colinrealestate

A quick coat of paint will help refresh any property, whether it is for sale or up for rent.
And don’t struggle over choosing just what colours are “in” and whether or no wallpaper is best. Just call your local paint supplier and ask their colour consultant to come and help you in the process.
Be sure though, to keep away from strong colours and even feature walls. Light, inoffensive, no dateable whites, off whites and creams will work with any prospective purchaser or tenant’s furniture.
Oh, and don’t forget the front gate, garage door, front door and fence!

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Yes, it’s been a very quiet time for rural property transactions these past few months but with the leveling of dairy payouts along with a lift in meat and wool income projections, we are seeing more interest in farm purchases again.
Finance remains a challenge, but increasingly we are seeing strong business plans convincing the very conservative rural banking sector to support purchases. Expect an ongoing lift in this sector.

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Oh the angst this question causes! Do I Auction, take the Tender pathway or sell through a priced offer programme? To be frank, there is no single and simple answer to that question.
You see, every property, suburb and marketplace differs markedly as do the needs of the seller.
So, before making any decisions, let’s talk over your aspirations ; why you’re selling, when you need to be moving on, what you are looking for as your next home and we’ll match that alongside what’s working best in your area, market sector and of course, your ultimate aims.

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Well, the messages have been flying around since late last year that some property investors may incur additional costs…or removal of write-offs, in the budget next month.
What this means for rental income is a focus of much debate but one thing remains a truism; there will be an ongoing need of good rental properties and someone will own them and someone else will rent them!
No doubt some will down sell out of the sector once the taxation changes are clarified…
And who knows, banks willing, we just might see first home owners taking up some of the previously tenanted property.
Another case of “watch this space!”

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An oft-asked question these days, and with rates across the Tasman increasing it would only seem likely that the cost of money in New Zealand will rise in the latter part of this year. This may well mean floating rates may rise from their present fairly low levels, while as the international money market settles it is likely that the presently firm fixed rate costs will moderate.

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More than ever it’s the homes that stand out in any market sector that are attracting the buyers’ attention. True, there are probably fewer active buyers available than in times gone by, but that changes week to week and suburb to suburb, but one basic tenet stands: present your home better, more attractively, more interestingly than another in its suburb, size and price sector and you have a major advantage in the market. You’ll be more likely to have competing buyers rather than pressuring ‘cherry-pickers’ talking with your sales professional.
Beyond that?
Keep it smart all the time it’s on the market and make sure you price to sell.

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For those who are on the move and have to purchase or who have made an irrevocable decision to up-or-down-size, you will face a market that in general has fewer properties available in all sectors. You’ll also quickly realise that the better properties are heavily contested by buyers, so you will need to move when you find the one you want.

Of course it is always easier to control that battle if you are ‘cashed up’ and are able to commit quickly to an unconditional position.

The web is a great search tool, but make sure you keep close to your preferred First National sales consultant as they will be able to keep you abreast of the market, advise on the realities of the area you are investigating and the nuances of the properties you prefer.

A big hint? Make sure your bank, this week, is prepared to back you to the value you have previously discussed, because their position changes often and over recent months too many buyers who thought they had approval to invest in a price bracket, return to the bank to find they have had ‘their legs cut off.’
Another issue to deal with is the Building Report. In view of concerns about the ‘leaky house syndrome’ such reports these days are pretty scary documents and often see buyers who would otherwise purchase fairly sound properties, scared off by the terminology in the report. Don’t succumb to this first off. Sit down, work through it with your advisors…solicitor, sales professional and if possible, get the author of the report in to a meeting with this group…you will often find that apparent major issues are not that.

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No, this does not mean you should parade in skimpy bathers or bikini, but it does reflect on two hugely important “drivers” or “killers” of sales. Put simply, you must look at your home through the eyes of a buyer and then remove any and all negative influences. Go to the front gate and look at the fence, the path, front entry area and ‘spruce up’ or clear away anything that a potential buyer would feel is untidy or not needed.
Once at the front door, stop. Look at what the visitor will see looking in. Rule number one from every doorway is to have the viewer’s eye taken to something in the distance. If it’s a wall, place a stunning piece of art there or a small table with one impressive flower arrangement in a special vase. If there’s a doorway, highlight what is beyond. What you are trying to do is to draw the viewer onward and onward, always being enticed to the next area of the home.

Remember less is best! Take away all the clutter, the rocks from Haast Pass, the coloured sand from Rotorua and sorry, even remove most of the family photos along the sideboard – aim for clean and uncluttered with one or two prime items that stand out. The rest go into storage.

And so to outdoor living; focus on that. We in NZ love the access to the outdoors, so flaunt it if you’ve got it. And once on the deck, and especially if you have a family home, make sure the eye of the beholding parent is dragged across the lawn to some feature their children will enjoy: A swing, slide, hut, clean fenced play area.

Don’t forget that the idea is to clear the path people follow to the next feature or doorway. Sure, it may not be how you would and do live, but “showing your house to sell” is different from daily living.

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Right now, rentals are in hot demand, as we’ve commented previously, and while tenants are being more selective as they seek warmer, drier and more modern homes to rent, they just might have to change that view a little as the already growing number of investors selling in anticipation of their portfolio construction coming under the gaze or reviewed tax laws, becomes a major trend.

Under these circumstances there could, and we stress ‘could’ be a shortage of rental properties in some market sectors.
Of course the up side to this scenario is that first home owners will again get a chance to purchase as was the case in the early part of 2009. Banks seem to be signally they would view this as a positive issue.

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It’s been said before, and the soothsayers have used jargon to get the story across, but recent [2009] changes to the Reserve Bank Act have commended that all NZ banks must place larger amounts of their total funds in reserve, with the Reserve Bank. The result has meant that there isn’t enough money in circulation in NZ to meet loan needs …mortgages, farm and commercial loans etc, so the banks have to go off shore to top up supplies.
Sadly for us, the cost of getting access to this off shore money is high, so our mortgage interest rates will trend up and probably faster than other economies.

So, if you are going to purchase, talk with your advisor, and we’d advise that should in most cases be the bank, about fixing interest for a time just so you can budget those first few years without surprises of increases in floating rates.

Listen to the experts though…they do know best

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