[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 11, 2005 - 4:49 am

It’s westan. Aka Westan Johnson. He’s a champion

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 11, 2005 - 12:38 am

Wayne,

I’m glad it worked out with the ANZ! You will be happy with the service they provide you

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 8, 2005 - 5:20 am

Don and Liz,

Yes, it was a personal account, in my own name. It also has internet/phone banking set up too.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 8, 2005 - 4:41 am

From here:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3210797a6004,00.html

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 7, 2005 - 3:24 am

Is there a sales agent at Harvey’s named Linda? You guys are confusing me. Hehe. I think I’ll need to check my books, I have her card somewhere.

<<edit>>

Yes, I was correct. There is a Linda at Harveys – Linda Churchill.

Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 7, 2005 - 12:06 am

Originally posted by ozi:

The real estate agents and property managers there were a great help! Linda from Lamberton’s mentioned she was expecting an influx of aussies next week from Steve’s seminar.

Sorry, I should correct myself. The agent I was referring to was Jenny from Lamberton’s, not Linda (she works for Harvey’s I think). Just wanted to clear this up.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 2, 2005 - 3:29 am

Hi muppet,

I was one of the aussies down in Tok last week.Great little town The real estate agents and property managers there were a great help! Linda from Lamberton’s mentioned she was expecting an influx of aussies next week from Steve’s seminar. She initially assumed I was one of there. Hehe. Anyway, she was working busily trying to get properties listed before they all arrived.

I had a look at about 13 houses while in Tokoroa. Every single one of them bar one were showing returns of 10-13%, but personally I wouldn’t buy any of them. Most were either un-inhabitable, in a bad area, in need of major repairs, un-maintainable, or all of the above. I wasn’t in a positiion to take on so much work, but then again, these properties may be fit for other people’s criteria.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

March 2, 2005 - 12:06 am

It may be a bit late, but couldn’t you have made it a condition in the contract that you would only settle if the junk was cleared? Also, if you hold back $25k on settlement, won’t that mean you are in breach of the contract? I know it’s a difficult situation, maybe speak to your solicitor about this and see what they say.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 28, 2005 - 12:41 am

Hi Gramyre,

Yes, I can add a little about Wanganui and Rotorua. Personally I loved both these areas, although Wanganui sort of switches off after about 5 – 6pm, there isn’t much to do.

Wanganui:
* Nice quiet town, not to busy.
* There wasn’t really much property with high returns available when I was there. Prices have come up. Around 8% seems to be the norm.
* There are some really rough areas in Wanganui, gang activity, etc… Get in contact with a few of the property managers and ask which areas to avoid. I forget the names of the areas, but one of the property managers drew a big circle around the town map and said “if you stay inside the circle, you should be fine!”.
* I think there is one main high school in Wanganui. To be elegable to go to this school, you need to live in the high school zone. This is very sought after with renters! But expect to pay a premium for property in this zone.

Rotorua:
* Very touristy, didn’t like the traffic too much
* The market is very hot. I found that there wasn’t much around below $100k, and the ones that were available were either very run down or in a bad area.
* Prices have come up a lot in the past 6 months I’ve been told. Rents haven’t kept up. You will struggle to find anything returning above 8%, unless you buy a cheapy and do it up. Interestingly, one of the agents I spoke with believes rents won’t increase by much, if at all. Because of the lower socio-ecomomic backgrounds of most locals, low incomes, etc, she seems to think there is only so much they can afford (?).
* The two rough areas i’ve been told to avoid are Fordlands and Ngapuna (spelling?). After driving though Fordlands, I can see why this is. I wouldn’t buy there, but then again others have and had no problems. Sure yeilds are high, but that comes at a risk!
* Get in contact with Richard from Rotorua Rentals. He will tell you where to buy, where not to buy, and what to buy!

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 25, 2005 - 5:31 am

Hi Nobleone,

Even though numbers etc aren’t all that important, I’d be happy share specifics, but I’ll hold back until it is confirmed that the vendor has signed (see my previous post).

Originally posted by Nobleone:

What were your impressions of Wairoa and Hawera in particular?

Hawera:
A great little town. Appears to be very stable and the economy looks good. Rental demand is very strong with very low vacancy rates for 3+ bedroom homes, with garage. I loved this town and basically, I it’s a place where i’d feel comfortable buying.

Wairoa:
Also a nice town, however not as nice as Hawera Once again, rental demand is very strong.

From both of these towns, it was very difficult to find good returning properties. Pretty much every agent I saw had nothing spectactular available on their books.

Good luck with your trip over to NZ. I think you will be quite happy with the locations you have chosen.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 25, 2005 - 5:16 am

Hi Del,

Thanks! Yes, the cost of the trip was well worth it. Even though I was there purely for business, I couldn’t help but take in some of the sensational attractions and scenery NZ has to offer too It’s a lovely place!

The property I purchased was in Invercargill. Actually, I may have jumped the gun a little saying I bought it. I just got off the phone with the solicitor. Basically I have put in an unconditional offer to the vendor (after getting my builders and finance done of course), and agreed on purchase price with the vendor too. However, the garage doesn’t have the permit signed off yet by the council, so I made it a condition in the purchase contract that this gets approved by the vendor before settlement. Anyway, the vendor hasn’t quite confirmed yet, so it’s kind of up in the air still, but I think it should be ok.

Fingers crossed.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 24, 2005 - 3:03 am

I had some fish and chups at a place in Taumaranui… forget the name. But I think it should have been called ‘oil and chips’ instead. The fish, or what there was of it, was probably 60% batter, 30% oil, 10% fish.

Aussie fish and chips rules!

Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 16, 2005 - 4:26 am

I opened an ANZ account in NZ from Australia the other week. No problems!

Contact Sacha or Carina at ANZ (Balclutha) on (03) 418 2022 or (03) 418 4731.

You won’t find better customer service anywhere else. They have been great to deal with.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 13, 2005 - 7:04 am

http://www.kpimagazine.co.nz

You can order online. Around ~$11 AUD per magazine.

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 13, 2005 - 7:02 am

Just to add to Westan’s post, I was in Invercargill for the past 2 days and it was cold and rainy I thought I had escaped the unpredicatable summer in Melbourne, but I guess I was wrong. Ah well, look on the bright side, as I was leaving Invercargill this morning the sun decided to come up and now in Dunedin it’s pretty warm and sunny

Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 13, 2005 - 6:54 am

aussieemail,

I’m in Dunedin at the moment. I spent a day looking at properties here. Although it’s a beautiful city (I love the place!!), returns are not that great. It is hard to get 8% deals here. However, if cashflow isn’t your game and you prefer capital growth, I say there are great opportunities here in Dunedin.

I’d book a flight over here and look around yourself, because you won’t truly appreciate the beauty of the place until you do!

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 3, 2005 - 7:36 am

I knew i forgot something. VEGGIES! Rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, low in calories! Can’t get enough of them. Fruit is essential too! Just don’t over do it with fruit as fruit is high sugar (fructose).

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

February 3, 2005 - 6:54 am

Hi unannounced,

Although I’m no professional, i’ve been bodybuilding for the past 4 or so years, so I’ll give you a few tips to improve you health/fitness.

Originally posted by unannounced:
`Is there a workout that specifically focuses on improving energy?`

Yes there is – it’s called diet! [biggrin] No matter how much exercise you do, how much weight you can lift in the gym, your mental alertness, energy levels, etc… all come down to nutrition. If you eat junk, you feel like junk. Try and eat a clean balanced diet rich in protein, moderate carbs, and moderate fats. Your protein should come from lean meats – fish, chicken breast, red meats, etc.. Eggs are good too. Carbs – go for the low glycemic carbs such as oats, basmati rice, sweet potatoe. This will keep you fuller for longer and will keep your energy levels up for longer. Avoid sugar, sweets, etc.. as this will give you a quick energy fix, then put you to sleep 15 minutes later. Fats – you need these to be healthy! Only the bad saturated fats should be avoided. Healthy fats such as nuts, olive oil and flaxseed oil are great for a healthy body.

Other things which help are:
– Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day (eat every 3 hours). This keeps your metabolism ticking over.
– Exercise 3-5 times a week at most. No need to over do it. You will only over-train your body, hence it won’t recover fully.
– Sleep – yes, rest is important. This is when your body recovers.
– Change your training routine every 4-8 weeks. This will keep your body guessing and reduce the plateau effect on results from doing the same exercise endlessly, over and over.

Cheers
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

January 31, 2005 - 11:40 pm

I believe you can own it, only if the land is classed as “freehold”. If it’s “leasehold”, this is where you lease it.

Regards,
Ozi

[oziMember@oziJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 262]

January 27, 2005 - 12:30 am

I’ve been told that even if you have a NZ trust, you still need to pay capital gains tax here in Australia on profits gained from a sale. All the trust allows you to do is defer paying the tax to a later date of your choice. The only way to completely avoid paying CGT is to move to NZ for 6-12 months and become a NZ resident, where you will then be taxed under NZ laws. Since you are then a NZ resident, you can pay yourself the profits, then move back to Austrlia without getting taxed in Aus. There may be other ways, if you get super creative.

Regards,
Ozi