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

[patches]

I watch a lot of Scott Brown carpentry on Youtube, he builds in NZ.

You can tell why that is with older houses when they get into the foundations. Fortunately the codes are a lot stricter these days so its probably less of an issue on newer builds.

 

Scott Brown is awesome! I watch most of his vids and have gained a good few tips, tricks and insights from them.

 

It's also cool seeing the villa and bungalow projects and how he carefully works around these 70 - 100yr old homes.

[Rocket-Boy]

Scott Brown is awesome! I watch most of his vids and have gained a good few tips, tricks and insights from them.

 

It's also cool seeing the villa and bungalow projects and how he carefully works around these 70 - 100yr old homes.

I was pretty surprised at how old some of the homes are, they were built well though.

He has a great channel, I love how easy some of the places in NZ are for getting stock, drive through hardware stores are awesome!

[patches]

I was pretty surprised at how old some of the homes are, they were built well though.

He has a great channel, I love how easy some of the places in NZ are for getting stock, drive through hardware stores are awesome!

 

Built well in terms of built to last, but not necessarily to be cozy.

 

I live in a 1950's bungalow and it has native timber hardwood framing, original native timber floors, horsehair/straw plaster ceilings (although I'm slowly getting rid of those). So tough as nails...

 

But they can be drafty, damp, cold, and "uninhabitable" (according to the housing tenancy laws).

 

That said, many people do the old houses up because of the character and "good bones".

 

I'd venture to guess that some of the most expensive houses (per square meter) in Auckland are 1910-1920 era villas in the fancy areas (St Mary's Bay, Herne Bay, Ponsonby, etc) that have had the front restored to look original, then the back of the house is blown out with a modern extension. Not dissimilar to what Scott Brown does for some of his clients.

 

As for the hardware stores, they're great! All the major ones: Bunnings, Mitre10 and Placemakers (Scotts fave) do the drive through materials yards.

 

Currently my local Bunnings is open from 6am - 9pm. I find myself looking for excuses to visit it before/after work 

Edited December 16, 2020 by patches

[Rocket-Boy]

Built well in terms of built to last, but not necessarily to be cozy.

 

I live in a 1950's bungalow and it has native timber hardwood framing, original native timber floors, horsehair/straw plaster ceilings (although I'm slowly getting rid of those). So tough as nails...

 

But they can be drafty, damp, cold, and "uninhabitable" (according to the housing tenancy laws).

 

That said, many people do the old houses up because of the character and "good bones".

 

I'd venture to guess that some of the most expensive houses (per square meter) in Auckland are 1910-1920 era villas in the fancy areas (St Mary's Bay, Herne Bay, Ponsonby, etc) that have had the front restored to look original, then the back of the house is blown out with a modern extension. Not dissimilar to what Scott Brown does for some of his clients.

 

As for the hardware stores, they're great! All the major ones: Bunnings, Mitre10 and Placemakers (Scotts fave) do the drive through materials yards.

 

Currently my local Bunnings is open from 6am - 9pm. I find myself looking for excuses to visit it before/after work 

I have definitely noticed the issues with insulation on a lot of older houses. Nothing between the outside air and inside other than some floor boards. DId you insulate when you took the walls off in the kitchen? I seem to recall that you did.

 

I love the old rough sawn native beams used in framing from the old houses, amazing to see how 100+ year old untreated native timber holds up to the elements.

[patches]

I have definitely noticed the issues with insulation on a lot of older houses. Nothing between the outside air and inside other than some floor boards. DId you insulate when you took the walls off in the kitchen? I seem to recall that you did.

 

I love the old rough sawn native beams used in framing from the old houses, amazing to see how 100+ year old untreated native timber holds up to the elements.

 

Yup, I added building paper and wall insulation.

 

As for the rough sawn native timber, I'm kicking myself! I had heaps of it when I ripped out the old laundry and framed a new wall. I chucked it all in a skip because I couldn't see myself doing anything with it.

 

I should have kept it, removed the nails, and planed it down 

[davetapson]

I have definitely noticed the issues with insulation on a lot of older houses. Nothing between the outside air and inside other than some floor boards. DId you insulate when you took the walls off in the kitchen? I seem to recall that you did.

 

I love the old rough sawn native beams used in framing from the old houses, amazing to see how 100+ year old untreated native timber holds up to the elements.

 

Went cruising around Thailand in a previous life - there were teak houses out in some of the villages that were allegedly over 1000 years old... or so my brain tells me.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Our previous rental was a 40 year old multi storey with really bad insulation. It was cut into a steep gradient and not well insulated between the ground and the walls in the lower levels.

 

Having moved to a 2 year old rental in Silverdale, I can honestly say that old homes can go suck a toffee.

 

I cannot believe how huge the difference is and wish I had moved sooner.

[davetapson]

Our previous rental was a 40 year old multi storey with really bad insulation. It was cut into a steep gradient and not well insulated between the ground and the walls in the lower levels.

 

Having moved to a 2 year old rental in Silverdale, I can honestly say that old homes can go suck a toffee.

 

I cannot believe how huge the difference is and wish I had moved sooner.

There was a guy selling a Jeep Cherokee across the road from us when I was looking for a car - he used it for carting stuff around when he was renovating houses.  I was chatting to him about stuff and his  comment was "well, you can spend a bundle renovating an old house, but you still have an old house..."

 

We're moving into a multi-level house  also cut into a (south facing) hillside - as it is currently the only habitable rental in our school zone.  I can imagine it's going to be like trying to heat a chimney in winter.  The gas heater is at the front door at the bottom of the house and I can see the heat creeping along the ceiling and leaking out the topmost, back bedroom leaving the living areas still cold...

 

My buddy who's just bought a new build out in Kumeu reckons he turns his heat pump on for half an hour and the house stays warm for hours.

Edited December 16, 2020 by davetapson

[Wayne Potgieter]

 

My buddy who's just bought a new build out in Kumeu reckons he turns his heat pump on for half an hour and the house stays warm for hours.

The new rental has a ducted air conditioner.

 

I put it on for 45 minutes late int he afternoon and the whole place cools down and stays nice and cool for most of the night. Gotta love double glazing!

[Kranswurm]

The new rental has a ducted air conditioner.

 

I put it on for 45 minutes late int he afternoon and the whole place cools down and stays nice and cool for most of the night. Gotta love double glazing!

We have just put UPVC windows and double glazing in all the windows in the CT apartment.

It makes a huge difference.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Yo dudes and dudettes.

 

I am looking for some suggestions on some clever bike storage ideas.

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/187699-bike-storage-solutions/

 

Help a bro out.

[patches]

I know we have collectively despised them before... but estate agents, right!

 

I have had 2 attempted visits (as notified by my Nest doorbell) and 1 letter from estate agents, trying to coax me into selling (ie, making them lots of money).

 

The letter yesterday stated how a house about 150m from us sold for $700k over CV, and how the unsuccessful bidders are still very eager to buy and if we could assist.

 

Are definitely mental! Based on that letter, the house sold for around $2.7m. For a 200sqm 1920's bungalow on 800sqm land.

 

Another one (on the same street) sold last month for $1.6m at half the size, half the land.

 

It's effed!

[Wayne Potgieter]

I know we have collectively despised them before... but estate agents, right!

 

I have had 2 attempted visits (as notified by my Nest doorbell) and 1 letter from estate agents, trying to coax me into selling (ie, making them lots of money).

 

The letter yesterday stated how a house about 150m from us sold for $700k over CV, and how the unsuccessful bidders are still very eager to buy and if we could assist.

 

Are definitely mental! Based on that letter, the house sold for around $2.7m. For a 200sqm 1920's bungalow on 800sqm land.

 

Another one (on the same street) sold last month for $1.6m at half the size, half the land.

 

It's effed!

The Brother of the owner of our IT business that I work for is a barrister and solicitor.

 

He has changed disciplines to property law and is making a killing.

 

A saffa mates wife was a bigshot for Ernst and Young and was headhunted to come over to NZ. As soon as she could, she quit, became a real estate agent and is printing money.

 

I cannot get over how bizarre this all is. Some friends of ours are in an absolute frenzy to try and buy a run down meth house for $1.4m in Howick because it is in the "right" school zone.

 

They reckon they would need to spend around $150k just to get it liveable.

 

Its totally stupid.

[RossW]

I know we have collectively despised them before... but estate agents, right!

 

I have had 2 attempted visits (as notified by my Nest doorbell) and 1 letter from estate agents, trying to coax me into selling (ie, making them lots of money).

 

The letter yesterday stated how a house about 150m from us sold for $700k over CV, and how the unsuccessful bidders are still very eager to buy and if we could assist.

 

Are definitely mental! Based on that letter, the house sold for around $2.7m. For a 200sqm 1920's bungalow on 800sqm land.

 

Another one (on the same street) sold last month for $1.6m at half the size, half the land.

 

It's effed!

My only question. How are people affording these prices?

 

I have a good job; I think. As part of life, my wife took 9/12 months off this year to be with our son. Earnings have been significantly reduced because of this. But despite two full years of very good saving ethic, we are still likely two years away from having a deposit. And I'm only talking about a $700,000 place.

 

So my second question. Am I doing something wrong?

[davetapson]

The Brother of the owner of our IT business that I work for is a barrister and solicitor.

 

He has changed disciplines to property law and is making a killing.

 

A saffa mates wife was a bigshot for Ernst and Young and was headhunted to come over to NZ. As soon as she could, she quit, became a real estate agent and is printing money.

 

I cannot get over how bizarre this all is. Some friends of ours are in an absolute frenzy to try and buy a run down meth house for $1.4m in Howick because it is in the "right" school zone.

 

They reckon they would need to spend around $150k just to get it liveable.

 

Its totally stupid.

 

Housing market is carnage at the moment.

 

My only question. How are people affording these prices?

 

I have a good job; I think. As part of life, my wife took 9/12 months off this year to be with our son. Earnings have been significantly reduced because of this. But despite two full years of very good saving ethic, we are still likely two years away from having a deposit. And I'm only talking about a $700,000 place.

 

So my second question. Am I doing something wrong?

Guy who helps us out with finances just says it's never been cheaper to buy houses, basically due to the interest rate.  So people are buying them.  

 

As to your question, I've never much stopped asking that question.  Only answer I can come up with is that we don't currently live in any debt.  But how we'd afford to service the debt, if that's the case, is also a question I can't answer.

[patches]

The Brother of the owner of our IT business that I work for is a barrister and solicitor.

 

He has changed disciplines to property law and is making a killing.

 

A saffa mates wife was a bigshot for Ernst and Young and was headhunted to come over to NZ. As soon as she could, she quit, became a real estate agent and is printing money.

 

I cannot get over how bizarre this all is. Some friends of ours are in an absolute frenzy to try and buy a run down meth house for $1.4m in Howick because it is in the "right" school zone.

 

They reckon they would need to spend around $150k just to get it liveable.

 

Its totally stupid.

 

It's official! Auckland housing frenzy is worse than Aussies Toilet paper hysteria, hahaha!

 

The school zone thing is a huge deal in Auckland. And as we've discussed before, the DGZ (double grammar zone for those not familiar with Auckland), is the holy grail for most Jaffas.

 

Fortunately we are in a good school zone, albeit the sought after schools are segregated (Westlake Boys & Girls).

 

That said, we're still keen on Christchurch when the mini-humans come along, we can hopefully get ourselves a nice house down there for a fraction of the price, and benefit from renting the Auckland house out to someone hellbent on the school zone 

 

My only question. How are people affording these prices?

 

I have a good job; I think. As part of life, my wife took 9/12 months off this year to be with our son. Earnings have been significantly reduced because of this. But despite two full years of very good saving ethic, we are still likely two years away from having a deposit. And I'm only talking about a $700,000 place.

 

So my second question. Am I doing something wrong?

 

It's a combination of things.

 

1. Not all are affording them. Many people that would have been first home buyers, if they could go back a year-or-two are now being locked out of the market.
2. As davetapson said, money is cheap (for now), so people are borrowing to the hilt.
3. Cashed up expats are returning to NZ
4. It's mindset/perspective to a degree. As a Saffer I find it hard to stomach the prices. My partner is from Sydney, so these prices seem reasonable (or even cheap) to her.Last October I was at a wedding in Perth and while chatting to some of the other guests (young professionals in a similar industry, similar age), they were saying that they could never see themselves paying over $600,000 for a house as it's unaffordable. Funny enough they are likely on better salaries in Perth than someone from Auckland (especially those working FIFO on mines/roading projects etc). So yeah, realistically they could afford, just instinctively they don't think that they can. My guess is that many Aucklanders will easily spend 6-7x a household income on a home. Based on the people I met in Perth, they're aiming more towards the 2-3x mark.

As for affordability, somehow it works. We have decent jobs, but are paid market rates, and are by no means coining it. Currently 40% of my net income goes into my half of the mortgage. This seems high, but we are paying at about a 17yr rate for now, so that when kids come along we can kick it back to a 30yr rate, and still cover the full mortgage while my partner is on maternity leave.

 

So yeah, it is doable, despite how ludicrous it may seem.

Edited December 21, 2020 by patches