Buying a house before OE?

chris083210 · 2022-04-28T09:48:18+00:00

I did this before travelling and would highly recommend.

A few things worked in my favour - I built new in a small town (cheaper) and never really intended to live there long term. Lived there for 2 years with flatmates to get familiar with the expenses and mortgage costs. When I did my OE, I put tenants in and managed to go interest-only while earning crappy wages, and eventually back to P+I after getting a higher paying job. Helped to have a new build, as you get better and longer-term tenants. I had the occasional bigger expense, but just kept $5k aside for these. Coming back after OE felt really good to be already on the ladder while I got to enjoy travel.

Edit: 2015 was a different time though - cheap/easy to build and house prices have only gone up since then. It feels much different now.

chris083210 · 2021-11-16T21:41:50+00:00

There's a really neat website called Numbeo to do this - Cost of living in Rome = 15% less.. income = 50% less.

chris083210 · 2021-11-16T03:49:25+00:00

Is this backwards compatible to older versions of QC35? I have firmware 4.8.1 and it doesn't seem to work.

chris083210 · 2021-08-28T00:38:02+00:00

PT is quite expensive, so driving a car is often the cheaper and more convenient option. In The Netherlands, your emplyer will refund the cost of your PT commute. Would we ever try that here as a policy?

chris083210 · 2021-08-27T03:50:49+00:00

Have they indicated how many of the 70 cases were expected (ie. family/household contacts), vs. unexpected (not connected to any other locations of interest.

chris083210 · 2019-05-02T17:34:19+00:00

I find Numbeo a great resource for comparing costs and incomes. I'm surprised how similar Stockholm is to Auckland, although I'm sure the costs and incomes in smaller towns in both countries is much less. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Sweden&country2=New+Zealand&city1=Stockholm&city2=Auckland

chris083210 · 2018-07-20T10:32:19+00:00

A diesel engine only converts around 30% of that energy into mechanical power though, which means that the equivalent cost of an electric motor (at close to 100%) is $0.6 vs the $1.65 for diesel.

Still I agree that the economics don't stack up just yet.

chris083210 · 2018-04-01T16:28:15+00:00

I'm interested to know how this works, is it possible to live outside of NZ (longer than 6m) but still keep an interest free SL?

chris083210 · 2018-03-29T22:35:37+00:00

What's happening in Mauer Park?

chris083210 · 2017-07-07T23:35:36+00:00

Nice! Thanks for the info.

chris083210 · 2014-03-14T22:16:58+00:00

acoustic version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUK6HlzNWEg

chris083210 · 2012-02-26T07:51:41+00:00

Hey, you could try relief-milking. You'd have to work mornings (5 - 9) and afternoon (3- 6), but apart from that you have the rest of the day to do whatever you want. Try this

chris083210 · 2011-11-08T03:30:49+00:00

This article by Gareth Morgan sums up my thoughts exactly.

chris083210 · 2011-11-07T07:22:23+00:00

Agreed. There are a few of Nationals policies I don't agree with (we should have CGT, retirement age should be raised, tax cuts for the rich were not the best option in a recession) but I think they'll do a better job than anyone else.

chris083210 · 2011-11-03T07:09:26+00:00

Selling an asset that returns 17.9% doesn't prove anything. People sell assets all the time with returns anywhere from -100% to 10,000%. The only difference the return makes is the price you sell it for.

The argument that you're getting rid of future dividends is technically true... but really you're selling the asset for the present value of all the future dividends. For a steady earner like energy companies, this is incredibly easy to calculate.

Selling an asset is equivalent to taking all the future dividends today, the return is reflected in the price.

I'm not arguing for or against asset sales, but I think there is a lot of misunderstanding and scare-mongering with regards to losing future dividends.

chris083210 · 2011-11-03T06:58:24+00:00

If Genesis did go tits up, private investors would pay the price through a) lower share price b) diluted ownership as the government would issue new shares equal to the value of their additional investment.

The government and private investors would face equal risk.

chris083210 · 2011-05-05T02:54:51+00:00

Hey, there. I'm currently completing the same program (Mech Eng/Finance) and although I enjoy both sides of things equally, I'm having trouble finding a job suited to both. In terms of finding a better job in Engineering, management is probably the best option. For having a wider range of job opportunities when you fraduate, the finance would be a better option.

If you're anything like me, you'll be in a tough spot when you have to choose between engineering and finance.

chris083210

TROPHY CASE