns, the builder’s report dudes have relationships with the council as they are there so often so maybe that’s an option to ask them to have a little looksy.
> Valuation report
I never do this – if it was a valuable property, maybe –
> Minimal settlement fees
anything like that is covered in the $550 I mentioned earlier> P.S also NO capital gain tax if it’s bought as a long term buy and hold
> Davo70 i’ve used a new zealand bank BNZ (owned by our NAB) got $0 application
> costs on the loan. Interest rates are a bit higher in New Zealand than Oz.I heard that the BNZ is not using brokers any more, you go direct. There’s another one – Kiwibank I think it’s called – that have the supposedly lowest rates. There’s another online mortgage thingie – hang on – will try to remember –
http://www.leveragefinance.co.nz
> Rod C when would you be going to NZ i’ll be leaving about the 21st. Check out
> Emerites airlines return to Auckland only $376 compared to 650+ with airNZ and
> qantas,
qantas is 499 if it’s off peak, advance purchase, and you stay a saturday night.
> also look at freedomair.co.nz for cheap flights often 450 return but
> not the choice of destinations.
Freedom fly to Hamilton, dunedin, palmerston north
so that might be even more convenient if that’s near where you are looking> Where the heck is “king Country”
central plateau, ruapehu, stunning country> That legal cost seemed high i paid about 700 i think plus 150 for the LIM.
> westan
yeah same – my tip is to get a small town lawyer. It’s not rocket science buying houses. Don’t need a slicko city one I don’t think unless you are doing wraps or other tricky stuff.> Ask Mini how she is doing with her house?
…….will let you know for sure!!!!> I noticed this week for the first time a Prop Man advertising for tenants in
> Taumarunui. Not sure what this means though.
no – what does it mean? Where, here? What? how???> Another small country town to consider is Taihape.
Yeah taihape has even got a cool cafe now – in fact if driving that way stop there for sure – it is called brown sugar.> Hi there,
> David U, could you please explain a bit more about the CGT component, as I
> thought as an Aussie investor you consider the property like an overseas
> investment and that you are still responsible to pay CGT on Aussie terms…
yeah everyone needs advice from their accountant on that point, as everyone’s situation is different.
But you only pay CGT if you sell…why sell???good luck everyone!!
cheers-
Mini[
]Hello, I was just reading all your postings for buying property in NZ. Just a quick question: Why are you buying over there as opposed to Australia if you live in Aussie. Do you need to declare this income etc in your Taxes in Australia?. Are they able to be negatively geared here? No-one has mentioned this so maybe I have missed something. By the way I am a Kiwi and have lived in Aussie for the last 7 years. I come from a small town called Waipukurau – farming area Central Hawkes Bay. This is a lovely small town also . Regards LuanneMini,
Great post, you really are our Kiwi expert.[
]Luanne, my understanding is that you pay tax in NZ on the earnings there, then also declare the earnings in Australia, but with an overseas tax credit for the tax already paid in NZ.So you aren’t actually taxed twice. I think you could negatively gear against other NZ income, but not against Australian income. But as most of the IPs being discussed are positive anyway it shouldn’t be an issue.
Note: I’m not an accountant, you would need to talk to one.Rod.
Hi all
a question to our Kiwi friends. At the risk of sounding racist i will still ask the question. Is it better to avoid areas with a very high Maori population? when i was there recently i was told to avoid areas with high pacific Isander communities? One town i started to look at -Wairoa has a 50% Moari population. Mini mentioned that this town is “a bit of a tenant scarpering kinda town”, any connection?
Sorry if i offend anyone with the question. i hope i’m not racist and currently rent a house to a koorie lady who is an excellent tenant.
regards westanWestan
I dont think that people should avoid buying in areas with high groups of Maori or Pacific Islanders. I think as with any property purchase you need to consider the ability of the tennant to pay and their willingness to care for the property. It has more to do with the socioeconomic group that will be interested in renting your property and their ability to pay. then other indicators when you purchase in particularly low socioeconomic areas evidence of graffit, cars in disrepair on property. I like to research the schools. Ulitmately the ability of the PM to manage your property so all parties benefit.
Tamara
Hi there,
http://www.stats.govt.nz
(statistics NZ website has much more in depth info per area etc)OK…according to one website the overall makeup is….
European 86%
Maori 9%
Pacific islanders 3%Sure, you have the Once Were Warriors situations- but that’s about as realistic a picture of the Maori in NZ as a gang movie set in South Central LA is of black people in the US!!!
(go see ‘Whale Rider’ for balance!!)
Overall, Maori and Pacific Islanders in NZ are present at all levels of society, be it politics, law, police, airlines, the media, film making, you name it –
There was even a treaty between British immigrants and the Maori way back when NZ was settled. Even though the Maori have pretty much felt ripped off ever since for letting their land go so cheaply – a sentiment perhaps shared by anyone who ever sold a property where the area went up a zillion percent since they sold – and even though the government is forever trying to settle once and for all – the fact that the treaty existed at all makes NZ very different from most countries that now have a dominant ‘white’ culture that took over from the indigenous one.
The result today is that the country as a whole sees the Maori culture as ‘their’ culture, and it is reflected in things like that now, white people know how to (and bother to) pronounce the words properly (unlike my Dad’s generation) . White NZers – ‘pahekas’ – are pretty careful to be respectful of the Maori – with everything that that entails.
If you go to visit there, you will see evidence of this everywhere – from the bi-lingual names for Government departments, to the content on TV.
OK so bringing this back to property investing….the north Island has more Maori than the South Island, some of the regional towns more so, ditto certain suburbs of Auckland. So it’s just par for the course really.
A lot of the towns with high yields have lower-than the national average incomes, which is a better indicator of why tenant-scarpering happens than anything else.
My property manager for one of my properties might be Maori – going on her surname – and to my surprise she actually asked me if I was OK with Maori tenants, that it was an area with quite a few Maori – and I said I was totally fine. It was interesting that the question was even asked.
The ‘best builder in town’ recommended to me in one town was a Maori, as were the two local labourers we hired to help. The builder chap was neat, and may even become ‘famous’ as the Jamie Durie character on an upcoming NZ programme entitled ‘Marae Makeover’!!!!!!!
So don’t worry – it’s part of the culture and it’s there to stay.
If you ever decide to visit NZ you will experience the wonderful cultural diversity for yourself and be able to understand how it works, and what it means to the land, the people, and the society.cheers-
MiniThanks Muppet and Mini for your responses.
they have been very helpful. as i have posted in the past, i purchased 3 properties down south on my last visit. i know the north has been stonger economically and population wise but there are just as many bargain properties in the north as in the south. perhaps i’ll pick up a couple in the north in Sept?regards westan
Hello everyone,
Just a quick question to those who have purchased in NZ, where does GST come in the purchasing transaction ? I read in SMH Sat that our all-conquering NSW premier & his better half have just bought some land near Queenstown for around 350K and they paid 35K in GST (can anyone shed some light on this, please or is our premier trying to say that NZ GST is worse than NSW stamp duty from property purchases ??? !!!).
Cheers, QB[?]
Hi Queenbee
If I remember correctly GST in NZ is 12.5%. Not sure how it is tied in with property investing/ purchases though.
Anyone else able to help here???
Take care
Dave [][]Hi Guys
No GST is payable if buying residential property in NZ.
If you are buying a farm it is though.
Regardshi muppet
As i,ve said before i’ll be in NZ in Sept, i’ll be buying my tickets later tonight (on Line). if i’m near King Country feel like getting together for a beer or a wee cuppa tea?
westan
Hi Westan
Sounds like a good idea.Even have a spare bed if wanted.
RegardsAlso, if youre interested in finding out rental rates for NZ
best place to look is
http://www.tenancy.govt.nz/tenancy/Market-Rent/market%20rent%20region.aspThese figures come from all the bonds lodged to the tenancy tribunal. breaks it down to how many bedrooms, and by suburb.
NZ Property Investing News
http://www.Landlords.co.nzWestan,
When are you going? I may have to go a week before you otherwise you’ll get all the good properties. [
]Rod.
Hello everyone,
I think NZ is a beautiful country and has lots of PI opportunities worth checking out, but please look at the article in http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=33847&c=w
which is a timely reminder that it’s the checking out bit that’s important.Good luck & Happy investing, QB [
]QB,
Interesting article, thanks for posting it. As you quite rightly point out, NZ is no different from Australia or anywhere else – you must do your research.
Have you seen this article on Tasmania?
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6867927%255E26462,00.html
Rod.
Hi All
Muppett
thanks for the offer i might take you up on it, i’m bringing my wife also, so it might make it difficult to have two of us?RodC
Booked the flight last night fly into Auckland on the 21st Sept then get connecting flight to Christchurch. Spend 3 day’s south of Christchurch then fly to Wellington on the 24th. then head north along the West of the island, arriving in Auckland for flight home on the 28th of Sept, If you want to join with us for any of this time it could be fun? we could bore each other stupid talking about investing.
Regards Westan
]Hello, I was just reading all your postings for buying property in NZ. Just a quick question: Why are you buying over there as opposed to Australia if you live in Aussie. Do you need to declare this income etc in your Taxes in Australia?. Are they able to be negatively geared here? No-one has mentioned this so maybe I have missed something. By the way I am a Kiwi and have lived in Aussie for the last 7 years. I come from a small town called Waipukurau – farming area Central Hawkes Bay. This is a lovely small town also . Regards Luanne
]The topic ‘NZ suburbs’ is closed to new replies.
