I guess I'm an adult now

As per usual, a long overdue update is needed.

Just re-read the last post - I survived the Kepler Track, woohoo! And I've survived my first six months living in a new city - so much so that I've gone and done something pretty big....I accidentally bought a house!

So to back track.....I got offered a job almost immediately after I finished up at my old one.  Funny really - I spent my first week of unemployment run down, stressed out and beating myself up about not having a job, the following week was spent walking the Kepler track and getting a job, and then safe in the knowledge I had employment, I took a final week off to actually relax and do nothing.  I'm my own worst enemy, honestly.

My new job was only a three month contract with the potential for it to be made permanent, as a Communications & Engagement Advisor for a tiny little company - tiny as in there's only my boss and I! Luckily we get on really well and he is super chill and very relaxed about things like working from home and flexible hours so it's pretty darned awesome.  I knew him from my old job - a lot of employment in New Zealand is all about who you know!! I still don't know what I am doing half the time but I give it a good crack, and one of the things I'm proudest of was building us a super cool website for the company as we didn't have one - in the first week of it being published I had four enquiries, I was stoked!!! 

I recently got made permanent, and one of my goals this year was to buy a house if I liked Christchurch - it's also the only place in the country that's a city and still relatively affordable and liveable!! So when my contract came through, I got pre-approval for a mortgage just to see what my budget was, and vaguely started looking but not really.  I've got friends who had been looking for months and months and losing money on builders reports and lawyers and the housing market is insane at the moment and I really wasn't looking forward to the process at all. 

One Friday evening, my friend called me to say that the house next door (which I had been coveting since I visited her last year and she'd shown me over the fence as they were doing it up to sell) was finally going on the marked.  I sensed an opportunity, got the name of the Vendor and texted him to see how far down the track he'd gone with listing it with an estate agent and whether he'd be interested in a private sale.  He was conflicted and I did make him think, but ultimately he'd gone too far down the track with the estate agent contract to pull out, but did tell me that he was expecting anything from $480-$520k.  Which quite frankly is insane, it's a nice house but not $520k nice, and I was prepared to offer $480k.  Ah well.  I decided to put in an offer anyways conditional on builders report and other due diligence, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that though I loved the house, I wasn't going to be successful in this stupid crazy market with my conditional and lowball offer. 

So, I had a look to see what else was out there, and out of pure curiosity went to an open home a few days later for another house round the corner from the one I'd put an offer in on, to check out the competition.  It was a perfectly nice house, I didn't much like the layout though - whilst marketed as a three double bedroom house, it was only two bedrooms and a tiny room that's a weird shape, a long skinny bathroom, and a separate kitchen to the lounge area. But, in a nice area, seemed solid, and recently redecorated so needed little work.  I bumped into a friend at the open home which was nice to see her, but also brought home the fact we are all competing against the same houses which wasn't a nice thought!!

I didn't think much else of the house but got a phone call that weekend from the Agent, who asked me what I thought about the house. I told him I'd already put in an offer on another house, but he continued to tell me that despite it being popular at open homes, no one had registered for the Auction the following Wednesday, and if I was interested then I may be the only one there and be able to get a deal.  I took all this with a pinch of salt, him being an Agent and all, but it did pique my interest, especially as I wasn't feeling positive about the other property.  I arranged to look around the house again on Monday, and started reviewing the property documents.  Sometimes auction properties will provide all the documents you need to help you buy the house - the council LIM, builders report and so forth, but sometimes they don't and you have to pay for it all yourself, then potentially lose out at auction and you've spent all that money for no reason.  So I was super grateful they had provided all of the documents.  At the second viewing, the agent again confirmed that no one else had registered for the auction.  So on Tuesday morning, with one day to go before auction, I sent all the documents to the lawyers for them to do due diligence on everything and speak to the bank to get preapproval for this property, and call AA to sort out potential insurance.  Good job I have a very understanding boss....!!!!

The due diligence comes back OK, including some weird cross lease rules that state all of the land owners pay 10cents to each other each year for the lease - haha!

Wednesday rolls round and I am freaking out and googling 'how do auctions work'.  I turn up and walk into this big room which slowly starts filling with people, and register myself and the property I am bidding on.  I look round and my heart sinks - my friend who I bumped into at the open home is there!!! Fuck!! I'm going to be bidding against her!! I run up to her and say hi and 'please tell me you're not bidding on 147!' and she shakes her head, she's here for another house, phew!!!!! Honestly it would have been the worst to be bidding against your friend!!!! So we can support each other instead!!

My friend Matt who I worked with on my old job also turns up - he's a bloody legend.  He used to be an estate agent and gives no fucks about anything and offered to help me negotiate if I needed to. 

The Auctioneer comes up to me and is very sweet - she explains that I'm most probably the only one bidding on the property, and explains the process, and says 'I'm here to help you buy this house'.  I am almost fooled, until I see her in action a few minutes later selling the three houses before mine - man she is MEAN!!!! Preying on the masculinity of the guys in the room to get them to bid higher and higher, it's astonishing to watch and if you want an hour of free entertainment - go to a property auction! The houses all go for crazy amounts, including the one my friend was bidding on - a two bed in an area only 1km away from mine, which starts at $550k and ends on $590k.  The other houses which are much larger go for $900k and over $1mil.  There is NO WAY I am going to get this house. 

Suddenly it's my turn and I look around the room and there's still heaps of people there.  Surely they are all here to bid on my house - why else would they be here?  The Auctioneer introduces the house and asks for opening bids and I freeze.  The Agent comes up to me and nudges me, and I blurt out $400k.  He repeats what I said louder, the Auctioneer goes to $410, and I say $420.  No one else bids, so I'm taken into a back room for negotiation - exciting!

She cuts to the chase, "Look, they're looking for $480,000, what can you offer".  

Without thinking I blurt out "$470,000" and Matt pinches my arm - I look at him apologetically because I was meant to be consulting with him and totally forgot, oops.

She leaves the room to discuss my offer with the vendors and I turn to Matt, "sorry, I got too excited!".  he tells me to stick to $470 - I'm totally unconditional and they want to sell so I'm in a good position.

The Auctioneer comes back to tell me they have received a conditional offer of $500k, and they're wanting me to go to around that price.  I laugh and say "sorry, $470k".  We do this a few more times, me sticking at $470, her leaving the room, until I eventually budge to $475 and that's my final.  She comes back, shakes my hand and says "they really want $480, but they'll take $475, well done".  I make a little surprised noise and am led back to the auction room in a bit of a daze, so much so that i nearly walk into the wrong room.

She announces to the room that negotiations have gone to $475,000 and are there any other bidders who want to advance on this? I look around the room and nervously shoot glares at everyone in case they're thinking of undoing all of my hard work haha! Luckily no one offers up any money, so she bangs the gavel once, twice, three times, and the bloody house is mine!!!! Matt hugs me and a little tear escapes from my eyes - it's all very unexpected and I'm not sure how to process the information.  I am also very relieved because honestly house hunting is a full time job!  The agent hands me a red box containing champagne and chocolates, I sign a form and promise to pay 10% of the house deposit today, and walk away in shock, so much so that I can't do anything else for the rest of the day and end up having to go for a run to get rid of some of the adrenaline pumping around me.

I've since done loads of admin - sorted insurance, contacted the bank, decided on mortgage rates, sent all the details to the lawyers, and they're all working hard in the background doing stuff ready for settlement date on the 7th July (it was a quick two weeks!).  I've researched and worked out I'm eligible for a warmer homes grant to put towards insulation and a heat pump which is fricking awesome, and I need to find a builder to sort me out subfloor access as there's woodworm that I need to sort out.  I've gone through the builders report with a fine toothcomb and written myself a to do list of stuff I need to sort, things I need to buy, and last weekend spent a fun Saturday in the second hand stores where I've picked up various bargains including a couch for $25!  I have pretty much nothing so having to buy everything - and I'm setting myself a target to furnish the entire house for as little as possible by getting everything second hand, both for environmental reasons but also because it'll be bloody expensive otherwise!!

It seems super surreal that in seven days time I'll have keys to my own home that I can paint what I like and drill holes in to and get pets without anyone's permission......so weird!!!! but also terrifying - can I afford it? What happens if I get sick? Will I get lonely? What if someone breaks in? Lots of what if's!  It also doesn't seem fair that I only started looking a month ago, with no real intentions, and bought a house on my first go, when I've got mates who have been struggling for over a year to get on the ladder.  Very very bizarre and weird and I can't make any sense of it. I'm hoping to god I haven't bought an absolute dunger of a house and that's the reason no one else was at the auction!!

I was super proud that I did it all by myself - I've been saving since I was 16 and I'd class myself as good with money in terms of frugality, I've not used any inheritance or money from sources other than my own, and no partner to split costs and deposits with - but the truth is I haven't done it alone.  I've had family and friends and people to ask for advice the entire process, and it's been wonderful.  I couldn't have done it without those people!!!

Some resources I used when house hunting:

- Canterbury Maps.  These are AMAZING and have so much information in them - in Christchurch it's very important to check the land the house is built on, my house is on TC2 which means it suffered some damage in the earthquake and if I ever rebuild then I need to do more due diligence in terms of structural integrity etc.  There are liquefaction maps, maps which show you property boundaries and rates and the RV (rateable value) and how many EQC claims and consents the property has had.  SO GOOD and all for free!  

- One Roof.co.nz, Homes.co.nz, Property Value.co.nz - gives you an idea of how much your property is worth

- LINZ - you can pay for your title if you know what you're looking for for $5 but the lawyers will also do this for you

- Listed Land Use Register - you can check the address to see if the land was every used for storing hazardous waste (mine's built on a landfill......)

- Your bank! Your mortgage advisor will be super helpful and give you information on the property you want to buy - they'll run a valuation search to tell you a rough valuation and any public data held on the house eg sqm and bedroom numbers etc and other sold prices in the area

- In Christchurch, many insurance companies won't insure or quote you for a property if it's built before a certain time period unless you provide a builders report - though AA Insurance don't seem to do this, so I went with them. 

- I recommend getting a lawyer who quotes fixed fees.  No financial surprises that way!