[MB]

In brief, my wife and I are used to the (West Coast??) US way of buying and selling homes. The seller pays 6% total commission, and a few thousand closing costs; the property closes within 3-4 weeks after the inspection to-and-fro, assuming finances are pretty OK; and that's more or less it. Yes I'm sure there are rogues on all sides, but if you get a good agent and have some common-sense carefulness, things seem pretty cheerful and straightforward.

Question: what's the general milieu like of buying and selling in NZ? Is it like the US experience or is it strongly akin to the UK way (with solicitors, seller-only representation, and what sometimes seems to be an air of eye-rolling on all fronts!)?
I'm talking, especially, regular townhouses and city apartments -- maybe even new builds -- particularly. Does the whole affair more or less have the reputation of being pretty no-nonsense and simple (the odd chancer or rascal aside)? Or do folks really dread it?

Sorry if this begs a lot of questions, but anyone (e.g., Rich A.??) who knows both systems will probably know what I'm getting at.

[JohnM]

Matt: Rich Adams wrote a great piece about this:

http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/66/Living_In_New_Zealand.html

Hope this helps.

John

[MB]

Thanks, John! Very helpful.

Matt.