Archive for the 'Sellers' Category
September 1st, 2010
What an unsuccessful night in trying to connect to other RE portals……
1] my Activerain login screen welcome tonight……
2] my Posterous one.
Perhaps in NZ there may be 1 or 2 people that might read it ……. who knows?
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Endangered Species ~ Realtors Personal Assistant (PA)?
Sept 1st, 2010
Huh?
There’s no doubt that advantages have been offered to buyers by the advent of the ubiquitous www experience/exposure.
In the past…yes…buyers would’ve made the phone call….or the personal visit to the shopfront/coalface.
Today, in so many ways the web define’s that coalface.
Need an example …………..look no further than the many Augmented Reality apps now available …. on the iPhone, and perhaps soon on the Android platform too.
Let’s be frank, this type of situation ………it’s certainly not without precedent. Big business was there ………..at least a decade ago!
Moving forward we welcome the decade past………… the “noughties”(aka 2000’s) …..and now……welcome the CIO!
In case you’re wondering……Chief Information Officer, it just sounds more relevant that Chief Operating Officer candidly?
Perhaps you are sick and tired of hearing about “Best Practice?” Direct translation here in english…..is just about this.
“Be the best at what you are……..and if you personally can’t be…..then employ someone to assist the “team” to be that best that is possible in your practice (“vocation”) today.”
I’ve talked to many this last year who just tell me “I just can’t get this twitter / facebook %$@ thing?”
So long story short…..here we are in late 2010….and you find yourself investigating the possibility of hiring a PA (personal assistant) who can display;
1] clear, exact. transferable desktop publishing skills
2] copy writing skills
3] database skills – and I mean REAL skills ~ get the person to demonstrate what they can do at an interview. (if your franchisee really has your best interests at heart I would suggest after your initial interview, you get your office administrator to also interview the person …..importantly without you present.)
TEST Q. What do they know about heatmaps?
The points I’ve highlighted are to my way of thinking the “absolute basics”.
I would be waiting til after the first interview where the person said they were good at this, and this, and that……
Then I would ask them to prepare for a 2nd or 3rd interview…..and hand them a piece of paper with a fictitious address in your area….informing them it would have to be a property relevant to your location…. but just as importantly if you were overseas on a 2 week holiday and this potential listing came in……..how would they personally canvass….…propose it to the potential client with your personal theme/attributes included.
Obviously if you are a top 2%’er you would intercept this phone call with-in the hour (perhaps even via yr iPhone internationally) ….and every thing would be just “as per normal” …….but in a worst case scenario…….its gotta be nice feeling confident that while you sip that coffee in that back street in your favourite back country town in Spain………that back in your office in Christchurch, you confidently know “hand on heart” that your clients best interest are being looked after in your absence?
You may say I am asking too much….but surely you have also heard the saying “that if you don’t ask….”
What’s the absolute worst that could happen?
You get an absolute wiz who is destined for further greatness. perhaps beyond the real estate industry….but hey at least you are exposed to/get 9 months benefit out of it.
Tell me what’s wrong with that……plus you can feel reassured that they have got 9 months real REAL world experience to boot!
Ok your new PA needs to not only know about the above basic things as a MINIMUM, but also needs to know about SEO, web optimisation, etc.
Folks that is the future….and that is the step that will take you beyond……..frankly if they don’t know what all this means…..keep interviewing….when you find the right person you’ll know.
After all what is it that takes a person about ordinary….its the extra isn’t it….I think they call it extra-ordinary!
September 01 2010 | General and Nelson and Sellers and The Market and Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 26th, 2010
On behalf of an overseas client looking to buy a home in Nelson, I have just been reviewing the recent inventory stats from last months NZ Property Report, which comes out on the 1st of each month.
Unsold Inventory per Region - JULY 2010
You might be interested to see that Nelson has, just like last June, finished up at the end of the month with the 2nd lowest volume (on a per weeks basis) of unsold property inventory across New Zealand.
Its interesting because when you consider that the national number is up in the mid forties, we are experiencing a quite major 40% difference to this number.
DATA – NZ Property Report
August 26 2010 | Buyers and Nelson and New Zealand and Sellers and Stats / Sales Data | No Comments »
August 23rd, 2010
Information on rental rates in a locality can serve a couple of main purposes;
1] assist home buyers moving into the region with their temporary or permanent accommodation budgets
2] enable out of town investors to plan/budget/forecast potential returns for an investment property in Nelson
3] provide a source of temporary accommodation for property buyers or sellers “in transit” so to speak.
Here is the latest Market Rent update for the Nelson City region courtesy of the Dept of Building & Housing for the period 01-Feb-2010 to 31-Jul-2010
This information is compiled from bonds lodged.
NELSON CENTRAL
All chart source data comes from New Zealands Department of Building and Housing.
PORT HILLS / TAHUNANUI
STOKE / NAYLAND
As is plain to see when comparing the three charts, town (Nelson Central) is made up of a more densely packed population, hence the larger number of small bedroom number flats and apartments.
At the other end of the spectrum is Stoke, along with its wider choice of all age schooling options. This is evidenced in the preponderance of “normal residential family” homes, when compared to flats/apartments.
As of the most recently compiled data, this is what people are paying weekly to rent a property in Nelson.
DATA SOURCE – NZ Department of Building and Housing
August 23 2010 | Buyers and Nelson and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
August 22nd, 2010
…..continues from Part I.
As you may recall from Part I, the Real Estate Salesperson/Branch Manager is calling at the home of the seller at 7pm ready to present 3 buyer offers, all in sealed envelopes.
We find 3 offers from 3 different buyers who each want to own a house in the sunshine capital of New Zealand, Nelson, where the weather map looks pretty much like the one above every day 
They sit down at the dining room table and open them, in turn looking at the $$$ offered, the deposit, the possession date, and most importantly the conditions………
A] do they need to sell their existing property first (is it even on the market yet?)
B] do they need 3-5 days to get a builders report / engineers analysis / finance approval?
C] do they require a LIM / long / short / unfavourable possession date
D] are they being cheeky with no / very small deposit / trying on silly clauses
E] do any of these offer us an unconditional sale tonight, right now, here on the spot, SOLD?
…..once all three offers have been opened and they are laid out on the table…..
Photo: Andy Newson
……its decision time.
All have come in around the right dollar figure for the clients expectations of what they wanted to achieve, the possession dates for two are ok, one is out an extra 4 weeks.
nearly a clean contract.....
One needs so many days for bank approval of the finance, along with the final check of the form & title from a solicitor or a conveyancing specialist.
Lets look at number two…..
there’s not much missing from this one, certainly the buyers wanted to be certain this was the right one for them, and like many today did not want to commit to any expense until they were sure in their words “they won the deal.”
The point here is that up against the others, a seller may not feel confident that these people are as serious as the other agreements he/she is looking at tonight.
No certainty
In other words up against other offers, the sellers signature on this agreement does not offer the certainty that, for example the next one does. His/her signature on the next one usually indicates its SOLD the moment its signed, tonight.
……..the third offer…..
Which one would you pick? (the above examples are obviously from different occasions ♣)
If you are being frank with yourself its quite obvious that with the clean one the property is SOLD on the spot tonight, whilst the other agreements have differing time-frames that would mean you, as the seller, will need to wait. Believe you me, if there is one time that waiting can seem like its in extra slow motion, then house sale negotiations will make it do that.
The situation is more compounded if the seller is in-experienced with the multi-offer situation, and went with the higher $447,750 offer with 5 days bank finance approval required while saying no to the $444,500 offer that was unconditional, only to find out 5 days later the finance was turned down and they have only been approved to $430,000. Then they discover the other party has since found another home they like just as much.
"Don't want to miss out on your Dream Home?"
Many have experienced the situation in a multi-offer where a buyer seriously over extends themselves to get into that perceived winning offer position, only to find out later that the finance can’t be approved at that “we really stretched ourselves this time” higher figure.
The sellers then fall back to the other offer, and ooophs, upon re-visiting the earlier unconditional offer, the sellers find that they are not in the powerful position they were previously.
Its about here that the previous unconditional buyer puts 2 + 2 together, has worked out for themselves that the other “original winning offer” party can’t complete the transaction, and realises now, that they as the buyers “hold the cards.”
In quite a few situations like this I have seen buyers revise their offer down to $440,000 unconditional. Its about now that the seller feels caught between a rock and a hard place.
Its also about now that some of the parties wished they went with a more experienced salesperson, one who knows how to ensure the situation didn’t happen in the first place, and for whom, if it did through no circumstances of his/her own…..can still work it through to a win/win for both concluding parties.
All of this will fall on deaf ears if you have already made a few offers in recent times, because any good knowledgeable agent would have already explained this too you already. That way you were already forewarned and fore-armed for when the next opportunity does present itself.
Must finish……. off to Open Homes now…….
♣ – and the reason you often never find out what competing offers from other agents were for is that they need to protect their buyers privacy too
August 22 2010 | Buyers and General and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
August 21th, 2010
I hear a lot of talk about the media reporting many regions quoting (per REINZ latest figures) the lowest number of sales in a decade for July 2010.
Obviously that means that there are a lot of buyers waiting for the “perfect one” to come along before they commit. Either that or there may be some truth in the comment I saw on a board that stated “otherwise, based on turnover, it looks like Kiwis have decided to stay in their present home for the next 27 years!” (can’t remember the exact wording but that was the momentum behind it)
the "Renovators Special?"
All of this means that when that “dream one” comes along, you will probably discover, much to your chagrin, that, you won’t just be the only one wanting it. When more than 2 buyers want the same property we find ourselves in a “multi-offer” situation.
Who wins?
Well………… for that you have to put yourself in the shoes of the seller.
Sometimes its not just about the price
Is there anything I can do to ensure my offer is in the best position?
Actually glad you asked because there surely is.
Number 1 you need to have organized a lawyer/property conveyancing specialist in advance, way in advance actually, of making any offers. You need to feel confident (aka have some prior understanding/agreement between you & them) that you can go to them at short notice for swift turnaround, and one that won’t cost the earth.
What sort of swift turnaround are you talking about?
The sort of swift turnaround that accompanies this question from you………….
“Hi Bob, its Dave here, just seen a property I really like, and I was wondering if you could please look over the Certificate of Title to 123A Main Rd, Anytown and/or any associated council files to see that there are no problems / issues.”
Now I know that as standard, many of us typically allow 3 working days for a solicitors approval, & that’s usually just for an approval of the Certificate of Title. You want a person who can do this and get back to you, in say, no more than 24hours.
might pay to check out the Form as well as the title.....
To ensure the Form of the agreement is correct also, you could ask the Real Estate person involved to prepare a contract and get/fax/email that to your nominated person so that they can check the Form of the Agreement is ok too.
Now, clearly after visiting and falling in love with the property, you need to express your interest with the Real Estate Salesperson involved.
Along the lines of “I’d like to express my interest in this property, if any offer comes in, can you let me know right away?”
Secondly, and hopefully if you have read what I wrote above, you make that phone call to your lawyer/nominated conveyancing specialist and ask them to go over the property details/file/title for you to ensure that they and you are satisfied with any easements, covenants, etc.
Thirdly, (“and by now you’re with the program?”) you’ll also be in touch with your lending specialist to seek a 99% confirmation that the pre-approval*** you are carrying around with you is ok for this nominated property.
Fourth – we’re nearly there…..if you believe the property needs a specialist report, from a builder or an engineer, get that organized before too – obviously its very handy if you know a builder, whereas for an engineer there will an upfront expense involved so you do need to take that into your calculations.
Fifth – check with the Real Estate salesperson for what would be the most suitable / ideal time frame required for possession / for the sellers to exit the property – be aware that if tenants are involved there are legal rights / requirements regarding notice for them to vacate the premises too.
We’re just about there……what we are trying to achieve here is a Sales & Purchase Agreement to buy a home that has hardly any, or preferably no conditions or extra clauses.
That way you will have an Agreement that, excepting the price issue, will shine the brightest.
This list is by no means 100% comprehensive, for example there may be a few other circumstances where further conditions can be satisfied before the offer is presented too, but after all this exact process that I have described is exactly what you would already do if you were buying at auction anyway!
Many folk also advise to investigate a LIM report, I would discuss this with your conveyancing specialist prior too any offer, again, ……….exactly the same process you would conduct were you looking to bid at a property auction.
Knock Knock......
Now I can paint a picture. Real Estate Salesperson/Branch Manager arrives at home of seller at 7pm ready to present 3 buyer offers in sealed envelopes.
…….Continued in Part II
*** – be aware that some pre-approvals will still require a registered valuation on the property – please check with your lending specialist on this, or at exactly what dollar figure you can go to before its necessary to get a registered valuation.
August 21 2010 | Buyers and General and Mortgages Finance Money and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
August 16th, 2010
In a word, yes. Let me explain.
Be very careful next time you feel like saying….
“well of course you would want to invest in a rental property….when compared to….Exhibit A ….Exhibit B or Exhibit C”
…..well….just don’t!
If you do make such a statement, and you are not a qualified person under the new Act, you could very well find yourself in serious trouble, possibly in contravention of the new Financial Advisers Act 2008.
In case you are unsure about this, the words in the FAQ over at the NZ Securities Commission website say;
“…..only Authorised Financial Advisers can give advice on Category 1 products.”
And yes, Real Estate is included in the list of Category 1 products, as in;
Category 1 products are securities (for example shares and many types of investment products), any estate or interest in land, and futures contracts.
They spell it out pretty clearly too….
Q: What is financial advice?
A: The Act covers people who are in the business of giving financial advice, making investment transactions or providing a financial planning service. For the purposes of the Act, people give financial advice if they make a recommendation, or give an opinion or guidance in relation to acquiring, holding or disposing of a financial product. Providing factual information only about a financial product, in the absence of any recommendation, opinion or guidance, would not be considered financial advice.
I’ve highlighted above in orange the “interesting” bits.
So if you believe that you could find yourself accidentally saying something like that mentioned in the first sentence up above, or have said it already, then I suggest you head on over to the Securities Commission site. (link below)
And once there, make sure you are very familiar with the new Financial Advisers Act (FAA) 2008. (there’s plenty of links to the actual Act but more importantly, plenty of down to earth info in the FAQ section written in easily understood plain English)
Alternatively if you want your 15 minutes of fame, having your name or photo broadcast by the media on the nightly news as a result of them publicizing a court case about the 1st NZ Real Estate salesperson charged under the new Act, (which becomes 100% operational on 1st Dec 2010) then ignore what I have cautioned about at your peril.
Sunday Star Times - August 15th 2010
You may have noticed this in one of the Sunday papers. Let not yourself be one of the first to help establish precedents / case law for these new Acts.
Financial Advisers Act 2008 (latest versions available)
NZ Securties Commission Financial Advice Section – FAQ regarding new Financial Advisers Act 2008**
** NOTE – Changes were made to the Financial Advisers Act by Parliament on 23 June 2010. As a result, the following (link above) material is currently under review by the Securities Commission.
August 16 2010 | Buyers and General and Mortgages Finance Money and New Zealand and Sellers | 1 Comment »
August 13th, 2010
Expect REINZ (Real Estate Institute of NZ) to officially release New Zealand home sales figures for the month of July 2010 any day now.
Winter has well and truly set in, with the drop off in sales from last month continuing.
At the same time the number of listings** in the market rarely reached 350 (stands at 339 this morning) – like I said last month – stable.
Winters here
Notably, no 1 bedroom or 5+ bedroom properties were transacted in July. Adding to the un-seasonality was that 8 sections sold too, although for the first time in a while there were a few of them discounted, one quite majorly.
The stability in Nelson / Tasman that I speak of, is also depicted in the latest QV (Quotable Value NZ) chart of the Nelson region covering the Top of the South. The other South Island regions north of Christchurch were a bit of a mixed bag really.
quite mixed across the Top of the South
In related news just out QBE LMI’s 2010 Housing Outlook Report (prepared for them by Infometrics) has described the recovery of our housing market as “uncertain.” They go on to say that overall in NZ, they believe house prices may fall 4% by June next year.
….and in regards specifically to the Nelson region, they say;
The Nelson/Marlborough housing market has seen some lift in house prices over the last year, although this increase has occurred primarily in the Nelson area only.
Courtesy of the potential for good economic growth in the region, they forecast a “substantial pick-up in house prices, particularly in 2012/13.” They follow by saying that between June 2010 and June 2013, prices are forecast to rise a total of 12% (up 0.1% in real terms).
UPDATED: 13-08-2010 REINZ official figures released at 10am
Heres what they say about our region;
Nelson/Marlborough
The median price in the Nelson/Marlborough district decreased from $347,250 in June to $327,000 last month, slightly down on the July 2009 median of $328,000. At 159, residential property sales are up on 150 in June, but fewer than the 228 in July last year.
In Nelson City the median price decreased from $325,250 in June to $312,000 last month (July 2009: $350,000) but sales volume rose from 50 the previous month to 59 in July, though still less than 75 in the same month last year.
The median price of a Nelson Council Zone house fell to $332,000 from $352,500 in June and is down on the July 2009 median of $355,500. The number of sales increased to 113 from 98 in June (July 2009:135).
** – Data via www.realestate.co.nz
MAP GRAPHIC CREDIT – qv.co.nz
August 13 2010 | Buyers and Nelson and Sellers and Stats / Sales Data and The Market | No Comments »
August 12th, 2010
Tonights news carried the announcement that as part of the Building Act review, the Government is set to make some changes.
Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson announced that the aim was to;
“……………contribute to a more productive, efficient and accountable building and construction sector.” (aka remove some red tape)
This news will undoubtedly be welcomed by many, the only catch being the time frame by which they will be implemented.
There’s also talk of an online consent system.
Building with a View
In relation to that timing, the Department of Building and Housings website says
When will these changes happen?
These changes will be phased in over time. More work will be exempted from requiring a building consent later this year (2010).
Amendments to the Building Act will be considered by Parliament as soon as possible. New consumer support measures are expected to take effect from later in 2011. Changes to the Building consent system will be made after mid-2012.
If you’d like to find out more head on over to the Building Act review results and next steps page here.
UPDATED – related news
NZ Herald Friday 13th 2010 DIY, made easy
August 12 2010 | Buyers and General and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
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