Nervous Kiwi Home Buyers Call on Expert Advice

Media release May 13, 2011

Nervous Kiwi Home Buyers Call on Expert Advice

Kiwis wanting an edge in the turbulent property market are now using buyer’s agents in a bid to safeguard their investments.

Buyer’s agents like Erskine + Owen say nervous consumers are increasingly turning to organisations such as theirs to get the best deal possible.

New Zealand buyer’s agents help the buyer end to end by providing research data on potential properties, liaising with lawyers and mortgage brokers through to negotiation and eventual purchase.

Erskine + Owen Director Lisa Phillips says her clients are wanting certainty in their investment decisions and are willing to pay for expertise on current and future market trends.

Phillips, a former accountant and management consultant, has more than 14 years experience in the buying and selling of properties.

She says her firm conducts urban development and market research which is then shared with customers during their brief. Phillips says the company then carries out searches for suitable properties on behalf of their clients, enabling them to see a host of properties they would not have the time, energy or resources to seek out themselves.

“We do all the searching, filtering, assessing and inspecting of potential properties that means our customers don’t have to waste time trawling the internet, traipsing around properties or dodging persistent agents’ calls,” she says.

Phillips says many Kiwis are intimidated about making a purchase and says her company works to alleviate this by educating buyers on the process. She says buying a property can also be an emotional time for customers and buyers agents play a vital role in ensuring the decision is rational and based on sound financial principles.

“There is a real skill to a successful negotiation and this is really a key area of interest to our customers. In every instance we always have a complete strategy in place to ensure we have the best possible outcome for our clients,” she says.

Phillips says as well as the local market, at least 50% of her clients are ex-pat Kiwis asking for assistance with purchasing a property.

These customers she says, either want to buy a residence for themselves before returning home or purchase an investment property in their home market.

Phillips says ex-pats tend to lose their local knowledge after being offshore for a long period and rely on the company for research on the current and future capital growth areas.

ENDS

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