Hey, my name is Andrew Duncan.
On my blog, you will find real estate tips, advice and market commentary, along with articles about climate change, plant-based food, personal finance and travel. I love working with nice people, solving problems and living in Wellington, NZ.
UPDATED: May 2020 Everyone wants to avoid a multiple offer situation. We all want to negotiate directly with the owner, one on one. It’s programmed into our genes to want to start off low, see what the vendor comes back with and maybe meet in the middle if it works for us. To buy a home any other way feels…
UPDATED: May, 2020 Learning how to negotiate while buying and selling real estate is a tricky business. The process can be full of traps that you can’t be expected to know about as most people only enter the market every 5-7 years. If you only rode a bike, drove a car or swung a golf club every 7 years you…
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…
I am an investment property owner. I am just the kind of person the Tax Working Group intends to target in their capital gains tax recommendations. This policy is likely going to cost my family a lot of money in the future. But I understand why it needs to be done and I agree with it. Here are 5 reasons…
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…
It often comes as a complete surprise to owners, that a real estate salesperson will ask them to pay not only their commission but a separate advertising bill on top (and up front). This real estate advertising program usually comes to thousands of dollars. Which begs the one question that nearly every owner ponders at some point in the home…
The home ownership rate in NZ is currently the lowest it has been in 66 years (approx 63%). It peaked at a high of 73.8% back in 1991 and has been falling ever since. So what’s happened since then? We can all agree, I hope, that a higher home ownership rate is a good thing for families, for children and…
My first podcast with mortgage broker, 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…
The team at movingpro.co.nz recently shared this infographic with me and I thought it made for interesting reading. Scroll down below the image to read my thoughts… Key points (based on their last 1000 moving requests): 23% of kiwis are moving to Wellington. 43% of moves are to another City 65% of movers leaving are fleeing from Auckland The first…
A few weeks ago my Wife, Annah and I visited two open homes in an area we are considering moving to. Open Home 1 The first house, a character ‘do up’ on a big flat section was well sign posted and we proceeded to stroll inside. We were able to walk through most of the house without meeting the agent…
