Dunedin for student flats

[whirly]

My daughter plans on going to Otago Uni in 2013. I am looking at buying a flat down there before then so she and her mates can pay it off and she'll come out of varsity with qual's and an investment.

Any advice re: areas to buy and how to approach my research. I have not owned investment properties before. My motivation is to have her paying her rent to herself through ownership.

thanks
whirly

[minimoke]

Step One - get her enrolled in Kiwisaver. After three years she'll get $1000 a year up to $5,000 for a deposit subject to simple criteria. (and so should her mates!)

Step Two - Check out Welcome Home loans. $200k loan with no deposit!. Plus if you want to borrow more you need 15% deposit over $200k.

Step Three. Knowing the "free" benifits in the first two steps for a privately held house, get accounting advise on an alternative which could see the house run as a "business".

[whirly]

Thanks MM for the practical advice.

I wasn't aware of welcome Home and will refer a young couple I know who are struggling away trying to raise a deposit before house prices take off again.

Kiwisaver will be easy and so will seeing my accountant so cheers.

More ideas on how to make this a success welcome.

w

[AMR]

In fact I went to apply for a welcome home loan just today. They don't need a deposit but will require adequate loan servicing income. They also will ignore all potential income from flatmates (not at 70% of the projections, not 50%, zero!!).

[I had a grand plan of buying a 3 bdrm house and paying off the mortgage by using flatmates but obviously I still need a deposit.]

Get to know the areas around tax deductions - they make investment property far more attractive than the yields would suggest.

[STRAT]

seeing my accountant so cheers.

More ideas on how to make this a success welcome.

w

Have a chat with him about one of these too Whirly. ( LACQ )

http://www.companyformation.co.nz/la...FQ6jagodZ0072g

[fungus pudding]

Have a chat with him about one of these too Whirly. ( LACQ )

http://www.companyformation.co.nz/la...FQ6jagodZ0072g

I'd suggst using two stones to kill these two birds. Rent a place in Dunedin, and invest in something better to own than a student flat in Dunedin. The vast majority are very old, very high maintenance villas. Although a few units have been built in recent years, they usually are cramped with maximum permitted site coverage and small bedrooms. Remember students tend to study and almost live in their bedrooms. Renting rather than owning allows flexibility to move to the best location after the first year, and it's much easier to sort out flatmates as you can shift or swap flats mid-term or year. That's common. It is not easy to boot out a flatmate you don't want.

[AMR]

Not to mention that with villas, banks and financiers are very tight on their criteria, I mentioned terraced houses and they said they would only approve finance on the recipet of a builders report.

[Sideshow Bob]

Generally it is seen as 'desirable' to go for the Halls of Residence in the 1st year. Just out of home, all meals cooked, a couple of hundred instance friends who are all in the same situation - much easier than flatting with 'randoms'. 2nd year invaribly many students like to flat right near the campus in the party streets like Leith & Dundas street. Previous comments about quality of housing are correct, with some newer units being built of late, but many in the immediate area being poor quality, with price based strictly on yield, rather than quality. Maybe consider the lower part of North East Valley, as out of the main campus, but still lots of students, supermarket etc, good bus connections, walking distance and a bit cheaper.

You've only got 4 years to prepare yourself......

[Steve]

Of course, if you were to consider North East Valley, make sure that it is on the sunny side!

My first property purchase was a villa in Maori Hill that I rented out to senior students. Personally, I wouldn't rent to 1st/2nd years based on what I was like in my earlier days...

[Abracadabra]

Hi Whirly, I thought very seriously about doing the same thing a couple of years ago. I have two kids there at the moment, and it seemed an ideal opportunity. We decided against it for a couple of reasons. I know another set of parents who had bought a property there for their children a couple of years previously, they decided after a couple of years to sell the property. The kids found it too much of a hassle organizing flatmates, also they found the responsibility way too much of trying to keep the flat in some sort of order!