Buying in NZ from the UK

[nickydwuk]

Has anyone bought a property in NZ whilst still in the UK? How easy or difficult was it? I am aware of the risks of buying without seeing - how accurate are the real estate agents descriptions and pictures? My OH has seen loads of houses that we have liked and I have lost count of the number of times he has said 'can we buy it now'.

[ShellBda]

Hi,

Bermy Girl and I just signed an agreement to purchase a house in Palmerston North. The purchase is to be completed on July 6. We were a bit nervous about buying a house sight unseen but we have friends in Palmy North and we were lucky in that they viewed the house on our behalf. They gave us their opinin and the pros and cons so we had a bit more information with which to make our decision.

I am not sure we would have been comfortable purchasing a home without someone we trusted viewing it for us or, viewing it ourselves. We had complete trust in our real estate agent but, at least in my mind, how much do they know about the properties they sell? I mean, how deep do they go in determining the condition of the house beyond valuation.

I know there are a few people on this forum who have bought houses before moving to NZ and I am sure there are happy endings and maybe a few unhappy endings.

If it is a new build you wish to buy then I don't think you can go wrong unless you purchase in a not so desirable area. I also know there were issues (at least in Auckland) with leaky roofs on houses that were built after a certain date in the 80's?? and before the Government decided to crack down. You also need to make sure you understand the type of title you are purchasing. I noticed that the majority of the homes in Auckland were leasehold and after purchasing you had to pay rent for the land on top! Couldn't afford that. We bought a fee simple home which is the best type of title you can purchase. You own the land and home outright.

We believe it is a smart move on our part as the mortgage payments will cost us less than renting a home when we do make the move. In the meantime, we hope that we can find good tenants and the rent will pay the mortgage.

I hope I have helped somewhat.

All the best,
Shell

[Taffy]

I don't think I'd want to buy a house from the internet. When we were moving out, we were looking at rental properties on the internet. Some looked great, but when you get here and you see whats NOT in the photos, you thank your lucky stars!

As Shell says though, if you've got someone to check it out for you, then its not so bad. As long as you also get a LIM report and get the house inspected by a specialist (like a surveyors report, usually costs around $300), then you could be a bit more assured.

[MotherBear]

I.too, would be very wary of buying unseen, even in the UK, where estate agents aren't opposed to engineeing photos to omit certain unattractive features and dressing up some things in the write-up that are more favourable, whilst playing down others that are less desirable. They'll do anything to sell a house and claim their commission so you need to be on your guard. I can fully understand how tempting it is to want to buy from all those beautiful photos on the Net, but it could be a costly mistake if you get it wrong. That's not to say that all properties for sale are potential minefields. There are plenty that are what they say they are, but knowing which is which is the trick.

We bought our NZ property long distance, but we had Taffy acting as viewer. Even then we had quite a few nasty shocks when we found to what extent the previous owner had taken his DIY 'expertise'. You'd probably be better off with a newer property, but that still doesn't guarantee it would be totally trouble-free. You'd never know if there's an electricity pylon or pig farm next door to the place.

You could take a look on here . There are handy tips for expats buying property in NZ if you hunt around the site. They are based in Christchurch and say that they deal a lot with people buying from overseas. They imply that you can trust in the properties they offer for sale, but don't actually show many, unless they've got them tucked away somewhere.