Many people wonder whether renting or buying a home is better decision. Most of the time, history has shown it is a smarter financial move to purchase a home than to rent. The final decision is unique to each situation of course. Here are a few points to note about both renting and buying. Buying…
Category: Buyers
Mortgage Applications Rise Upwards
Here is an interesting article from the Herald Website: Baby boomers are returning to the housing market in droves – but younger first home buyers are still doing it tough. Mortgage applications last month were up 38 per cent compared to the same month last year, and were the highest monthly total since November 2007….
Mortgagee Sales are up – Whats happening out there?
Today I read a very interesting article on stuff.co.nz about an Auction that a good friend of mine Roland Lina conducted last night in New Plymouth. It highlights a good point about what is happening in the market. The article reads as follows. Three words are dominating Taranaki’s real estate pages “sell, sell, sell”. As…
House Hunters International Coming To New Zealand!
An opportunity exists NOW for a property buyer in New Zealand to participate in an International TV documentary. If you’re looking to buy a home or vacation property and would like to have it documented on an American TV show that airs in several different countries around the world, including New Zealand then I need…
A Quick Guide To Buying A Home. What To Look Out For, What To Watch.
There is probably no better way to become aware of the condition of a home than to have your home inspected by a licensed inspector. However, there are several considerations on which only you, as the purchaser, can decide. And, as I’ve said in other articles, it’s my belief there are some things you must…
Going Green – Are You Going to Keep Up With What Society Wants?
Generation Y have been bought up with an awareness of the environment and have become more inclined to use and purchase items that are deemed eco friendly. As a result eco-friendly properties are growing to be more well-liked. For a sellers best interest if your house is eco it’s useful for your buyers to be…
What Are You Waiting For?
Its official. Sales volume is the lowest it has been for 16 years 11 months and the market has never been harder to work. Sellers, Buyers and agents… We are all having to adjust, compromise and accept that the days of the boom are well and truly over. And property prices have in fact in…
Christchurch Real Estate Market November/December 2008 Moving Along… Maybe
The Christchurch Real Estate Market was alive and well today. Harcourts Grenadier held 18 Auctions today. After all were conducted the results were quite good. 8 properties sold under the hammer, 2 were sold prior and 2 were sold after the property was passed in and it sounds as though a few will be under…
Google Street View Now Live in New Zealand
Google today announces the launch of Street View on Google Maps in New Zealand: maps.google.co.nz/streetview. Street View is a new feature for Google Maps that lets internet users view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of New Zealand’s cities, towns, regions and remote areas. More than 100 metropolitan areas in six other countries around the…
The Process of The Sale and Purchase of Property In New Zealand
By New Zealand Law all Contracts for the sale of land and property must be Negotiated in Writing. Most Licensed Real Estate Companies will use the standard form which is prepared by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand and the Auckland Law Society. This contract covers the legal issues necessary to protect both parties…
Building Inspection Checklist
This guide should help with sellers and buyers when looking at doing a property transaction. A good builder friend from New Zealand Home Inspections and me have put this together so that you may use it to your advantage. The information is probably the same as what you already know but it is good to…
New Zealand Houses – The Arts and Crafts
The arts and crafts era (1880’s – 1920’s) takes a side step from the traditional New Zealand home. Recently I have spoken about The Modern Townhouse, The Transitional Home, The New Zealand State House, Art Deco Homes, Beautiful Bungalows and The New Zealand Villa. But both before and during the time of the Villa another…
A Step By Step Guide To Buying At Auction
BUYING AT AUCTION: Auctions can be a daunting time to buy a property as some Auctions you may not have any idea where it might sell or what it is worth. In New Plymouth we have adopted a policy of publishing the Auction Reserve in order for the whole process is transparent. We do about…
The First Home Buyers Market in New Zealand Gets Tougher
Yesterday the ANZ National Bank announced property loans will now have to have a 20% deposit. Now this closes up the banks and means that lending in throughout New Zealand is tightening up and buying is becoming a lot more difficult. The 20% deposit in many cases will now need to be savings which means…
The New Zealand House – The Modern Townhouse
Over the past few weeks we have been speaking about New Zealand houses and their designs. We have covered The New Zealand Villa, The New Zealand Bungalow, The Art Deco Age, The New Zealand State House, The Transitional Period Home and we are onto the Modern Townhouse. Modern Townhouses from the 1990’s to the…
100 Auckland Properties Go To Auction In One Big Event.
Yesterday saw a historic day for Real Estate Auctions in New Zealand. What is said to be this countries largest ever property auction event Ray White of Auckland auctioned 100 properties at one event. As David Leggott said in his blog the event was major. With models, balloons and a DJ involved there was more…
BNZ goes below 7 per cent mortgage barrier
BNZ is throwing down the gauntlet to other banks in slashing its lowest mortgage rate today to below 7 per cent. The ‘mortgage rates war’ was a key battleground four years ago when BNZ and ASB went at it hammer andtongs in the spring of 2004. That tussle over 2 year fixed rates gave the…
New Zealand Houses – The State House
In the previous posts we have spoken about The New Zealand Villas and Bungalows and Art Deco, now we get into the era of The State Home (1930’s – 1960’s). The first state houses in the 1930’s were designed and constructed to the highest possible standard budgets permitted. They were built so that no two…
New Zealand Houses – The Art Deco
In the previous posts I have spoken about The Villa and The Bungalow. Now we move onto the Art Deco (1920’s – 1940’s). This style of home originated in Europe in the early years of the 20th Century. It became widely known following the great Exposition des Arts Modernes Decoratifs et Industriels, held in Paris in…
New Zealand Houses – The Bungalow
The Bungalow (1930’s – 1940’s) Yesterday I talked about the Villa. The Next to Come in New Zealands Housing History was the Bungalow. The evolution from villa to the bungalow was interesting. The ceilings were lower and double-hung windows replaced with casements, lead lights made an appearance, fretwork was phased out, the front door moved…
New Zealand Houses – The Villa
The Villa (1900’s – 1920) The New Zealand Villa is probably the first English influenced home to arrive into New Zealand. These grand homes are set amongst the more older neighbourhoods of the cities they reside in. Many villas were built for the more dignified communities of their time. Many of the Villas we see today…
Moving
Once you have sold your property and bought another one too many people the hard part is done, but to many the hardest part is just about to begin. Moving home is often quoted as being one of the most stressful experiences we ever go through in our lives and a chore I will be…
New Plymouth Real Estate – Westown – Full 24 Months of Recent Sales and Market Activity
The Recent Sales Catalouge is now avaliable to you for FREE by simply clicking the image above. The password to open the document is deonswiggs This has taken a lot of hard work with many hours have been spent updating and getting it right ready for you to see on here. (Updates are done Monthly)….
The Future of The Baby Boomer Market
You have no doubt heard of the “Baby Boomers”, those individuals born between 1943 and 1963. I have written about them and also about their offspring, generation X and the ones after that named generation Y. This is a topic that interests me with a great deal of enthusiasm. The baby boomers are coming to…
Mortgagee Sales on the Rise
Last week I spent a number of days in Christchurch checking up on the market conditions and many other things in preperation for part or all of my family moving there soon. As stated in my previous post I was quite taken back by the Christchurch Market to how different it is compared to New…
Whitebait
This short post is really just to tell everyone I am alive and well. I am right now down on the Little Wanganui River catching Whitebait and relaxing. No phone, no email, no people – (hardly). It’s a time to reflect upon life as its been and have a bit of a laugh with the…
What does Freehold, Leashold, Crosslease and Strata Titles Mean to You When Buying Property in New Zealand
When buying property in New Zealand you are effectively buying the building on a set piece of dirt. This piece of dirt is divided up on whets called the councils dwelling plans. Which diagrams where each dwelling is and where all the services and other things are, each of these are called a title.. When…
Some Things to Look Out For When Buying an Investment Rental Property
When you choose to invest in a property to rent out – you should choose wisely. You should initially choose a property that will create a positive income for you as well as a place that will keep the cost of operating low. It would be ideal to create a list to keep you on…
What does the Credit Crunch Mean and How Does it Effect You
The aim of this article is to explain the credit crunch and explain how it may have an effect on you as a borrower. Bearing in mind that this is very variant depending on who you talk to, which company you use to lend and where in the world you are. But this is an…
Buying in a Buyers Market
The news that the nation is in the midst of a real estate correction is hardly headline news anymore. The fact of life is that property prices have come back and the market is slowed down. This slow down means less buyers buying. And with a continual flow of proeprties coming to the market there…