Bought a section

[Glenda]

Hi Maggie,

Yes, it is 3000m2. There are smaller sections of the size you mentioned closer to town, which were OK for a two or three bedroomed house but with four kids I really wanted a 4bedroom house. It has become more and more difficult to get large sections close the centre of towns and cities. This is an expensive area and I paid $210,000 for our section ... there is a new estate close to town with similarly sized plots going for $275,000+; smaller ones close to town are going for around $150,000. No doubt, as maybe you have found, if you drove 20/25km further out of town you could probably just as well afford a section big enough for several cattle and a pony!

Hey Maggie, you are quite welcome to share this thread with me! :) We would love to hear about and see photos of your newbuild! [smiley=045.gif] (Will let you off the photos if you haven't got a digital camera ... mind you I did once post some from my normal camera, just can't remember offhand how I did it. :-?)

:)

[Maggiemoo]

Not sure there are any sections within 50k that would be big enough to have animals on as well as a house and have been within our budget- its just so expensive round here. ?We paid near enough $200k for our section back in July and the ones in stage 3 of the development we are on are costing $200k for a 600m2 section - mad money! ?

I won't hijack your thread anymore with me going on about our land and build - when I work out how to get pics from hubby's PC on to mine I will start my own thread and post some pics of the build process if anyone is interested. ?This post is yours and the excitement of your family's build and I just wanted to let you know that we were going through the same process - I hope its all going well with the preliminaries, and I can't wait to hear all about it - you and your family deserve the fabulous family home that you are going to have.

All best wishes,

Maggie xx

[Glenda]

I won't hijack your thread anymore with me going on about our land and build - when I work out how to get pics from hubby's PC on to mine I will start my own thread and post some pics of the build process if anyone is interested.

I really think it is great if you can join in with my thread ... there is not much more I can say for the next two months and it may just slip off the page! :) Just as great if you can start your own - there are a lot of people out there who think they can come to NZ and have a house for next to nothing. Of course, they can if they want to live in the middle of nowhere where there are no near shops or jobs. I knew Auckland was expensive but I never realised it was that expensive in Tauranga!

Many thanks for your kind wishes. I've signed the contract (and the cheque), hope it is in the Council now, and have the name of the man whose butt I need to kick to get the construction started! ::) ;D

[MotherBear]

Guess this will come too late for you, Glenda.

Faster building consents
6.00am Friday October 13, 2006

A $3 million, three-year programme to help local authorities process building consents faster and to a higher standard was announced yesterday by Building Issues Minister Clayton Cosgrove.

Under the Building Act 2004, territorial and regional authorities must be audited and registered to become accredited Building Consent Authorities by November 30, 2007, if they wish to continue offering building consent and inspection services.

[Glenda]

Hmmm, more extra costs popping up.

The first extra cost was $450 for an engineer's report on the proposed septic tank arrangements.

Next a seperate resource consent had to be applied for due to the amount of soil that had to be moved on site - $200.

Now I've received the Development Contribution Notice. From what I gather, a contribution is made to your community via the Council in a one-off payment. This is mostly done by the owner of the subdivision, but some are passed onto the new vendors of the section at time of building consent. Looking on my Council's website, these contributions could amount to $21,000. :o In my case and according to the Notice I have received, I have to make a contribution to car parking (presumably public car parking) in the sum of $1,452.

Just another item to be aware of when budgetting. BTW if someone who has been along this route thinks I've got the wrong end of the stick about this, please let me know!

:)

[MotherBear]

Hell, Glenda, that's a bit much, both the excuses for the fees and the amounts, especially the $20,000 if it came to that much. ?The $1,452 is bad enough as it is. ?I just wonder how we'll stand when we subdivide our land.

Why on earth would you have to make a contribution to something that the local council should be taking care of? ?Anyone who's applying to build on a section has more than enough expense ahead of them without this sort of thing. ?What a cheek, IMHO. ?Wonder if it varies from council to council.

And Resource Consent just to move earth around the site? ?What's all that about?

[selchie]

It would be nice if a property buyer was told about all those fees and assessments up front. Am I correct in thinking that NZ doesn't have annual property taxes? If they don't, then your situation isn't too awfully bad in the long run, though a pain when you have to pay for all that stuff at the beginning.

Thanks for warning the rest of us about those extra expenses, Glenda. It seems like the little differences in "custom" are the ones that make me cranky.

[Glenda]

Am I correct in thinking that NZ doesn't have annual property taxes?

Annual property taxes? Is this where you pay the government for the privilege of having a property? I think they are considering this in the UK at the moment at one percent of the property's value, and is expected to cause some hardship for property owners. Do they have it existing in the States?

We do have rates here - paid to the Council as a contribution to their public services. What is different here in NZ to the UK is that you have to pay rates on your undeveloped section of land (in my case, just over $1,000 a year though I imagine it will go up when the house does). In the UK you don't have to pay rates until you actually move into your new property.

Will not be pleased if the Kiwis introduce annual property taxes. >:(

Last week I had a letter saying the building company was closing for one whole month from the 15th December, and had resigned myself to them not starting until the after then. ? >:(

Today I find they have started earthworks on site!

[smiley=041.gif] [smiley=Egyptian_dance.gif] [smiley=eusa_dance.gif] [smiley=Joyous.gif] [smiley=Yahoo!.gif]



They said they should be able to get the slab down next week! ?However, he seemed a bit unsure after I told him the building company were shutting down tomorrow. ?Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut. ? [smiley=lipsrsealed.gif]

:)

Sounds like things are on the move then, Glenda.

Would it be the same people who are doing the earthworks who will do the slab? If so, perhaps they aren't shutting down until later and the slab will go down. If, on the other hand, the builders will be doing the slab, I guess the earthworks guy just didn't realise they are shutting down, hence his confusion. Would be great if they do the slab and then it can sit and do its thing while everyone else does their Christmas and New Year thing.