Selwyn Times: March 06, 2019

13
Key reasons
to buy new
Buying new has many advantages. No one has
yet lived in your brand new home and it has that
new home smell and feel.
That doesn’t appeal to the villa crowd.
But many people dream of a home in a
new suburb.
There are many other advantages -- such
as being able to customise the home before
it’s built. Buyers love it that their build
guarantee covers most things and there’s
little maintenance to do for the first 10
years.
There are a long list of reasons some
people dream of buying new.
They include:
• Current Building Code requirements
specify a higher standard of insulation
and glazing than you can expect in an
older home, which makes your new home
warmer in winter and cooler in summer,
meaning cheaper to run. In addition there
has been a vast improvement in the quality
and technology of construction materials
over the last decade.
• New homes are designed for modern
lifestyles with walk-in wardrobes, double
or triple car garaging, en suites and heat
pumps.
• Internal access garaging.
• Indoor-outdoor flow. Home builders
before the 1970s rarely thought about this.
• Automatic pool covers and electric
curtains are included in a lot of new
homes, he says.
• In a new subdivision you’re not going
to have five cross-leased small homes next
door to your architecturally designed fivebedroom
dream home, he says.
• New purpose-built shopping and
service centres cater for the modern life.
• New schools can be popular. New
schools are being designed with “Modern
Learning Environments”, which are
considered better layouts for 21st-century
learning.
Another important factor is it’s easier
to get a mortgage. New Reserve Bank of
New Zealand loan to value (LVR) ratio
restrictions from October 1 don’t relate
to new homes. Likewise the KiwiSaver
HomeStart grant is doubled for first time
buyers.
When it comes to new apartment
buildings they’re built to a higher standard
of earthquake/fire proofing and, hopefully,
are no longer leaky.
There are, of course, disadvantages to
buying new. Not everyone wants to wait
six or 12 months to move into their home.
Other downsides include:
• Borrowing to cover the progress
payments is more complex than taking out
a mortgage on an existing property.
• Builders and developers can go broke,
leaving the buyer in an awkward position.
• With some new homes the buyer
effectively needs to become a project
manager.
• You have to deal with council for
building and sometimes resource consent.
• The location may be further from the
centre than you wanted.
• If it’s infill housing you might have a
cross lease situation that some people find
tricky.
• There are often teething problems with
a new build.
• You won’t get a quaint tree-lined street.
• Your section will most likely be smaller
than that of an existing home.
• Fences, paths and landscaping might
need to be added at a cost.
RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL
DARFIELD
Quality Lease of Sheep and Cropping Farm
• Approximately 120ha of unirrigated flat land
• Quality Templeton and Lismore soils
• Well fenced into 20 paddocks with good shelter belts
• A woolshed and sheep yards will be available to use
DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY
Closes 2.00pm, Wednesday 3 April
Sam Davidson M 027 488 8269
E sdavidson@pggwrightson.co.nz
Mark Clyne M 027 531 2964
E mark.clyne@pggwrightson.co.nz
pggwre.co.nz/CHR30068
HORORATA
$765,000 GST Inclusive
Time For Rural Life
This well-presented 16ha lifestyle property ticks all the
boxes for size, privacy and views. The home features a
large kitchen and open-plan family room. There are
three large bedrooms, a family bathroom and separate
toilet. The great heating features keep it cosy in the
winter with a free-standing log fire, floor-standing heat
pump and coal range on a wetback. An extra-large
double garage sits adjacent to the home along with a
lock-up shed, cool room and sleepout. Seven
paddocks, good yard area and an array of sheds.
Min Cookson
M 027 249 5417
E min.cookson@pggwrightson.co.nz
CHARING CROSS
Good Sized Lease Available
Approx. 143ha of unirrigated flat land on the corner of
Highfield and Wards Roads with good sheep yards and fourbay
shed available with the lease. Has recently run sheep,
beef and wintered dairy cows. A quality property.
DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY
Closes 2.00pm, Wednesday 27 March
Sam Davidson M 027 488 8269
E sdavidson@pggwrightson.co.nz
Mark Clyne M 027 531 2964
E mark.clyne@pggwrightson.co.nz
pggwre.co.nz/DAR30011
pggwre.co.nz/CHR30023
PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008
Helping grow the country