Home Buyers Hub

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You are responsible for ordering the LIM from the Council. There will be a fee which will range from $150.00 to $300.00. It takes 10 working days to receive the LIM from the date of request. Some Councils will provide an urgent LIM for an extra cost, which only takes 5 working days. Once you receive the LIM I am happy to help you review it and answer any queries you may have.

You should be wary of LIM’s supplied by the Real Estate Agent (“Agent”) or the Vendor as it could be out of date or have important information removed. Further, the Council only has a duty of care to, and contractual relationship with, the person who requested the LIM.

One of the main reasons for obtaining a LIM is to check that all building consents have been obtained for any work undertaken on the dwelling, particularly for dwellings built and work completed after 1992. Building consents came into force with the Building Act 1991 (effective July 1992). Building work carried out before 1992 did not require a Code of Compliance Certificate (“CCC”). It is not unusual for dwellings built before 1991 to have no building permit as records prior to 1991 may have been destroyed or damaged by fire or flood. If there is a fire in the property you should pay particular attention to whether it has consent. Depending on the nature of work undertaken, it may also be necessary to check the scope of a CCC. If you are concerned about the absence of a CCC or permit, please contact me to discuss further.

Please let us know and we will complete the paperwork to withdraw your Kiwisaver savings. You will need to apply for the First Home Grant online at https://hera.power-business.co.nz/kaingaora/First_Home.nsf. Once you have received your pre-approval letter, please email it to us. Here’s a Kiwisaver Information Summary (PDF, 41.36 kB) and a Homestart Information Summary (PDF, 42.74 kB)

You will need to make an application to Kainga Ora, who will determine whether you are in the same position as a first home buyer. This application is separate from the application you need to make to Kainga Ora if you also want to apply for the First Home Grant. If you want to apply for approval as a previous home owner and for the First Home Grant, you need to make TWO separate applications online with Housing New Zealand. Please also email your approval as a previous home owner to us. Here is some information on Kiwisaver withdrawals for previous home-owners.

We will require documents confirming your identity.

You are responsible for arranging insurance from the settlement date. If the property was purchased at mortgagee sale, you are responsible for arranging insurance from the date of confirmation of the conditions. You should obtain confirmation from an insurance company that you can insure the property prior to confirming any of the conditions. Some insurance companies may require an electrical inspection to be carried out before they will agree to insure the property, particularly for older properties.

In most cases, the deposit is paid to the Agent when you confirm the conditions. In some cases, the deposit is paid when you sign the Agreement. If it is a private sale, you pay the deposit to our Trust Account and we pay it to the Vendor’s lawyer.

You have the right to inspect the property on one further occasion prior to settlement - this is called a pre-settlement inspection. Contact the Agent to arrange this and complete it at least three days prior to the settlement date. If any issues arise from the pre-settlement inspection, we must contact the vendor’s lawyer before the settlement date. Check out our handy Pre-Settlement Inspection Checklist

Settlement will occur any time between 9am and 4pm on the settlement date. Unfortunately, we cannot give you an exact time but we will endeavour to settle as early as possible. If you wish to book movers we recommend that you book for later on in the day (unless you are also selling on the same day). Most settlements take place between 11am and 3pm. If any issues arise preventing us from settling in a timely manner, we will immediately contact you.

If you are selling and buying on the same day, the purchaser of your property is entitled to keys as soon as they have paid us the settlement funds. Accordingly, you may wish to book your movers for earlier in the day. There may be a delay between your sale settling and your purchase settling. Again, we will keep you informed on the day.

When we call you to advise that settlement has been completed, we will confirm where you can collect the keys from.

Obtaining additional funds from Mum and Dad to help purchase your first home – great! But what are the risks and what do you need to be aware of? Here is some basic information on borrowing money from your parents.