New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Chris_]

Whats the rent like in Auckland then? 

 

Lets say a very rough guide of 0.07% works for South Africa. So a R1m place will rent for R7000 pm. 

 

I know house prices are ludicrous in AKL, but whats the rent affordability situation like? 

[Ramrod]

Whats the rent like in Auckland then? 

 

Lets say a very rough guide of 0.07% works for South Africa. So a R1m place will rent for R7000 pm. 

 

I know house prices are ludicrous in AKL, but whats the rent affordability situation like? 

Firstly rent is paid by the week. So some months you have 4 weeks and some months you have 5 weeks.  Also depending on how your contract is drawn up, the landlord has the right to increase the rent after six months.  We were paying NZ$ 1200 per week. (Yup thats right) I needed a 5 bedroom house which is quite hard to come by.

[davetapson]

I'm no hydraulics engineer (as they call them in this part of the world), but as far as I know they store it at the higher temp, but use thermostatic mixing valves local to the wet area.

 

But yeah, I work in a hospital and I know the fight against things like legionella is taken very seriously here.

Ja, that's the fancy version. If you have a continuous flow water heater that provides a temp of >55 C then you need tempering valves (that automatically limit max temp according to where the tap is.)

 

The less fancy version is that most household heaters are limited to 50 C with an option of adding an extra 5 C if you have a licenced plumber do it.

 

If you use the controller, my understanding is that the max most controllers will allow is 55 C. I fiddled around with ours, set the heater to allow 65 C but the controller would not go above 55 C and and the water was even colder than normal at that setting. So I disconnected the controller, set the heater dip switches to 65C (because I'm a licenced plumber cough cough) and the water is sort of ok. Not startlingly hot.

 

There is contradiction in the law - max household setting is limited to 55 C but apparently sinks are supposed to have 60C for hygiene purposes (also by law). And that's not mentioning Legionnaires which apparently is not much bothered by 60C.

 

I thought that continuous flow gas heaters were what you used on your beach / bush / mountain shack because they are cheap and cheerful but not efficient. Here they reckon they are more efficient that geysers. Sorry, water cylinders.

[davetapson]

Firstly rent is paid by the week. So some months you have 4 weeks and some months you have 5 weeks. Also depending on how your contract is drawn up, the landlord has the right to increase the rent after six months. We were paying NZ$ 1200 per week. (Yup thats right) I needed a 5 bedroom house which is quite hard to come by.

Yep - we paying $840 for short term rental in nice 4 bed. Would probably be more for long term. We needed to get kids into school so couldn't hang around waiting for something else to come around. House is on the market for $2.2M. Probably will get $1.9M o.O

 

Reading the posts above, I'm thinking 'People can buy houses in AKL..?!'

[Mamil]

Thanks for this - useful information.

 

It's a huge decision to make and I've been chewing on it for months now. On the one hand I really love South Africa. I'm professionally rooted in this place, I live a good middle class level existence with lots of bike riding in beautiful spaces.

 

On the other hand - Ramaphoria notwithstanding, I have a sense that the statement "Things are the best they are going to be for the next 50 years" has been true now for the last 10 years. 

 

 

 

Put you in the upper end of earners, but not really enough for AKL unless you and the Mrs are pulling that kind of coin.

 

 

Yip, as intern said, enough if you are single or both earning in that range.

 

Edit: assuming you wouldn't want to buy a house or have a fancy car.

 

 

As many here have mentioned, it is all dependent on family situation and aspirations.

 

I have a friend that moved from JHB to Auckland for around $65 000. With savings from SA he managed to get a little $10 000 car, and he house shared with another Saffer in Brown's Bay 9Saffer Central) for about $250pw.

 

House sharing in NZ is pretty common for young singles and even young couples.

 

So for 1 person, early 30's, here on their own it worked.

 

If one is outside Auckland... then the housing is considerably cheaper.

 

I moved to Christchurch (from JHB) about 2.5 yrs ago for less than half of my current salary. I managed to buy a cheap car ($90pw), rent a garden cottage ($250pw all incl.) and live pretty comfortably as a bachelor. Now I'm in Auckland sometimes I feel I had more disposable income then, than I do now   

 

Having never had a family of my own, I cannot give you a rough idea on that... but yeah... as the others said:

 

$90 000 - $100 000 as an individual... decent. As a family... tight unless you're outside Auckland.

 

As a rough guide, Senior Engineers at my last firm were on $90 000 - $110 000.

[Wayne Potgieter]

We pay $780 a week for a four bedroom in a great neighbourhood.

 

200 metres from two different beaches with great schools.

[Matchstix]

 

We pay $780 a week for a four bedroom in a great neighbourhood.

 

????????????

[patches]

$900pw for a 130m² apartment near the viaduct (very convenient neighborhood).

 

CV of that same apartment is $1.4m so based on the rent-to-value calculator I think it's a decent deal.

[Stretch]

Seems Auckland is almost as expensive as Dublin.... But not quite...

[intern]

Holy moly you guys are getting seen to on rent; when I lived in Silverdale, was paying 650 then 700 for a 4 bed. Was a nice house and neighbourhood...but yeesh.

 

Right now I have a mortgage and pay around 1100 a month - but I have busted my ass to put equity in the pozzie, which is worth around 650 (same house in AKL would be double the price)...

[intern]

$900pw for a 130m² apartment near the viaduct (very convenient neighborhood).

 

CV of that same apartment is $1.4m so based on the rent-to-value calculator I think it's a decent deal.

 

That is a pretty big apartment...and the viaduct is an awesome place to live esp if you are young, footloose and fancy free!

[patches]

That is a pretty big apartment...and the viaduct is an awesome place to live esp if you are young, footloose and fancy free!

 

Yeah it's a good size apartment, small complex (only 28 units over 4 floors), and most of the apartments are owner occupied (by retired execs).

 

Us few renters are young professionals, about half the age of that majority and are under the watchful eye of a nit-picky body corp.

 

Just recently there was a passive aggressive note on the basement parking noticeboard suggesting that whoever has a bicycle that has flat tyres and hasn't been used for 4yrs needs to dispose of it in the upcoming in-organics tip collection... It was specifically aimed at one of the other renters.

 

Rich old people with too much free time, hahahaha!

[intern]

 

 

Rich old people with too much free time, hahahaha!

 

Watch out china, they'll raise an eyebrow at you....and THEN you'll see!

[Ramrod]

Had a old client pass a comment that he is waiting for me to come back. The mind is is turmoil at the moment!!!

[Matchstix]

Had a old client pass a comment that he is waiting for me to come back. The mind is is turmoil at the moment!!!

Back to NZ or SA?

[intern]

Had a old client pass a comment that he is waiting for me to come back. The mind is is turmoil at the moment!!!

 

Been wondering about that Ramrod...do you miss NZ at all, having been here for a bit? Usually we hear about it the 'other way around'...