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How to avoid 3 pitfalls of buying your first home

Thursday 18 August 2016, 5:41AM

By Adam Jay

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AUCKLAND

In the current climate, buying a new home in New Zealand can seem like an arduous task. For those who are ready and looking to buy a new home, there can often be a tendency to rush into things. With such pressure to get onto the property ladder, before it’s too late, many will make the mistake of not doing their due diligence. Below are the 5 most common pitfalls prospective buyers fall into when buying their first home and how to avoid them.

1. Forgetting about the added costs

Buying a house does not simply mean replacing rent payments with mortgage payments. Rates, utilities, maintenance costs can really put a strain on the finances of those who are unprepared. Before you buy, make sure you are aware and have calculated the costs for the area in which you are buying. Maintenance costs can be a little trickier to quantify. Take note of the age of the building, the materials in which it is built as well as any other previous work done on the building. To gain further piece of mind – it is highly recommended you obtain a pre-purchase building inspection. This way you can be completely aware of what you are getting yourself into. 

2. Thinking a brand new home entitles you to brand new everything

A lot of people, upon purchasing a new home will fall into the trap of buying other new items which may stretch beyond their means. “I can’t have my old ratty couch in my new living room – I need a new lounge suite” is a sentiment often echoed among first home buyers. It’s a mistake to feel like you suddenly have to upgrade all of your belongings to match your new home. You do not want to put yourself into unnecessary debt. Live in your new home for a while, settle in and then decide what you really need, and save for it!

3. Trusting the vendor provided building inspection report

You could be forgiven to think that the building report provided by a vendor or real estate agent would be reliable. Sadly, this has be found to not be the case in the New Zealand Market. There are many reports of first home buyers being forced to fork out tens of thousands of dollars due to misleading building reports supplied by vendors. In fact, The Building Officials Institute of New Zealand claims it hears of up to three cases a month where agents steer vendors towards “soft touch” inspectors. The only way around this is to get your own, independent pre purchase building inspection. Although this will cost you a few hundred dollars, it is not worth gambling on your future home.