Property costs in NZ - the heart of evil

[Flip]

I was living at home in the family's granny flat and had no expenses, I also had as much work as a junior engineer as I could do.
I didn't do much partying back then, don't do much now. I used to put 2 or 3k away each year no probs.

[Winston001]

Starting to get itchy feet again though. plus the garage is too small. Time to build?

Mmm..or buy a lifestyle property to enjoy. A crib on Banks Peninsula or Lake Coleridge etc. Financiers will tell you this is dead money, bad idea etc but they fail to consider quality of life. One of the best decisions I ever made was to buy a crib with another family. Damn tough financially but it got better and my children are growing up enjoying holiday weekends which they will remember all of their lives.

Plus its nice to share a crib with wider family and friends.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Mmm..or buy a lifestyle property to enjoy. A crib on Banks Peninsula or Lake Coleridge etc. Financiers will tell you this is dead money, bad idea etc but they fail to consider quality of life. One of the best decisions I ever made was to buy a crib with another family. Damn tough financially but it got better and my children are growing up enjoying holiday weekends which they will remember all of their lives.

Plus its nice to share a crib with wider family and friends.

the issue with lifestyle blocks is that you get teh lifestyle of Dennis in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.......

My brother and I have talked about it a few times, but can't quite agree on where it should be. at one point it was going to be the Sunshine Coast (not as stupid an idea as it sounds), Friends have baches at Castle Hill (mountains, mtb-ing, walking, snow) or the Sounds (fishing, boating etc) and I've even looked at places like Okains Bay (I could commute to the city from there if I had to, and didnt have to do it 5 days a week).

Dunno. decisions next year.

[Winston001]

the issue with lifestyle blocks is that you get teh lifestyle of Dennis in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.......

Agreed but you'd have your own anarchosyndicalist commune with access to your very own filth! What's not to like?

My brother and I have talked about it a few times, but can't quite agree on where it should be. at one point it was going to be the Sunshine Coast (not as stupid an idea as it sounds), Friends have baches at Castle Hill (mountains, mtb-ing, walking, snow) or the Sounds (fishing, boating etc) and I've even looked at places like Okains Bay (I could commute to the city from there if I had to, and didnt have to do it 5 days a week).

Dunno. decisions next year.

I'm not suggesting yer actual "Good Life" farmlet, just a crib/batch away from the city. Okains Bay is exactly the sort of place. Close enough so you go but far enough away to be completely different. The Sounds are beautiful but would you look forward to a 5 hour drive on a Friday night? I'm told there are nice places on lakes in the Alps which I'd guess are 2 hours away. That's far enough.

Certainly buying with family or friends makes possible what might otherwise only be a nice idea.

[R-Soul]

Good man, and there are plenty others in Southland, North Canterbury, Wast Coast, and Central North Island.



Despite my agreement with Jantar, you are right. Not much chop buying a house and having no job. Still, its worth knowing that it is possible to buy a home - yours, no landlord, your own peg in the dirt - on a benefit or a low wage. There is a strong psychological value in terms of personal security.

I can also say that there is work in some of these areas but the farmers/locals don't bother with TM. Its word of mouth and good employees keep the job. My brother-in-law struggles to get a reliable farm hand - they just don't turn up or are dumb as a bag of hammers. Jobs do exist in these out of the way places.

Furthermore lets think laterally: the internet changes things. The OP is a patent attorney. It is possible to provide intellectual advice and knowledge these days from anywhere in the world. Granted its no use to a truckie or an electrician but computer literate people can work living where they want to.

Personally I prefer face to face but I've had clients I've never met (including in Australia) through the internet. The telephone and email plus a bit of post does the job. So living in an expensive large city is not as essential as it once was.

Nope - law is about relationships. Patent law is about establsihing close relationships with industrial clients. That means being there, meetinng with them often, keeping track of their developments, and being a trusted confidant. Internet is too impersonal.
Last time I looked, there weren't too many industrial clients out in the sticks.

[Spyke]

So what do you guys suggest young people do to go up the property ladder?

Buy the shittiest house on a good street and do it up, then wait till you have enough for another deposit and buy another place and repeat? Is it profitable to build houses purely to sell?

What are some ways you guys have worked your way up to having a portfolio that works for you?

I want to buy a first house and have people board with me, then either buy a second place and rent it out or build basic houses people can afford while i still make it worth while for me . My dads a builder and would love to be able to employ him. building a few houses a year but that would be down the line a bit.

Really interested in seeing how others done it.

[Spyke]

Is it still possible in this economic climate to go out and do it yourself without being a big business?

[Winston001]

No easy answers for you Spyke but yes, buying a house and having flatmates is a good start. Location location etc is the key but one twist is to anticipate a suburb on the rise. For example, Ponsonby in my mind is associated with police dawn raids and illegal immigrants - very downmarket. But of course its been gentrified and at the opposite end of the market these days.

When you have paid the mortgage down or your home has risen in value, buy a second house. You are on your way.

Still, while you are building assets you risk missing some crucial aspects of life. A relationship and children mean far far more in the long term. Overseas travel gains you memories and experiences which no amount of money can buy.

[Flip]

But its a hell ofa lot easier to travel after you have a million dollars worth of capital in the bank than as a bust grad.

[Indiana_Jones]

I doubt I'll buy my first home in Auckland, I'll most likely move to Hamilton or Dunners and get twice the house for less money.

We're not expecting a modern 5+ bedroom house for a first place, we just a tidy 3 bedroom house to start a family.

-Indy

[scumdog]

Shirley there is nowhere in this country you could buy a house for $75k

Well nowhere 'trendy' maybe, otherwise there's lots of places for less than that.

Of course there's always the work availability to think about...

[sidecar bob]

So what do you guys suggest young people do to go up the property ladder?

Buy the shittiest house on a good street and do it up, then wait till you have enough for another deposit and buy another place and repeat? Is it profitable to build houses purely to sell?

What are some ways you guys have worked your way up to having a portfolio that works for you?

I want to buy a first house and have people board with me, then either buy a second place and rent it out or build basic houses people can afford while i still make it worth while for me . My dads a builder and would love to be able to employ him. building a few houses a year but that would be down the line a bit.

Really interested in seeing how others done it.

Well I worked 14 hours a day, six days a week for years, & people say im LUCKY to own such a nice home.
It worked for me, & I rekon it could work for nearly anybody.
Sitting on your arse whinging that property values should fall so you can buy one with your part time wage from KFC is just stupid.

[BoristheBiter]

I my case buying a house has been the single worst thing i have ever done.
If I had still been renting where i was (still in the same suburb), I would be financially better off.

Buying a house is not the "be all and end all" that others make it out to be and most only tell you it is so you can get sucked into the same trap they have.

If I could go back I might still buy a house but no way in hell would it be in Auckland.

[Flip]

I brought my first house, a wee old house in the middle of wellington, for $104k and its GV is now $550k. By the time I owned 2 houses and the property values were on the climb the value of these houses was going up faster than I was earning money as an senior engineer.

Ok its been flat over the last 3 years buy you can't get into property with a short term plan.

Rents are generally on the rise because of the changes to the LAQC tax system and prices are low at the moment.

[BoristheBiter]

I brought my first house, a wee old house in the middle of wellington, for $104k and its GV is now $550k. By the time I owned 2 houses and the property values were on the climb the value of these houses was going up faster than I was earning money as an senior engineer.

Ok its been flat over the last 3 years buy you can't get into property with a short term plan.

Rents are generally on the rise because of the changes to the LAQC tax system and prices are low at the moment.

And because people like you have used the housing market to make as much money as possible most can't afford to buy their first home due to over inflated house prices.