Navigating the property minefield in Christchurch.
The Canterbury earthquakes affected Canterbury as a whole, they discriminated against a few properties more than others but the whole region shook. That means the whole area was affected in some way or another.
EQC, who were understaffed and underprepared had the awful task of scoping the housing stock of an entire city and it’s surrounding areas. They called upon all walks of life to carry out scopes; builders, hairdressers, policemen, firemen and anyone who put their hand up to help out, were handed a clipboard and a lanyard and instructed to record the damage to each property. This was a thankless job for people who were unqualified to know the difference between structural and non-structural damage.
The now infamous EQC Scopes were not carried out by structural engineers or building experts, unfortunately, leaving homeowners in a tricky situation.
Work was carried out by contractors on the EQC program, working to these scopes. It didn’t require a structural engineer (most of the time) and didn’t get lodged through the City Council. They were signed off by builders and no engineers were involved in the process. Strapped for cash and resources, these repairs were often rushed and completely inadequate – see the flood of media stories surfacing 8 years on.
Every house that has had works carried out to it in relation to the Canterbury earthquakes can be classified ‘As Is Where Is’. The big difference is that once people were pushed ‘over cap’ – above the $100,000 plus GST threshold, the homeowner was free to engage their insurer in the repair/rebuild/payout process. This system was flipped successfully for Kaikoura in which insurers were engaged first, speeding the process considerably.
When a homeowner accepts an offer from EQC and their insurer and takes the cash payout, that is when a home is officially classified as ‘As Is Where Is’. Once a new purchaser settles on that house, it is uninsured and unrepaired. That’s where a company like Arete steps in.
Once we purchase, we have an engineers report to work to, repairs are lodged through council along with a scope for the builder to follow and all of our efforts work towards the reinsurance process which is a systematic process of bringing the property back up to building code.
We often hear people say they wouldn’t buy an ex-As Is, and we may be biased and a little proud of our product, but at least the paper trail of repairs is openly available to the purchaser and is signed off by a fully qualified structural engineer, working alongside an LBP (licensed building practitioner, builder with 10+ years experience).
We have purchased many properties lately that were ‘repaired’ by EQC, the homeowner was none-the-wiser until it came to selling…and many fail building reports due to shoddy work. The homeowner must then go back to EQC to reopen their claim. This is alarmingly common in Christchurch now and it makes purchasing a property a tricky domain to navigate. Be sure to do your due diligence and don’t be afraid to ask for all of the paperwork!
When selling an ‘As Is’ property that you own, rest assured that Arete will purchase if we deem the house repairable and we will go through our usual process of reinstating the dwelling to a re-insurable, repaired and often renovated home.
Do you have a unit title or block of flats you want to sell?
Give us a call today on 0800 568 568 or email
enquiry@areteproperty.co.nz to find out if we can help you sell your unit title property or block of flats, As Is Where Is.
