How is Queenstown?

[keltzar]

hi all

I just found this forum ..yay..!

I have been thinking about getting an apartment in Queenstown partially as investment, partially for self-interest. Have looked at listings for the Sofitel in Queenstown but understand that it faced problems some years back and the yields are not good.

Is it a good time to buy into Queenstown , S.island?

For a steady rental ... would it be better to look at houses?

I have had some experience owning an apartment in Auckland , and my means of financing will be off-shore.

[speights boy]

Queenstown....absolutely great place.
My opinion....stay away from managed lease properties; go private.
Perhaps a dual key apartment; or at least one where you are not tied into a long term hotel lease (fees and no flexibility...eek)

[spamjam]

Hi,

This is an investing topic for me as queenstown is an area we are also considering. Speights boy I was wondering if you could expand on your comment about the types of properties you would go for in this area?

When you mention managed lease properties do you mean apartments/units within a hotel or holiday complex? Why would you avoid these, is in because of the fees eat as you mention or are there other reasons?

Having looked at apartments in queenstown the majority of them are within holiday complexes, is there generally an obligation to have them managed by the on site 'hotel' management or is it possible to have them managed privately? We do not live in the area and so would be employing someone to manage the property either way, just interested in the difference between using the on site management or an external agent.

your thoughts on the queenstown market and area would be very interesting too. An agent told me that properties in our price range are hotly contested and there was a lot of interest, but the property in question looks like it was listed in September and is still on the market, as are a number of others, so it doesn't seem to be as quick as some people would like to make out. Obviously don't trust what the agents say, but would be interested to hear from those who have real knowledge and experience of buying (and selling) in this area.

thanks :-)

[Orpheus1]

Whats is the name of the complex?
I know the area very well and own 3 properties there.
If its the Pounanu apartments I would stay away as they have always had very high underfloor heating charges (5-6k per year) and the property manager there has or had a terrible reputation.
I agree with Speights boy about lease agreements. I know a really good property manager there as well.

Cheers

O

[spamjam]

Hi Orpheus1,

Thanks for your reply - at the moment we are casting quite a wide net to see what properties are on the market, prices and approximate rental incomes. There are apartments for sale in a number of complexes, such as Highview Apartments, The Whistler and Villa del Lago plus a few others. We have been also reading reviews on holiday sites such as Tripadvisor to see which places get the best reviews (both for our own benefit for holidays and also for maximal rental opportunities).

It is interesting to hear though about the high underfloor heating charges in the Pounamu apartments and this is the kind of thing we are hoping to find out more about as we do our research - the body corp fees seem to vary wildy between different places as does the % cut that the management take. What sort of % of the rental income would a property manager normally take in this area?

What sort of properties do you have in Queenstown? If you have a property within a complex (say the Pounamu for the sake of argument) can you take it out of the management pool and manage it yourself/employ an external managing agent? If so what happens about marketing the property for rentals, does it then get listed separately and not available to book though the 'parent' hotels website or through booking sites like Tripadvisor because it is not in the management pool? Sorry if these a naive questions, we are just looking to find out as much information as we can about how it all works before we actually go to view any properties.

Thanks, Spamjam