I would like to reply to comments made by Ken Payne in last week's paper. I worked as a Real Estate Sales Consultant in Auckland for five years, plus I have brought and sold numerous properties over the last 40 years, so I feel I know something about buying and selling.
First of all it is amusing but highly frustrating to find how much credence people give the Government Valuation. The GV is a computer generated amount used by Councils to set rates.
No one comes out and physically values your home against other homes in the immediate vicinity etc.
Twenty years ago GVs were more relevant but as they are only updated every so many years, and generated by some formula on a computer, how much credence can or should you put on the GV? If you are in doubt of what a Real Estate Sales Consultant is telling you then I advise you to obtain a Registered Valuation from a Registered Valuer.
Real Estate Sales people are daily working properties in your area; they should have good local knowledge of what has recently sold, for how much and how the property compares with yours.
If you still don't agree with what they are telling you then my advice is to go to auction. This way it is completely transparent what buyers will pay.
There is no upper limit and the Vendor controls the auction by setting a Reserve, which is a price they will sell at.
If you insist on overpricing your home on the current market, against advice received, then be aware that buyers are very astute and will have done their homework.
With the advent of the Internet and the wealth of information available to buyers, they know what choice is available to them in the area they are looking. If your home is overpriced for the market, no matter how wonderful the home is, it will sit and sit and sit, eventually it will go stale and buyers will start to wonder is there a problem with the home.
Real Estate people are running a business, and same as anyone else in business, can only afford so much advertising for your home. Try selling yourself and see how quickly the advertising budget gets blown!
In 40 years of actively buying and selling property in several regions of the North Island, I have never experienced such an economic downturn and I don't believe the Real Estate market will bounce back to former prices for many years.
Ken is overlooking all the poor investors robbed of their life savings by the Finance Companies collapsing, the huge amount of industry closed and people who lost their jobs, many of whom will be finding it is not so easy to obtain another especially if you are over 50.
Remember if you are buying and selling on the same market it is almost irrelevant that you may not achieve the high price you desire as you will buy lower than you expected. If you are a player then remember it is when you buy that you make your money. Good Luck.
Suzanne Bailey, Mt Maunganui.