# House buying in NZ



## NatalieTalbot (Feb 15, 2015)

Hiya

Does anyone know how long a process it is to purchase a property in NZ from the point when the offer is accepted? Here in the UK it's a long, laborious process. But assuming there is no chain & all finances are in place what's the rough time frame?


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

It's nowhere near as painstakingly long as in the UK. A month will be quick, more likely 6 weeks, tops 8 weeks.


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## NatalieTalbot (Feb 15, 2015)

escapedtonz said:


> It's nowhere near as painstakingly long as in the UK. A month will be quick, more likely 6 weeks, tops 8 weeks.


Thanks for this  We intend to stay with family when we arrive & start house hunting. So good to know we won't be intruding on their hospitality for too long 

Do you know if the new build houses are now insulated to a good standard? I've read some shocking stories about the rental properties being very cold, damp & mouldy, which def puts me off! 

I'm used to being warm & toasty


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

NatalieTalbot said:


> Thanks for this  We intend to stay with family when we arrive & start house hunting. So good to know we won't be intruding on their hospitality for too long
> 
> Do you know if the new build houses are now insulated to a good standard? I've read some shocking stories about the rental properties being very cold, damp & mouldy, which def puts me off!
> 
> I'm used to being warm & toasty


Cool. That'll save you some money initially as house rent is expensive and you're obliged to sign a rental contract for 6 or 12 months initially.
It's not so bad up here in Tauranga. The climate is way better than Wellington and is way better than the majority of the South Island - especially over winter.
I admit we haven't been through a winter up here yet, but we're hopeful the house we're in now will be better than any previous. 
Lived in two rentals in Wellington - one a new build, and one an older property and both were freezing over winter 
The new build had insulation to code and a ducted hot air gas boiler system but you had to have it on constant to keep the heat. It was a big open plan space and there was a lot of glass. It also just had blinds, no curtains and a laminate floor throughout. Even though it was double glazed the quality of it was awfully bad compared to UPVC double glazing in the UK so you either froze or paid lots of $$$$$$ per month over winter to keep it toasty. Our highest dual fuel bill for one month having it on constant was $1196!!! 
After that we left it off other than for an hour in the early morning as you just can't pay that amount in fuel costs per month.
The older property was surprisingly better as there were less windows, it was smaller square meter's and had curtains & carpet, but it only had a woodburner which wasn't that good at heating anything other than the lounge area. Upstairs we used oil free portable radiators and all had electric blankets.

New build houses must be insulated to a minimum requirement specified in the house building code. The thickness of the insulation is dependent on the area of the country you are in, so top of North Island thickness is less than bottom of South Island thickness.
In my opinion it's still way off what should be the minimum.
This is the minimum requirement Quick Guide Building Code requirements: house insulation - Department of Building and Housing
As you can see there's not much difference between Zone 1 and Zone 3 
Just so you know, on a new build in Wellington, the standard wall insulation thickness is around 75mm - Brrrrrr!!! I know as a house was built next door to where we lived so I kept a close eye on construction and also a colleague had a house built and his insulation was the same.
If you are having a house built (i.e. not just buying an already constructed new build, but building your own so you have some input) you can specify more insulation obviously at more cost - double the thickness would be perfect and more in line with what you get in the UK. You also need to make sure you have decent insulation in ceilings and floors as the normal isn't very good.
You can have a boiler and radiators but it'll cost $1000 per radiator supply and fit plus the cost of the boiler. UPVC double glazing is available at $1000 per window up to standard size, but they don't last anywhere near as long as in the UK as the sun's UV rays affect the UPVC here much faster which is why double glazing is aluminum framed.


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