New Arrivals

It is always nice when you have been chatting to people via e-mail in England and then they pop in the cafe a couple of months later for a pizza and a chat. Such was the case on Monday night when Cath and family came in. Cath had found our website and we answered some questions, and now she is here and like us is another resident of "pommymoa" (papamoa). They visited an estate agent who helped them find rental accommodation, but like all the desperate agents out here, the old dollar signs fill their eyes when they realise you are a newly arrived Pom. Yes they think you have arrived with bucket fulls of cash and will only be to happy to sell you an over priced house with a 10.7% mortgage, they like to strike quick before the jet lag has worn off. They will be your best friend, maybe show you around, offer to take you fishing on their boat, by, what friendly helpful people these Kiwis are you may think. But sign on the dotted line and bye bye new friend, hello huge debt and over priced house. Renting really is the best option when you arrive, there are loads of nice houses to be had. When you have been here a while, found your feet, decided where you really want to live, be it the coast or countryside, seen were the real estate market is going price wise, then you might think about buying. If you have the money to buy outright, great, but do you really want to pay for your house four times over on a 25 year mortgage? Cath is renting and has already noted the price difference between coastal and country living. You can get a house with acres of land 10-15 miles inland for half the money of a coastal bungalow.
It is a grim time for selling houses at the moment. There were around 60 houses sold in the Mount/Papamoa area last month and there are over a 100 real estate agents operating from 12 offices chasing those sales. A lot of the agents are part time, few are very professional some are a joke. They charge around 4% of the house selling price so you will see that some will make money, some dream of making money but with those high charges the growth in private house sellers is increasing each year. There are no worries about buying privately, just get a survey on the house and a solicitor (they cost about $600 for the sale). So if you are arriving and looking to buy, take your time, and buy what you want, not what some slippery estate agent wants to sell you. As a final note, I know four estate agents personally and have dealt with several others, with this point in mind I think I have been very kind with my thoughts on them.