[Mr Brillo]

We are moving to Hamilton / Cambridge area in August and have been looking at house websites (Realnz, Trademe property, allrealnz) since January this year.

Strikes me that there are quite a few houses that just haven't sold. Are they overpriced, is the market stagnant or is it that the best ones just don't get onto the "consolidated" websites as they sell so quickly?

I have been told that the offer to completion stage in NZ can be really quick, does anyone have any experience of this?

Sorry, I am sure this is a commonly repeated query!!

Many thanks for replies in advance...........

[willsken]

I can only agree with what you are seeing, as the same is apparent in the area we want to go to. I have been looking at the same houses coming up in the searches for months. Except the one I had set my heart on... after being there for ages it’s gone! :wah

[Mr Brillo]

Thanks for reply - I expect its best to wait until you get there and (like here) find out which parts of an area suit you best.

But I'm really impatient and can't wait....................! :laugh :laugh :laugh

Anyone else got views on this?

[Lupin]

oooooh, Willsken, I wonder if we're looking at the same properties... ;)

It is you that's moving to central Hawkes Bay, isn't it?

[Diny]

Hi there Brillo. Can't really comment on houses in the Waikato area as we are in the Manawatu. However, rumour has it (around these parts anyway) that there's going to be a slowing down in the housing market. We've noticed places are taking a couple of extra weeks but they're still moving.

We have just sold our place and are due to move 2 weeks on Friday. I can confirm that the house selling/buying rules and regulations over here are much faster and much more 'secure'. It kind of works like this:

You find a house you like, you make an offer. Once the offer has been accepted you both sign the offer/acceptance agreement. Your offer is usually subject to finance, building report etc. When you make the offer you normally agree on a date for going unconditional (which basically means the day you pay the deposit and you reach the point of no return). The vendor will usually include what is known as a cash out clause. This means that if somebody else comes along who wants to buy the house, the vendor has to inform you and say that they want to activate the cash out clause. The clause is usually set at about 5 working days (but again this can be negotiated). If you can't come up with the deposit within those 5 working days then the house goes to the other person. Of course if you have a lawyer who knows what's happening the rules can be 'bent' a little, but I'm just giving you the rule of thumb.

Once you have paid the deposit and have gone unconditional then the SOLD sign goes up. When that happens sold means sold. Neither party can pull out at the last minute, everybody knows exactly where they stand. Each scenario is different and unconditional and entry dates are decided and agreed upon by both parties. Yes it can be very fast, for instance when my sister in law bought her house over here, from the first viewing to moving in was 2 weeks (and she was actually delayed because there was a public holiday in the middle of the proceedings to hold things up). If you are buying a house which is already empty then things can move even faster. When we bought our rental house the proceedure took 3 weeks from go to woe.

As for houses advertised on realenz etc. You will find alot of them are out of date listings. Our house which we have just sold remained on the site for 3 weeks after the sold sign went up. The websites are a good way to get a feel for what's about but being out of date is the nature of the beast.

Also bear in mind that alot of the time houses go for a good whack over the listed price (so good ol' Mr Agent can get a juicy cut). Ours went for a LARGE amount more than the listed price.

Remember that all of the above is rule of thumb, there's exceptions to every rule. But when it comes to buying/selling real estate, NZ knocks spots off the UK.

Diny

[willsken]

oooooh, Willsken, I wonder if we're looking at the same properties... ;)

It is you that's moving to central Hawkes Bay, isn't it?

We may well be! I wonder who bought my shack? I'll never get over it! It's where I was going to put my father when he came to stay! :wah

Where in Hawkes Bay are you looking?

But I'm really impatient and can't wait....................!

Know the feeling.... I keep telling myself I have to stop looking! :roll

[Mr Brillo]

Diny..

Thanks for the info on buying/selling really useful.

Also interesting note about prices etc.

Will stop looking and just wait till we get there!

[Lupin]

"Also bear in mind that alot of the time houses go for a good whack over the listed price (so good ol' Mr Agent can get a juicy cut)."


Really? Typically, how much more?

[Diny]

Well we got 11,000 more than the asking price for ours.

[MB]

Mr Brillo - hello!

Yes, offer to completion can be quick. On Jan 27th we closed on buying one house in Te Kuiti, then (though we liked Te K) decided to move again almost immediately to our current cottage near Te Awamutu and Hamilton. Bottom line is that we found this cottage in about late Feb., put Te K on the market and had an offer after a week. We finally settled on a closing date of April 12th for both deals, and were actually in our new cottage by March 26th (for logistical reasons we rented it for a week or two prior to official closing)! And the sale of Te K went through very smoothly.

Now, I do think luck and working with good people (agent, buyers and seller) were all something to do with it. Indeed, the agent selling our Te K house said to me after pretty much everything had gone through that "you'll think all moves in NZ are as easy as this one has been!", and that she has one or two dragging cases on her desk.

So we are now really enjoying our home. It is small but sound (there are a few photos of it on our blog, starting from early-April '06 entries) and is on just over 1/4 of an acre. We were very happy with the price we paid. This area is more expensive than Te Kuiti, and we did not have a lot of money to throw around and had to choose carefully, but we are now miles closer to Auckland where my wife does one of her two jobs. This area is also warmer than Te Kuiti, I think. Kawhia beach is less than an hour away, and Hamilton is about 25 mins. drive.

You might find that, a little like the way that meteorologists talk about 'micro climates', there are also housing 'micro markets' in the sense of where's hot and where's not ("hot" in the market sense, I mean, not the weather!) For example, one town might have quite a competitive market, but a smaller and quieter place just a few minutes' drive from it can be a bit slower re. offers and sale times.

We are still dazed about finding this place. It was the first and only place we looked at, but we love it and we have great neighbors. I have just finished a week of cat-feeding and keeping an eye on a neighbor's house while they were away, which we were more than happy to do 'cos, a week or two ago, they came and mowed our lawns; looked in our attic re. a possible leak (there wasn't one, it turns out); and nailed down some loose flashing on our roof!

All the best! Another thing to try is to go to individual agent companies' Web sites such as LJ Hooker, Harcourts and First National, because there you can keep an eye on smaller quantities of listings than you get from a 'catch all' site. E.g., you can select a particular town or suburb and look at it from day to day, week to week, to see how many properties are being taken on and off. Remember that many properties here are exclusively listed by one particular company or other.

:nice1