Quality apartments in Auck?

[Davo36]

i'd be letting the agents know i was ready to pick up a soon to be completed new build where the off-the-plan buyer couldn't get finance to make the final payment....then would work out what they had paid off the plan before making any offers

That sounds sensible. I have made some small enquiries but the vendors are not really desperate at all. They are all looking to make good money on what they originally paid (an amount they won't give to the agent, but the agents have a fair idea). They are all able to settle it seems.

[Alexy]

Hi all, I am thinking of buying an apartment. Really scared to buy the one which might bring a leaky building problem.

Probably it is safe to purchase a new built like in Queens or Park residences. However, these ones are high rise buildings. Is this true that maintenance expenses and therefore body corporate fees are generally higher there and rising at a higher rate? Or the difference is negligible as compared to 10-12 storey buildings ? If anyone can answer this, thanks

[eri]

wouldn't imagine there is much difference between 10 fl building and 25fl building

the best would be a new build by a reputable builder with low BC

there is going to be a bit of a glut of them next year but they will all be >$10k/m2

find an area you like

an aspect you can live with

a size that is affordable and you should be ok

[Nick G]

Thanks Eri. I usually stay with a friend or airBNB in Auckland when visiting and more and more I'm finding it, while fun to see people, tiring to always be a guest somewhere. A place of my own that I can lease out when I'm not there would be good. Air BNB seems ideal for that flexibility or maybe do slightly longer rentals such as weeks or months. I hear there are rules where if you use it a bit you cease to be able to claim costs for vacant periods so I will seek tax advice about that.

[eri]

some of the BC managers are getting unhappy with the airbnb crowd

they never read the BC rules, come back late, have loud parties, smoke in the apartments, laugh at security, lock themselves out etc

it is also questionable if any damage they cause to the building is covered by the BC insurance.....ie if a tenant damages a lift they tenant is charged with the repair, if an airbnb has come and gone they then need to chase the owner

the deal i saw 1 BC come up with was that if the owner, lived on site, in another apartment, and handled the grief

the BC were happy

but not so happy with absentee owners lumping the airbnb hassle to the new agents or directly to customers

with better airbnb agents the system will work better

[d2ba]

Anyone know anything about 70 Pitt Street, The Chatham (48 Apartments in good location)

http://cdn1.ep.dynamics.net/s3/rw-media/propertyphotos/2015/7/28/H1058-1437954582-29749-50176PittSt-HiRes-1.jpg?width=1024&height=630&mode=crop&scale=both&bgcolor=595959&quality=95&_ex=.jpg

[eri]

built 2009? - good
48? apartments

google will tell you lots

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11691951

[Alexy]

wouldn't imagine there is much difference between 10 fl building and 25fl building

the best would be a new build by a reputable builder with low BC

there is going to be a bit of a glut of them next year but they will all be >$10k/m2

find an area you like

an aspect you can live with

a size that is affordable and you should be ok

Thank you Eri,

by any chance if you know apartments that have one bedroom plus a study and two bathrooms.
The study room appears big enough to put a bed in, any potential problems in case of renting this room out?

[Anthonyacat]

it is also questionable if any damage they cause to the building is covered by the BC insurance.....ie if a tenant damages a lift they tenant is charged with the repair, if an airbnb has come and gone they then need to chase the owner
....
with better airbnb agents the system will work better

The AirBnB agent I use (barely 60% happy with them, so not going to recommend or rubbish publicly) holds an insurance policy that covers this sort of damage.

[eri]

it's all a bit confusing without actually seeing the apartment

<30m2 studios are often listed as 1 bedroom, which doesn't differentiate them from >40m2 apartments with separate living rooms + bedrooms

many 2 bedroom apartments built by conrad, volt, aura, altitude, harvard, stanford, zest, about 2005 have 1 room with only a window into the living room, but those rooms can just fit a dble bed

other apartments have outside windows in all bedrooms but most of the rooms are too small for a dble. kiwi on queen, the larger apartments in harvard, stanford

some agents list any room that can hold a bed as a bedroom, but council now doesn't class some of those rooms as bedrooms and won't allow developers to sell them as bedrooms so they are called flexi rooms....most of the new builds

likewise bathrooms

most have a toilet next to the shower, a few actually have a bath, towerhill, century, a very few have the more sensible arrangement of a toilet in a separate room from the shower, embassy

tetra got caught out between planning and final consent and has a bedroom a living room and 2 bathrooms

to directly answer your question

most of the new builds, like queens residences, have apartments in the 60m2 range with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms for about $650-$750,000

[Alexy]

some agents list any room that can hold a bed as a bedroom, but council now doesn't class some of those rooms as bedrooms and won't allow developers to sell them as bedrooms so they are called flexi rooms....most of the new builds

Hi Eri, actually I mean one bedroom with a flexi room in Queens or Park residences. Is this against the rules to convert it into a bedroom and rent it out? Any problems with council?
thanks

[eri]

not my area of expertise

but certainly recent tenancy tribunal rulings

coupled with the change of gov.

their stated desire to increase the rights of tenants

and raise the standard of rental accommodation

would seem to work against making a long term investment decision based on the advertising of a flexi-room as a bedroom

interestingly though

the 2 x dble bedrooms in Volt have always had a technical limit of 3 occupants in the TA, placed by the BC during construction based on "load"

tenants of course have felt free to ignore this without penalty as it's next to impossible to prove who is sleeping where without running afoul to the tenants right to peaceful enjoyment

however it appears owners have now been successful in lobbying the BC to recalculate the services load on actual usage and not theoretical which has allowed the occupation limit to be raised from 3 to 4, per unit

this may be because Volt (like all the cheap? well-located conrad blocks) is starting to attract more owner-occupiers who typically don't want to share their 40m2 apartments with 3 others

[Alexy]

Ok, thanks Eri

[eri]

One in 10 apartments sold in the third quarter of 2017 went for less than their owners paid for them,

according to CoreLogic's Pain and Gain Report.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100...ut-with-losses

[eri]

Of the 116 buildings on the list, those listed as ACP PE have the cladding with a polyethylene core, like Grenfell Towers.

• Various Auckland Hospital buildings, 2 Park Rd, Grafton;
• Civic Centre administration building, 8 Henderson Valley Rd;
• Oceania & Eastern building, 110 Customs St West, CBD;
• Viaduct Point Apartments, 125 Customs St West;
• The Spencer on Byron hotel and apartments, 9-17 Byron Ave, Takapuna;
• Shoal Haven Apartments, 130 Anzac St, Takapuna;
• Spark Centre, 167 Victoria St West, CBD;
• PwC Building, 188 Quay St, CBD;
• TVNZ building, 100 Victoria St West;
• The Owen Glenn Building at Auckland University, 12 Grafton Rd;
• Quest Apartment Hotel, 127-137 Hobson St;
• Dynasty Gardens Apartments, 135-137 Vincent St;
• An unnamed building at 14-18 Lovell Court, Rosedale;
• AUT Millennium at 17 Antares Pl, Rosedale;
• Queens Lodge, 176 Broadway, Newmarket;
• An unnamed building at 2 Gillies Ave, Newmarket;
• An unnamed building at 212 Universal Drive, Henderson;
• A building at 2-38 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn;
• Kiwi on Queen, 415-427 Queen St, CBD;
• H47 Apartments, 45-49 Hobson St;
• An unnamed building at 60 Stanley St, Parnell;
• An unnamed building at 64 Apollo Dr, Albany;
• City Garden Apartments, 76-84 Albert St, CBD;
• Waitakere Stadium, 79-85 Central Park Dr, Henderson;
• Nautilus hotel/apartments, 9-15 Tamariki Ave, Orewa.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12068992