Archive for July, 2009
After a very busy day & more kms’ than I’m sure the tax man will believe I have possibly driven in one day, (out to Upper Moutere three times today, Windy City, USA & Vancouver based buyers and Atawhai once) I just have to make this post. (And that lady in the purple dress has nothing to do with it)
Why?…because tonight, I’m not the happiest chap in the room.
I spoke with one of our towns leading “Signwriters” today. Guess what?
I should have been, but I was not impressed.
I asked her, after 20 secs of conversation that were already heading down a rather “you’re not the Brad Pitt I want to talk to” (remember I’m older now and haven’t died my hair for many yrs) curve, about her thoughts on the Fib Curve/Rule of thirds/visual presentation/ composition cues, and then incidentally how that relates to her business, especially with the fact that we have been granted locally by nature such fab panoramas (and meanwhile pointing out the painting on the wall 2m away actually had included the Fib Curve it its entirety in the bottom left of the frame …….and were there any synergy situations she could recall?
A painter in Nelson showcasing the curve in their own regionally based painting, even I was surprised. But hey I shouldn’t have been the curve has been known to art students for hundreds of years.
Answer?
Well the look I got reminded me very seriously of the deer in the headlights or if I’d been given an extra 10 seconds (and believe me, I nearly had ) the “lost for an equivalent Clarkson possums’s last thought analogy here” look while deciding her answer with eye contact for the next 5-10 sec’s. Sort of fills a prospect with confidence, right.
Maybe Nelson needs some “real” competition in this field!
Well I needn’t have bothered. Then…the look said it all…..
“What the heck are you talking about?”
Well hold on, I sell Real Estate and you sell design/signwriting.
I hope I didn’t get that mixed up.
OK about here now I’ve lost at least 50% of you. I just hope that if my copy hasn’t held you, then from studying the photos you may have picked up some clues and now know what the Golden Curve is, some natural clues that perhaps you didn’t even know existed, some things that you my be able to apply to future real estate photography or other photographic opportunities.
If not…and if you have a high patience tolerance….read on …..
… more importantly for me was that about the 50% point in our conversation her eyes drifted away from me to a “get me out of here” scenario. That in my opinion was so wrong…..….no not just so wrong…….…but so VERY VERY wrong….maybe its that “non Brad Pitt” look I have perfected?
…………between the thirds and Golden spiral or fibonacci spiral ….it does all matter in photography…..
The Fibs stuff, let me tell you how happy I am to have some of the best property photos in my life this past year……….but you know what, if you’ve got this far then that’s great because that tells me you have an iq quotient ………. if you want more info……let me know……you want to sell privately………I’ll help where I can….…because if I can then that just adds to my positive bank and I have no probs with that.
PHOTO CREDITS
FIRST PHOTOS - jakegarn.com
PICS ABOVE FROM – http://www.fabiovisentin.com/blog/45.ashx
July 31 2009 | photography | No Comments »
Readers here will know photography has been a passion of mine for over 25 years.
Well who ever said photography was normal, and who ever said a buyer went straight from a photo to your voice on the telephone, then in the next 10 minutes to asking you to draw up a Sales & Purchase Agreement over the phone will know what I am talking about.
It’s all about subjective personal stuff, and photography, as one of the most important visual mediums certainly illustrates that. Frankly that’s what the net is about too. From my point of view it’s certainly more a visual medium than any other.
Have you ever noticed how some photos just intrigue you, “jump out at you” and make you want to click on the rest of the series.
One really important rule is known as the “RULE OF THIRDS.”
Did you know that there is actually some psychology behind that? Well I’m here to tell you there sure is. Any Real Estate Marketer worth his salt will ensure he doesn’t spend just 15 minutes on your properties photographs. Up against all the other criteria I’ll argue til the cows go home that it is the most important part.
If that is all he/she spends, (15mins) and only on ONE occasion not 2 or 3, he/she does….well in my personal opinion, I’d say about now on a professional courtesy basis………..…no comment.
If you are telling me that you can capture any properties emotive possibilities at 10:30 in the am or at 3:30 in the afternoon…well?
If you haven’t been convinced that some extra marketing is in mind, then your agent needs…no rephrase that….your agent HAS to visit your property to take photos two or three times in a day.
Just check out Google Maps “Sunlight/Daylight” feature and you will know precisely what I am talking about here.
One proviso here is that if your topography is flat then this doesn’t apply as much but where geographically there are hills/valleys directly in sight of the property affecting the sunlight/daylight angles………well then it does matter.
Why.
Well mainly because at these times 9:30am, 12:30am, 3:30pm everything about the way the light falls on your property is different.
If the person is really worth their salt, and they really want to help you sell your property for the max premium available on the market today, then they will suggest this in advance and to encourage you to market the property to its maximum they should also predict that after taking photos at these differing times…..then they should be able to sit down with you and look at a very reasonable selection of photos, from which to choose from.
Is all this stuff at least a bit important?
Take a trip back in time…….Cast your mind back to when you brought the property in the first place.
Were you attracted by the photo? Question answered here and now!
July 30 2009 | photography | No Comments »
Well on account of these folks expanding their events into bigger, faster and more regular functions, it appears to be working well in the UK.
What is it?
Its called……… speedflatmating
Now on the surface it seems like a very practical thing to try here in NZ or Australia.
In fact it needn’t even be run by a rental company per se, it could just as easily be run by a club or café.
Perhaps it could run in conjunction with one of the many Quiz nights that you see around town. That way you would get to know your potential flatmates intelligence IQ at the same time.
VIDEO CLIP – youtube.com
Short of flash mob performances , carrotmob or rent-a-crowd, its got to be one of the most practical uses of a social networking site like Twitter that I’ve seen for a while.
I haven’t been a tenant for quite some time now, so I’m not sure if this could already be happening here Downunder. However if it is then it’s sure not advertised much, and that’s a pity.
A more harmonious relationship between tenants, especially student tenants, would surely assist with maintenance issues in a tenanted property.
Heres an entry from an attendee.
July 30 2009 | Buyers and General and Sellers and Uncategorized | No Comments »
On Tuesday this week Government Ministers Gerry Brownlee and Jonathan Coleman released a statement to the press regarding a revamp of certain previous requirements regarding entry, and consequent residential status in NZ.
Amid much publicity surrounding the new “have to be rich” criteria pertaining to business/investor migrants gaining NZ residency, there was a slightly smaller mention in the media of a new “PLUS” class under the entrepreneur category of business migrant. In fact overall they are reducing the present 3 categories down to 2.
The lowering of the investment minimum, from $20m down to $10m and a reduction of 1 level of ILETS from 4 down to 3 (with supporting conditions mind you) got most of the hype in this Business Migrant Scheme Revamp, but overall I think this new Entrepreneur Plus classification could actually have an effect from a property sales perspective, especially “lifestyle” properties.
The official release states….
For entrepreneurial migrants the new policy introduces a new Entrepreneur Plus category which complements the existing Entrepreneur category. Entrepreneur Plus offers a faster path to residence for applicants who create at least 3 fulltime jobs and invest $500,000 in their business.”
Just to save any confusion here, the requirements I am talking about above is different than the “Skilled Migrant” category requirements - more details about Long Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL) and the Immediate Skill Shortage List (ISSL) categories over here.
GRAPHIC DATA taken from Appendix to the Beehive Press Release here.
July 29 2009 | Buyers and General and Nelson and New Zealand and retirement | No Comments »
Who would have thought that this could ever happen? In 2009………please give me directions to the happiest place to live in the whole country?
I feel there is no reasonable reason why this should of happened. the survey must have been, well….”media calibrated” to be just a bit frank. Put it another way, they just asked the wrong people. That’s what happens when you ask a few hundred kiwis.
Drat! No, they actually asked 15k Kiwis over 18. Well there must be something good for Nelson here somewhere?
However according to UMR Research it is the truth and in 2009, Nelson is no longer the happiest place to live in New Zealand.
Could there be a consolation, obviously never enough for loosing the NZ title….but something?
As you will recall in 2008 Nelson was the happiest place in New Zealand to live but this year our neighbour in the top of the south, Marlborough has not only stolen the “sunshine hours” record they have decided to WHAM us by taking the honours as the the Happiest place to live in NZ.
If there is any, what is the good news?
From today, it only takes 70 minutes to drive from NZ’s happiest place in 2008 to NZ’s happiest place in 2009.
Not hard to decide what part of the country to live in, is it?
Can there possibly be an upside to this horrendously negative situation?
Well you guessed as much didn’t you from the question ……..Nelson is the happiest place to live if you are born with an adams apple, for 2009 that is official.
If you want to know a few more details go here or here right now.
I thought I’d share just a couple of local thoughts as reported by our local paper “The Nelson Mail” tonight…
Bill @ 57 yrs old says “I’m not surprised. I lived in Auckland for for 29 yrs and the weather here is better, the people are nicer and I have a lovely lady to live with” (ED – speed daters don’t read this….stay in Akld or Wgtn)
Or hows this comment from Duha Kim, a local restaurateur
“I think Nelson’s got a good environment with good weather. Though its cold at the moment, during the summer a lot of people have fun in the outdoors”
And just in case you think I am biased…
Gary Watson a local 33yr old store owner states “its the sunshine and outdoor living. The sun’s always out, even in winter, and there’s plenty to do.”
Then again……maybe you should just forget all this because I could just be a bit one sided in my opinions.
July 27 2009 | Buyers and General and Nelson and Sellers and Technology and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Should probably be entitled “Should I sell in Spring / Summer Part III” after my recent Part I and Part II posts, but it was a coincidence to see the sign outside my local dairy this morning.
The sub heading states ……..
Recent price recovery a “false start.”
Anyone who has followed this blog for a time will know I still firmly believe that any recovery, especially in terms of our local region, will hinge on Immigration and Unemployment trends.
What I should also mention is the undeniable effect of business confidence. It has definitely taken a hit lately, you only have to drive around any provincial town in NZ to see that.
The background to this requirement for business to get there confidence back, certainly involves employment / unemployment.
However I believe most, if not all businesses have, in recent times, trimmed as much fat from ever single corner of their business they can, alongside that “recalibration” of headcounts.
So if there is another negative period, or other such items that will weigh heavily on business overall, then I am at a loss to explain where those businesses can trim any more “fat” from.
If we follow overseas past trends (many generated in theory I might add) that last resort usually means further recalibration of headcounts.
This is definitely not what is required to get a business up & going from a downturn.
From here, it gets into a bit of a vicious spiral as lower headcounts lead to, usually, a less memorable / enjoyable experience for the customer (stressed out staff, etc), lack of staff in the office to chase up overdue accounts, or to add that little bit of extra to the ordinary that makes the business shine as “extra-ordinary” and so important to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Things like this flow on to the business owner finding they themselves have to step in more & more, chasing up accounts overdue themselves, explaining to their own suppliers why they are late paying, etc.
The problem with this is that it diverts them from the course they started the business in the 1st place, they are good at what they do, clients like them/their products and so a business flourishes.
So while the business owners are sidelined having to step in to conduct these non-productive tasks, its too the detriment of what other productive work they are good/skilled at doing.
Then inevitably comes the phone calls from the Bank Manager asking whats happening?
Hopefully its not the tip of an iceberg stuff.
So do I agree with Kieran Trass who is the Property Guru that the Sunday Times spoke to in researching their Front Page article?
Well no not exactly as the article is written, and rightly so, from a general NZ perspective.
And again like I have said so many times before, in fact not just me its backed up by plenty of others, our region is “different”. It, like 2-3 other parts of the country, is what I would term a “desirable” location to live. (just ask the 4000+ people who fill Tahuna Beach Holiday Motor Camp each year)
But on a more generalised basis, yes I think he is on to something. The only place where I believe he needs to reset his thoughts is when he advises Buyers to offer 10% less.
In some parts of NZ, the figures show that this type of thinking just won’t work.
Secondly he advices sellers in the lines above “Now is a good time to Sell if you have to, Don’t put it off til 2010″ when he believes prices will be lower. Its a bit like the Summer / Winter debate.
So hes advising seller’s to sell now if you have to, because then tomorrow as a buyer he’s advising you to swap hats and offer 10% less? But what about all those buyers coming to your home you have to sell, and offering 10% less?
Well as a seller who has to sell today, I probably wouldn’t be pleased if after having set a correct market price, every single offer is 10% below the asking price. Don’t think that this strategy will have much success actually.
These strategies may make good reading for single time buyers or sellers , but for those that are in the selling, then buying straight away again mode, it just adds more confusion I feel.
July 26 2009 | Buyers and Mortgages Finance Money and Nelson and New Zealand and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
Now……from Part 1 you’ll remember you’ve SOLD your property and now you transition into a different entity, you are now officially not a seller, but are now classified 100% as a cash BUYER.
All of a sudden you find Real Estate Agents show a different sort of love to you.
You see your dream home, smaller section than you’d like, but the view is too die for, and it has that extra bedroom (doesn’t matter that you only want to use it as a study/den though), more garage space and an en-suite and you make an offer, and then you find out two others have too, and now find yourself in a “multi-offer” situation.
We are still in the same market, the same market, but just 2 -3 weeks older compared to the time when you SOLD?
Well here’s the conundrum……you may not get your next home for the perceived price you want to pay.
Why?
Well because those “New Listing/Just arrived to market” Sellers were just like you, they too waited for Spring / Summer.
The catch……and you guessed it as much didn’t you, as the saying goes…….you can’t always have your cake……and eat it too.
You have just waited til spring/summer to list your property for sale because you thought there was a better chance of a buyer paying more when the “flowers arrive with spring” or so.
Were you alone in thinking this way?
Now it is spring/summer, but hold on……you are a buyer now…..does that mean you are going to crush all those other vendors/sellers (exactly the same shoes you were in not 3-4 weeks hence) out there to get a price you would have paid 6 months ago.
See the funny thing is that all these other sellers/vendors that have placed their property on the market in spring/summer think exactly like you.
What do you mean?
Well think back to the reasons why you waited till spring/summer to place your property on the market.
By now you have persuaded yourself to think you must surely have been one of the only ones in your town thinking that way?
But I’ve got good news for you.
Basically you want to be operating in both of the periods in the Green Boxes above.
And now that you know a bit more you still have time to act.
I am not saying this matters if you don’t have to sell, but if you were looking at making a move in Sept, perhaps sooner might be prudent based on this info.
July 25 2009 | Buyers and Nelson and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
Want to be near the beach, it has its advantages and disadvantages.
PHOTO – Sunday Mail -News Corp Australia
As regular readers here are well aware, we are a region that has not been blessed with unlimited geographic bounds. Spatially wise that is really our only issue because we win “hands down” just about any other one.
Ok….long story short…….the Gold Coast of Oz attracts more than its fair share of boomer retiree’s (think South Beach for our cousins a bit north latitudinally inclined.) In fact I think its about 16k overall new residents each calendar year from memory, and the last time Iooked at the data, a third were retirees.
And so…..the rise and rise of retirement villages, many planned, concepted or already constructed…boomers rejoice!
Down on the southern part of the Gold Coast comes this new (well to QLD at least) concept. Instead of the perfectly laid out, single story, proximity perfect retirement (over 55’s) location habitats, these folk thought vertical.
Courtesy of goldcoast.com.au comes this developers point of view….
Michael Matusik, of Matusik Property Insights, told a conference the Gold Coast was poised to follow the US with ‘vertical’ retirement villages now all the rage as retirees seek security, views and resort-style living in a CBD near medical centres and shopping.
What say you had a whole lot of people (with no dependents) who actually liked the idea of living independently “right on the beach.” Would they pay for it?
Well $14million in sales in a couple of weeks would tend to indicate they got their thoughts right.
Here’s the place.
The bottom stories accommodate car-parking, and other services related to “aged care”, then the apartments are above that.
And you know what, although I am struggling to pull it up on Bing or Google, Takapuna are about to try it soon…….well certainly in a proposed sort of way.
July 24 2009 | Buyers and General and New Zealand and retirement | No Comments »
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