House v apartment purchase

[michellea2]

Hi,
I have a 20% deposit available for a $350K 3 bedroom house in Auckland. Some kiwisaver and NZhousing first home subsidy included so need to live in for 6 months min.
I thought I could afford this but even with flatmates I doubt it with the extra costs to be added for transport to and from work in the city plus insurance, rates etc so I have started looking at houses $300K or less which are around but not many if any.....

So have now thought about looking at purchasing an apartment in AKL city (convienent to work in the city), 2 bedroom for $150-$250K with a car park.
Is an apartment in the city a good investment? freehold v lease hold? body corp fees, leaking buildings.
What about just a 1 bedroom? For myself?
Any reccommendations on best buildings around and which ones to look out for?
Am I going to lose money- this is the question?
What is a good investment when it comes to Auckland apartments?
How do banks treat an apartment loan? Min area?
Any advice appreciated.

[eri]

too many questions to answer at once

and anyway most of the answers can be found by searching here

remember only you know what you will find acceptable

but avoid leasehold

at least if you want an investment

start with the 30 pages of this thread

http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?18263-Quality-apartments-in-Auck&highlight=quality+apartments

[Leftette]

If you're young, single and like city life, buy a city apartment, not leasehold, and do your research re leaky issues, and read the body corp minutes. Oh, and enjoy it.

[grip]

in your case, buy a 2-bed apartment in a quality building in town, with carpark.
pay more to get a quality building where there are other owner occupiers, not just international students.
rent out a room if necessary if you need the extra cash.

forget about the 3-bed house.
for 350k you would struggle to find a semi-decent do-up in manurewa.
living in the CBD will be more popular as Auckland's demographics change.
in most cities in the world CBD apartments cost a lot more than far flung houses.

[artemis]

Talk to a broker about finance. Try jeffqv on TradeMe. If buying an apartment where some or most are owner occupied, knock on a few doors and ask about noise, body corp and any other issues. (We did this once, it was a revelation and not in a good way.) Asking tenants won't give you much info though. Read between the lines of BC minutes and accounts, check the long term maintenance plan to get a feel for future special levies. Check how water is paid for. Some buildings have killer bills. Zest being one.

[marklowes]

Apartments that are freehold can be great investments. When you buy freehold you're buying a share of the land the building is on too, this means a share of cbd real estate. Around half the value of my cbd apartment is the land value and this appreciates just as much if not more than the land value of a 500 sq m section out in the suburbs.

A 2 bed plus carpark that's freehold will prob put you over the 300k mark, but the rental demand in the cbd is high so you can get a flatmate paying good board and save 30-50 a week on travel plus hours of time stuck in traffic.

[klauster]

I would ask myself – what is my preferred lifestyle, what pays my bills and what type of housing (house, apartment, location) supports most comfortable my preference – some tips.