First home for let

22-year-old property investor Nupur Kaku ,who can see the two-bedroom unit she purchased a year ago from the home where she lives with her family in Auckland's Blockhouse Bay.

It's not quite what I expected to be doing at my age, but now I really like the whole idea of being a landlord," says 22-year-old property investor Nupur Kaku, who can see the two-bedroom unit she purchased a year ago from the bedroom window of the home where she lives with her family in Auckland's Blockhouse Bay.

Born in India, but raised here, Nupur relished her time at Lynfield College, discovering a real affinity for science-based subjects and eventually moved on to Auckland University, where she studied engineering.

"I just loved fiddling with things; breaking and mending them, right from when I was little, and getting through my studies and finding a job with Beca as an electrical engineer was really great."

As an enterprising teenager, Nupur was employed part-time at a video store and tutored younger students, out-of-school hours.

"It was a bit tough sometimes, but it was good too," she says.

"I quickly developed a savings regime and I knew that it was important to resist impulse buying, and build myself a nest-egg.

"My friends liked going out and buying a new dress or a pair of shoes but I was much more careful and worked on the basis that I had to save as much as I spent!"

The impetus for Nupur's move into the property market came in the form of a plan - devised by her mother, successful Barfoot & Thompson agent Gopika Kaku.

"Mum's been selling property for many years and she's got loads of really committed customers," Nupur says.

"She kept coming home and telling me that the age of first-time purchasers in suburbs like Mount Eden and Mount Albert was rising to between 35 and 40, and I could see that she was getting worried about how that might affect me."

Until then, Nupur hadn't seriously thought about becoming a home-buyer but Gopika and the rest of the family saw the need - stepping in, outlining a proposal, and offering to help.

"Mum knew that I had a decent amount saved towards a deposit, and she decided that she simply wanted to get me on the housing ladder, and came up with the rest!"

The process of doing so was remarkably seamless.

"She was out and about in our suburb on a day-to-day basis and like any good salesperson when she saw the ideal property appear, she called her buyer and we got onto it straight away."

That 'ideal' purchase was a two-bedroom unit in a central Blockhouse Bay street, well-built in the 1970s and free from any issues relating to kiln-dried timber or 'leaky homes' in general. It needed no repairs or immediate maintenance which was an added bonus.
"We did have to view it in the dark, with no lights on though," she says.

"For some reason, the previous owner had some issues with her fuses!"

Things were made simpler still, due to the fact that Nupur was able to make an unconditional offer, based on her deposit and a good annual income.

"And of course, I didn't have another property that I needed to sell."

As a landlord, she has enjoyed the challenge of managing the property herself, sorting out her mortgage, rates and insurance payments and making the books balance at the end of each month.

"I've got the best tenants in the world. They're a couple with a young son who goes to my old school, Lynfield College."

Nupur has even helped out by passing on some old school books.

"The only thing they've ever wanted from me is a TV aerial, which was no problem, and in an ideal world I'd really like them to stay on for years!"

Still on the up-side, Nupur has inspired a number of her contemporaries to become property owners too although she notes that they are having to go further out west in order to find properties under $500,000.

"It isn't easy, but I'm beginning to think about taking the next step and maybe buying something else myself.

"I need to look at my long-term future and the prospect of a family home one day."

"You hear that buying property is complicated but if you have everything lined up well and you've done your homework, I don't think that's true.

"It's all about being disciplined, being positive and getting good support."

NEST OR INVEST

• Recent research by Barfoot & Thompson found a small but growing number of first
home buyers are choosing to invest in their first property as a rental, rather than living
in it themselves.

• This now represents 9 percent of Aucklanders' first home purchases between 2000 and 2015, compared to just 3 percent before 2000. Thinking about becoming a landlord? Check out Barfoot & Thompsons' information at www.barfoot.co.nz/landlords - with
the latest market data and information on everything from helping you understand return on investment, to property maintenance tips.

Content series brought to you by Barfoot & Thompson.