Decent Salary + house buying

[jack1212]

Hi There,

I have been offered a job in New Zealand (Auckland).

The Salary is $165k base plus bonuses.

Is this a decent enough Salary to have a decent live style and buy a house? I understand Auckland is very expensive and my kiwi friend told me I would need to buy in a cheap suburb with this salary.


Thanks
Jack

[girlwithanewf]

Look on trademe.co.nz for house prices.
It obviously depends on how much money you already have. If you have a large deposit, sweet as. If not, then yes, you will probably struggle. I think you need a 20% deposit minimum.
Talk to a bank and see what they say and do a lot of research online.

[l00k]

Your base salary is already 2-3 times higher than an average Kiwi.
165k + bonus! OMG I'd dream of it.
An average house in an inner suburb of Auckland (Parnell, Ponsonby, St Mary Bay, Cashmere, Orakei, Newmarket etc) can cost from 1m to 2m.
Go a bit further (New Lynn, Pt Chevalier, Mt Eden, Howick etc) often from 800k to 1m
More further (Mt Wellington, Mt Roskill, Otahuhu, Onehunga, Henderson, Flat Bush, Manukau etc) you can get house from 600k
North Shore properties are more expensive.
Waitakera City & South Auckland are much cheaper.
But considering your very high salary, it's not hard to afford a house at all.

[chapwithatui]

On $165k, you can probably borrow $500k on a 20-year mortgage (most bank websites have mortgage calculators), so provided you have another 500k or more in cash, you should be fine.

[jack1212]

Thank you, very uplifting :-)

[alexrover]

@jack1212 : Off topic - but I was getting curious since not many employers pay that high salary here!
Which industry are you in? and if you don't mind sharing your job title/post

Thank you, and good luck with the move

Cheers
- A