4 Steps to launch yourself into your new home

# 1 Getting your finances sorted

Its great to start looking either online or in your local weekly paper at house for sale, but your starting point should be talking to either your bank or mortgage broker. They can guide you as to whether you can borrow at what level you can borrow at. That will then set the range of properties that you can afford. If you cant borrow, or cant borrow enough you can talk to them about what steps, and where you need to get to, to be able to borrow for a property.

First Home Grant and Kiwisaver

For first home buyers the government has First Home Grant which can provide up to $5,000.00 per person for an existing house and $10,000.00 for new build towards your purchase ( there is some criteria i.e. you need to have been contributing to kiwisaver for at least 3 years, and there is a maximum amount you can be earning which is different depending on what region you are in.

Then there is Kiwisaver, if you have been in a kiwisaver scheme for at least three years, you will be able to apply to use this towards purchasing your first house.

#2 finding a home

This is the fun part, once you know what you buying range is, you can start looking. Trademe property and Real Estate NZ are great sites to start looking. You can also look at www.homes.co.nz, www.oneroof.co.nz or QV to get an idea of what properties in the area may have been selling for.

Be aware the RV (rateable value) of a property isnt necessarily indicative of what its value is. The RV’s are only adjusted once every three years, and are based on % increases in the neighbourhood. Renovations and other additions to a property may not be reflected in an RV because a valuer does not come and view every house to get an idea of value.

Its always a good idea to look at multple houses so you can get an idea of what you are looking for. Older houses tend to require more maintenance and require some work to bring to modern standards, while a newer home may not require the same maintenance but will be more expensive. With the rise in houses prices many people are looking at the cost to buy a section and build against the cost to buy an existing home.

# 3 making an offer

So you’ve found a property that you love and are ready to make an offer that’s fantastic! When making an offer there are a few things to consider

1. Finance your offer should be subject to you obtaining confirmed finance ( often you can get pre-approval from your bank for borrowing up to a certain amount but this will always be on the basis that they must be happy with the property as security, so you need a finance clause to ensure the bank will lend against that property. ( # handy tip if you are buying at an auction or tender, you could get the bank to pre-approve the particular house).
2. Building Inspection: You should consider making the offer subject to getting a builders report, that you are happy with. Builders are great they will often see things that you would never think of. Mostly you are looking for any big ticket items which will hurt if you need to replace straight away i.e. new roofs, foundation issues or water pentrations.
3. LIM/ Council File: Its a good idea to make the offer subject to a LIM ( Otherwise known as a Land Information Memorandum, you can see why we like the acronym) or review of the Council file. A LIM has all sorts of handy information about a property. It contains what buildings and alterations the council has consented to and signed off. Importantly it can give you an idea of what hasn’t. So if the council plans dont show that second bathroom then theres probably a problem.
4. Timing: The standard timeframe for satisfying the above conditions is 10-15 working days. If you want to make your offer more attractive and reduce the time, you should talk to your bank and builder to see whether they can do it in a shorter timeframe. First Home Grant and Kiwisaver take 10-15 working days from the initial application, and you need at least four weeks from application to settlement if you dont have pre-approval for your first home grant. If you are renting a property consider how much notice you need to give (# handy hint if you are renting its a good idea to hold onto the rental property for at least a couple of days after settlement. While it costs a little extra it also gives you time to move your belongings without the stress of trying to do it all on settlement day.

# 4 Settling and moving in

This is the time for us to shine. Once you have signed up an offer we can assist you through the process of satisfying your conditions. There are a few things to be completed

Finance

You need to talk to your bank, present the agreement and ask them to confirm they will provide finance. At the same time as doing this the First Home Grant application and Kiwisaver applications can be completed and sent. Once all the approvals are back this condition can be satisfied.

Builder and LIM

If you have inserted a condition for either of the above you need to arrange for these reports. LIMs can take up to 10 working days for Councils to provide so need to get onto this early.

Once the agreement is confirmed

We prepare any bank documents provided by your bank for signing, arrange the documentation to enable the property to be registered in your name, and general act like your insurance to ensure that when you pay your money to purchase your actually get the property registered into your name.