Hey, my name is Andrew Duncan.
On my blog, you will find real estate tips, advice and market commentary, with some off-topic ranting occasionally thrown in for good measure. I love working with nice people, enjoying plant-based food, CrossFit, NFL and living in Wellington, where I run Relatable, an independent real estate agency where we help buyers and sellers make smart property decisions.
Please note: I am not a qualified financial adviser and the opinions offered here are purely my own. It is critical that you seek professional advice from a solicitor before embarking on any property purchase. Read: Don’t buy a home without speaking to these 5 people first What a scary time it has become for first home buyers, especially if you started looking 12-24 months ago…
I recently interviewed top Wellington mortgage broker Jenny Cheevers to get her thoughts on a few topical real estate finance questions, including: – What’s happening with interest rates? – Should I fix for 1 year or 2 years? – Should I switch banks for one offering 3.95%? – Can I buy a home with only a 10% deposit? – Should I pay off my student…
First up, if you are unsure what we mean by the words conditional vs unconditional, check out this article for a bit of background. Needless to say, making an unconditional offer on a property takes serious effort and investment. The process of making an unconditional offer could (and should) involve: Speaking with your lawyer (asking them to review the title, LIM and offer document). Arranging…
I often get asked about cross-lease properties. It can be a confusing form of ownership, especially if you are new to the process of buying a home. The purpose of this article is to provide you with an understanding of whether cross-lease properties will provide a good real estate investment and/or whether you should avoid them at all costs. Thinking of selling a cross-lease property?…
If you are buying a home for the first time, or if you haven’t made an offer in a while, the whole question of conditional vs unconditional offers can get confusing. This article explains how each type of offer works. When you make an offer on a property it will either be: UNCONDITIONAL Meaning the offer is not subject to any checks or due diligence….
This article will give you tips on how to avoid paying too much when buying a home. It focusses on the emotional side of the decision-making process. Why do some people end up paying too much? FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is an immensely powerful emotion and it can drive us to do crazy things in the heat of the moment. It is so easy…
The following is a guest post written by Eugene Yang, Co-founder at Kitt, a Kiwi startup providing a cloud-based-platform for real estate asset management. Proptech. It’s currently the latest buzzword in real estate, but you may or may not have taken into account the seriousness behind its meaning. “PropTech” means property technology, and you’ve probably already been using it. PropTech will disrupt the property industry…
A quick introduction… In real estate sales, the listing agent is the person who has been hired by the homeowner to sell their property. The listing agent is the one with their face on the signboard outside. In most situations in NZ, if you want to buy that home, you can either deal with the listing agent directly or another agent from the same company. Note:…
I believe we have a housing affordability issue in New Zealand. I fear for friends of mine who are having to load up on debt to get on to the property ladder and at the other end of the spectrum, I can’t stand the sight of families living in cars as was so well illustrated in the recent documentary who owns New Zealand. It’s fair to say…
There is now a real estate file delivery system available that every single real estate salesperson should be using to allow prospective buyers access to reports and other related info. This system is called propertyfiles and from our experience, it’s a game-changer. I’ve worked in real estate sales since 2007. Since the day I started, one of the most time-consuming tasks has been getting property info…
