The Hidden Costs of Buying a House in New Zealand

Great work, you have managed to save the required deposit for the mortgage and have decided to buy a house. But as many people are not aware there can be numerous other costs of buying a property. Understanding these costs lets you know how much extra money you need to be able to keep set aside.

Building Report

When you are putting in the massive amount of money for buying a property, the last thing you want is to know at a future date that it has some structural defect, leaking pipes or weather-tightness issues. A Building Report will tell you the real picture of the property as well as upcoming maintenance that you can plan for.

A building inspector charges between $600 and $1000 to get this impartial report.

LIM

LIM is an acronym that stands for Land Information Memorandum. It is a report that is prepared by the District Council in the district where the property is situated. This is a cost that you pay when buying a house. It contains rates, zoning and building consents provided by authorities.

Depending on the Council, however, approximately $300

Toxicology test

This is a test that is done to ascertain the fact that the house you intend to buy is free from the ill effect of methamphetamine or its precursors, a drug that has increasingly become a source of worry for the authorities and homebuyers.

Costs can vary depending on method approximately $350

Property Valuation

A registered valuation is an assessment of the market worth of a property. Your lender may or may not require you to get a registered valuation depending on the property and the contracted price. These are carried out by Registered Valuers and are normally assigned by your lender.

These are approximately $800 to $1000 depending on the property.

Lawyer fees

You cannot go through the process of buying a property without taking help from a lawyer. This professional is instrumental in making sure that the process goes off smoothly and you do not face any legal troubles.

Lawyers fees vary depending on what is required however expect between $1500 – $2500. Sometimes this can be covered by the bank when drawing down a mortgage.

Property rates

These are property taxes that you as the new property owner required to pay to the authorities. These rates vary depending on the location of the house as well as the size of the property. In general, expect to pay anything between $1500 and $3000 in the name of property rates to your City Council. You may also pay a few hundred dollars as property rates to the Regional Council.

So be prepared for these and some other related costs when buying a home in NZ.