Archive for the 'The Market' Category
Theres something about hotel bedrooms.
........the starchy pillows?
Is it the number or size or volume of the pillows?
Perhaps its the symmetry that helps align things after a stressful day at work?
Whatever it is, few will argue that in many good hotels, the bedrooms are definitely a comforting place, and an easy place to fall asleep in. Others say that is down to the design of the room, the furniture and the surroundings and soundproofing.
That said, you can’t exactly do everything, budget withstanding, to the equivalent of a hotel in the space of your own bedroom.
MD of leading UK hotel design specialist Occa Home, Kate Mooney, seems to be the person responsible for the videos and tips above hosted at housetohome.co.uk.
click to go there...
However courtesy of that UK site, housetohome, you can go quite a long part of the way there yourself.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out the other great inspirational makeover type videos there too;
Click above to be taken to the site.....
How to create a hotel-style bathroom.
…..and while you’re at it…..
How to create the perfect boy’s bedroom – SEE VIDEO
and…
How to create the perfect girl’s bedroom – SEE VIDEO
Great tips here.
SOURCE – http://www.housetohome.co.uk
July 19 2010 | General and Sellers and Technology and The Market | No Comments »
July 18th 2010
You know the feeling.
You’ve just brought that new 50” Full HD LCD screen and the week after its delivered some glossy junkmail arrives from XYZ electrical retailer (different than where you brought yours) proclaiming that exact same TV now comes with a free/bonus Blue-Ray™ player!
You’d spent hours researching the different brands, brightness, colours and the respective warranties. You’d watched the prices for at least a month. How could this happen.**
But you know what?
You would think when someone is looking to sell their pride and joy, their biggest asset that they would carry out some hours of due diligence beforehand.
Frankly, it seems like many just don’t.
bit of a drop if I don't say so myself.......
Otherwise why do we see headers to Real Estate advertisements like this?
When you make your list up selecting what criteria to choose an agent from/by, there is one thing that should be at the top of that list.
And that thing is…..how realistic are they in their appraisal price? Does the agent “buy listings?” Do they have an above average track record of getting the pricing wrong.
In the Nelson Real Estate market, is there any way I can find this sort of info out before hand?
Luckily in regards to New Zealand Real Estate, there is a way you can find this information out.
And as luck would have it, it’s real easy to do.
look for any trends......
All you have to do is go back over your last 2-4 Property Weeklies / local weekly Real Estate features.
See if you can spot if there are any trends……….. ie; which person seems to have more than their fair share of “PRICE REDUCED” or “PRICE REDUCTION” stamped across their adds.
....just another coincidence?
Then imagine yourself in the shoes of one of the owners of the homes in that situation.
After all this could very likely be the same situation you will find yourself in, experiencing the type of stress associated with lowering your expectations some weeks down the line from the listing date?
Forewarned is forearmed.
** – as it turns out there are some electrical stores where this sort of thing doesn’t happen, DSE, for example have a 14 day Satsfaction Guarantee policy to alleviate the pain that such a scenario as painted could cause.
July 18 2010 | General and Nelson and New Zealand and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
July 7th , 2010
Long time coming….and not exactly 100% correct……. but still, Walkscore.com is trying.
...they're trying.....
In these days of escalating fuel prices, public transit cost increases, car-pooling, favored school zones, etc…its nice to know that there are some things that can be accomplished on behalf of your own form of public transportation……your feet!
And that’s where walkscore.com comes in.
People looking to buy homes for sale in Nelson will really appreciate this. Come to think of it, it doesn’t just relate to Nelson Real Estate, it really relates to anywhere in New Zealand.
Utilisied by many stateside folk, its point of being is that it offers up a “rating” to whether or not your desired or projected new place of residence is classified as a “walk to …places” friendly sort of place.
Eighteen months ago I discussed what I thought about this concept, and hinted about its potential.
At that stage it was a USA only type of thing. Launched in 2007, by July of that year they had over 1,000,000 addresses rated.
Importantly though……certainly at least for us antipodeans, keep it in mind…….that they do kinda “gets a few things wrong.”
...not exactly 100% accurate yet for New Zealand....but trying....
For Stoke, my home patch, it suggests that you can’t walk to most amenities and in-fact it goes so far as to suggest as much that Stoke FAILS on the “walkability status”, giving us a 45 out of 100 score.
WRONG. Couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Then again where does New Zealand….let alone Nelson rate in their worldwide scheme of things.
But…forgetting that minor inconvenience – overall my local fail is a minor thing because what the website achieves overall is just fantastic.
Little things “irk me” – like being told I have to travel 81kms for a bookstore, when I know I only have to travel 6-8kms at most.
Time has progressed and even if you don’t classify yourself as an “eco-warrior” you still really owe it to yourself to CLICK HERE and at the very least, try them out at least once.
July 06 2010 | General and Nelson and Technology and The Market | No Comments »
To be frank, this is starting to become a bit of a habit…………
I am constantly telling all and sundry how great it is to live here.
So imagine my surprise….almost relief……when I realise that….the media that I sometimes scorn because of the credit viewing/reading members of my audience place with them in supporting their usual cynical views…………come forward today to say……something positive about real estate locally.
December 2007
So from here on ….you need to make up your own mind.
March 2008
from a historical point of view
these headlines do show a similar thread………..
July 2008
These sort of headlines…..
Sept 2008
well down here we’re getting used to them…..
....and again....
…must be an unusual place Nelson……….
……..ok lets flick forward a year or so and investigate whats changed?
...deja vu?
Nothing!
…and here above is how we find the local media reporting the situation in July 2010 in Nelson?
Hmmm…………?
If you have been following what I write here, you’ll know about this because I mentioned this a few days ago.
So……Nelson in NZ, the place to live in NZ?
PS: in case you are wondering there are a couple of headline fillers for that gap period in 2009 (although they do follow a similar theme)….just that I can’t find them right now.
July 06 2010 | Buyers and General and Nelson and The Market | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
Real Estate things that make you go Hmmm PART I
1. The FOR SALE sign out front has a price on it.
Why?
As Real Estate agents, we are marketers of a property, not a corner store.
Ultimately, it’s up to the seller if the property sells, our task is to wisely, timely, speedily, accurately and for value let as many other agents / people / potential buyers know that a certain property is “on the market.”
To my way if thinking this (ie; price on the sign) just sends contradictory messages about what value a Real Estate Agent is to a property seller.
In many cases this just helps to reinforces the idea that Private Sellers have “just stick a sign out the front with a price on it.” (have you ever noticed how many Private Sellers signs have the price on them?)
The downside of this method is no different than that other one that property buyers are always on the “lookout” for. And that is, the property with 2 or 3 or 4 different companies For Sale signs out front.
For that “scouting” buyer, nothing signals desperate seller more than this. It just yells out that the seller is a “too motivated” seller.
In my experience this is not something that every seller wants, or in fact should, impart to potential buyers.
From any associated experience I have had with these types of sales, 95% of the time all this “marketing?” method does is encourage the “ooh they’re desperate, let’s make a low offer?” type of buyers.
If that’s what the seller wants, then fine.
I suspect as part of the Kiwi psyche, that in recent times this has been accelerated by the “living on the edge month to month” method many over-extended folk have found themselves in.
In denial of things getting any worse, they have not placed the property on the market early enough.
When things do take a turn for the downside, some small amount of panic sets in (they “don’t need to sell in a hurry, though”) and they want to speed up the whole “home selling” process.
It’s a double edged sword.
Typically these were the buyers who, when they purchased the property, did so with a 95-100% mortgage from the bank. Today, those 0.25% increases really do make a difference to the monthly cost of living. Now that these sellers are sending out the “desperate / must sell now” signals, they are doing their best to encourage “bottom feeders” who trawl the real estate market in each town looking out for a “steal.” Let me tell you, this is not the way to get a premium for your property.
Look at it another way……..
Example – Mr & Mrs Smith do not have a computer, and one day want to retire to Nelson…..but they “aren’t ready for a retirement home yet”….so while over from Blenheim visiting their relatives in Nelson, they spot a sign outside a property that had spotted & liked “from the street” last trip.
Does the fact that the properties For Sale sign out front have a price figure on it matter to them?
I suggest “No.” But it now gives them on the buyer side some extra ammunition when they sense seller desperation by seeing the price on that sign. I also wonder whether some agents are using it as a last ditch method in the last week or two before their listings hit 90 days.
All I’m asking is, next time you are thinking of placing a $ figure on your For Sale sign, just consider the all the positive / negative ramifications cautiously before you do so.
July 05 2010 | Buyers and General and Sellers and The Market | 5 Comments »
July 1st, 2010
One of the interesting things about the Real Estate market is how people believe what they read, hear or see in the media, but just so long as it suits them to. Forget what the foot troops on the ground are telling them and just let the cynic in them take favour.
The contrarian view isn’t given any space.
And you see…..that’s a problem, when buying “houses for sale” in Nelson, and the Nelson Bays area in general.
As you know by now, many times when there is a spark of recovery, alongside a couple of the usual suspects, our region leads the way in relation to the housing market.
Lately some of my colleagues have been wondering why so many out of town buyers have not only descended upon us, but why oh why, are they trying to low ball their offers on local property! I suspect, and the map here shows the case, that markets they are emigrating from have a totally different dynamic to the Nelson local market.
Just because their local paper has been sprouting doom and gloom, and that local paper may have picked up on some negative NZ overall figures, does not a full picture make.
However there is a silver lining, and local buyers don’t mind the fact that they are enjoying the current reasonably stable market.
They can move sideways and up market a bit in these times of “relatively stable” prices.
In fact because out-of-town buyers are offering such low prices it gives them, the locals that is, an added edge in making their reasonable offers….. look great by comparison!
I’ll let this take-out map graphic from realestate.co.nz’s latest report on the NZ Property Market for June 2010 tell you in a “picture says 1000 words” way about looking for homes for sale in Nelson.
In conclusion I’ll leave with you with a quote from the report;
“…..with the Nelson region clearly bucking the trend with a bias to a seller’s market with inventory below the LTA, sales activity strong and asking price expectation steady.”
July 01 2010 | Buyers and Nelson and New Zealand and Sellers and Stats / Sales Data and The Market | No Comments »
We hear so much so often from so many experts about Real Estate / Housing Prices.
Here’s a “Who am I?” to help keep it in perspective.
I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise the thrifty and the prudent.
I am the poor man’s joy and comfort, the rich man’s price, the right hand of capital and the silent partner of many thousands of successful men.
I am the solace of the widow, the comfort of old age and the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want.
I am handed down to children through generations, as a thing of great worth.
I am the choicest fruit of toil, credit respects me, yet I am humble.
I stand before every man bidding him to know me for what I am and possess me.
I grow and increase in value through countless days.
Though I seem dormant, my worth increases, never failing, never ceasing. Time is my aid and population heaps up my gain.
Fire and the elements I defy, for they cannot destroy me.
My possessors learn to believe in me; invariably they become envied.
While all things wither and decay, I survive.
The centuries find me younger, increasing in my strength.
I am the foundation of banks, the producer of foods and the basis of all wealth throughout the world.
Yet I am so common that thousands, unthinkingly and unknowingly pass me by.
I AM LAND!
Source / Anon
June 21 2010 | Buyers and General and New Zealand and Sellers and The Market | No Comments »
June 15th 2010
REINZ (Real Estate Institute of NZ) today released the official figures for home sales covering the month of May 2010.
Crunching the numbers locally, we saw a reduction in the overall Nelson City median price from $355,000 to $323,500, representing a slightly higher than 9% drop in our overall median price. Meanwhile overall NZ on the whole saw just a drop of $6000 (approx. 1.7% fall) in May 2010 when compared to the prior month of April 2010.
Median days to sell varied from 67 in Central Otago Lakes to 35 days in Southland, while the NZ median increased 3 days from 40 to 43.
You’ll notice below in the graph that our local “days to sell” marry up pretty much with that too.
....click above graph for larger version
Reflecting the constant interest in “Bricks and Mortar” as a solid investment, REINZ President Peter McDonald said;
“While slightly down on the April figure and the March median of $360,000, the May median is still 3.7 per cent up on the median price of $337,500 in the same month in 2009, so we are still not seeing any significant fall in property values”
bit more Red returning this month...
Nelson sales were spread, just like last month, a bit more evenly over the whole 2 – 3 – 4 bedroom mix. You’ll recall earlier in the year our market was dominated by 3 bedroom sales.
Here’s the official REINZ word on Nelson/Marlborough.
Nelson/Marlborough
The median price for a Nelson/Marlborough home decreased to $330,000 in May from April’s $339,500 (May 2009: $330,250). At 230, residential sales were up on the 206 in April but down on the 252 in May last year.
Sales in Nelson City increased to 88 from the 78 houses sold in April (May 2009: 91). But the median price decreased to $323,500 from $355,000 in April (May 2009: $340,000).
The May median price of $350,500 for a Nelson Council Zone house is down on the April median of $367,000 (May 2009: $346,250). Sales increased from 131 in April to 158 last month (May 2009: 154).
72 houses sold in Marlborough zone in May, down on the 75 in April and the 98 in the same month last year. The median price increased from $285,000 in April to $306,000 in May (May 2009: $297,000).
SOURCE – www.REINZ.co.nz
June 15 2010 | Buyers and General and Nelson and Sellers and Stats / Sales Data and The Market | No Comments »
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