Real Estate

[Coulliette]

I've been searching the internet and I am having problems finding information on purchasing houses. I currently work in that field here in the states, and although I am in school part-time pursing a different career, it is definatly something I could fall back on. My question is, when one purchases a house or flat in New Zealand, is there company specifically for helping the buyers and sellers to fill out their documents and hold money in escrow, get the documents to the registrar, etc.. I don't know if anyone knows, but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! :lol:

Most documentation and money can be handled by your solicitor/lawyer or whatever they may be called in New Zealand!

[Coulliette]

Thanks Taffy!

We have the same system here, but there are also specialty real estate companies that do the same things, but also insure against boudary disputes, water rights, etc. I was just wondering if there was anything such as this in New Zealand....I unfortunatly do not have a law degree. :(

Thanks for all your help!

Coulliette

[SteveNetWriter]

Hi,
You could try this:

HouseNZ ? Market information & FAQ
http://www.housesnz.com/

Steve

[Stu]

Not exactly what you're looking for, but a cracking real estate website...

www.open2view.com

[SteveNetWriter]

Damn :shock:
I'm so rushed of my feet with emails from left right and center, that I didn't check it was the right one :)

OK, I seem to have quite a few that might fit the bill.
It would be better if you looked here:

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/neuraln...landlinks.html

Check out 'Building Info', where there's things like the "Institute of Building surveyor's".

It must be one of those links !

Cheers

Steve

Thank you all very much for your help! My husband is a surveyor, and while we have mountians here, they are nothing like New Zealand mountains :shock: He is very fond of the idea of being helicoptered to the top of one to do a survey. :roll: Thanks again for the info!


Coulliette

I just returned from NZ and looked at property in Christchurch and Wellington. The process of buying is similar to ours in the US though terms may differ. They do have appraisers...called valuators, home inspections are done, and when buying as a foreigner, my agents advised an attornery...read barrister/solicitor for help. Titles are transfrred as well. One big difference is many properties are not priced for sale, but are indicated as open tender...make an offer by a deadline, closed tender...make a private offer which gets opened at the deadline, or by auction on a certain date. This is a bit of a pain as you may see property that you like, but have no idea of price or value. Again a good agent can help, but the local district government will also have a "value" for the property (like our assessment, but usually at a market value). And the property taxes are called "rates", and they are reasonable compard to US.

I'd suggest looking at www.realenz.co.nz (somewhat similar to our Realtor.com), locate the areas you are thinking of locating to, do a search (it may take a while to kknow where all the areas around a city are, so a good map by your side is very helpful), and then pick a property or two, do the conversion into US $ so you know you can afford it, then email the agent. Good ones (few and far...like here!) will respond and be very helpful.

Thanks, Chuckles! That's what I love about this forum, you can always find someone who can help. :D


Coulliette