Investment Property Auckland

Buying a House in Auckland

Are you keen on investing in property in Auckland? Learn about NZ investment property with tips and advice on NZS.com.

• Real Estate Agents
• Investment Property

Markets go up and down, but you can't deny that investing in real estate is a good option. Rather than stocks or bonds, you get something physical, and it'll always be worth something.

Looking to buy your first investment property in Auckland? While it is a buyers market at the moment, Auckland house prices are still much more expensive than in other parts of New Zealand. However, if you are moving to New Zealand from countries like the UK then Auckland's prices are much less than prices back home.

Conversely, real estate in Auckland is lower than it has been in years. Investing in property is becoming more and more popular in recent months. Buyers have sensed that marketing prices are close to the bottom of the cycle, and are making the decision to act.

As you begin the process of buying an investment property in Auckland, consider the following pointers before making a purchase:

Learn About Your Property Market
Before you start investing your money (or getting a second mortgage) make sure you understand the real estate NZ market. Keep an eye on the real estate section of your local paper. Read the news and statistics relevant to the city you live in, paying special attention to any news stories which break down housing prices by area.

If you have narrowed your search down to a neighbourhood, start your own in depth research project. Look up rates and other statistics on council websites. Start going to open homes in the area, even for houses you are not interested in. You'll learn about the benefits (and flaws) of the area - even alerting you to bigger issues like leaky home syndrome. If one house has problems, chances are those problems are common amongst nearby houses. This could significantly hurt the value of your investment in the future, just for being in a location with undesirable homes.

Additionally, purchase a couple of QVs (Quotable Valuations) of houses you may be interested in. For around $5 each, you will get government-generated information on the prices other neighbouring properties have sold for.

Get Your Mortgage Pre-Approved
It's a good idea to know how much you can spend on an investment property before you find the right one, so get your mortgage pre-approved before you decide on a house you want to buy. This means you won't have to go through the disappointment of finding the perfect home and then finding out you can't afford it. You'll sleep much better during those first few nights knowing you can afford the house you want!

Investing Wisely
When you start to narrow down your search for an investment property, start assessing what you're going to do with the property. Are you planning to move into it as the family home? Or are you going to set it up as a rental? If the answer is the latter, make sure you get a rental assessment from a real estate NZ agency.

Inspection
You don't want to buy a lemon, so make sure you get a professional house inspection of any property you plan to buy. In doing this, you may learn enough to deter you from buying the house at all, or reduce the amount you are willing to offer. Also make sure you get a solicitor to check the property title, and make sure the legal aspects of the property are in order.

You will also want to purchase a LIM (Land Information Memorandum), which contains information from the local council about a property. This includes information on zoning, building consents, boundaries and so on.

Purchase
Once you've found your ideal property and weighed up all of the odds, make an offer on the house. Houses are selling increasingly faster in New Zealand this year, and you may need to go through a process of counter-offers if another party is also trying to buy that property.

With low bank mortgage rates, now is the time to invest in property in Auckland. Find out more about investment property on the NZS.com directory.  

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Business images from Flickr: Housing, New Zealand Flag and Wellington Buildings.