Buying something other than a standard house
Apartments, new builds, leasehold and off the plans, and what each one does differently.
Ends with: A clear view of the ongoing costs and the specific risks attached to the type of property you are considering.
This pathway covers how these property types work and what they cost to hold. It does not value a specific property, and every one of these purchases needs a property lawyer reading the actual title and contract before you sign.
The standard first home advice assumes a freehold house on its own section. A large and growing share of what is actually for sale in New Zealand is not that.
An apartment comes with a body corporate, a levy that rises, and a long term maintenance plan that may or may not be funded. A new build comes with a different tax position and different risks from an existing home. Buying off the plans means committing to a price for something that does not exist yet, under a contract with a sunset clause. Leasehold means you do not own the land, and the ground rent will be reviewed.
Each of these is a perfectly reasonable purchase. Each also has an ongoing cost structure and a risk profile that the standard advice does not cover, and the buyers who get caught are almost always the ones who priced it like an ordinary house.
This pathway is the differences. It ends with the two costs that apply whatever you buy, rates and running costs, because those are what turn a purchase price into an annual figure you have to live with.
Two steps have no calculator. How house prices are measured and what leasehold does to your position are both matters of understanding rather than arithmetic.
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What the price statistics mean
Medians, means and house price indices all say different things, and the number in the headline is rarely the one relevant to what you are buying.
6 min read -
New build against existing
They differ on price, on interest deductibility, on lending rules and on what can go wrong. The comparison is not just about condition.
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Building it yourself
A build is a project with progress payments, a contract and a contingency. The cost per square metre is where it starts.
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Buying something that does not exist yet
You are committing to a price and a settlement date years out. The sunset clause decides what happens if it is late, and it is not symmetrical.
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Unit titles and the body corporate
You buy a share of a company as well as a home. The levy, the maintenance plan and the reserves decide what it costs to hold.
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Earthquake prone buildings
A strengthening notice on a building becomes a bill for every owner in it, and it affects both lending and insurance.
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Leasehold, and what you do not own
The building is yours and the land is not. The ground rent review is the whole risk, and it can move sharply.
13 min read -
Owning it with other people
Joint tenancy, tenants in common and co ownership arrangements have different consequences on sale, on death and in a dispute.
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Tiny homes, relocatables and minor dwellings
Whether it is a building or a vehicle changes the consent, the lending and the rates. It is rarely as simple as the marketing.
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Flood zones and insurability
Insurance is now priced on location risk, and a property that is expensive to insure today may be difficult to insure later.
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Rates, and how they are set
Rates are based on a valuation you can challenge, they vary hugely by council, and they rise faster than inflation in most districts.
Work out your own: Rates Bill Calculator 8 min read -
What it costs to hold, every year
Rates, insurance, maintenance and levies together are the number that decides affordability after settlement, and nobody calculates it before.
When to stop and get someone else
For any of these purchase types, a property lawyer is not optional and should be engaged before you sign, not after. A unit title needs a pre contract disclosure statement and a body corporate long term maintenance plan read properly; an off the plan contract needs its sunset clause read; a leasehold needs the ground rent review mechanism understood. Each of those is an hour of a lawyer's time against a decision worth hundreds of thousands.
This pathway is information, not financial advice. Rates, thresholds and rules change; every guide carries the date it was last reviewed.
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