Tia Maria
3rd February 2008, 04:32 PM
One of my fave past times while I was waiting for PR was to look at houses online in the areas we fancied moving to.
So I thought I'd post a few helpful links for those waiting to get to NZ.
Most of the agents have their own websites, and there are several estate agent chains, but as a good starting point, check out:
www.nz.open2view.com
www.realestate.co.nz
www.allrealestate.co.nz
www.propertypress.co.nz (this is a property paper that gets delivered to people every week, so there are different ones for different areas)
Due to high agent fees, selling privately is becoming increasingly popular:
www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-property/index.htm
www.greendoor-realestate.co.nz
If you are trying to establish how much a house will cost, you can look at past sales on these sites:
http://helpsellmyproperty.co.nz/ (free but not all properties)
www.qv.co.nz (charge a fee but has more data)
I've also noticed that Trade Me will often have the price of properties most recently sold, at the bottom of a current listing.
You can also get a bird's eye view of the property by using Google Earth:
http://earth.google.com/
Individual councils sometimes have GIS viewers which also allow you to see photos of the area from above. This one, (North Shore - Auckland), will also tell you CV values and land size of individual properties. I find it essential as it often shows you all those little extra things that agents don't like to tell you about, like if its a divided plot or opposite an industrial area etc.
www.nscc.govt.nz/your_neigbourhood/property_information/gis.htm
Quite often the agents don't print the addresses on their listings. However, if it is new on, as the weekend approaches, they will add it somewhere so people know where to go for the open homes. So recheck the listing on a Thursday or Friday to see if they've added Open Home details.
Feb/March is a really good time to check out housing as lots come on after Xmas and school holidays.
I'm sure there are lots of other links but hope this is of some help!
Cheers
Tia
So I thought I'd post a few helpful links for those waiting to get to NZ.
Most of the agents have their own websites, and there are several estate agent chains, but as a good starting point, check out:
www.nz.open2view.com
www.realestate.co.nz
www.allrealestate.co.nz
www.propertypress.co.nz (this is a property paper that gets delivered to people every week, so there are different ones for different areas)
Due to high agent fees, selling privately is becoming increasingly popular:
www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-property/index.htm
www.greendoor-realestate.co.nz
If you are trying to establish how much a house will cost, you can look at past sales on these sites:
http://helpsellmyproperty.co.nz/ (free but not all properties)
www.qv.co.nz (charge a fee but has more data)
I've also noticed that Trade Me will often have the price of properties most recently sold, at the bottom of a current listing.
You can also get a bird's eye view of the property by using Google Earth:
http://earth.google.com/
Individual councils sometimes have GIS viewers which also allow you to see photos of the area from above. This one, (North Shore - Auckland), will also tell you CV values and land size of individual properties. I find it essential as it often shows you all those little extra things that agents don't like to tell you about, like if its a divided plot or opposite an industrial area etc.
www.nscc.govt.nz/your_neigbourhood/property_information/gis.htm
Quite often the agents don't print the addresses on their listings. However, if it is new on, as the weekend approaches, they will add it somewhere so people know where to go for the open homes. So recheck the listing on a Thursday or Friday to see if they've added Open Home details.
Feb/March is a really good time to check out housing as lots come on after Xmas and school holidays.
I'm sure there are lots of other links but hope this is of some help!
Cheers
Tia