Top Tips for Buying an Apartment
With apartments, as with stand-alone houses, it’s worth doing your research before buying.
Apartments can offer advantages such as convenient locations and low maintenance. But it’s important to do your homework before you buy, so you’re not stuck in a leaky building, one with excessive overheads, or one that’s overpriced.
With an apartment, there are some additional checks you’ll need to make such as body corporate costs.
Getting started
- Before you start looking, make a wish list. Think about price, location, size of apartment, and any features you particularly want such as sun, views, or proximity to services.
Gathering information
- Get a copy of the Body Corporate Rules - this will tell you how the apartment/townhouse building is maintained, including which work is the responsibility of all owners of the apartment building and which is the responsibility of individual owners.
- Ask to see the body corporate minutes - have there been any major repairs done or are any planned? This could indicate the building is leaky.
- Get a copy of the certificate of title - this will tell you who owns the apartment/townhouse, and whether there are any mortgages, leases, or other interests affecting the title. You can get a certificate of title from Land Information New Zealand or you can get a lawyer or search agent to get it for you.
- Check the District Plan and/or local council design guidelines - this should tell you what can be built on neighbouring sites - you don’t want to lose your views!
- Get a copy of the Land Information Memorandum from your local council - this should tell you about rates, restrictions on use of the land/buildings, resource consents relating to the property, sewage and stormwater pipes, and any environmental issues such as erosion, flooding and hazardous substances that might affect the site.
- Contact the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service to see if a claim has ever been lodged on the building.
- Get information about the price. One of the best ways to do this is to look at other properties on the market in comparable locations. You can also buy information about property price trends from the Quotable Value website, or you can hire a valuer.
- Before you sign any agreement, seek legal advice
- Check if nearby industries are going to impact on your apartment living - noise, dust, smell.
- Talk to others about security, weathertightness and any other problems (e.g. the body corporate).
If you have any doubts about any aspect, ask the land agent. If the agent misleads you, you’ll have some comeback if things go wrong later. If the agent avoids answering your questions, proceed with caution.
Checking a building’s structure
Many of the buildings affected by weathertightness issues have been apartment or townhouse developments. Before you buy an apartment or townhouse, you’ll want to know that it is structurally sound and weathertight. Some warning signs include:
- Dampness, mould, musty smells, stains, bubbled paint, and other signs of moisture.
- Rot, cracks, rust, holes or other signs of damage in the cladding, roof and other parts of the building’s exterior.
- Springy or sloping floors.
- Piles that are soft when you push a screwdriver into them.
Also check:
- that power points are working
- that appliances are working
- that the home is well insulated.
The ConsumerBuild website has more information about leaky buildings.
Other considerations
- Ask how much you will pay in body corporate levies, and what they cover (these cover things like insurance and building maintenance).
- Ask who the architect, builder and developer were, and find out whether they are still in business - if the developers or others have gone out of business this might indicate problems with the development
- Ask if there have ever been any legal or weathertightness claims over the building.
- Find out if the building has a permanent manager.
- Ask whether you get a car park.
- Check if there is insulation, especially noise insulation in central city areas - it’s hard to retrofit in many apartments.
- Which way do its windows face? A south-facing apartment might be cold and damp, and north-facing or west-facing apartment might get too much sun unless shading is provided for summer. Visit the apartment at different times of the day to see how the sun affects it. You’ll also want to consider views and privacy.
- Are access areas well-lit and highly visible? Are there security cameras?
- Check which doors and windows can be opened to let air in.
- Check out the neighbourhood. Does it feel safe? Will it be noisy? Are there plenty of people around, day and night? Are there are any bars, schools or on-site facilities such as swimming pools that might be noisy or restaurants that may cause unwanted smells in the apartment?
- Check the noise regulations with your local council, they often do not restrict noise in central city areas and being woken at 4.30am by rubbish collection soon gets boring.
- Check whether the apartment/townhouse has acoustic glazing - this helps reduce noise from outside but it will still come in if doors and windows are open.
