It’s not just property investors or professional landlords who are keen to find homes that pay the bills. Home buyers who want to speed up chipping away at the mortgage are searching for properties with that have that magic three words “home and income”.
But, warns the Real Estate Authority, buyers and their agents have been caught in the past taking a vendor’s word for it. Be warned: while it may look like a handy granny flat for popping in rent-paying tenants, the property may not be legal to rent. An old school self-contained studio or rumpus room with a kitchen sink and bathroom may be fine for family members or flat mates, but not for letting to strangers as formal tenants.
Buyers and their conveyancing lawyers need to carefully check the titles for the property to be sure that in fact the flat is legally registered with the council and has the appropriate building consents. That generally means a consent shows the division between residences complies with fire safety regulations (things like fire-rated walls and ceilings or a fire-rated separate entrance between the main and secondary dwelling) and has separate meters for power and water. If it is a separate building, it has to comply with council maximum sizes for accessory dwellings (generally under 60 sq m) and things like ventilation and light, access to outdoor space and so on.
Search OneRoof listings (under Houses for Sale, Property type, select Home & Income on the pull-down tab) for properties in your neighbourhood that could help you pay down that mortgage.
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In cities like Seattle, home and incomes like this hip pair of house are known as hidden density: from the road, and a far as neighbours are concerned, it is hard to tell from just any regular large house. But Barfoot & Thompson Greenhithe agents Annie Yong-Mewburn and Sarah Benbow enthuse that this 2006 purpose-built house is ideal for two families.
It currently operates as a rental, but could become an attractive B and B as the over 1000 sq m of gardens are leafy and pretty. The main four bedroom house has smart kitchens and bathrooms, but the little flat’s kitchen is a proper one, it has its own courtyard and complete privacy. Full building report available. Asking $1.79 million.
See how you can make room for friends and family
Andrea Courtney of Harcourts Pakuranga is marketing a classic brick and tile for deadline sale closing July 31. The huge property – 246 sq m all together – house has been assessed for weekly rental of over $1000 a week for the big three bedroom main house and a cute two bedroom renter.
Both are sunny and old-school solid, the property is handy to Pakuranga shops, buses and right next to Anchorage Park primary school. The deceased estate is ready to occupy, and has potential for development as it is in a mixed housing urban zone.
The four bedroom Manurewa house with a two bedroom minor dwelling marketed by Lloyd Singh of Barfoot & Thompson Manukau also has future potential, as the 1055 sq m is zoned mixed housing suburban. The minor dwelling was built in 2018, so has smart kitchen and bathroom with its own back yard, the main house four good sized bedrooms and tidy condition and there’s a two-car garage as well. The properties, currently earning $1010 per week, bordering Manurewa intermediate ground, are marketed for $889,000.
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So sparkly and nearly new that there are seven more years of building guarantee left, this five or six bedroom Browns Bay house marketed by Sue Chau of Wallace and Stratton is cleverly arranged over three levels, with a separate granny flat that is fully legal. There’s all the insulation and double glazing you’d expect from a house of this vintage, easy walking to schools, shops and, of course, those gorgeous beaches. Fenced, room for vege garden and pets, with off-street parking, and all this for sale by negotiation (the agent is saying below valuation of $970,000).
See how multi-generation living could work in the Bays
Eddie Zhao of Barfoot & Thompson’s West Harbour office has the pick of the bunch. A huge 326 sq m house on just under 1000 sq m that’s carved the five bedrooms into a generous three-bed family home and a second self-contained downstairs of two bedrooms.
Again, the traditional style of the house doesn’t give away that hidden density, there’s all the mod-cons of central air con and vacuum, CCTV, electric gates, gardens and birdsong – and all only ten minutes from Albany. For sale by negotiation.
See how lovely multi-family living can be
