Andrew Duncan - Real Estate Blogger. Thoughts, advice and market commentary with a bit of world travel thrown in for good measure. I love working with nice people, enjoying plant-based food, crossfit, NFL and living in New Zealand.
property@andrewduncan.co.nz
Let me guess – your salesperson promised you the world and bought you an atlas? What constitutes enough of a reason to fire them and start over? Let’s discuss the 7 signs you need to fire your real estate agent, and how to do it. Did you know… When you sign a listing authority, giving salesperson Sally Lotaleads permission to market your home (usually for 90…
I see changing market’s everywhere I look. Reports from Wellington describe buyers being more judicious and increasingly tentative. Priced properties are attracting lots of interest but some Tender dates are coming and going with no offers being received. Meanwhile there are 51% more houses on the market in Auckland than there were this time last year, and buyers are harder to come by. Suddenly agents are chasing…
READER: I have a question, brought on by Wellington’s crazy house market. I sold my house last year and have been living with family since then, looking for a smaller place to buy. I haven’t yet found anything that ticks the majority of my boxes. I’ve developed relationships with three agents from different firms and do all the standard Trade Me / Realestate.co.nz checks every day….
One of my readers recently asked me about buying an investment property off the plans (a property that has not yet been built). If you are considering this option, the advice I always give friends of mine is as follows: 9 things to know about buying off the plans… 1. Lock in equity from Day 1? There can be serious advantages to buying off the…
Golden sand, never-ending beaches, warm enough weather to wear shorts and a t-shirt – what’s not to like about being on the Gold Coast! Sadly for us, we spent our 2 days mostly inside a monstrous convention centre, but it was well worthwhile all the same. For anyone who hasn’t been before, AREC is the pinnacle of real estate conferences, especially in this part of…
In this weeks mailbag we provide a market prediction (living on the edge!), and answer a question around a potential bathroom renovation. Email your question to: property@andrewduncan.co.nz Question 1: “I’m a new migrant. I’ve arrived in NZ last October and have been living in Half Moon Bay, Auckland. We are living in a rental, and are now trying to buy our first house. One basic question….
You get one chance at selling your biggest asset. Isn’t it important that you get it right? When it comes to selling your home, it’s easy to make mistakes. Problem is, those mistakes can be extremely costly, and hard to recover from. These are the most common traps I see owners falling into. Avoid them at all costs! Mistake 1. Over capitalising on renovations. When preparing…
Have you fallen in love with a home that your partner just can’t stand? Choosing a home can really test a relationship. The act of buying such a large asset is fraught with emotion which can seriously cloud our judgement and effect our ability to make sound investment decisions. Houses are interesting because for most of us it is the single biggest financial investment we…
Up until recently, there were 2 common ways you could figure out the value of your property: 1. Contact a real estate agent and invite them round to your home to give you a ‘free market appraisal’ and have this awkward situation where you want to know the answer but you don’t want them to hound you every 2 days with a phone call until…
My first podcast with mortgage adviser, Jenny Cheevers turned out to be a huge success. So we put together this little update where we answer some of your most common questions around finance. For example: Do you really need a 20% deposit to buy a home? How have the new 40% LVR rules for investors affected the market? Should a first home buyer pay off…
