Income Levels - How much to live on?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Don't count on the NZ property market to keep going up. Be very careful, it takes only a bit of something to throw the market off the balance. Look at America, NZ realestate is not safe from correction either. As an immigrant I would be careful with my investment. Unlike the locals, you do not have the same comfort zones in a new place and overexposing yourself to risks can have a very negative impact with not much to fall back on (in terms of support systems and network). Cheers

Prices have dropped very slightly in some areas already in the last 2 months. There will be a price correction at some points. Also, if you have a british accent while house hunting...they seem to think you are stupid and don't realise how overinflated marketed prices are in Auckland. We have seen things on the market in our area that were there 3 months ago....and the prices have dropped significantly. This occurs even more so in desirable areas....beware before you buy, and go and look at alot of houses.

[AlexUK]

Prices have dropped very slightly in some areas already in the last 2 months. There will be a price correction at some points. Also, if you have a british accent while house hunting...they seem to think you are stupid and don't realise how overinflated marketed prices are in Auckland. We have seen things on the market in our area that were there 3 months ago....and the prices have dropped significantly. This occurs even more so in desirable areas....beware before you buy, and go and look at alot of houses.

So the moral of the story is: Enquire about all properties online first, if you give them a current NZ address they wont know your british, and by the time you go to view the properties you still find are interesting, you will find that you already have the prices and therefore they are unable to take advantage.

[swissmissdesigner]

So the moral of the story is: Enquire about all properties online first, if you give them a current NZ address they wont know your british, and by the time you go to view the properties you still find are interesting, you will find that you already have the prices and therefore they are unable to take advantage.

Good point Alex!

[AlexUK]

Good point Alex!

TY, with more and more house listings online now its much easier to do this and it will save you quite a bit!

Doesnt mean though you still cant try and haggle the price.

[Nick88]

I'd be inclined to rent for at least 6 months, there is no substitute for local knowledge in the property market. Plus if prices are going to ease you will be well placed to take advantage. Renting is cheaper than mortgage interest rates, anyway, by as much as half. You might as well have the landlord subsidise your accommodation for as long as you can.

[TheLanes]

Hi

For your information, my OH is a carpenter on $20 per hour (seems to be average for trade) this pays our rent of $300 per week, food/wine (!) of approx. $250 which leaves approx. $150 per week for all bills (whilst renting this is only electricity/phone) - so as you can see wages are unrealistic if you do not have a substantial amount of money in the bank earning at least 7.5% interest.

THIS IS WHY THERE ARE SKILLED SHORTAGES IN NZ AND EVERYONE HAS LEFT FOR AUSSIE

PS This is a lovely country though and we are pleased to be here!!

[AlexUK]

I suppose higher interest rates help, stick a few hundred k in the bank and it will certainly add to the income!

[Familyofmonkeys]

So the moral of the story is: Enquire about all properties online first, if you give them a current NZ address they wont know your british, and by the time you go to view the properties you still find are interesting, you will find that you already have the prices and therefore they are unable to take advantage.

Most property seems to have Open Homes here, rather than advertised in Estate Agents sites as in UK. Many do not have set price, but are marketed by tender or negotiation or auction. This happens after lots of people have viewed property at open home. This means that it can be hard to get a feel for true value unless you have looked at enough to get a feel for local market. Also some people are happy to leave an over priced property on market for a long time and wait for some poor mug from abroad to buy it at overinflated price, that a local would not pay We have also found that when you enquire about property online, the agents end up phoning you back anyway to try and do hard sell....so they hear your accent!

[AlexUK]

Just dont tell them your phone number.

[Familyofmonkeys]

Just dont tell them your phone number.

That would be fine, except the form that pops up to fill in your contact details for further information often has this as a required field, so it will not submit rest of request for info without this....you just get error message. Also, it is probably alot easier and less time consuming to pick up the phone and call someone than responding to an e-mail. We have found that you often do not get replys from messages very quickly. This is not to say all agents work like this, but we have found alot do. I suppose you could always make up a number, but this is where it starts getting silly . I think they do this so that only serious buyers go to open homes i.e. less work for agents, especially if they are after a quick sale.They also do not always put address of property on their marketing stuff, so you cannot always go and sus out an area before you go to an open home. I suppose this is so that you only see a property at its best, at sunniest warm, quiet time of day etc.