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 to hear from you.
About the show:
The show takes the viewer through the buyers process from touring houses to making offers, each episode of HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL highlights the experiences of finding and purchasing a property. Each episode breaks down as follows:
* First, we meet the buyers in their current residence to find out what type of property they are looking to purchase and what they would like in a new home. They give us a tour of their current residence.
* Then, we meet the agent who discusses the home buying trends in the area and shows the clients three comparable properties that suit their needs.
* Finally, the clients select a property to purchase and the episode ends with the homebuyers already moved into their new home.
To have a look at the show go onto Youtube.com and type in House Hunters international or follow this link to HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL
For the person/people chosen to participate cameras will follow you as you tour 3 different properties and ultimately choose the one to buy and move into. This is a great opportunity for you. Whether you like the thought of being on TV or if you like the thought of being able to have a professional documentary of you buying a property, this is for you.
The show is looking for outgoing, lively people who are planning to purchase a place in the next 3-6 months. Please note that shooting usually takes about 5 days. If you are interested, please contact me on deon@deonswiggs.com or deon@propertyprofitsecrets.com or call me on my mobile 0274620350 for more information.
February 14 2009 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 2 Comments »
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 offer in the next few days. The interesting thing to note is that many of the properties that were been Auctioned today were of the higher end of the market.
This may be good news for the market in the fact it shows that the buyers are still out there and there are still people with money to buy. Sales numbers on previous years are well below what they were so it is still more important than ever to have your property stand out. Targeted, high profile marketing, sound presentation combined with a strong structure and a competitive edge when it comes to the price and you will attract the buyers out there to your property and hopefully the hard work put in will get an offer on the table that if not at an acceptable level you can work with.
The total amount of sales this year has been consistently moving downwards as the economy in New Zealand has been crippled by the global credit crisis. In recent months there has been some relief for us all with interest rates falling, fuel prices falling and tax cuts from the government but these are still not seen to be enough to help some of the struggling families out there as many won’t feel these reductions for many months to come. So the market still has some
The statistics below show the data collected by the REINZ for the Christchurch Central Area (The 4 Avenues) and how much different this year has been to two years ago.
The tables below read: DATE; MEDIAN; TOTAL SALES; DAYS ON MARKET
|
May 2008
|
$322,500.00
|
57
|
52
|
|
|
Jun 2008
|
$357,500.00
|
42
|
47
|
|
|
Jul 2008
|
$342,500.00
|
40
|
57
|
|
|
Aug 2008
|
$334,950.00
|
43
|
57
|
|
|
Sep 2008
|
$332,250.00
|
34
|
59
|
|
|
Oct 2008
|
$310,000.00
|
33
|
47
|
|
|
Nov 2008
|
$310,000.00
|
35
|
45
|
|
Now Compare this for the same period 2 years ago.
|
May 2006
|
$315,000.00
|
86
|
42
|
|
Jun 2006
|
$319,000.00
|
82
|
41
|
|
Jul 2006
|
$298,750.00
|
92
|
41
|
|
Aug 2006
|
$307,000.00
|
84
|
53
|
|
Sep 2006
|
$300,000.00
|
77
|
53
|
|
Oct 2006
|
$327,000.00
|
82
|
38
|
|
Nov 2006
|
$300,000.00
|
91
|
40
|
|
Dec 2006
|
$355,000.00
|
93
|
43
|
You can see quite clearly that the sales volume is below half of what it was two years ago for the exact same area. This is why it is so important to do all the things I mentioned above. The fact of reality is that there are more listings than last year and half the sales. Dont be the one sitting on the market and not selling. Be one of the ones who do sell. It is hard to look at the price from these graphs and compare it in this cross section as it is only a small sample of the market and too much influencial data can skew the data. But below is a graph of the median price for this Christchurch Central (4 Avenues) area. The other thing is the sales stats from the REINZ only show medium not average so many influencing factors can skew the graph over each month.
The market is not completely dead, as I said right at the start of this post there are still properties selling and today we saw a number sell under the hammer which just hasnt been heppening to that extent on a consistent basis for a while now. The feeling I get is buyers are ready to buy but are waiting for that opportunity that they consider a good buy. Most buyers I talk to out there say there is still a lot of room for the market to move. And unfortunately when your in a buyers market these are the words that are going to ring true in many cases. The sales volume for New Zealand in November 2008 were 4297 sales. The next lowest was in August 2008 with 4220. But previous to this years shocking sales volume drop the lowest sales in any given month was a massive 16 years ago when in January 1992 there were 4,427 sales.
Buyers are holding tight, but are still buying in other ways. Its a funny market, one none of us can predict.
There are people out there that can see good buys but so many more are saying they will get better and are waiting.
December 11 2008 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 2 Comments »
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 sales are from Westown New Plymouth which is the area of New Plymouth I specialise in. This document shows every single sale from this area dating back to November 2006. Thats two years of sales!
This is great reference document for the people of New Plymouth. It directly compares sales to sales in a pictorial format which can give you a very clear directory of sales. I have found that this document helps the people I let use it feel confident in what they are doing. There seems to be little confidence with some people but by showing that there still are many many people buying houses for a reasonable price it gives a sence of security that the person is doing the right thing.
Take a look. I have put this up for open viewing because I feel its important to make things avaliable to people who need it. I have put alot of time and effort into this and if you do take a look at this document I would appeciate your feedback so I can make improvemtents and make it even better would be appreciated.
Remember this is just for the properties of westown which has approx 2000 homes. So its not a true representation of New Plymouth but a very good cross view.
Password: deonswiggs
November 06 2008 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 5 Comments »
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 family. Sorry to those of you who have emailed me. I will respond next week when down in Christchurch. While down there I am going to be helping my friend Brendan Burns to get into parliament at the forthcoming elections in November.
Anyway The point of this post is more a symbolic message that I was thinking about when catching these whitebait that are trying so dam hard to get to the top of the river to spawn. If you look at the whitebait they are moving in shoals. You might see 3 or 4 shoals of them at any given time but they are all trying to get to the same place. They are all trying to get to the top of the river. I also looked out and thought look at all the hurdles or traps that these whitebait have to get through before they even get a chance of making it up the river.
I then looked at my own life and thought I am not much different to these whitebait. If I look at my lifeline as the windy river up to the mountains in my case the mountains could mean retirement or heaven (which ever come first). But I look at how my life has gone so far and I think how the whitebait story goes. I have a goal, I have a drive to make me reach my goal, and oh the hurdles and traps on the way are just everywhere. People trying to bring me down, events trying to stop me in my tracks, people trying to scare me onto a different path of life. It’s all there.
But I thought about the whitebait story a little further and into the field of Real Estate. Now everyone in the Real Estate industry has a common goal – whether to sell the house or buy the house you have that common goal. Real Estate agents no matter what the company what to make the sale – so there is a common goal. Just as the whitebait all Real Estate agents are striving for that goal, think of the agent as an individual whitebait. Now when you think about the shoal – that is the company that agent works under. And as I said above you can see numerous amounts of these shoals/companies moving up the river/goals at the same time. All companies do have the same goal. Some of them get trapped some of them go on to make it. Leadership and direction is important at a company level – not an individual level.
Along the way everyone in the sales process – the agent and the client will come accorss hurdles to get through. Some of them big some of them may just be a rapid. And some of them will catch you out and put a stop to the deal. But just as the whitebait they keep trying and keep coming. So if you do get stuck on a hurdle that throws you off don’t be too hard on yourself. The whitebait doesn’t. It just keeps going. It has a clear goal and it wants to make it. If we all had the determination of the whitebait we would all be very successful and happy in life.
I think that if you look at this whitebait story the main lesson I learnt it’s not just about you it’s about your team. No matter how strong you are and good you are if your team or company get caught you’re going to be caught with them. Translating this to Real Estate it is important to work with someone in a good team or company. A strong team or company will get you as a seller or buyer easily through the hurdles of the selling process and have a successful outcome.
October 24 2008 | Buyers and Sellers | 4 Comments »
This week alone I have had two offers on a property that I have had on the market for a number or weeks. This property is not in the most desirable location but is not of a location you would be scared for your family. But this property has been totally renovated. It is a 3 bedroom house with nice open plan area with a brand spanking new kitchen and bathroom, and it’s been done with great quality.
This property was bought by the owners for $240,000 just over 2 years ago and at the time would have been a reasonable buy. But when they bought it was run down and needed a complete makeover which is what they have done. The owners recognise they over spent on the renovations but a change on circumstance means that they need to move. Now the renovations cost about 50 grand to complete so the capital investment made by them is approx 290,000 if you just add the two together but the owners are happy to part with a gross figure of 270,000. So after their fees etc you can do the sums anyway.
But to get to the point this week I had two offers presented to me from buyers. And both these offers are below the original purchase price. Now this is just really puzzling me. I really don’t know what’s going through these purchasers minds to think that they can get away with this robbery. It’s just not on.
To justify this argument a month ago the house next door which is very similar design but still original sold for 260,000? But buyers don’t seem to give about that. Fair enough to the buyer that there are a number of forced sales out there where a bargin can be achieved.
I’d like to quote some local statistics for New Plymouth. In May just gone sales volume was down 45% on May 207 to only 96 units. But the average sale price went up over the same time 2.1%. But why is sales volume down so much. Why do the buyers have such little confidence in the housing market?
Well I have asked this question to almost all buyers. And they have all come up with about the same answers. The two main factors were the rise in interest rates and the cost of the repayments and the second was that “oh did you read the paper, oh did you hear the news last night, and oh did you see the program on TV last night”. Quite frankly myself I am getting fed up with the possible publicity and the bad light that the media give us. See here is a classic example. I watched the news last night and it was going on about the media and the REINZ. Now I believe that this is true. The REINZ actually have a case because the fact is its bad and making people nervous. Media is the Backbone of our society. It’s shoved in our faces and no matter where we go we have access to it at our finger tips and quite often not by choice as well. Maybe the media need to have a legislation change as we are facing to give them some guidelines on to how to present media coverage and articles. I can appreciate that bad news sells better but crickey enough is enough.
Anyway I sidetracked from my point a bit there. But from this buyers are on a different planet. I’m sorry but if you’re a buyer out there you cannot expect sellers to just give you their property. The fact is that if it was you selling your property would you even consider an offer less than your original purchase price if you have just spent 50 grand on the property. Put yourself in the seller’s shoes and realise how you would feel and if you wouldn’t like it done to you why you would do it to another.
If you have anything to add to this please let us know. It may be of a similar situation that you have experienced or maybe something about the media. Happy blogging.
June 12 2008 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
When you go and buy a car do you look on the internet, on websites such as Trademe and do you go to the LTSA website and pull up the history on the car. Well if you don’t you should.
But the same type of actions should be taken when you go to purchase a home. This is even more important at the moment as the market is very unpredictable. Buying a home is often one of the biggest financial commitments that you will ever make in your life. You need to know both what financial implications you will have and also what things will happen when you buy the home. Here are a few things you should do before you look at buying a home. Some of these things can be done before you even leave your home you’re in now. This is the power of the internet.
The first thing you should do is decide where you want to live or buy. This is something that is often taken for granted but you need to stop and think for a second, “why are we moving, where is it we want to go” this will ensure that you’re not waiting your time looking in areas you won’t want to be. The next thing to do is to then write down the features that you’re looking for in your new home. This is probably the key to the whole process but is often overlooked and taken willy nilly. Set down clear guidelines to start with and go with that. Remember as you look you can change these.
The next thing is to start searching. This is where technology and the internet is your best friend. Especially as the price of fuel goes up, it makes it so convenient to just sit at home and browse the internet and then get a feel for what’s out there in your area. Here are some useful websites that may help hugely in the search.
www.realestate.co.nz
www.trademe.co.nz
www.open2view.com
www.taranakiharcourts.co.nz – This is a great website for the local Taranaki market
www.harcourts.co.nz
These are just a few of the many that are out there to look at for property. Make the event a family time. Get everyone involved and participating. Make a list of the ones that fall into or near your criteria and then after you have about 5, 12 or 20 different ones, (it doesn’t really matter) start to compare them. This can be fun. See what each of them can offer and talk about the disadvantages of them as well. This process can be done in the comfort of your home or anywhere there is an internet connection. The great thing as well with doing it this way is if you do have further questions you can email the person connected to the property and get a response.
After this step you will have a great idea of some of the properties that you may want to inspect. But before you do this you should have a look on www.qv.co.nz and you can do a few searches that will give you a greater indication of the area, what prices they have obtained and if you want you can get a total property report on the property that you’re looking at. Some of these services do charge so make sure the properties you’re looking at are the ones you want. The Full property report does include…. (if you click on any one of the links below it will take you to the relavant example.)
Once this is all done and you have a list of possibles that suit what you’re looking for get out there and have a look at them in the flesh. This has to be done as there are always things that the photos don’t show.
But in short the internet has opened the doors for possibility in searching for property. It is the best tool to get out there and look at the things you want and do your research without having to really leave the comfort of home.
April 23 2008 | Buyers and Uncategorized | No Comments »
