What the average punter might not know about real estate in Tauranga:
At the risk of being cast as a crazy old soldier banging out the same old message, I am fascinated by the antics employed by the real estate industry in Tauranga. First let me be clear that I am speaking of the industry and not about the agents themselves (many agents out there at the moment are living hand to mouth). Few people would argue that such a massive sales fee to sell something that does not even belong to them is pretty outrageous, but what is worse is that they also actively try to determine what price you should sell for with statements like 'it is what the market is telling us”. But what is the market REALLY saying? Here are some interesting facts to digest.
1) Real estate reports are always in the past (often months) and are unreliable.
2) Unchanged migration here means that more people need to fit into existing houses.
3) Building consents (new houses) have dropped to an all time low.
4) Landlords will be increasing rents to compensate for a lost tax benefit.
5) Every house is worth 15% more than the government valuation (for its chattels)
6) Unemployment is decreasing and job stability is improving.
7) Lenders are recruiting more mobile managers to cope with the expected demand.
What that should tell us is that buyers who are sitting on the fence waiting for prices to fall are going to have to make a decision to buy before the price start to increase and they will realise that they have already missed out on the most desperate house sales.
So do not allow the agents to scare you into dropping the price of your house (regardless of the price bracket), make them earn their money by finding a buyer at the price you want.
If you are sensible, only you can truly set the price for you house, not the agent, not the buyer (buyers have to pay the right price for the right area). As long as you are sensible your house will sell when there are buyers available and it will not be long before there are buyers available! Dropping the price will not help you it will only help the local realtor.
Ken Payne, Matua.