Unit Title process - anyone done it?

[FatBelly]

Hi guys,
I am looking into the process of unit-titling a block of 4x2 units that we have and want to find out more about the process involved and the cost. I have spoken to the council and it sounds pretty straight forward.

Has anyone else done this and can they provide any advice?

Approximately how much should we set aside to pay for a surveryer?

How long should the entire process take?

What fees are we likely to have to pay (taking into account we wont be building any further dwellings)?

What pro's and con's are there in doing this?

Thanks

[xris]

Hello fatbelly,

Out of interest, what title are they on at the moment, and why do you want to put them on a unit title?

xris

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Doing it right now Fatbelly.
Good news is unit titling typically increases the valua by about 30% and of course enables you to finance them individually at 80% of new RV or sell them off one at a time.

Costs. I'm using a company to do the work for me. Their fee is 5K. Council costs of about 20K for 12 units in my case.
Time frame approximately 6 months.
Only con is if you lease option or sell any off you have to set up and potentially run a body corporate. Other than that I think it's a great way to add value without actually doing anything. My deal spend 25K, add 400K to my nett worth.

[cube]

My deal spend 25K, add 400K to my nett worth

Great result, but the tenants don't care about the title, so you can't charge any more rent, so isn't your yield greatly reduced?

(Agenda - I'm looking a sub-dividing a two-dwelling site - potentially a massive increase in equity, but still have to find the cash from somewhere!)

cube

[Dean@Massiveaction]

I just use the equity to buy pos cashflow elsewhere so the yield doesn't change on that basis.

[FatBelly]

Hi Xris,
They are all on one single title at the moment, and I had heard (reinforced by Pooomba) that doing this increases the value. I figure that by spending a little, I can greatly reduce my LVR and also use gained equity to make more purchases.

Poooba -
thanks for the info on costs - is it a local company you are using to do this work? 6 month process (?), man that is a bit longer than I hoped, but I guess you have to work with the Councils timeframe! I dont plan to sell any off at this stage, just use the equity for future purchases, so hopefully will avoid the whole body corporate thing!!

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Hi Fat. I use a company called Barry Satchell in Auckland. They are doing my properties in Rotorua but i don't think they cover the whole country. But for Auckland etc. they're great. Chris Kitson is the man there

[FatBelly]

Cheers Dean,
I might give Chris a call to discuss and see what their coverage is.