GOLDEN HOMES

RIPE FOR DEVELOPMENT

AS HOUSE PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE, DEAN MCGUIGAN, DIRECTOR OF GOLDEN HOMES CANTERBURY, TELLS US WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SECTION AND BUILD FOR A BETTER FUTURE.

DEAN MCGUIGAN Director, Canterbury Region at Golden Homes Over the last few columns, I’ve talked about house and land packages, investment opportunities, first home buyers and broadening your horizons regarding locations if you are looking to join the market. But don’t think I have forgotten about those with sections or land stashed away for a rainy day.

In this ever-changing and dynamic market, if you have a section, it is likely that there is never going to be a cheaper or better time to build or develop your land than now.

It is widely publicised that building product prices are on the way up due to supply and demand, so for those who hold the ‘ace’ card of land ownership, you will have already seen a remarkable rise and capital gain on your asset.

Perhaps now might be the ideal time to leverage off this increase and lock in a build cost at today’s prices to realise the full potential of your property.

Whether you intend to build to add to your rental portfolio or sell it off quickly to reap the rewards of capital gains in the current market, it’s worth doing the maths and running it past your accountant to see if ‘now’ is the time.

Look for a design that best suits the site. Get advice from your building company as to what design will best suit the orientation of the site, such as where the sun rises and sets in relation to the site layout. Maximising the site coverage and getting you the best results for your budget, whether you are building to sell or wanting to keep your new home as an investment, are top things to consider.

A good building company should come and stand on the site, do their research and design a plan according to each section.

There are certainly some significant tax advantages to building new at the moment, so don’t let the opportunity outprice itself.