[victoria24]

while we're on our recce, we would like to view some houses but im assuming that agents wont spend their time showing us round. what are the common "explanations" used to sound ready to rock so you get taken seriously?

[Helsandfamily]

Every sunday, and most saturdays most houses that are for sale have "Open Homes" If you get a property press for a particular area that you are interested in just make a list of the houses and the times that they are open and go and have a look. You can make a whole day of it really.

[victoria24]

imagine if the "skilled" uk estate agents came up with such a brilliant idea!

[gil]

I suggested an Open Home to our agents in Cardiff when we were struggling to sell. They said no. Very creative.

[Georgebulldog]

We almost had an open home in the UK, we went out for the afternoon & they bought some viewers round but not like it is here

I would get on the estate agents website Victoria24 just before you come out so you know which houses have open homes, great for a nosey round other peoples lives :D

[Janey]

go onto open2view there is a section at the bottom that lists the open homes in the area that week, we did exactly that Neil the real estate agents did not mind happy to help and explain NZ quirks in houses also got given business cards for when we did start looking.
BTW property press mags can be found virtually anywhere on the street particuarly outside dairies and banks for some reason.
The other thing as well is when you have poen homes most people expect most of the neighbours to view! so if anything you are not the time waster!
it took us 4 motnths and change of agent to get open home in UK it worked but it is nothing like here Bradleys in the South West saw it as a new thing! what we kept on saying was yes here but not in Oz, NZ, Canada or the states!

[victoria24]

thanks janey, great website never heard of it before :)

[catt]

Tell them the truth! We looked at the realenz website at some houses we liked the look of before our recce last November and contacted the agents to arrange appointments to view and explained to them that we were in the UK and the dates we would be in NZ all of them were great. We fixed up appointments and they took us out and about not just to the houses we asked to see but let us look through their listings and took us around to show us areas. I am back in contact with 3 of them in the BoP area for when we get there in a few weeks time and they are currently sending me houses on their listings which are not yet on the realenz site.

We thought it would be difficult but far from it estate agents are a different breed in NZ and they also look good if they are showing people around the houses dont forget even if they dont sell them it proves to the vendor that they are doing their work by getting people through the door and particularly in the current climate.

I would suggest telling them the truth you may be amazed.:nice1

[Janey]

not heard of open 2 view? best site for real estate 20-30 pictures for each house fantastic NZ real estate agents know how to market although some pics are a little bizarre the site does give you a good insight to areas if you match this with google earth and google streetwise you are almost there in person. For particular properties councils provide rates details and often an airel view of the property one thing is strange here is rooms do not come with measurements as in the UK but the house is quoted in sqm which is difficult to visulise. It also worth noting some agents will use a fisheye lens which makes a room look bigger.



(if you put in ID#163244 thats our house have a look although now has some more paint on the walls)

[victoria24]

wow! views are ace :) do you mind me asking how much you paid for it?

[aberdian]

I would suggest telling them the truth you may be amazed.:nice1
I am of entirely the opposite opinion :) Around here they won't give you the time of day unless they think you're doing more than just having a nosy!

And never ever forget that they work for the vendor, not you :)

Yes, we have had bad experiences.......

[cappuccino]

We thought it would be difficult but far from it estate agents are a different breed in NZ


Unfortunately, in my experience, EAs are the same breed the whole world over!

My current situation is that last week I saw a house that I fell in love with. The agent keeps telling me that there are other offers about to be submitted but of course they are not allowed to tell you how much the other offers are. It's all guesswork. He also tells me that the vendor will not look at offers below $x but as the purchaser doesn't get to meet the vendor at negotiation stage, its difficult to know if he is lying to me (which I suspect he is cos he could say any figure in the hope that the offers come in higher than that!) Currently there are no offers on the table (they have to tell you when the first offers come in).

He also said that he likes buyers who sell their current houses through him (thus getting double 'bubble') whilst first time buyers like me are of little profit to him.

In my opinion he is a scumbag and the kind of EA that gives them all a bad name!

Having said all that, I have found a really nice, helpful and informative agent but not in the area where I am now looking :-(

Just another word of advice: try to steer clear of tenders and auctions. Remember that a lot of houses here are not advertised with their prices. They do often advertise the GV (government valuation) which was used to work out council rates. Some locations sell for well under the GV and some sell for way over.

All this media hype of 'its a buyer's market' is cr@p in my opinion, here in Wellington!

[IanW99]

...
My current situation is that last week I saw a house that I fell in love with. The agent keeps telling me that there are other offers about to be submitted but of course they are not allowed to tell you how much the other offers are. It's all guesswork. He also tells me that the vendor will not look at offers below $x but as the purchaser doesn't get to meet the vendor at negotiation stage, its difficult to know if he is lying to me (which I suspect he is cos he could say any figure in the hope that the offers come in higher than that!)
...


We had exactly the same thing from one EA, they first said that someone had put in an offer then when we said let them have it then, it changed to there are conditions that might not be met so if you are quick then you could get it etc,... don't be fooled into increasing your offer above what you are prepared to pay.

Just remember that they work for the vendor and not you, many come over as your best friend and they will work really hard to help you out but at the end of the day its all about the sale.

Ian

[Janey]

Thanks Neil Late $500's

[victoria24]

Thanks Neil Late $500's

thats amazing really janey.. i reckon plonk it in cornwall and it would be easily over 1.5mil NZD??? if you could ever sell the sodding thing!

[Steve_B]

My recce lasted a month back in October and two days were spent with two different Estate Agents, one for the south of Auckland and one for the North. We looked at a total of 16 houses during those two days and have to say that that they were very well spent in giving us a really good idea of what to expect.

We are trying hard to get PR based on my OH's points despite the fact that I'm described as being 'between jobs' having sold my business back in 2007. Being in that position means that we could be perfectly honest with the EA's, despite the fact that we have since had a set-back on the EOI, as effectively we are cash buyers. Initial contact was made from the UK via email with the dates that we were in NZ and highlighting a few properties that we'd like to see. Both EA's were very accomodating, each making the nominated day full of viewings. The EA from Albany was particularly good and informative because she had emigrated to NZ just 8 years ago having lived in the UK beforehand. She is still in touch with us and gives us weekly updates on the market and I'm pretty sure that when we eventually make it a permanent move that she will become more than just a business contact. I have to admit that having done the south of Auckland tour with the Kiwi EA that it did cross my mind as to what can of worms I'd opened as she did tend to work on 'buying signals' a little too much.....just don't say 'wow' too many times as they'll be calling you forever, no matter where you are in the World!

In conclusion, I think that if you are honest about your circumstances, and that means that you are genuinely in the market to buy, that you will be taken seriously no matter how long the immigration process takes...at least, that's our experience :nice1

Good Luck

Steve

[Bozeman]

not heard of open 2 view? best site for real estate 20-30 pictures for each house fantastic NZ real estate agents know how to market although some pics are a little bizarre the site does give you a good insight to areas if you match this with google earth and google streetwise you are almost there in person. For particular properties councils provide rates details and often an airel view of the property one thing is strange here is rooms do not come with measurements as in the UK but the house is quoted in sqm which is difficult to visulise. It also worth noting some agents will use a fisheye lens which makes a room look bigger.



(if you put in ID#163244 thats our house have a look although now has some more paint on the walls)
open2view is OK but it lists only a fraction of the properties you will find on realestate.co.nz or TradeMe...