Imagine
a perfect warm Saturday morning. You wake up; you can smell the ocean in
the air. A breeze blows gently from the sea, calling you down to the
shore. You spend the morning under an unbelievably clear blue sky,
pristine sand underfoot, the warm sun on your skin. You build up a hunger
playing in the surf, and you can’t decide where you want to get some breakfast.
You have your choice of the freshest of fish, hormone-free meat, and vegetables
and herbs plucked from a nearby farm and served up with endless variety,
and you don’t even have to change out of your flip-flops and beach shorts.
Ah, the island life.
On the way
to your café of choice, everyone you pass has a friendly word and
a smile - they all know what you’re coming to suspect – this is paradise.
So New Zealand
is your dream.
There’s no
greater location to set your sights on, no country with more to offer the
human spirit in search of freedom. So let’s talk about how to make
it happen. The purpose of this article is to give you a brief
overview of what you will need to know and where to begin, in order to
move to New Zealand, buy property there, and start a business.
What New
Zealand Has to Offer:
Ok, so paradise
is well and good, but if you’re moving halfway across the world you want
to make sure you’re going to still be in love with the place a few years
down the road. So what does NZ have to offer to keep you enthralled?
Aside
from the incredible scenery you’ve no doubt heard all about, and excluding
the financial reasons and focusing just on enjoyment of life, there are:
A wealth of entertainment
options, including theatre, galleries and museums, cinema, and 24-hour
nightlife.
The beach at your
doorstep, and all the good that entails:- fishing, clam-digging, swimming,surfing,
sailing, sailing, kayaking, sunbathing, and the list goes on…
Dining options
including whatever you’re in the mood for, from casual options to five-star
fare, alongwith an exceptional selection of local wines and beer.
Seemingly endless terrain for the explorer
in you – from the many tracks you’re sure to find near you, wherever you
may settle, to the many neighboring islands, or any of the long-range treks
available on the North and South main islands.
Affordable, top-quality healthcare for
adults and children.
A rich cultural heritage well worth
exploring. And of course if you ever do bore of all the above, you can
always try white water rafting, skydiving, bungy
jumping, rock climbing, or snowboarding.
Buying property:
The New
Zealand government presents no major obstacles to foreign investment, and
in fact, welcomes it. New Zealand is currently showing high rental demand,
and property values are steadily appreciating, creating the potential for
real value in purchasing property, whether you’re planning to invest
in a home of your own, or buying property to rent or resell.
It is a relatively
tax friendly country, without the Mortgage Stamp Duty Australia levies
(which is up to 3-4% of the purchase price), and with no capital gains
tax (though it is a good idea to check with your accountant and clarify
what, if anything, you may need to do to ensure you are not liable for
taxation in your home country when selling property abroad).
You can also
claim depreciation (beginning from the date of purchase) on the building
on an investment property at a flat rate of 4% per year, regardless of
the age of the structure.
The Process
in Brief:
Once you
find the property you intend to buy, you will make an offer in writing,
which is then signed by the seller. Your offer will then either be accepted
or rejected, or a counter-offer will be made. Once you and the seller
settle on an accepted offer, another document is drafted and copies lodged
with the buyer, the seller, and the lawyers for both parties.
The deposit
is usually made at this time, and paid into the real estate agent’s trust
account and held for at least ten days unless both buyer and seller sign
a contract for early release of the deposit.
Escrow
is not used in New Zealand. Instead, your deposit on the property
goes directly to your rental agent’s trust account and the settlement is
made in the lawyer’s office with neither buyer nor seller present.
A few Terms
You May Hear:
Rates:Rates
are essentially the portion you pay the government each year for the cost
of the infrastructure around you.
Ratable Valuation:
A yearly evaluation made by the local council in your area, assessing the
value of property in each neighborhood.
Solicitor:A
lawyer.
Foreshore:
Any land above the low water mark that is covered by high tide.
Starting a
Small to Medium Sized Business:
You will
find that there is endless help for starting your business in New Zealand.
There are numerous organizations offering training and workshops.
In starting up my business, I took advantage of several, amongst the best
were the courses offered by BIZ Central, which offers comprehensive business
support funded by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. Find them at:
http://www.bizcentral.co.nz
They offer an enormous amount of free, accessible and useful information
from marketing tips to courses on sorting out your taxes to your best advantage.
Common
Business Structures:
Sole Trader:
A sole trader
operates the business on his or her own. As they own, manage and control
the business, a sole trader receives all income and is personally liable
for all taxes and debts. Generally a sole trader can start up the
business without following any formal legal processes. Others may be employed
to help run the business. No registration is required to operate as a sole
trader.
Legalities
Including Visas:
The New Zealand
immigration service states that they prefer you to apply for your long-term
visa before you arrive in the country. This is a good idea, as the
information required may be easier to obtain from home. So, you have
three months on a visitor’s permit, and this may not be enough time to
get everything in order. I did not follow this advice, and in my
experience, the fingerprint approval from the FBI took much longer than
I had anticipated, and I was mere days away from having to take a short
trip to Australia to renew my tourist visa upon return (the fingerprint
approval is one of the requirements of the permit application process.
Look here
for the rest:
(http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/invest/startingabusiness/LinkAdministration/FormsAndGuidesLinks/guideltbv.htm?level=3) There are
several choices for long-term visas and the one you choose to apply for
will depend on your circumstances. If you have family living in New
Zealand (mother, wife, children – a distant uncle will do you no good in
applying under the family category), they may be able to help you obtain
your visa. If you have a large sum of money, that too may be able
to help you. Look through your options on the immigration website.
Keep in mind too, that if you are a couple applying (even if you are not
married, you may apply as a de facto partnership) you may file a joint
application. Therefore, if one of you has more points than the other,
they can apply as the primary applicant, and the one with fewer points
can piggyback on the application. There is still a points requirement,
but it is less than applying on your own.
Overall, you
will find that the immigration office is populated with generally helpful
people, and the application process, though mildly agonizing in its bureaucracy,
is much less of a pain than it could be. Phone the immigration
service if you have any questions about your visa, or about the particulars
of a specific visa category, they will usually give you better advice than
you can get anywhere else.
