House buying

[R650R]

Just you wait until you have to start doing things... I needed a plumber to sort out slightly shoddy drains/pipes and utterly shite hot water pressure (how the previous owners put up with it, I don't know). Next up is insulation (underfloor only, Lockwoods have solid walls and no ceiling cavity), and some severe (ground-level) tree work.
Then I suppose I better get onto painting the outside, waterblasting the decks and steps, clearing out the gutters, and re-doing the bathroom/toilet/laundry.

Yep all the little things add up. Got a sparky mate helping me redo some stuff. Some previous feral cretin installed the heatpump on same circuit as bedroom power points and the gas hot water califont. Luckily I found this out while having a high current fan heater and heat pump at same time while painting on cold day and not whilst having a shower.

Speaking of floor sanding I passed on that too. Ripped up some huckerry lino in laundry that had been water damaged at some stage. Floor ok but not perfectly flat. Its going to be mostly covered by washinbg machine and dirty laundry anyway so just patched over with some vinyl offcuts from a family members place. Came out good first time I ever done it. Measure twice cut once, about 6/10 on difficulty level....

[HenryDorsetCase]

Ancillary query: which types of money flows or pools do the government have an ethical right to access, (tax) and for what purpose?

Well. theres a can o'worms (TM)

The Nazis would say "everyone but the farmers"

Labour would say "everyone"

But "ethical" rights to access? That's the point of a democracy innit? I read a very interesting piece over the weekend about why we should be taxing every profit everywhere. Including the sale of the family home (which even the Nazis havent touched with their stupid capital gains tax by stealth).

[Ocean1]

Well. theres a can o'worms (TM)

The Nazis would say "everyone but the farmers"

Labour would say "everyone"

But "ethical" rights to access? That's the point of a democracy innit? I read a very interesting piece over the weekend about why we should be taxing every profit everywhere. Including the sale of the family home (which even the Nazis havent touched with their stupid capital gains tax by stealth).

Point or otherwise the effect of our particular democracy is to tax by consensus. Nothing about that infers ethical behaviour. It's simply an exercise in which group gets to steal which other group's income in order to give it to which other group. In fact the ethics aren't all that difficult to establish via the catch-all: is the tax willingly paid?

The answer is almost always: "depends on what you're spending it on". Which is why it's interesting to see public focus almost exclusively on the personalities involved, rather than the policy.

I, along with most Nazis have no problem with taxing profit, it's vaguely aligned with the cost of supplying the tools that make it possible. And, (bonus point, but irrelevant) roughly matches the ability to pay it. Neither of which make it ethical, but it's rather a lot less larcenous than the "see money: tax money" approach offered elsewhere.

I don't have a problem with Labour's "everyone", either. Even at a level endured by most Scandinavial economies. As long as the benefits are shared across the board as those countries mostly manage them, none of this working for someone else's family bullshit. Getting taxed to buggery AND not being eligible for cheap access to the very services those taxes pay for is what I believe is called "double dipping".

I'm not up on the stealthy CG thing, who are they suggesting is going to calculate what represents "profit" wrt moneys resulting from sale of homes? 'Cause answers along the lines of : "this special govt entity right here" will result in absolute pandemonium.

[Ocean1]

Speaking of which: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...stick-on-a-pig

[James Deuce]

Speaking of which: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...stick-on-a-pig

He's right. JacindaLabour is still the same bunch of people wanting to sell sovereignty for a "free" trade deal that benefits only one party which isn't NZ. They've also deployed a confusing mishmash of policy that just means that the remnants of the middle class will be consigned to the renting working class in fairly short order.

[Voltaire]

Gareth is jealous as for eye appeal he needs more than lipstick.

Aren't elections now fought in TV sound bites and internet gossip?

[EJK]

Aren't elections now fought in TV sound bites and internet gossip?

A fat German dude tried that a few years ago. Didn't quite work out.

[Ocean1]

He's right. JacindaLabour is still the same bunch of people wanting to sell sovereignty for a "free" trade deal that benefits only one party which isn't NZ. They've also deployed a confusing mishmash of policy that just means that the remnants of the middle class will be consigned to the renting working class in fairly short order.

I think he was mis-quoted, too, don't think it was aimed personally at Jacinda.

Not that there's any shortage of targets, even if you agree with all of Labour's policies: the ex head of the International Socialist Youth Movement, someone who has never held a job outside of parliament, (let alone one requiring the sort of production actual customers willingly pay for), simply hasn't got the experience and real world knowledge to be anywhere near parliament.

I don't actually dislike her, (outside of the tendency to call literally everyone "comrade"), but from a policy perspective she doesn't actually represent any improvement over Angrew, or the previous month's version, it's just the same old union agendas, not even lightly rehashed.

[bogan]

I think he was mis-quoted, too, don't think it was aimed personally at Jacinda.

So he wants to murder all cats and bring back animal testing for cosmetics?

I completely agree with his point though, there doesn't seem to have been any real change apart from her (thus labour itself) becoming the media darling.

[James Deuce]

So he wants to murder all cats and bring back animal testing for cosmetics?

I completely agree with his point though, there doesn't seem to have been any real change apart from her (thus labour itself) becoming the media darling.

No, he wants to use politicians for cosmetics testing.

[Ocean1]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/960...for-regulation




http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/...horror-stories

[neels]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/960...for-regulation




http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/...horror-stories

Where to start......

Permanent tenancies means a sub class of housing where the owner has no incentive to improve, a rental WOF will mean maintained to the absolute minimum standard. Not to mention a whole lot of first home buyers losing their equity when the market gets flooded with houses for sale, and a whole lot of tenants finding themselves homeless when they get evicted before the new rules come in so the house can get sold.

Will the WOF apply to all housing, and the council condemn as unlivable any housing that doesn't meet the standard? I see a lot of private owners being turfed out of their houses until they are up to standard.

If the tax refunds for landlords are removed, expect rents to increase to the actual cost of providing housing, house prices may drop but the costs for existing landlords won't.

If the tax refund on the average rental is a few thousand a year, can the govt or another entity provide a rental for someone to live in for the same total cost? I suspect not, and the difference will come from the taxpayer, which will be a much bigger number than what it costs now.

Capital gains tax? Fair enough if you sell within x number of years of buying a house you don't live in, on your own home only if you can also claim any expenses for owning and/or improving your home, I can see the accountants rubbing their hands together with glee at the mere thought......

[R650R]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/960...for-regulation




http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/...horror-stories

Holy ferk at the second story, if your baby is that cold buy some more wooly blamkets or something, unbelieveable.

Can see both sides of this story. The place I just bough has evidence of minor mould at some stage yet is dry as a bone structurally. Since I took over eradicated completely. But then I was raised with a grandmother who would religiously open every window in the house at 5am to ventilate the insides regardless of weather extremes! I do the same in mornings and afternoon plus wipe down any damp windows.
I think living skills 101 is missing for many people, eg open kitchen windows when cooking and boiling the jug etc....

I know people in Toke and its pretty desperate up there. At any time there are only 5-6 house available for rent, probably derelict shite holes in gang streets but there are about 100-200 house for sale. Several investors there own large swathes of property distorting the market. Looked at buyiong rental up there awhile ago but too far away to economically maintain. about 150-200k would buy you a nice house in good area that would attract quality tenant. An influx og construction workers for Lichfield cheese plant and other projects has put serious accommodation pressure on too. Also so the local council is about to pull the pin on very low income and ex prison rleasee's from staying long term in local holiday/caravan parks (no one will rent to them), a storm is brewing.

I've lived in a couple of damp rentals in Auckland, its an insidious issue that creeps up on you even when you can afford to buy the mould control spray etc... Its not until you move somewhere clean and dry you realise how bad it was.
Still, wheres the councils and authorities acting on these issues.

[Ocean1]

If the tax refunds for landlords are removed,..

What tax refunds?

[Ocean1]

Can see both sides of this story.

A balancing act which is not only obviously missing from the article but from the tenants association itself.

Their objectives are just that, theirs, and there's no reason their tenants shouldn't address them themselves, breaking out some cleaning kit as required.

Or even, dog forbid, paying the same cost to provide the fucking house the landlord did.