[abbie & john]

Hi

Can any ex-Brit please break down for me the terms for real estate and put them into English for me??

:P

[veronica]

the term house covers both bungalow and 2 storey house. Unit is one of a row of groundstorey flats, flat and appartment mean the same, Town house is ambiguous, seems to be like a unit but 2 storey. As interpreted to me by a NZer.

[Douglas]

A town house can be a two-storey attached or detached house. Their distinguishing feature is that they have very small gardens. :D

[abbie & john]

Thanks very much for the info! Might help when we are trying to get property prices to estimate what we can get for our money!

[karltsmith]

Construction Types and Materials

B&T = Brick and Tile Construction = Timber frame + Brick cladding + concrete tile roof.

Concrete Block and Weatherboard = Brieze block + Weatherboard cladding

Plaster = rendered finish generally with a ploystyrene block wall construction which is filled with concrete. The plaster is specially formulated (so they say) to withstand cracking and movement form settlement or earthquakes.

Gib Board = Gibralter Board akin to plaster board or Gyproc in the UK.

Shingle roof = Felt tile (some older houses have wooden shingles) roof bonded to sheet roofing material.

Coloursteel = essentially a posh metal roof of steel (suprisingly enough)

Ranch slider = patio door

Pink Bats = Rock wool insulation

Stucco = Rough render finish akin to Mediteranion houses.

Sarking = exposed wooden paneled ceiling of scandanavian influence.


Styles


Colonial = wooden panel exterior with stud walls and generally a metal roof. Cold and damp unless well insulated and bought up-to-date.

Contemporary = any house style the estate agent couldn't put a name to!

Modern = generally cubist with heavy use af glass and wacky shaped windows. Remember more glass = more heat loss in winter and a greenhouse in summer!

Traditional = Typical Kiwi home of weatherboard contruction on a timber frame with a steel roof.

Mediteranian = have you ever been to Spain!



Leases/Titles

Fee simple = Freehold but take care to read any restrictive covenants that might affect your use e.g some covenants may not allow further subdivision or may not allow you to run a business from home etc...

Cross lease = Has nothing to do with the lease being anoyed in any way it's a share of the land with another house/s on an original section. To do any improvements to such a home you need to seek permission from the other occupant/s aswell as council approval for extension renovations etc.

Subdivision = a larger section that has been split into two or more seperate freehold titles.

Strata title = generally used with flats or apartments and apply to dwellings "stacked on top of each other as in an apartment complex but could equally be applied to a flat below a main house.

LIM Report= Land Information Memorandum= The basic information held by the council on the property covering such things as the title type, bounderies, protected trees, drainage restrictions, proximity to flood areas etc etc.


Estate agent "speak"

"Low maintenance"= no or very small yard (garden)

"Level site" = can slope by as much as 5-10 degrees!

"Do up" = complete refurb required sometimes knock down and start again!

PBN = price by negotation

Home and Income = Home with granny flat attached

Legal Home and Income = the council has approved the flat and it met the prevailing standards

PIM= property information file available at your local council offices.

Safe and sanitary report = An inspection carried out on a property for which little or no records are held by the council. Many council were records were lost by some councils as they amalgamated and so some PIF's are incomplete. A safe and sanitary report can be done to update the PIF before further works are undertaken and a belt and braces excercise.

Unconditional contract = a contract whereby the purchaser makes no conditions to his/her offer eg a conditional offer will always be "subject to..." e.g a satisfactory building report, subject to finance etc.....


Multi Level = Heaps (lots) of stairs because it's built on a precipise.....I've seen sections you could base jump off!

Peak of the sea = No sea view apart from one little window in an upstairs bathroom!

Full section = Obscure descrition that can mean anything from 450m2 to 5000m2 depending on where you are in the country.

Lifestyle block = 2-5 acres with a home/homestead on it.

POA = If you have to ask the price you can't afford it!

:nice1

PS these are only a few....you could write a dictionary on this subject!

[Raeven]

LOL, man, karl, these are great!!

My personal favorites:

Contemporary = any house style the estate agent couldn't put a name to!

Multi Level = Heaps (lots) of stairs because it's built on a precipise.....I've seen section you could base jump off!

Peak of the sea = No sea view apart from one little window in an upstairs bathroom!

Gave me a great chuckle, and at a very opportune time, as we are in the thick of prospective property purchases!!

Thanks as always, Rae

[abbie & john]

Hi Karl

Have you missed out on your true vocation with all this property speak??

:laugh :laugh

[veronica]

Try reading Thelwells 'this desirable plot'

[justin.g.s]

Karl I remember that you had mentioned reading a book on N.Z real estate buying tips ect... What was the name looks like I need to buy it NOW!!!

What a mess, if the rampant laws suits in Ca real estate have done anything other than making a few lawyers rich, at the least it has provided us with a relatively clear transaction process.

And up until reading (briefly) about the N.Z buying process I found our system cumbersome. Looks like I will trade ease of buying process with consice definitions of all parties duties and liabilities, with one that appears to be vague, if not down right misleading.

Oh well it appears that, at the least they have not learned how to sully the lending aspects of home buying.

"Hello mortgage broker"
" Hello here is your good faith estimate."

Origination fee 1.5% ($3500)
processing fee $340
fed ex fee $75
appraisal $350
Credit reports $80
Escrow $500
Doc prep$100
Curior fee $95
Title$795
Appraisal review$150
Various lender fees$500
Flood certificate$115
Taxes prorated$3500(if impounds)
First year insurance$900

Initial here, here and here
Bla Bla Bla

Initial here, here and here

Various various fees $600
Hi I think you stole my pen fee $359, it was a nice pen
Colonoscopy prep fee$795

Value for allowing me to ream you out, Pricless

Information deemed reliable but not necesarily accurate