Property Investment Articles

Case Study: Convert a laundry to a bedroom in Christchurch

Barry and Carolyn worked with us to hunt down a property with quick value-add potential in Christchurch. They bought outside their home town and what's more, were travelling during the due diligence and close period!

Christchurch Property Market Update

An update on the Christchurch property investment market at the mid-2018 mark.

Case Study: Add bedrooms to increase yield and value

How a Wellington-based investor secured a property the entire market had missed - literally, it had been on sale for a year - and stands to make a fortune in doing so.

Case Study: Full time professional investing from Australia

How a full time health professional working in Australia was able to assemble the RIGHT team and secure a good buy and hold investment property in Wellington.

Use Leverage to Build Wealth and Passive Income

Property is the business of using leverage carefully to grow your wealth. In this article we look at the two main forms of leverage, "Other People's Time" and "Other People's Money".

Have you thought of investing in Wainuiomata?

As it turns out I'm not the only one with Wainui on the brain lately and a LOT has been happening there, particularly in the last few months the investors should take note of.

Wellington Market Strong and with Opportunities

For those of you looking to invest in a solid market with good returns, Wellington is still the place to be. I would like to give you an update on the Wellington market as I see it and offer some slightly different views.

Update on the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill

An update on the overseas investment amendment as of Jan 2018.

Case Study: Make your first home a profitable rental property

How I recently helped a young couple looking for their first home. This couple had become very frustrated after missing out many times in a market where most properties were going to tender or auction. They were looking for a property that would be suitable to live in now as well as to hold long term after they have moved on.

Reducing Depreciation Recovery

Quite a few property investors are thinking about selling. Should you just accept that you will have to recover all the building depreciation you have previously claimed? ……… NO

Case Study: How an expat in Qatar bought his first property

No more excuses! This investor worked with iFindProperty step by step over several months to discuss how property works, get lending approval, put a team together and work out his critieria and finally secure a property... from the other side of the world.

Pros, cons and risks of short term rentals

We invited an investor, insurance advisor and property tax specialist to a round table discussion of strategies, pros, cons potential pitfalls when planning or running a short term rental investment in New Zealand.

Take action today to improve your investing

The best time to learn and grow is always right now and it certainly does not matter if you are currently looking to buy or not. In fact, a bit of down time between open homes and evaluating properties can be the perfect opportunity to reflect and study.

Here are some things you can do right now that will provide long term benefits to your investing.

Mortgage Market Update with Squirrel

iFindProperty spoke with Andrew Mackay and Peter Norris from Squirrel about what is changing in the mortgage market in 2017, particularly for investors.

Meet the developer of Avenue Apartments

Early purchaser pricing still available! Nice, new and central in Auckland.

Join us at Novotel Ellerslie on Wednesday March 29 for an evening with the developer of Avenue Apartments in Mangere. Du Val Property are delivering some fantastic properties and buyers who get in early are doing very well. Now is the time to check these out while the early bird pricing deals last.

Understanding TRUE VALUE to Succeed

This is a story of an investor who was suck until she changed her thinking and created massive equity in short time.

Investing with Family and Friends

Group investments are popular because when resources are combined people can achieve more than they would have otherwise. What could go wrong? Quite a lot, it seems.

How to do Due Diligence

A glimpse into what our team assists clients with during the due diligence period of a potential purchase. Just what is required to do your analysis in the time allowed takes a bit of experience and as you can see, there is often more to it than just emailing the contract to your lawyer and bank.

20 Rental Properties in One Year by Graeme Fowler

We interview best-selling property author and successful investor Graeme Fowler about his most recent book, 20 Rental Properties in One Year, now on sale at the iFindProperty website.

How Investors are Using Non-Bank Lenders

In part two of our series on lending I share some real world ways investors areworking with non-bank lenders in today's market.

Non bank lending explained

Part one of a two article series where we look at alternative lenders. We start by asking a couple of simple questions, namely who are the non-bank lenders and what do they do?

Case Study: Invest to Reduce your Mortgage

How a couple of young iFindProperty clients cut an estimated 8 years off their own home loan with a very affordable investment property purchase.

Case Study: Buy in New Zealand while Overseas

Case study on how an iFindProperty client who is used to personally inspecting every property, leveraged a buyers agent to invest sight-unseen from overseas in one of the hottest Auckland markets in history.

How to Identify TRUE Value in your Local Market

Most investors are familiar with the saying, "You make your profit when you buy."

So how do you consistently do this? There are a two very common schools of thought; firstly, to buy properties with high yield and secondly to purchase the worst house in the best street (or suburb)...

How a balanced portfolio approach will help you succeed

Any investment strategy should always start with identifying what type of investor you want to be, and how residential property will fit into your long term goals.

Before you do anything else you must clearly define what your long term property goals are. You may want to supplement your retirement income, use property to pay down your own mortgage, you might be more aggressive and want to replace your salary....

How To Have More Luck With Your Property Investing

People will often say to me, you were lucky that you got in at a good time when you started your investing, you couldn’t do that now. Or, it was lucky you found some good agents to help you find properties when you started, there’s too much competition from other investors now.

Roger Hamilton uses a word analogy with the word ‘Luck’, mostly with operating a business and comparing it to a game of soccer (football).
I’ve used it below in a similar way to show you how it works if you are a property investor and want to become luckier!

How to find and retain tenants in smaller towns

Sabine Slade lives with her husband in Kawerau and manages properties in both Kawerau and nearby towns. She and her husband own and manage a number of investment properties throughout the Bay of Plenty and recently word has got around and she has started to take on managements for other investors. She looks after a property each for both Nick & Maree and we love working with Sabine.

We asked Sabine for her thoughts on what makes a successful property manager in smaller markets, where vacancy risk can be very real for Landlords.

The hidden costs of buying a home

Buying a home is both an exciting and stressful event, particularly if it’s your first home. There are many costs that come with purchasing a home that you need to be aware of. Here is a list of things that you need to budget for.
 

Managing your bank accounts

Using a number of bank accounts can really help make managing your money easier. I’ve generally found that when people use a number of accounts they seem to have better awareness of their spending and therefore make better financial progress.

Use your house to earn some tax free income

A great way to earn some extra income to help you get ahead is to rent out any spare rooms you have. You may not like someone else living in your home but the income you earn from them may be a nice compromise and help you achieve some of your financial goals.

Save tens of thousands on your mortgage

For most people their home is their biggest asset, and paying off that mortgage is probably their largest expense. We've got eight tips for getting the most out of your mortgage and saving what can amount to tens of thousands of dollars over the length of your mortgage.

5 Traits of Successful Retirees

Having a successful retirement takes some planning. ”Winging it" may not be the best strategy. Here are some common traits of those who have a successful retirement.

Are you protecting yourself going into a Joint Venture?

Today I want to write about a topic I am asked about a lot – how to put together a joint venture. However this article should really be “how to put together a joint venture so you don’t lose the shirt off your back, your friends, your sanity, all your free time and a substantial amount of money”.

Are you deluding yourself?

Have you been saying to yourself that everything is fine? Your finances aren’t as bad as you think they are. Maybe you think that you are too young to think about your financial future. I would imagine that most people delude themselves in some areas of their financial lives. Some a lot more than others. Give some thought to what the financial decisions you make today might mean to you in the future.

5 Things Every Investor Should Know

How many investors achieve what they really want? Probably quite a low number. Why is this? It’s probably because most investors don’t have a good long term plan that they regularly monitor and adjust.  Read the five things every investor should know to help achieve thier goals.

I’ve bought an investment property, now what do I do?

An excellent question! The first thing to work out is how you own it, and there are a number of options for you to consider. There are various ways to structure the ownership of your investment property (Sole trader, Partnership, Company, Trust etc). It's important you get the foundations right to save you time and money in the future.

Which is the best type of Mortgage?

The best mortgage is the one that gives you the greatest overall financial result. When you take out a mortgage take the time to consider the various types of mortgages that are available and think about which will suit your personal situation.

Should You Pay Off Your Investment Property Mortgage?

This is a common question that property investors ask but it’s not a simple question to answer as it depends on your personal situation; however there are four simple guidelines that can help you make your decision.

Land Covenants

Land covenants are a mechanism used commonly by either land owners selling land and wanting to restrict its use, particularly if they are retaining neighbouring land, or to record agreed restrictions as between neighbours of adjoining property; and there are a number of reasons why land owners may wish to restrict the use of land.

5 Common Mistakes New Investors Make

It takes time to learn a new skill; however making mistakes when you start investing can have serious consequences so it’s best to avoid them if possible. Some of the common mistakes investors make are....

11 Financially Helpful New Year’s Resolutions

Need some ideas to ensure you will be in a stronger financial shape by the end of the year?

We have put together 11 financially helpful New Year’s Resolutions to help you on your way.

A property is not a retirement plan

Financial adviser Lisa Dudson sees a lot of people who own investment properties but whose reasons for doing so are kind of vague, other than to create wealth.