Practical guide to buying a house?

[Usarka]

Not sure if I can be arsed, but if was to be what's the best way to go about it?

I'm not talking about the cliched advice like "do your research", and "get an inspection done" or "get a perm" bollox. What I want to know is where to start.....

Most properties these days are listed as auctions, or negotiable etc without any price. How the f&#$ do you do any research when you don't know what stuff costs?

[YellowDog]

1. List your requirements.
2. Work out your max budget.
3. If cost of requirements = < Budget then buy house.
4. If cost of requirements = > Budget then look at what you can afford and compromise.

My general observation of the NZ housing market is that a shit house costs almost the same as a good one.

Best advice, get a good one and avoid those leaky buggers.

BTW: This is one of the bigest decsions you will make in your life and if you can't be ased, just don't bother.

[Usarka]

1. List your requirements.
2. Work out your max budget.
3. If cost of requirements = < Budget then buy house.
4. If cost of requirements = > Budget then look at what you can afford and compromise.

My general observation of the NZ housing market is that a shit house costs almost the same as a good one.

Best advice, get a good one and avoid those leaky buggers..

Thanks but not what I'm asking.

How do I find properties that meet my requirements and budget? I picked up the property press yesterday and listed prices are rarer than a hookers pubes.

[YellowDog]

Fair comment about the pubes.

If they can't be bothered to give a price, then give them a wide berth.

However if you are really interested, look on QV.co.nz to see what the GV is. Depending where the property is and when the GV was done, you can get an idea as to what it is worth.

I'm on the Auckland North Shore and GV less 10% is about the going rate.

Why don't you try www.realestate.co.nz . They have all the properties from all the agents on there.

BTW: IMO - It's a very good time to buy.

[pzkpfw]

Thanks but not what I'm asking.

How do I find properties that meet my requirements and budget? I picked up the property press yesterday and listed prices are rarer than a hookers pubes.

It's a real pain in the neck.

What I did was use whatever details were available to look up GV (RV whatever) on the council website. (In Wellington we get that).

Eventually you learn what a house "should be worth". (Adjusting GV to current market trend).

Then when you see a house that's realistically in your price range (by your estimate) you go make an offer. You make it too low, you go through all that arsing about with offer-counter-offer and eventually buy it or not.

It's a hassle, but I think what it comes down to is [experience] + [the few details available] + [the few house with advertised prices] = [ability to make own estimate of value].

[bsasuper]

You can get the government valuation (GV), go into estate agents and ask what the houses have been selling for in an area.Go to your bank and workout the max you can borrow, buy private where possible.What you pay is up to you, if you dont to the research, you'll get done.

[Usarka]

It's a hassle, but I think what it comes down to is [experience] + [the few details available] + [the few house with advertised prices] = [ability to make own estimate of value].

I'm fucked then!

Might pop down to the bank this week and see how much they can give me.

Cheers for the answers all....

[kave]

I recently bought a house. This is how I went about it.


* Decide that buying a house is definitely the best option for you.

* Work out what you are comfortable spending.

* Write out a list of what your house must have.

* Write out a list of things that you would really like in a house, but could do without.

* Work out what areas you are looking to buy in.

* Spend three weeks attending open-homes with no intention to buy (you will not get a true feel for the market without going to open homes, almost all adds are misleading).

* During that three weeks you will make a lot of relationships with real estate agents, make sure that they understand exactly what you are looking for, they will give you suggestions and will also know the value of houses with no advertised price. A good real estate agent is a huge help.

* Personally I made the decision to steer clear of auctions and told the real estate agents that I was not interested in any houses that were being auctioned.

* Once you find a house that you like, get it thoroughly checked.


Thats how I went about it, and I am really happy with the outcome. The real key is finding a good real estate agent. There will be agents you see regularly, and often if you go to an open home at 2pm then one at 4pm you will end up dealing with the same agent. They really want to sell the houses on their books, and if you develop a good relationship with them and are upfront about what you want and almost honest about what you will pay (best to lie and say you are looking at spending about 20k less than you actually are) they will often do a lot of the legwork for you. If you go to a house and don't like it then tell the agent why, so they don't suggest more houses with the same faults.

[bsasuper]

Ive found that estate agents suck, sure there nice to you but remember they make a big fat commission on a sale.I just brought a house for less than GV, and a wopping $100 grand less than what the owners were asking, It was a private sale, only had to get a valuation to please the bank

[Usarka]

Ive found that estate agents suck, sure there nice to you but remember they make a big fat commission on a sale.I just brought a house for less than GV, and a wopping $100 grand less than what the owners were asking, It was a private sale, only had to get a valuation to please the bank

Where do private sellers advertise? Or did you do a sneaky approach-the-owners-when-the-agents-not-looking ruse...

[Madness]

Where do private sellers advertise? Or did you do a sneaky approach-the-owners-when-the-agents-not-looking ruse...

Tardme. Use Private Sale as a keyword for your search, auw.

Edit:/ Watch out for the rougher parts of Mianus, I've heard bad things.....

[Winston001]

I recently bought a house. This is how I went about it.


* Decide that buying a house is definitely the best option for you.

* Work out what you are comfortable spending.

* Write out a list of what your house must have.

* Write out a list of things that you would really like in a house, but could do without.

* Work out what areas you are looking to buy in.

* Spend three weeks attending open-homes with no intention to buy (you will not get a true feel for the market without going to open homes, almost all adds are misleading).

* During that three weeks you will make a lot of relationships with real estate agents, make sure that they understand exactly what you are looking for, they will give you suggestions and will also know the value of houses with no advertised price. A good real estate agent is a huge help.

* Personally I made the decision to steer clear of auctions and told the real estate agents that I was not interested in any houses that were being auctioned.

* Once you find a house that you like, get it thoroughly checked.


Thats how I went about it, and I am really happy with the outcome. The real key is finding a good real estate agent. There will be agents you see regularly, and often if you go to an open home at 2pm then one at 4pm you will end up dealing with the same agent. They really want to sell the houses on their books, and if you develop a good relationship with them and are upfront about what you want and almost honest about what you will pay (best to lie and say you are looking at spending about 20k less than you actually are) they will often do a lot of the legwork for you. If you go to a house and don't like it then tell the agent why, so they don't suggest more houses with the same faults.

Good sound advice. Print it out.

[James Deuce]

It doesn't matter how many "relationships" you form with Real Estate agents, they will never, ever, take you to see houses that fit your criteria or budget.

Always ask to see specific houses. If the agent refuses, you know they are about to waste your time. Our only specs were a garage and 3ish bedrooms.

One agent showed us 5 houses in a row with no garage. Never get mad with Real Estate agents. They can't help being retarded and you shouldn't get mad with people who really can't help being the way they are.

[Winston001]

Most properties these days are listed as auctions, or negotiable etc without any price. How the f&#$ do you do any research when you don't know what stuff costs?

Yeah understand your frustration. No price is stupid but its because we are in a recession.

Here's the way it works: agents are desperate to get listings. At the same time they know prices have dropped. So they dare not tell the seller the price is too high in case the seller dumps them and goes elsewhere.

Instead the agent suggests a "price band" or some other no-price method eg. Price on Application = POA.

Or, if they can talk the seller into it, an auction. These are great for real estate agencies. Heaps of advertising, usually paid by the seller. Lots of agency profile. The house is incidental. In the meantime the seller gets all excited about the big day.

When no bids occur at auction, the seller is gutted (seen it happen) and realises their dream of a high price isn't going to happen. The agent avoids responsibility by saying "the market is speaking". The result is the seller agrees to a more realistic price and the agent is happy.

So no-price listings are normally unrealistic asking prices. Auctions much the same except now and then unique properties do come up eg. converted church, semi-commercial land.

[Big Dave]

We bought the first place we looked at. Been here 8 years.

We knew how much we wanted to spend, areas we wanted to live and accommodation requirements.

As long as it structurally sound and ticks those boxes don't make it too hard for yourself. Paint and a bit of DIY fixes anything else.

You make due diligence with your Solicitor - making sure it's not in the path of the proposed freeway, zonings etc.