Hiya, Thought I'd offer my services to anyone that may be interested.

We moved to NZ (South Island) in 2000 and absolutely love it. We had never been to NZ before and bought our house over the internet without viewing it first! Mad I know!

I would have loved to have known somebody here to ask them to view properties for me to give me an honest opinion (not just the estate agent garble) so I am offering that to anyone who is interested.

I am not a building inspector or anything like that but will give you an honest opinion and detailed description (as well as digital photos) on the house and the area.

I do not require a fee - just want to help out - but would expect any travel expenses to be paid for.

Feel free to email.

Hi Karen I am interested in buying property in NZ with the idea to move out there in the near future. I havent a clue how the law lies regarding owning property without emigrating so unsure if I can even do this. Can you help with my enquiry? Thanks for any help Janet

Hi Janet,

Buying property from overseas is straight forward without any legal barriers so long as you are not looking at anything over (I think) 5 hectares (you might need to check on the exact limit allowed).

We saw our place on the internet, contacted the estate agent, made an offer (suggest you use a NZ lawyer to help draw this up to include all relevant conditions), then when this was accepted and we were happy with the reports we signed documents via fax and transferred the 5% deposit with balance due on the agreed possesion date. When we arrived in NZ (on a Sunday) the estate agents had left the keys or us at a local garage so we could go and see what we had bought! We had to call in and see the estate agent later to sign docs.

Would advise a building inspection (especially as NZ has had a lot of problems with leaky buildings).
Lawyer will cost around $600 - $700.

Buying and selling seems a lot easier here in NZ and tends to happen a lot faster. A lot of people are doing it themselves (we sold a little cottage ourselves recently). Check out Trademe.co.nz - this is NZ biggest websites for buying and selling everything and a lot sell property on here.

If you bought a property in NZ then decided against the move and wanted to sell again you would then be liable for capital gains tax as this is seen as a profit / business transaction because you would not be buying it as a home to live in.

Just let me know if you need any more info. The estate agents are well set up for dealing with international purchases but the private sellers may need a little more hand-holding but it's not a problem as long as you use the services of a lawyer.

Cheers

Karen

Hi Karen

Thanks very much for your quick reply and helpful answer. I wil let you know how I get on.

Regards

Janet

I know in many places it is a lot safer to buy a home through a corporation, if you are not a local citizen. That gives you some extra legal standing, and also can protect you from extra taxation.

Thanks for that any help is gratefully received.

Janet