What a ride. Its been great.
Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to this blog and who continues to read it.
Traffic is increasing steadily with now over 500 unique views per day and over 40,000 unique views in the 11 months of writing this blog.
Lets go for the next 100 and upward of 1000.
I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Best Regards
Deon
Bonus because I am in a good mood!
Click this link – I am giving away for free for the next few weeks anyway my financial e-course that I worked on for a year. This is 6 weeks of good hard core planning to help you from the grass roots with your finance. Even if your financially savy I still think this will help you. Part of this course is on my blog if you want an example.
Please click the link here which will take you too the page where you can recieve the e-course. I have activated the clickbank code so that all you need to enter is blog and you get it free – you will not be charged by clickbank. Disregard that on the website. This will save you $90.
I hope you enjoy.
April 30 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday 25th April 2009
As the years go by, the crowds at services commemorating ANZAC Day grow bigger every year, and the elements of gratitude and pride are becoming more apparent. The age range at Dawn Services, from babies to people in wheelchairs, reflects this.
People now attend the Dawn Service and other services for a lot more reasons than they have in the past. While they attend to honour the sacrifices made by family members and others in our community who have served during time of conflict, they now also do it to pay tribute for the peace which has ensued: people are very aware that the peace they now enjoy has been brought about by the sacrifices made.
A RNZAF Boeing 757 will fly over Cathedral Square at 6.55am, to coincide with the ending of the Dawn Service, and coffee and Anzac biscuits will be available for the public afterwards.
The Christchurch Tramway is also offering returned service people a free ride on the tram, as a sign of their respect for those who have served our country. For the duration of ANZAC Day, Saturday 25th April, any services people showing their service medals or other form of identification can board free of charge. In addition, at the completion of the Service, free trams will be available for anyone wishing to travel to the RSA in Armagh Street.
Below are details of all services in the city.
Air Force Museum, Harvard Avenue 12.00 noon
Akaroa War Memorial (meet at fire brigade station, 10.45am) 11.30am
All Saints Church, 305 New Brighton Road 11.00am
Citizens’ Service, ChristChurch Cathedral 10.00am
Dawn Service, Cathedral Square 6.30am
Diamond Harbour Memorial Hall (assemble at store, 10.30am) 11.00am
Halswell Domain, War Memorial 9.00am
Heathcote, Cnr Martindale and Bridle Path Roads 6.15am
Hei Hei, War Memorial 9.00am
Jane Deans Close, 20th Battalion, off Harakeke Street 9.00am
Little River Community Centre 9.30am
Lyttelton: War Graves Cemetery, Reserve Terrace 9.00am
Lyttelton Cenotaph (assemble at Port Company, 9.45am) 10.15am
New Brighton, Opp. New Brighton Working Men’s Club 9.30am
Papanui, St James Park, St James Avenue 9.10am
Paparua, Kirk Road Pharmacy, Templeton 10.15am
Prebbleton, Memorial, Springs Road 9.00am
Rolleston, assemble at new community hall 11.00am
Sumner/Redcliffs, Outside All Saints Anglican Church, 10.45am
Upper Riccarton War Memorial Library, 372 Riccarton Road 6.30am
Victoria Park, 19th battalion, assemble in carpark 7.45am
source: bethere.co.nz
image deleted
April 24 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
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 prices and interest rates continue to plummet desperate vendors trapped in mortgages they can’t afford are looking for creative ways out.
Last night at Harcourts New Plymouth an auction attracting almost 100 people sold an expansive Heta Rd property for almost $120,000 below its government valuation (GV).
Advertised as a pre-mortgagee sale under the title “beat the bank” the six bedroom, 1582sqm, 2 1/2-year-old home had a reserve price of $380,000, was valued at $680,000 and sold for $566,000.
Auctioneer Roland Lina said the days where you could simply “nail a sign to a fence” and a place was sold were over.
“I can assure you if we had advertised it for $600,000 it would still be on the market,” he said. Having worked in real estate for 18 years Mr Lina said clever marketing was needed to get the best price and houses off the books.
Several bidders at the auction said they had come in the hope of getting a bargain but expected the “marketing ploy” would push the price way past the low reserve.
Other advertisements on both Trade Me and in real estate publications are littered with phrases such as “lawyer says sell”, “priced to sell fast”, “bank wants all offers presented NOW” and “Crunch Time!!”
Thought of as existing in a bubble, mortagagee and pre-mortgagee sales are starting to creep on to the region’s real estate market.
Industry insiders report a rise in the number of people forced to default on mortgages they got into when interest rates were as high as 9.5 per cent.
Nationally mortgagee sales listed on websites Trade Me and realestate.co.nz have more than doubled in the past year.
The country’s increasing unemployment has been blamed for the mortgagee sales.
The last comment here is one that doesn’t go down too well with me. Sure enough unemployment is one of the reasons there may be some mortgagee sales but if you get into the nitty gritty of it most of the people that have mortgagee sales at the moment are still on high interest rates. And after talking to a few people in that situation they simply say they canot afford with the incomes they are gettin to pay the mortgage.
Sometimes this figure is up to 80% of the total income goes on the mortgage. And I am sure that there are some people with more. Now think about it, on top of that yo have to eat, pay the rates, the power, the phone, the car bills, insurances and any other costs that you can think of.
What I have found is that some people I have spoken to have been surviving like this purely because of credit facilities that they have been using. For example the weekly wages goes toward the mortgage and then the rest goes on the other bills, but the shortfall is made up of credit – eigther a credit card or a personal loan. Some people have even got to the state of getting personal loans just to pay the credit card off.
Now the simple fact is that you can probably live like this for a very short time until things ironed themselves out a little, but we are in a ressession, if you cant see that or think it wont last i believe you need to have a good look around you. Mortgagee sales will rise because of this fact. As people run out of credit they need to sell or should sell. MOst people will try and hold on to what they have but in a lot of cases the bank steps in and takes over which is what you then call a mortgagee sale.
But as Roland said in the article above there needs to be some smart thinking going on and try and people need to sell before the bank steps in. In that case you as the home owner will have a little more control over what is going to happen to what probably could be your biggest asset. If you are a home owner please do take a close look at your speding and where your money is going. It is much better to try and sell before there is a problem. Becoming a mortgagee is not a nice place to be for anyone.
March 19 2009 | Buyers and Sellers and The Market | 1 Comment »
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 »
I just stumbled across something that made my head turn and me walk back to the shop. This was a red Can of Cocaine Energy Drink. Something I thought was a bit of a laugh at the time. Just the name Cocaine Energy Drink is catchy. I noticed two drinks in the store, a blue can and a red can. Both 250ml cans of energy drink. So I bought a can each and tried them when I got home. I was pleasantly surprised. The blue can was a smooth fruity kind of flavour that went down extremely well. This would go very well in a cocktail drink as the flavour would complement most cocktails I have ever tried.
The red can one was wicked. The flavour was powerful and has a kind of bite to it that leaves you wanting more. The spice is very unique and is unlike any other energy drink I have tried before and would go very well with Vodka. The best part of it all is that unlike when I drink V or other energy drink I actually felt rather refreshed.
Later on I did some research on this product and found out that it is made in New Zealand. This is the words they use to advertise the product.
Here it is people, Cocaine Energy Drink is now in New Zealand and being distributed all over the country right now!
Limit (1) Can a day! Wooo! Yes this drink is hardcore.
Warning! You are about to experience the highest energy content of ANY energy drink on the market today! Cocaine Energy Drink is not just a re-hash of existing drinks: It is a completely unique new formula – it tastes like a fireball, a carbonated atomic fireball!
From what I can see the drink has a good approval from the Australia New Zealand Food Safety Authority and they have endorsed the product as a safe and enriching energy drink because of the added vitamins and almost half the amount sugar than the other energy drinks on the market.
This Cocaine Energy Drink seems to be an interesting product and seems to be new in New Zealand. But I think will do pretty well just because of the unique name it has. But also the drinks are really good. Here is the website to Cocaine Energy Drink. It will be interesting to watch how this product goes.
January 04 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
What’s in store for 2009.
Seems like everyone is giving their predictions for 2009. It also seems everyone has a different opinion. If you go down the street and ask someone what’s in store for 2009 every single person will give you a different response. Some people are positive, some people are negative. Some have very strong views but one thing I have noticed is there is not many that don’t care. This varied response is actually in my view what’s going to happen in 2009. It’s going to be varied and unpredictable in the whole.
Let’s look at 2008 and what’s been. I am not going to get into this too much because we all know what’s happened. The global credit crunch has hit and it has hit us hard. We started the year on the peak. It was the peak of almost every single market, not just the real estate market. The dollar was high, the stock market was buoyant, petrol prices were well over $2 a litre, house prices had just hit their peak, but everyone knew that that was the peak by this time. We have been in a year of constant downward trends. Consumer and business confidence has been at an all time low with sales volume and capital have steadily been lower and lower and unemployment levels this year have risen 2%. I know three of my friends who lost their jobs in the last week because of less business turn over.
The global credit crunch started by dodgy subprime loans in the states has had a ripple effect around the world and instantly devalued the price of all the assets we use to trade on. The stock market plummeted, oil prices have fallen 138% this year, our New Zealand dollar went into a free fall loosing almost 35c of the American in less than 2 months. New Zealand’s housing market went into dire straits with sales volume bellying out to levels not seen since 1992 (16 years ago) with only approx 55,000 sales being transacted in 2008. Real Estate prices have fallen by up to 10% – 15%in some areas already from their peak in late 07.
The world reserve banks have slashed the official cash rates all around the world. In the states its now the lowest in history at under .2% and in New Zealand it’s almost the lowest level at 5%. Interest rates on houses have come down a considerable amount. But the banks are not going to lend on any risk at the moment with most of them putting their minimum deposit amounts up to 20% on all new loans. So all up it’s been a year of considerable change and a year that has hurt and seen many people become closer to financial hardship.
2009 is not one that will bring pleasure or happiness to many people caught up in this economic downturn. As credit lending gets tighter and banks put on the pressure to repay loans on property that has decreased in value and in some cases decreased to levels below what they owe on the property. Unfortunately this is going to be a reality for some people and there will be more and more forced sales from it. Banks will step in and won’t be accommodating if you’re in a position to not pay them back.
I think in 2009 that the economy will start to bottom out a little. I don’t think we will see the prices of oil drop to much further, or the stock market crash to much further. There will be a lot of fluctuation though that will cause consumer confidence to remain low for a period of time. The New Zealand dollar although risen against the US Dollar in recent weeks will remain around in my opinion the 50c mark and will remain around there. But there is still too many uncertainties to place too much weight on this.
There are still factors I believe in America that could pan out either way. One of the bigger ones is the car industry and the almost total collapse of that. GM and Ford America are part of one of the biggest industries that feed the American economy. This industry is looking at almost completely shutting down. Already workers are taking pay cuts, working less hours just to try and help the companies stay afloat. But the reality is if the government doesn’t bail them out there is going to be a catastrophic meltdown of the economy in America. And it’s not just the car industry that I am talking about. It’s all the suppliers, all the people who service and or repair the cars, the distributers, shipping companies, you name it they will be affected. If the car industry goes under their will be job losses in the millions. They expect there will be more people lose their jobs than people that live in New Zealand. At this time all we know is that the government have given a reprieve till March 09 and we will have to wait till then to see what will happen.
Back to New Zealand what this really means is 2009 will be a year of consolidation for all I think. It will be the time when people who have borrowed on easy credit will need to take a reality check and downsize and live the life they can afford. I think we have in New Zealand seen the huge falls of commodity prices. It’s now a case of waiting and letting that filter though the system. What I think we will see a lot of people tightening up and living more economically. Not because of want but because of having to.
There are things that could happen in 2009 that if did happen will change everything that I have spoken about. The fact of the matter is that the world is on tender hooks in regards to the economy. It’s almost like balancing a car on a pin, it could go any way and we won’t know till it happens. This uncertainty is going to mean though that volumes of sales and consumer spending is going to remain low into 2009.
For the housing market there will be more and more forced sales in the coming year as the pressures of day to day living and the tighter economic conditions start to mean more job losses and less money for families. There is going to be a need for huge cooperation in 2009 between everybody who provides services and products. As sales volumes drop and bottom lines drop costs are going to be cut and this will mean suppliers are going to need to be flexible with their costs just to keep their existing clients. Food costs need to come down as people find it harder to buy for them and their families, and more people start eating less expensive foods. We will all need to help each other. The boom years have been a selfish time when people have made easy money but now for people to get ahead they will need the support of others.
For first time buyers in 2009 you will have to creatively think how you are going to service and in the first place get a loan to purchase your house. Thats if you dont have 20% of savings. Use the help of faily that already have high equity in their homes and ask to borrow some of it. Its a risk for them but it also will make you accountable for your repayments. There are many ways and its just about getting that help and support and it applies not just to housing as well. We could all save so much money if we worked together in some things instead of fighting to get the most as we have selfishly done in the boom times. This is not the time do do this.
For the aggressive investor and purchaser I think there could be some good opportunities coming up in the property market. There are already properties you can buy that are positive cash flow. And if you’re going to sit on them for a number of years until the economic climate stabilizes to normal again you will do well out of them. Although I do think that property prices will fall further as there will be time when wages come into line with property prices and may not stablise during 2009. I base this on the prediction that there will be increased forced sales which will put pressure on normal sellers to meet the market where the forced sales are if they want to achieve a sale. It will come down to sellers if you want to sell your house for a good price you need to display added value for the purchaser against the one down the road for similar money.
It will be tough out there for anyone in the next year but if you can ride it you will be fine. 2009 will be a year along with 2008 for global change. People will come out of this and look differently upon how we treat both money and the world. I think there will be a lot of good come out of next year. It’s just a case of taking the hit now and getting on with life. We have all lost out but we will all reap the benefits when they do come around.
December 26 2008 | Uncategorized | 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 »
Well today is the last day of officially living in New Plymouth. I have been reflecting on what I have achieved and learnt with my time here in New Plymouth and all I can really say is it has been a steep and progressive learning curve. I came to New Plymouth after leaving the Navy to look after my sick father. I had my Real Estate Sales Persons Certificate and managed to land a position selling with Harcourts in New Plymouth. This was when the real education started.
When I started selling I was only 20, almost 21. It was the first time I had never had a paid income coming in every week since I was 15 and after a month of that really freaked me out. On top of this the capital outlay to set my brand and the business up in New Plymouth was massive. They say when you start Real Estate to not expect any income for at least 6 months. I was fortunate to have scored a little listing at a small apartment complex in town and after doing all the right things sold it after the first weekend of open homes. This was really the kick start that started my real estate career.
From here on it became interesting. I started in August 2007 and the peak of the market was about November 2007 and ever since then it has gone down and making sales has become very much harder. But through my time I worked hard and continually invested time into learning how to better myself and do the job I was meant to be doing. In 2007 I worked right through the Christmas period and held up the fort at the office while many others were away on holiday. And this is when 12 months ago I really started to make some good. In January 2008 I was Top Seller for the office, March I was top Lister for the office, In May was top Seller again, In August and October I was the in the top 50 Real Estate Agents for Harcourts in the Wellington Region, And in September was again top seller for the New Plymouth Office.
This was done by just hard work and dedication to what I do. There are a number of things I strongly believe in that I will share at a later date.
Today is the day that I leave all that behind and move on to other things. Tomorrow I will land in Christchurch officially and start the set up process again. The hard work begins now. Actually it started last week with the packing. I have just been chatting to some people from twitter asking them what they hate the most about moving and there are two very clear winners.
1st has to be the actual packing up part. For my own situation, I just cannot believe how much stuff I accumulated over the time. The other day I was going through the wardrobe and there are things in there that I had forgotten I had even had. I am one of these people that find it hard to part with things… what do you call that.. hoarders. Well in my defence I am a Kiwi and I think that a good part of our population is just the same. I think the salvation army will be happy with all the things I have given them, especially this close to Christmas.
The second thing that people find the worst about packing was the unpacking. Putting things away, finding new homes for all the items you just packed away. All those boxes all over the place, probably sleeping on the floor for the first couple of days, having none of your electronic gear set up…. Man it’s frustrating just thinking about it. Grr!! Moving is stressful, especially when you are moving into the unknown. I have some great ideas though…
Well to all my past clients, friends, followers and anyone who finds this blog from New Plymouth, please stay in touch I will be back from time to time and if you need any help or assistance at any time just ask. For the people of Christchurch, I hope to meet some of you some day, maybe help in some way. If your looking for a house to buy or have to sell one call me and I will have a chat to you about it. I look forward to the challenges that are going to pop up starting from tomorrow. Moving, as frustrating as it may be should be positive, but I cant seem to feel any of those positives right now (as I sift though boxes looking for my phone)……
December 07 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
