Nor'West News: April 22, 2021

24 Thursday April 22 2021
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NOR’WEST NEWS
RAY WHITE PAPANUI NEWS
Is it Worth Waiting to Sell Your House in Spring?
As we hit the winter months we hear
clients often discussing their intentions
to sell in Spring. What does this actually
mean and is it worth waiting for this time
of year or is it all a market myth?
I understand that Canterbury properties
in Spring look picture perfect with leaves
on trees, warmer open home weather etc,
so of course wanting to wait until your
home can put it’s best foot forward makes
sense. This time of year is, however, when
there is an influx of homes to the market
and therefore more houses competing
for your buyer’s attention. So is it worth
waiting or should you get a head start and
jump on the market earlier?
Timing.
When exactly is Spring when you are
talking real estate? In many seller’s minds
the Spring sale works to a wonderful
timeline where they breeze out of Winter
and are sold, moved and nestled in their
new home before Christmas even starts
to come on the radar. The reality is, a
Spring launch turns into an October-ish
launch and a December or even January
settlement.
Let’s break it down:
I generally advise sellers to factor in a
twelve week process from start to finish.
Working on the current median days to
sell you are looking at an average of five
weeks actively on the market.
• Factor in the lead-in-time including
interviewing agents, completing
paperwork, finding your EQC
documents, preparing your home for
photos and the upcoming building
report (i.e finishing any maintenance
jobs on the list). So, a one to four
week preparation process depending
on how organised you are and how
ready your home is.
• Unless you Auction, once you are
under offer it is highly likely the due
diligence period will be another two
weeks.
• Settlement is then another two to
eight weeks from confirmation.
To give you some perspective, there are
16 weeks between September 1st and
Christmas day so if you launch to market
in the very first week of September you
would, on average, be moving at the end
of November all going to plan. This would
mean your preparation for the market
will be happening in August when most
sellers are still in their woolly socks with
their duvets over their heads.
Getting the competitive advantage.
In my professional opinion there are two
ways of gaining a competitive advantage
when working out the timing of your
upcoming sale.
1. Go to market in winter when you
have less competition
2. Launch to market in Spring but in
actual Spring, ie start preparing now
over the winter months and get a
head start on the market rush which
only dilutes your buyer pool as a
seller
If I was buying a house in Christchurch
I would buy it in Winter. Our Summer is
lovely but our Winters are pretty average
through to horrid so you know what you
are getting when purchasing property
in Winter. If you own a villa with double
height ceilings and average heating then
maybe a winter sale isn’t for you but if
you have a warm, dry home then this
could be very well showcased during
these colder months. The main advantage
here too, there are fewer homes on the
market so less competition. You may just
find your time on the market for a winter
sale is a little longer going on earlier stats.
Otherwise get out the planner, put in the
dates you would like to be moved by and
then work twelve weeks backward from
there and remember to keep in mind that
Spring will have sprung on you before you
know it.
Vanessa Golightly,
Business Owner
and Licensee Agent
Ray White Papanui
027 664 9292
Vanessa Golightly
Licensee Agent &
Business Owner
027 664 9292
Stuart Morris
Licensee Agent
& Auctioneer
027 422 6395
Tracy Thomson
Licensee Salesperson
027 440 3035
Claire Morris
Licensee Agent &
Business Owner
027 662 4822
Katrina Green
Operations Manager
Property Management
027 606 0030
Richie Eggelton
Licensee Salesperson
021 089 65594
Residential Tenancies Amendments Act 2020 | Minor Alterations
When the Residential Tenancies
Amendments Act was announced late last
year landlords were concerned about a
number of the changes being made, and
of major concern was the tenants ability
to make minor alterations to their rental
property.
Whilst on the surface I concede that this
does sound somewhat daunting, in actual
fact there are plenty of rules around how
this can happen that will ensure that a
landlord is well protected, as long as good
systems are followed.
What you do need to know is that a
landlord cannot unreasonably withhold
permission if a tenant requests to make a
minor alteration to a property. But what
is deemed a minor alteration? While we
have not been given any real guidance
around this, it does seem to be things like
installing a TV bracket or fixing a cabinet
to a wall etc, as opposed to removing or
adding in new walls!
A tenant will be required to ask
permission in writing giving details on
what they are wanting to do, and the
location. A landlord is then required to
respond within 21 days, and failure to
respond will mean that the tenant can go
ahead with the changes.
If we use a TV bracket as an example, the
landlord can either ask that the tenant
rectifies the wall back to the original
condition at their own cost, or that the
tenants leave the bracket at the end of
the tenancy at no cost to the owner, but…
this must be in writing within the 21 days,
and accepted by both parties.
Furthermore the landlord could advise
that the bracket cannot be put on the
North East wall as there is wiring in that
wall, but instead could be put on the
South East wall.
So in summary, a tenant can make minor
alterations, but permission must be
granted by the landlord in writing within
21 days, and there can be some conditions
around the permission.
I hope this clarifies this and alleviates
some of the fears around this part of
the amendments, but if you have any
concerns please feel free to contact me.
Check in next time when I talk about the
re-assignment of tenancies.
Katrina Green,
Operations Manager
Property Management
027 606 0030
Maria Paterson
Licensee Salesperson
027 543 4689
Olivia Hendry
Executive Assistant
Paul Nicholson
Licensee Salesperson
027 921 2160
Estelle Schuurman
Property Manager
Feature Properties
Cassidy Sprott
Property Management
Assistant
Joy Coughlan
Mortgage Broker
027 223 3572
Georgia Tuuta
Excutive Assistant
221 Shortland Street, Aranui
Tracy Thomson
3/15 Marriner Street, Sumner
Vanessa Golightly
238 Withells Road, Avonhead
Vanessa Golightly
7 Colesbury Street, Bishopdale
Richie Eggelton & Vanessa Golightly
Level 1, 7 Winston Avenue, Papanui
Phone (03) 352 0567 | rwpapanui.co.nz | /RayWhitePapanui Morris & Co Limited | Licenced REAA 2008