BUYING A HOUSE

Buying a house is different for everyone.

We all have different budgets and expectations, and the rules and process for buying a house varies wherever you are.

If you are buying a house in Italy, or in New Zealand, there will be a lot to learn and consider in the buying a house process to make sure you get the end result you want.

I can only give you some guidelines on buying or building a house in New Zealand, but some of this information will apply wherever you are.

Specific details such as Council and Government regulations, building codes and legal processes will vary significantly around the world. But general factors such as problems to check for, suitability for use, affordability and design ideas can often be universally applied (with a little common sense thrown in)!

IN NEW ZEALAND

Buying An Existing House

A Real Estate Agent is essentially a salesperson who takes responsibility for advertising and marketing your home to find a buyer - for a fee.

Benefits:
- you can hand the responsibility of selling your home to someone else
- they take care of the advertising etc saving you time
- they usually have a database of potential buyers they can easily call on
- they don't get paid until the house is sold

Disadvantages:
- you will have to pay some of the money from the sale of your home to the Agent
In New Zealand the usual fee charged when the agent sells your home (not before):

$500 fee, plus 4% of the sale price of your home
Example: Sale Price - $500,000
Agents Fee - $500 plus $20,000(4% of $500,000) = $20,500 fee
This will vary between agencies, and may be negotiable, but this is a good guide to consider.
- there is often pressure from the Agent for you to reduce your selling price so they can be guaranteed a sale (and their fee)

SELLING IT YOURSELF
In recent years it has become more common for property owners to take care of the selling process themselves, due largely to the availability of the internet.

Benefits:
- you don't have to pay anyone else a fee out of the money from selling your home.

Disadvantages:
- more time consuming as you have to do and organise everything yourself
- it can be hard to find potential buyers as you are not always working in the property industry

THE "IN-BETWEEN" ALTERNATIVE
There are also a number of companies around (HomeSell being the most well-known) that are a "mix" between a Real Estate Agency and Doing It Yourself.
These companies provide a framework of advice and advertising options, for a fee, to allow you to sell your home yourself.

Benefits:
- support and advice available to give you confidence to "do it yourself"
- while there are some costs, they are significantly less than what you would pay in fees to a Real Estate Agent.

Disadvantages:
- you pay the fees upfront, so if you don't sell your home you have still had to pay the money

WAYS TO SEARCH
- Most local and national newspapers run Real Estate For Sale advertisements.
- There are often separate Property publications printed locally and distributed free every week or two in most areas.
- The internet has become a hugely successful way to find Property For Sale.
- Sometimes by driving around the area you wish to buy in you can find Private House Sales (for sale by the owner).

More to come soon on the following:
- Pre-Purchase Checks
- Buying Process
- Lawyers
- Council
- Land Transfer

Property Maintenance

This is something you should think about during the house buying process.

- What maintenance needs to be done now?
- What ongoing maintenance will there be?
- Can I do this myself or will I need help?
- Do I have the right tools / equipment to do the job?
- Do I have the right skills to do the job?
- Will I have to pay someone to do the maintenance?
- What will the cost of the maintenance be?

The type of maintenance required may include:
- mowing lawns
- weeding and planting gardens
- painting fences and buildings
- cleaning gutters
- repairing structures
- cleaning of the buildings, fences, pathways

(Have a look at the range of equipment from Powerwashers designed to make your workload easier.)

The list can go on.... so it is something you have to factor into your buying process.

Building A New House

Have a look at these pages for more info on building a house...

BUILDING A HOUSE

BUILDING GREEN

BUILDING SERVICES

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