Down to Earth Real Estate

A recent Herald article covered the topic of the Real Estate Institute giving advice on using building inspectors for pre-purchase property inspections. ‘The Real Estate Institute is warning against low-quality pre-purchase building reports and told consumers only to use inspectors who are members of two professional industry bodies. Helen O’Sullivan, REINZ chief executive, said members [...]

Barb and Andy thought I should experience an auction as I had never attended one… I didn’t expect it to be so entertaining! On arrival the room was full of people.  A large number of Barfoot agents were all standing whilst the potential buyers, interested parties and some of the vendors were seated; everyone was [...]

If you are looking for a property to buy, who do you contact?  Do you contact the listing salesperson for the property you have just seen advertised or do you call your local real estate salesperson who you feel comfortable and know?  Or do you simply go to the open home to have a look? [...]

Gills Road in Albany is about to house a three stage multi-unit development designed around a village type setting.  As you drive up Gills Rd from the Albany Village, drive past the old Centrepoint and you will find the proposed village on your right hand side.  It is hoped that this area in the future [...]

What is a Unit Title? Unit titles were created (under the Unit Titles Act 1972) to allow people to own an apartment in a building and to allow for multiple ownership of the common spaces and facilities, such as driveways and lifts. – (Consumerbuild) The introduction of the new Unit Titles Act 2010 is applied [...]

When we built our home in 2009, one of the most important aspects I was keen to incorporate was effective use of thermal mass.  Thermal mass refers to the concept of a hard mass material such as concrete or rocks being placed in an area that will receive a good amount of sunshine.  The material [...]

Any home can leak.  It just so happens that many of the homes that have leaked over the past few years have been clad with monolithic plaster systems.  This does not mean to say if your home is clad with a plaster system that it leaks – DEFINITELTY NOT.  There’s a wide range of factors [...]

Our neighbours bought their new home a couple of months ago and have not been able to move into it yet due to unforeseen circumstances.  The home has been empty for some time. Of course to comply with bank regulations and to have peace of mind, they need to insure the home.  Because nobody is [...]

In December 2010 we experienced the lowest number of building consents issued ever since records began while in January 2011 we witnessed the beginning of a serious shortage of rental properties in the Auckland region.  The media have been quick to show the plight of people unable to secure a home to live in due [...]

If you are interested in what is happening within the housing sector in New Zealand, a report just released by the Department of Building and Housing tells some interesting facts. This first New Zealand Housing Report provides a broad overview of housing market conditions in the building and residential housing sector. It is the first [...]