Category: Property Finance

You’ve made the decision to sell your house, but it’s looking a bit weary. A bit of home improvement could go a long way to modernising your interior and increasing the value of your property.

But before you jump straight on the renovation bandwagon, here are 10 of the best interior design ideas to spruce up your home decor – without giving your wallet cold sweats in the process.

1. Paint your kitchen cupboards—and replace the handles

With a simple kitchen renovation costing around $20,000 in New Zealand, a fresh coat of paint on your kitchen cupboards is a cheap and easy way to liven up your cooking space. Updating your cupboard handles with something more modern can also make a surprising difference.

2. Replace your shower fittings

For a simple, cost-effective way to revamp your bathroom, switch out your tarnished showerhead and taps for something more modern. Don’t be afraid to be creative with your tap choices too.

If you are going to spend any money on making over your bathroom, replace your toilet and sink. These are the two things that have the most potential to turn-off prospective buyers if they are not in good condition. Nothing is more off-putting than a grotty loo.

3. Declutter and depersonalise

Buyers will likely be put off by clutter as it typically makes the home look uncared for and messy. Remove any unnecessary clutter and keep surfaces clean. Store away personal items such as family photos, kids’ awards, religious items, etc. It is important that the buyer can imagine themselves living in the house.

4. Go from rags to rugs

Speaking of worn carpets, a rug can help detract from your flooring situation—and brighten up your lounge. Recent research has also found that wool carpets and rugs can improve the air quality in your home.

5. Add a touch of nature

Just because there’s a growing trend for apartment living, doesn’t mean you have to leave nature behind. Indoor plants can make a unique feature in any room—whether it’s flowers in the bathroom, herbs in the kitchen or a unique cactus in your lounge.

6. Create space and light with mirrors

The right mirror can bring extra light and a sense of space to your bathroom, lounge and bedrooms. In the right place, a mirror can act like a piece of art and brighten up a dull corner.

7. Add metal

A new trend that’s set to stick around is metal features, such as a metallic wall hangings and lighting fixtures. Metal objects can work well in a variety of housing styles and colour schemes—and they often don’t break the bank. You can find low-cost interest pieces and lighting fixtures at places like The Warehouse or Mitre 10.

8. Improve lighting

Lighting controls colour, mood and the usability of a space. A poorly lit kitchen is not going to be especially user-friendly if you have to squint to read a recipe. Consider whether the lighting you have in each room is appropriate, and update and replace any fittings where needed. And before an open day, check the lightbulbs are working!

9. Update the curtains

Still rocking the vertical door blinds that the house came with? Perhaps it’s time to update to curtains. Keep in mind that, if you’ve already used cushions and rugs to splash some colour throughout your house, a neutral curtain colour might work better.

10. Paint

A fresh coat of paint will do your home wonders. With the growing move towards an indoor lifestyle, it’s becoming more popular to bring elements of the outdoors into our indoor places with earthy tones, greens and spring colours that bring a dash of nature to the walls. If you want to play it safe, nuanced whites and greys are still very popular.

Tip: When picking your paint, keep in mind that dark paint will draw attention to any damage on your walls. Lighter colours, on the other hand, will help soften any imperfections.

Owning your own home is a dream that all Kiwis grow up with. Whether it’s a first home, an upgrade, a downsize or an investment, for most of us it’s the biggest purchase we will make.

It’s an important decision and not one most of us go through regularly so it’s helpful to have a process to guide our decision making.

 

Work out your budget

Firstly you need to decide what you can afford.  Your bank or mortgage advisor will guide you as to how much you can borrow and you decide how much you are comfortable paying back.  The mortgage market is a competitive business with many different products so shop around to find the option that best works for you.

Factor things like legal fees, moving costs and any furniture and appliance purchases into your house buying budget.  These are easy to budget for but can be a nasty shock if you don’t consider them before you purchase a home.

Your mortgage broker or bank will discuss pre-approval with you. Pre-approval can put you in a better negotiating position and helps speed up the documentation process. It may also allow you to bid at auction. You will need to check this with your broker or bank as some pre-approvals come with conditions attached.

 

Tips to prepare you prior to a loan application

Here are a few ideas to prepare yourself for a loan application:

1. Have your bank statements in order and keep an eye on your account conduct. The lenders will require 3-6 months bank statements and rely on these when building a client profile. Avoid unarranged overdraft fees and overspending.
2. Match the mortgage payments. A lender will also look at affordability – if your mortgage payment is going to be around $450 per week and you are paying $350 per week in rent, try to save at least $100 per week to give the lender comfort that you can afford the $450 per week mortgage payments.  This is not the only affordability check that the lender does, but it is a good start. You can also check out Total Mortgage’s home loan calculator to give you an indication of loan repayments for the mortgage amount you are looking at.
3. Check your savings. A number of people achieve their dream of purchasing a first home through the Kiwisaver Withdrawl and First Home Buyer Subsidy.  If you have been contributing to your Kiwisaver for at least three years you could be eligible.

Tips to prepare you at application time

1. List of information required: Call or email Total Mortgages to get an indication of the information you may require for the application. This can be the most time consuming part of the process.
2. Start the subsidy approval: You can apply for the First Home Buyers Subsidy prior to finding a house – this is valid for 180 days (check out Deposit Subsidy Pre-Approval for more information). This is different to the Kiwisaver First Home Saving Withdrawl, and requires an unconditional deal to get the approval. You can still request an indication of what you could potentially withdraw emailed/sent to you from your provider. This is also required to confirm your deposit amount.

Book an appointment with Total Mortgages to discuss your home loan options.

 

Find a solicitor

Before you purchase a property we recommend you obtain your own independent legal advice. Your lawyer will ensure the correct legal processes are followed and will also check over any property reports you obtain as part of your buying process.

 

Let the search begin

Hamilton has a wide range of properties available so we advise that you create a list of the features you would like your home to have. This can help save you from trawling through endless property listings to find what you’re looking for. Try to figure out what your essentials are and what your wants are and where you are willing to compromise. There will be lots of things you would like in a property but only a few of these will be absolutely essential. For example, you may like to live in Beerescourt but would live in Forest Lake to ensure you could afford 3 bedrooms which, for you, may be essential. We understand that people often buy a home which is slightly different to that which they thought they were looking for, but it is still important to create a list to begin the search.

Everyone has their own way of finding the perfect place to call home. Here are a few places you may like to begin the search for your next Hamilton home:

Contact a buyer’s agent/salesperson

Each of our sales team has a great deal of expertise and knowledge of the Hamilton real estate market. The team also have a wide range of resources available to assist them in helping you find your next Hamilton home. Your salesperson will listen to your requirements and try to fulfil as many of them as possible. They will keep you well informed, provide you with quality information and find appropriate properties for you to view, simplifying your search.

They will treat you professionally and deal with the purchase of your home with the utmost integrity. Find a salesperson here

Our website – www.lodge.co.nz

Get online and search for properties matching your criteria in the area you wish to live. Properties listed on the website will have a range of features available, photos and descriptions and often video tours and floor plans – it’s like attending an open home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each of our properties have a mortgage calculator to make judging monthly repayments easier. Feel free to call to ask any questions you may have, or to make a time to visit the property with your salesperson.

some other good websites to explore are…

RealEstate.Co and TradeMe

Discover real estate, houses for sale, rentals, commercial properties and more. Up-To-Date Information. There are also helpful tools like TradeMe’s Open Home Planner and Realestate.co’s Instant Notifications, plus market insights and more.

www.nzrealtors.co.nz 

The website of the New Zealand Realtors Network, is a group of independent real estate companies with over 1800 salespeople throughout New Zealand. Lodge Real Estate are proud members of this network.

It’s a good idea to register for Property Alerts with relevant property websites. That way as soon as a property comes on the market matching your criteria you will know about it.

window displays

Lodge’s five high profile residential offices have a window display of properties for sale in the front window. You are welcome to look at these at any time.

 

Inspecting a home

Getting a feel for a house is a good first step. The next step is to make sure the house and the neighbourhood is right for you. Check out our property inspection checklist.

 

Making an offer

Once you have found a property you are interested in buying, you need to contact your Lodge Real Estate salesperson and advise them that you wish to make an offer.

Before you make an offer, we recommend that you involve your lawyer, get sufficient property checks done and, if you’re making a conditional offer, decide on the conditions.

You can put in an offer less than the asking price, however, this may or may not be accepted by the person selling. You will need to sign the offer which will be on a Sale & Purchase Agreement.

When you make an offer, your sales consultant is obliged to present your offer to the seller.

When you are negotiating, you will need to ensure you allow enough time to confirm your mortgage finance, and any other conditions that may be required. Make sure that these provisions are included in the Sale & Purchase Agreement as Further Terms of Sale.

Your solicitor will search and confirm the title to the property and ensure that all the special conditions in the agreement, are satisfied. Once these tasks have been completed, your solicitor will advise the seller’s solicitor that the agreement is unconditional.

Once the agreement is unconditional (all conditions have been satisfied) you are required to pay a deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price). This deposit is usually paid to the real estate company to be held in trust until the agreement is settled.

 

My purchase is unconditional – what happens next? 

Once your property is declared unconditional most buyers start thinking about the exciting prospect of moving and living in their new home. However, there are still a few important matters to attend to. Our handy guide to settlement may help.

 

Settlement day

Settlement is the last step in the legal process and is usually tied in to your possession of the property. This is the day when your solicitor will hand over the funds to the seller’s solicitor in exchange for the Transfer of Title, meaning you now have legal ownership of your new home.

Your keys will be held at the Lodge Real Estate office of your salesperson and we will only release them to you upon written confirmation from the seller’s solicitor that your property has settled.

Congratulations! You’re now a homeowner.

You’re looking to sell your house, but it needs a do-up to increase your property value and get people through the door. Every budget has a limit, so where does one start? Which renovations add the most value?

Question no more, these are the home improvements known to bring the best return and boost your property price.

Insulation

If you’ve ever lived in a freezing house in the middle of winter, you’ll understand why insulation is such a big draw card. Which would you rather: be sitting on the sofa in your sweats, or turning into a living michelin man/woman with five layers, gloves, beanie and two pairs of woolly socks (and still being cold)?

Insulation makes a home both comfortable and livable, so much so that it is now compulsory in all rental homes.

A well-insulated home also makes for an energy efficient home too. With less heat escaping, the less need you’ll have for heaters or a heat pump, which means lower power bills. It could be partly why midrange attic insulation in the US generates the best return on investment (107 per cent).

Kitchen

A kitchen is more than a cooking space, it is a gathering point in many a home—especially for families and people who like to entertain. While we have no figures specific to New Zealand, in Australia a kitchen remodel can increase a property’s value as much as AUD $50,000 to $60,000.

The bad news is kitchens can be expensive. In New Zealand, a basic kitchen remodel can range from $10,000 to $30,000, so research the current value of your home and how much you it can sell it for with a redone kitchen. It may turn out to be more cost effective to do minor work such as repainting, changing the cupboard doors and handles, and installing new work surfaces, rather than a full gut and refresh.

Bathroom

After the kitchen, a bathroom can be the second most cash-draining renovation you can make, but it can make a difference—not just on the resale value of a house, but also because it attracts more buyers.

Modernising a bathroom and ridding it of scunge, grime and mould can instantly draw a greater crowd of buyers. What’s more, they’ll be willing to pay top dollar for the convenience of moving into home that doesn’t need any work. If the budget is tight, replace the tapware, toilet and sink—in that order.

Add a deck

An outside deck can expand your home’s usable space and increase your home’s value by up to 30 per cent. Price will depend on the size and material you use. As a guide, a 20m2 deck can range from $3,400 to $12,100. Just keep in mind that if it is going to be over 1.5m high, you’ll need to get building consent before you start.

Curb appeal

First impressions count. That’s why curb appeal—how your house looks from the street—continues to play a large role in generating strong returns. This includes replacing and/or changing garage doors, main entry doors, fences, windows, cladding, and sliding doors.

According to Remodeling Magazine, curb appeal can bring in a greater ROI than anything done inside a home.

A final piece of advice: do your research first. A $30,000 kitchen is not going to add much value to a $425,000 house in a suburb that doesn’t have any properties selling above $450,000. Investigate your suburb profile, what other houses like yours have sold recently, so you can make an educated decision.

Whether you’re marketing your Hamilton property to investors or planning to invest yourself, it is essential to investigate your potential rental yield as part of your market research. Here’s why.

Why examine rental yield?

Rental yield is indicative of the cash flow a rental property will generate over the cost of purchasing the property. If you want to use your investment to generate a day-to-day income, rental yield is a top priority. If you’re interested in making long-term gains, yield is still important, however, you should also consider a property’s capital gain potential.

In general, apartments and flats offer better yield than houses, however, houses tend to generate better capital gains in the long term. As a rule, it’s a good idea to diversify a portfolio with more than one type of property as it can protect your assets from a changing market.

If home values take a sudden dip, for example, your high-yield properties can cover any losses you may experience. On the other hand, if house values and prices rapidly increase, your capital gain properties are there to take advantage of the growth.

The importance of rental yield when selling

If your property is likely to appeal to an investor, rental yield will play an important role in how you price your property. A property’s rental income and sale price are key to determining whether it is a good investment or not. Often referred to as the gross expected return, it’s important to run this analysis to assess how different rent rates and pricing may affect the total yield of your property.

For example, if your home generates $430 per week in rent, but you sell it for $537,500, the yield will be four per cent. Currently in Hamilton, properties that yield over 4.5 per cent are considered “good” yielding investments. Therefore, at $537,500, your property may be a little overpriced for attracting investor buyers.

Free tool: Use this rental yield calculator to discover how much your investment property is forecast to earn.

 

Top 5 suburbs for rental yield

By house*	By apartment	By flat
Fairfield/Fairview Downs (4.8%)	Hamilton East/University (7.7%)	Flagstaff/Rototuna (5.3%)
Hamilton Central/Maeroa/Frankton Junction (4.7%)	Hamilton Central/Maeroa/Frankton Junction (5.8%)	Claudelands (5%)
Dinsdale South/Frankton (4.6%)	Deanwell/Melville/Fitzroy (5.1%)	Dinsdale North/Nawton (4.5%)
Dinsdale North/Nawton (4.5%)	Claudelands (0%)	Dinsdale South/Frankton (4.4%)
Deanwell/Melville/Fitzroy (4.4%)	—	Fairfield/Fairview Downs (3.9%)

*3 bedroom house.

Source: qv.co.nz, April 2019.

Buying a house is often the biggest investment most people make, so you want to make sure you get it right. We know that it isn’t always easy so we’ve compiled a handy list of tips to help you get started in your search for a new home.

Location and developments in the area

Location is usually one of the first decisions you will make when you start house hunting. To assist we’ve put together a suburb guide to help you get to know the suburb you’re interested in a little better. Hamilton is changing rapidly so once you have decided on a location (or locations), it’s a good idea to look at properties in and around the area to see how much, and what type of, development is taking place.

School zones and proximity to conveniences such as shopping centres may also be important.

It’s also a good idea to find out any plans for the area i.e. new schools or shopping precincts.

Condition of the home

Homes vary in age and condition, so it’s important to understand the general condition of the property you’re viewing.

Note: It’s important to remember that although it’s a good idea to find out what general condition the home is in, you may need to decide on which areas you will be willing to compromise on.

Here’s a helpful checklist of what to look for during a property viewing:

• Building materials – Find out what materials the building is made out of, including the exterior walls and roof.
• Insulation, ventilation and heating – Find out about the homes insulation, ventilation, sources of heating and whether the windows are double glazed.
• Walls and ceilings – Check that the walls and ceilings are in good condition.
• Doors and windows – Check the condition of all doors and windows and see if they open and shut properly.
• Electrical and gas – Check the power points, lighting and cooking facilities. If the home is connected to gas, check or turn on the outlets.
• Plumbing – Check the shower pressure, toilets and cisterns.
• Drainage and spouting – Look at the drains and check the spouting.
• Exterior – Check the outside walls, roofs and gutters and look at the condition of the decks, piles, garden and lawns. During the 1990s and early 2000s, a number of homes were built that could not withstand New Zealand weather conditions. Check that the property you are viewing is not one of them. There are a range of claddings associated with leaky homes so visit www.consumerbuild.org.nz for all the information.

Important: Before you purchase a property, we recommend that you get your own independent legal advice and consider obtaining specialist reports.

Property documents – Title & LIM

It‘s important that the Title, Land Information Memorandum (Council LIM reports) and other documents, such as plans, that relate to the building or any renovations are checked. Talk to your salesperson and solicitor about the reports you’ll require.

You may also want to run these property documents past your solicitor once you obtain them.

Personal requirements

Everyone has their own personal tastes and needs, and while some houses may be perfect as is, some may require a few changes or modifications.

Here’s a list of a few things you may want to take into consideration:

• Style of the home – Will you be updating the colour scheme, carpet, window dressings, kitchen or bathroom?
• Size of the home – Are there enough bedrooms, living areas and bathrooms, and are they big enough for your requirements? Can, or how can you make extensions to the property?
• Storage – Check for storage options like cupboards, garaging, and attics.
• Landscaping – Do you want to change/update the garden?
• Children – Do you need a bath or a well fenced property?
• Pets – Is the property fenced and is there a pet door or enough room for your dog to run around?

Other considerations

• How much are the rates?
• Are there any body corporate fees?
• Are there any large or protected trees on the property?
• Has any additional work been done on the home and do they have the right consents?
• Are there any other things you need to be aware of, i.e. jointly owned driveways?

Lodge Real Estate managing director Jeremy O’Rourke, says first-home and executive-level buyers are the current active players in Hamilton’s residential property market, with the remaining group in the middle holding tight for now.

“We’re seeing homes up to the $650,000 price mark getting snapped up quickly in Hamilton by first-home buyers, and homes up and above $1.5 million selling well. But we’re not seeing much movement in that middle area of properties just above and below $1 million,” he says.

“There’s money out there for the right property in either of those two levels, a recent example being a Hamilton East listing that sold in excess of $2 million in competition with six offers, the top two being cash.”

Interest remains low in the $1 million price-point as stock remains constrained and buyers in that price bracket likely waiting to see how the election results unfold before deciding on their next move, Jeremy says.

“We’re still not seeing any real urgency in the market. Buyers are thinking ‘if I see a good property at the right price, I’ll buy it’, but there isn’t the level of FOMO we were seeing this time last year. That’s likely because that middle group of buyers will be most affected by the election outcome and economic policy, so it makes sense for them to wait and see a little bit longer.”

Jeremy says the intent in the market, which Lodge agents have felt for several months, remains constant and could result in a flurry of activity post-election.

“Our agents are saying they’re doing record numbers of appraisals for vendors, but there is the sense that the market is poised at the ready, and waiting to see what will happen in the economy in the next few months before taking action with listing and buying.”

Business activity may also impact future action in the residential market, Jeremy says, as businesses decide whether to expand or consolidate based on the election outcome.

“This election period has been an interesting one. During my time in real estate, I’ve experienced eight election cycles. And from my experience elections are a distraction in the property market and you might see reduced activity in the lead up to one. However, this time around is very different. Home buyers will be making some big decision off the back of the outcome of this election, and, because of that, the stakes feel higher.”

He says business decisions will directly impact the residential market – if businesses consolidate, there could be layoffs and belt tightening, if they expand, buyers will act if they feel a sense of economic security.

Lodge City Rentals director and property investor David Kneebone shares some thoughts on the current market, and what tenants might expect to see by the end of the year.

David has more than 30 years’ experience in property investment and has been a big advocate for some of the recent Government policy changes related to protecting both landlords and tenants while ensuring renters are living in warm, dry homes.

With the election on the horizon, it is understandable for both landlords and tenants to feel curious about the property market moving forward. In this video, Lodge City Rentals director and property investor David Kneebone answers common post-election questions.

With decades of experience in Hamilton’s property market, David offers valuable insights into the current property market landscape. Join us as he discusses the state of the market and potential developments to look out for by the year’s end.