[BkyMonster]

Or are there any?
In the US when buying a house you (as the buyer) are expected to pay probably around 3-5% of the house price in additional fees. So a 100k house would actually cost 103-105k if being financed (not including interest and all that other stuff that comes with paying off something over time!). These include (though all regions are a bit different) the inspection fee, loan fees (1% usually), title fees, local filing fees and so on. Sometimes you can get it written into the contract to have the seller pay, or sometimes you pay the sellers fees, and sometimes you split them in assorted ways. When you are the seller you generally pay the agent fee (6-7% split between agents and their agencies) and your half of the selling fees out of the profit on the house.
I'm just wondering what associated fees there are with buying a house (with a mortgage). Do the fees vary depending on how much of the purchase price is financed (US has something called PMI-private mortgage insurance for people financing over 80% on one loan).

We won't be buying a house anytime soon (don't even have PR yet) but I'd like to get an idea of how much money on top of a down payment would be expected/necessary.

Thanks in advance.

[Georgebulldog]

The only extra fees we paid were for a survey to be done which we decided on but no on top fees to anyone else just the mortgage which as we got through our bank didn't cost us anything, they also paid the solicitor fees to set it all up :nice1

[Ana&Steve]

The only extra fees we paid were for a survey to be done which we decided on is this an inspection of the plumbing, foundation, electrical, etc. or a boundary line affirmation? Sorry for dumb question but the terminology is different here.:o

[Georgebulldog]

is this an inspection of the plumbing, foundation, electrical, etc. or a boundary line affirmation? Sorry for dumb question but the terminology is different here.:o

This was a company we found who just did a thorough check of the house & came back with a big photo report on every crack & plumbing need, was impressed with it
The boundary stuff was all sorted by the solicitor as we had an issue with a final certificate not being issued but all was OK in the end, all signed for, bought & moved in within 2 weeks

[Ana&Steve]

Thanks for that:)

[Janey]

I am sure there are threads on here, you can choose to do a Lim report approx $400 from Council we did not also survey as Lindsey says brillint with pics etc our vendors certainly did not tidy up when he did his report! again about $450, legal fees $850 and mortgage arrangement fees about $400 although we did not have to pay this plus bank refunded some of legal fees

[Silverwing86]

As a note of caution; I would definitely either get a LIM report or a Property Bag from the council. If you don't and you end up buying a property that has had alterations done to it in the past that were not approved by the Council, you will be liable for any costs of fixing these !

The LIM report should tell you about any alterations that have been approved by the Council and I believe the Property Bag has even more detailed information about the property and is not expensive to view. If I remember correctly, you can't actually take it with you, but are allowed to make copies of anything that you deem important to have.

I would also suggest a Building Inspection, just to be sure that there are no issues that you cannot see (Leaky homes for instance !), well worth the money IMO. Make sure you find your own company to do this rather than go with a company suggested by the Real Estate Agent. Always keep in mind that they're working for the vendor, not the buyer !

We too had a sizable refund from the bank for the sollicitors costs, great deal :nice1 !

Just my 2 cents worth...

Cheers,
Silver

[cappuccino]

The general conveyancing fees seem to be cheaper here than in the UK but beware that if you pull out of a purchase (say on the grounds of a poor building survey) then you are still liable for legal fees.

Estate agents will try to get you to part with 10% deposit when the contract goes 'unconditional' - legally you can pay anything you want for the deposit ie $1.

Telephone connection costs about $50

Removal costs vary and I have had quotes of $140 per hour or $1000 for the whole day which includes dismantling and re-assembling beds etc

Other costs might be if you want to set up a Family Trust and put the property into that.

[ksinusa]

We went to NZ last year to get a better idea before the big move... and I picked up this book at the local book store called..."The Street Wise Home Buyer.... the step by step guide to smart home buying in NZ" by Stephen Hart. The book store had a couple of books like this. I found it quite helpful in getting an idea of how it all works down there. From mortgage types, house styles, locations, to the full sale process. Plus it has a very handy glossary in the back which helps a lot when I am looking at listings online. It has a full run down of all the different types of LIM reports and council reports that you can get, how to get them, and what they cost.

Just thought I would mention it :)

[incredible hulse]

We're selling at the moment and I would disagree the fees are less than the UK. We're paying 625+GST for a standard sale but already been told that we will have to pay for an additional 1.5 hours (@250+GST !!!) as the solicitor considers that he's had to go above the standard (by writing one letter and sending 2 emails of mine on).

I've also been disappointed in the quality of the conveyancing work as both solicitors have missed things relating to some charges that I would have expected them to pick up.

[Bozeman]

We are in the process of buying in Christchurch now. Following are some of the fees with which we are being confronted:
* LIM: $175. Unless you're a cash buyer, this is not optional. The bank will not lend you the money without a solicitor's review of the LIM (nor would you want to forego a review of the LIM).
* Building Inspection: $450. Depends on the size of the house. We probably could of saved $100 with another inspector but the company we chose came well recommended.
* Solicitor: $850-950. This is probably high compared to most but, again, we went with a recommendation of a very experienced lawyer. Our bank will cover $500 of this cost.

There are no loan fees with our bank. Other banks have different fee structures.