Buying a New Zealand property from overseas can quickly become complicated and stressful, because you need someone to help with every step of the process.
- Going to open homes? That’s a bit hard….
- Lawyer wants some documents witnessed. How do you do that?
- You need someone to organise a building inspection. Who is good?
- Need a document from council? You had better call, and hope they are modern enough to use email.
- You need to set up an entity to hold the property in. What is the best structure for property ownership, your being based offshore, and your future plans?
- You want a rental appraisal. Yes, but you need a switched-on PM, not just anybody.
- Want a quote from a tradesperson… who wants you to coordinate their visit and is noncommittal about timeframes. Have fun with that.
- You’re not sure what type of property you should buy or what represents good value. How do you start to work that out?
An investor will tell you that you will go as far as your team will take you. It is a team sport, and before you start to look for a property, you need to get your crew together. The core 6 people you will need on your side:
- Lawyer
- Accountant
- Mortgage advisor
- An agent, preferably a buyer’s agent
- Property manager
- Building inspector
Everybody has a part to play. Your lawyer will look through council documents, Land Information Memorandums, and advise you on contracts. Your broker will negotiate with multiple lenders on your behalf to get you the best deal, an accountant will structure your affairs so you can best navigate the different tax treatments of New Zealand and Australia. A buyer’s agent will advise you on the market, visit properties for sale, negotiate, identify hidden upside, and look for great deals. By law you must appoint somebody to manage your property when you live overseas for more than a few weeks, so a professional property manager is a must. They will keep you compliant with legislation, vet tenants, inspect your property, and arrange for repairs. A builder or building inspector has a crucial rule during due diligence, you don’t want any nasty or expensive surprises later!
Finding the right experts, then getting them onboard and coordinated can be an overwhelming effort when you live around the corner, let alone across an ocean.
Here’s where a buyer’s agent comes in.
A buyer’s agent like iFindProperty takes care of everything involved in the search and brings along a team of experts to make things flow. Before you start, we connect you to a broker, accountant, and lawyer, so you will be properly prepared. Each of our agents is a local pro and well connected; so once we start your property search, we drive the process, look for the best deals, negotiate and analyze, then call in the specialists to appraise, quote, check, and double-check everything.
Get in touch to chat more about how we make buying a great property easy for you.
My partner and I were interested to invest in New Zealand and went into NZRelo to discover Maree from iFindProperty. When she replied and called us straight away we were very appreciative and found her to be professional and upfront. Maree guided us and gave us all the information we required to invest back home in NZ. Don’t hesitate to reach out to her as we found her very informative.
Marlena
Brisbane
