Unilodge

[install]

Dear all
I am new to the property investment market. I am interested in buying an apartment at the unilodge ... Can you please advise me if it is a good investment ... I am really worried since this is all I have left from my savings .... I have never dealt with any property management before, and I have no idea how it works and how much they usually charge? And do they have good property management there?
I am not living in Auckland ... and the guy from the real estate office told me that you don’t need to come and you can do your transaction via fax or email ... is that safe?
Please help me.... I really need advice from independent sources...

[outspoken]

My goodness, where does one start?
Do not be pressured into anything!
If you do not understand the ins and outs of investing in property, here is a good place to start. There are also a number of good books written by seasoned PI's which will improve your knowledge.
As far as investing in short-stay accomodation like a Unilodge, IMO it is not a good place to start.
Whatever you do surround yourself with trusted, well advised, seasoned people who have done it all before and research it all yourself as well.
If you are still clueless, then your answer is obvious.

P.S don't be expecting to have it all explained to you in black & white in this thread, because it really isn't that simple. You HAVE to search, get active, and roll up your sleves yourself!

[k1w1]

What do you mean by "this is all I have left from my savings"?

[Jumpin]

Dear all
I am new to the property investment market. I am interested in buying an apartment at the unilodge ... Can you please advise me if it is a good investment ... I am really worried since this is all I have left from my savings .... I have never dealt with any property management before, and I have no idea how it works and how much they usually charge? And do they have good property management there?
I am not living in Auckland ... and the guy from the real estate office told me that you don’t need to come and you can do your transaction via fax or email ... is that safe?
Please help me.... I really need advice from independent sources...

1 you are really worried,
2 you wont sleep at night
3 you need to find out all about property investment before you look at buying anything
4 you will probably lose your shirt
5 you will continue to be really worried
6 you wont sleep at night


Hope this helps

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Unilodge is student accommodation. I consider this to be a "niche" market investment. You should own 5 to 10 "normal" properties before looking at niche stuff. Find a brick and tile unit or house to start with on it's own bit of dirt.

[taranui]

You know your money may be better spent on education, and agree books, dvds and here, if you just google "property investors" you will get heaps of good information and a place to start.

[SuperDad]

You know your money may be better spent on education, and agree books, dvds and here, if you just google "property investors" you will get heaps of good information and a place to start.

Don't spend a cent!!!

If you are itching to spend money, start with a copy (2nd hand if necessary) of Andrew King and Lisa Dudson's excellent book The complete guide to residential property investment in New Zealand.

Use this site, and ask lots of questions.

Don't sign anything before you know what you are doing.

And DON"T fall for those who tell you that the only good education starts with a three day course and ends with mentoring, with a side order of multi-level marketting.

Good luck.

Paul.

[Contrail]

The first step to becoming a good property investor is to buy property you have not seen.

[taranui]

Thats harsh for those starting!! Did you learn from somthing like that? we bought an apartment in Auckland city fringe and never saw it for over a year!.
We had 3 properties behind us before that and if you go to seminars to really learn you will benefit.

[Bob Kane]

Dear all
I am new to the property investment market. I am interested in buying an apartment at the unilodge ... Can you please advise me if it is a good investment ...

Welcome Install.
Why don't you tell us the figures for this investment - price, rental income, rates, body corp, management fees etc?
We can show you how to use them to reveal if this is a good investment.
We even have some spreadsheets for you to play with if you're game.

[Green Fish]

Install: The units at Unilodge are leasehold - hence the attractive prices. The problems with leasehold are set out at length on other threads.

[eri]

hi i'm a new member to this forum and have started looking at CHEAP auckland apartments after the heralds story on the no reserve railway campus aparts

seems they are a bit of a disaster and well steered clear of for the beginner

but looking a little wider the unilodge student aparts pop up as the next cheapest

i see from this forum they are not rated highly for many reasons but everything has it's price right, so at what price do the unilodge aparts begin to make sense?

found in a search of this forum i found this line

Only one property sold (a 1 bedroom apartment at unilodge for $47,000)

so if we assume this is a 14m2 shoebox that can be rented out for 50weeks at $200pw and the total outgoings are $5,500pa that's almost a 10% return

is this the cheapest possible way for an ex-pat kiwi to put a toe back into the nz property market, or should that $50,000 be better in the bank at 7.5% with 10% non-resident tax on interest???

eri

[BusyLizzy]

Hi eri - and welcome to the forum!

I'm not an expert on apartments so won't try to advise (although my instinctive reaction is to say 'keep clear'!).

I did want to ask, however, about the $5500 outgoings that you mentioned. What does that include?

You need to consider:
- Property manager fees
- Body corporate
- Insurance
- Rates
- Repairs and maintenance


And honestly - a 14m2 shoebox?! What is their occupancy like? Is it seasonal? (ie is it likely to be empty for 2 months over the summer break? That would change your expected income)

[eri]

I did want to ask, however, about the $5500 outgoings that you mentioned. What does that include?

You need to consider:
- Property manager fees
- Body corporate
- Insurance
- Rates
- Repairs and maintenance

And honestly - a 14m2 shoebox?! What is their occupancy like? Is it seasonal? (ie is it likely to be empty for 2 months over the summer break? That would change your expected income)

hi Lisa,
thanks for the reply
it is my understanding that the $5,500 is a rough figure but includes all outgoings, would obviously have to check that

again the occupancy would have to be looked into but i did find this this quote on another site

4. Unilodge report a fantastic 99% occupancy rate for 2nd semester, it continues to be a very popular building


which of course begs the question of the holiday breaks between semesters


1 plus? about unilodge is that they seem to know what they are doing with a quick google showing similar aprts in syd, melb, bris, and new ones planned for adel. and canb.


but assuming that auckland's population continues to grow, that there will continue to be solid demand for cheap accom near the uni and that the building is sound, what is a fair value to put on places like these?


there seems to be a 1 bedroom apart there, 30-50m2, with garage for $135,000, that certainly seems to better fit in with the current wisdom here but i'd rather keep the extra $80,000 in the bank for now


eri

[spurner]

Depends on your definition of cheap, but IMO it'd be a moderately priced lesson for you.

Putting $50k into a leasehold shoebox vs a bank term deposit; I think you'd be exceptionally lucky to do better on the property over virtually any period of time.

Maybe if you were in NZ, were experienced in that market, and were going to be buying many of them - in that case it could work for someone.

My 2c

is this the cheapest possible way for an ex-pat kiwi to put a toe back into the nz property market, or should that $50,000 be better in the bank at 7.5% with 10% non-resident tax on interest???

eri