[Charlosparky]

Hi, we are looking at buying a house here and wondering - what are the basic differences between the NZ process and the UK ? (apart from being faster hopefully) What agency/solicitor/search/registry fees do you pay as a buyer? and are the fees negotioable in any way? :confused:

[jo-and-jeff]

I've heard from numerous sources that Don't Buy Anything by Neil Jenman (http://www.jenman.com.au/DSA.php) (ISBN 0958651744) is an absolute "must" for anyone considering selling property in either New Zealand or Australia (and it's excellent education for prospective buyers as well).

Neil Jenman's The 13 Worst Mistakes Made by Home Buyers (FREE) (http://www.jenman.com.au/BS_S_18Worst.php)

There is a lot of helpful other information on Neil Jenman's site (http://www.jenman.com.au).

[Avalon]

I've heard from numerous sources that Don't Buy Anything by Neil Jenman (http://www.jenman.com.au/DSA.php) (ISBN 0958651744) is an absolute "must" for anyone considering selling property in either New Zealand or Australia (and it's excellent education for prospective buyers as well).

Ditto!

Its a great book (though very depressing and scary). It will teach you all the tricks the agents use, and at least you know in advance how to smell a rat.

The main differences are the continuing refusal to stick a flippin price tag on a house (which does not unfortunately mean you can offer 50c!), the fact that you dont really ever see the seller - everything is done through the agent - so you cant negotiate direct, and you generally cant make verbal offers - these have to be on a standard document and SIGNED. If its accepted and signed by the seller - its binding.

Your fees will be for solictors, lim reports (though you can get those free in some cases), any valutations and building reports. Well worth the costs. There may be some fees associated with setting up a mortgage - but to be honest - you should be able to negotiate out of that. If the bank wont play ball - talk to another bank.

Another difference is that when you write the offer up - you can put in conditions that must be met before you settle. It is very important to get these right , and so legal advise in drawing up the aggreement is a good idea (at least until you know what you are doing). Without any conditions - you have no right to withdraw from the sale if something goes wrong. Often is things like "satisfactory builders report" etc.

[Stapleton-Gray]

Looks Like Avalon gave you a great answer there!! Pretty much all you needed to know.
One thing though, don't let is scare you too much. We found the whole process pretty easy, we found and bought our house all within the space of a week! Obviously took a bit longer to finalise everything but it was all set in stone pretty quick.
Its the best purchase we've ever made to.
My suggestions are to find a really good agent. Our one was amazing and now we have become really good friends with her and I'm even doing all her marketing and design work now!
So good luck - and if you are thinking about moving to Auckland, Northshore - I'll put you in contact with her! She's fab.

[Charlosparky]

Thanks chaps :nice1

[diforsyth]

I've found that they don't understand negotiation and don't comprehend that the market is flattening. Perhaps this is just in the areas I'm looking in but it seems that the sale price is dictated by the amount the vendor needs for their next purchase and not what the house is actually worth. As for negotiation, we put an offer in on a house within the vendors range of high $x00,000 to low $y00,000 and a settlement date of 7 weeks - their counter offer was mid $y00,000 (yes, higher!!) and settlement in March 2007 :no Needless to say I walked away even though the real estate agent said I should give the guy some slack because he was getting married and his wife-to-be was making the sure the wedding was perfect and the costs were rising for him :roll

[jo-and-jeff]

... the real estate agent said I should give the guy some slack because he was getting married and his wife-to-be was making the sure the wedding was perfect and the costs were rising for him :roll
His problem, not yours.

I am stupefied that the agent actually thought that they could guilt-trip you into paying more than you thought appropriate, just because the seller needs more money.


:roll

[veronica]

there are some houses (an increasing number) for sale privately through a freebie paper in most supermarkets and also on trademe.co.nz this avoids the agents and allows you to negotiate direct.

[lollypop]

there are some houses (an increasing number) for sale privately through a freebie paper in most supermarkets and also on trademe.co.nz this avoids the agents and allows you to negotiate direct.

Yes, we've just bought a house advertised through a company called Green Door and all open homes and negotiations were done directly with the owner.