Buying off the plan can feel daunting for a first-home buyer – but new apartment owners at Fraser Avenue in Auckland's North Shore say the strong sense of community with other buyers has given them confidence ahead of move-in day.
They are foregoing the traditional cup of sugar and getting to know their neighbours online ahead of move-in day, thanks to a private Facebook group set up by developer and builder NZ Living.
Toby Falconer and Philippa-Rose Payne bought their two-bedroom market apartment at Fraser Avenue in the Northcote Development just before Christmas. The couple has been excited by regular updates from NZ Living and are enjoying the sense of community already flourishing.
“Over the last three or four months, people have been posting on Facebook and introducing themselves,” says Falconer.
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Toby Falconer and Philippa-Rose Payne. Photo / Supplied.
Fraser Avenue’s 72 KiwiBuild and 30 market apartments are configured in five separate, three-storey block and brick buildings, centred around a village green. The apartments are the first market and KiwiBuild homes built within the Northcote Development, led by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities.
The first residents in Stage 1 have now moved into their new homes, with Stage 2, including Falconer’s and Payne’s home, expected to be completed in September.
However, the bricks-and-mortar reality was a long way off when Falconer and Payne paid a 10 per cent deposit on their $670,000 apartment in December. They hadn’t been actively looking to buy but knew their landlord intended to sell – so decided to investigate buying their own home more seriously.
“I knew of the various developments across the city that Kāinga Ora was involved with and my partner saw there was an open day on a Sunday, so we thought, ‘oh, we’ll wander up, just to have a look’, ” Falconer says.
They liked what they saw: “We chatted to the sales agent and they had a map on the wall of the apartments that were left. The prices didn’t look super-crazy.”
After letting the sales agent know that evening they were interested, the couple spent time researching other Kāinga Ora developments and the general apartment market. Falconer says he would recommend other people thinking about buying off the plan do the same.
“I would advise people to do their research in terms of who is actually building their home. What have they built before?”
After their weekend viewing, Falconer and Payne spent the following few days arranging a solicitor and finance and then signed a conditional contract that gave a 10-day “cooling off” period.
“We were able to ask the sales agent questions and, with some of the questions, he called Shane the developer on the spot, which was great. After those 10 days, if we didn’t want to go ahead, there was no obligation. It just gave us some breathing space,” Falconer says.
Generally, apartment owners who buy off the plans should expect to pay the balance of the purchase price once the builder issues a Certificate of Practical Completion, the council has issued a Code of Compliance and Land Information New Zealand registers the title. There will then be a call for a settlement date, which can vary between contracts but is usually 10 working days’ notice.
After a pre-settlement inspection by the buyers, the vendor’s solicitor will send a settlement statement to the buyer’s lawyer with a breakdown of how much money is owed.
Buying their home sight-unseen doesn’t faze Falconer and Payne: “We’re quite community-minded so we like the idea of living in an apartment and being part of a community that’s just starting.
“We’re also going to have a brand new home and we get a chance to go in beforehand and get final quality assurance. Kāinga Ora is keen to help build communities, not just houses and apartments, which is a big thing.”
- This content was supplied by Kāinga Ora
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