Before beginning the journey of buying a home, it’s best to get a trusted conveyancing lawyer on board. They will be able to advise you, make sure you’re protected and of course handle all the contracts. Given the financial implications and legally binding nature of real estate purchases, it’s best not to take any unnecessary risks.
When you’ve found a property you would like to make an offer on, discuss it with your lawyer. If that’s not possible then you can put in an offer with the clause that the offer is subject to your lawyer’s approval. Your lawyer will then deal with the real estate agent and other party’s lawyer to handle the Sale and Purchase Agreement (i.e. the contract between buyer and seller).

Your lawyer will review the Purchase Agreement and let you know if there are any legal issues or areas of concern and go through the fine print with you to make sure you understand it.
If you are negotiating a sale (as opposed to buying at auction), you lawyer recommend and set up any conditions and clauses that need to be added to the Purchase Agreement (to make sure you’re properly protected). These conditions are set up to provide you with a legal escape clause from the sale, in case one of the conditions are not met. Recommended conditions include the property passing Title, LIM, and Building Inspection checks. We also recommend having your lawyer add a condition for the building to be cleared for any methamphetamine contamination, as this a growing problem in New Zealand’s real estate market.

Your lawyer will then negotiate and manage the settlement process via the other party’s lawyer. Once all of the added conditions and clauses have been met, the sale process will move from conditional to unconditional, which will make you legally liable for buying the property.
When the sale becomes conditional you lawyer will manage the transfer of funds, as well as the handing over of keys and the final move dates. The lawyer will also notify your local council of the sale and ensure the appropriate allocation of rates between the old and new owners.
If your conditions are not met, then the lawyer will inform the other party and have the contract dissolved, ensuring you are able to walk away commitment free.
In addition to making sure the paperwork is correct and that titles are transferred correctly, lawyers can also advise on your property ownership options and assist with creating the will and power of attorney documents your mortgage provider may require.

In summary it’s extremely important to have well experienced conveyancing lawyer on board throughout the entire sale process. Their expertise in the area could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.

​What’s the difference between a Top Agent and an average real estate agent?

My Top Agent is independent, which means we are not associated with any individual real estate firms. We stake our reputation on connecting clients with the best in the business and only the best, regardless of which firm the agents work for. Our Top Agents are selected and put forward to you, based off who has the best reputation for working with your chosen location and style of property, so you can rest easy knowing you’re in good hands.
If working with the best in the business isn’t enough to convince you, then you should also know that our Top Agents typically bring 10 to 15% more in sales price than the average real estate agents out there. With New Zealand’s current real estate market, that can mean a pretty significant difference to your bottom line. We’ve listed some recent case studies below to help you gauge that difference between average, everyday real estate agents and Top Agents.

Top Agent Trumps Average Agent with North Shore Home

In May, we had a client on the North Shore approach us for help. They had been using an average real estate agent, who they’d found on their own, to try to sell their property.  This real estate agent had told them he could sell their property for $1.9 million. Sensing they could do better based off market research they had done, the vendor approached My Top Agent. We put them in touch with a Top Agent who had a skill for negotiation and a great knowledge of the market. This agent managed to strike the client a deal for $2.1 million dollars, a whopping $200,000 more than the original deal proposed by the average agent. Unfortunately the deal was called off, as the conditions of the buyer they were dealing with fell through. Un-phased, the Top Agent kept at it and managed to secure and close the sale with a different buyer who was also willing to pay $2.1 million for the property. So not once, but twice, a Top Agent was able to out sell a regular agent by hundreds of thousands of dollars, based off their strong market knowledge and sharp real estate skills.

It’s Best to Trust the Experts

In another recent incident, a client had come to us for assistance. We put them in touch with a Top Agent who could help them sell their Mount Eden home. The agent did their research, listed property and then received a number of offers between $720,000 and $730,000. The vendor believed they could get more money elsewhere, but unlike the client above they had not done their market research. So they took their property to another agency, where is sat for over 5 months before eventually selling for $640,000. Unfortunately in this case the vendor lost out on around $80,000 by not trusting the expertise of their Top Agent.
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Buying or selling a home is an investment process that will have a huge monetary impact on your life. With high stakes decisions like these, wouldn’t you rather have the best in the business negotiating on your behalf over the average, every day real estate agent?

If you are serious about a property, then you will need to organise a series of reports and checks to be done to make sure you’re protected before a deal is signed. The most popular checks are: Title check, LIM report, Building inspection report and Valuation.
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If you’re planning to buy at an auction or tender then you will need to have any reports and checks done before the sale date, because you cannot renege on an offer once it’s been made.
If you’re buying a property via negotiation, then will have the option to make these checks a condition of the sale.  This means if the building fails a check, you can legally back out of the agreement. 
 
Title Check
This check is done by a lawyer to establish:

• The real owner of the property
• Interests of other parties in a property (e.g. mortgages)
• The type of title (freehold, company shared, unit title, leasehold or cross lease)
• Boundaries and easements

It’s important to know if anyone else has rights to the land, if there are limits to any building and development you may want to do and if the legal boundaries match the areas mapped out by the fences with neighbours.
 
LIM Report
This report outlines the information about the property from the local council’s point of view.

It covers:

• Previously issued building consents (so you’ll know if all work is consented)
• Zoning (for schools, commercial buildings etc)
• Restrictions in place (building height restrictions, protected trees etc)
• Upcoming local developments in area (which may increase or reduce the value of a property)
• Land history (if it’s prone to erosion, flooding or was formerly a landfill site etc)
• Yearly rates (and outstanding rates)

The LIM report can be accessed either directly from your local council, or through your lawyer.
 
Building Inspection Report
A pre-purchase building inspection will give you an understanding of any current or potential problems with the building. Having this inspection done means you can make an educated decision about how much you’re willing to pay for the property, and if the future problems it may come with are worth the hassle.
Building inspections look at the interior and exterior of a building, as well as its foundations, roof and everything in between. The report covers everything from cracks and leaks, to structural issues and bad construction. The reports also usually identify the seriousness of any problems and whether they require urgent fixes or are less serious.
Building inspections are not regulated and can be carried out by anyone. However because of the technical skills required we recommend using a qualified builder, building surveyor or a civil/structural engineer with a background in residential buildings. We also recommend making sure their public liability and private indemnity insurance is up to date, to protect you financially if there are any damages or legal costs as a result of the inspection.

Property Valuation 
Your bank may need you to provide a registered property valuation of a property before they agree to grant you a mortgage. These valuations provide and independent assessment on the true market value of a building and land it comes with. The banks use the registered value in their calculations, when they are deciding how much they are willing to lend you.
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A registered value takes into account the full value of a property and its land based on the size, condition and local market. This type of valuation can only be done by someone who is a registered property valuer.

If you ever become seriously ill or suffer a disability that means you have to take time off work, mortgage protection insurance is scheme that can help you keep your mortgage repayments up to date (and avoid defaulting on your loan). If the worst happened and you died, then the insurance would pay off your mortgage, leaving your family free of the burden.
The premiums (your monthly payments) for Mortgage Protection Insurance are different for everyone as they are calculated based off the size of your mortgage, your income, age, health and the current market price for your home. Your occupation also plays a role in the calculation of your monthly premiums because people who work in high risk roles are more likely to end up with a disability, which their insurance company would have to pay out on.  
The burning question most people have when entering the real estate market is whether or not mortgage protection insurance is really worth it. To help you figure this out for yourself we’ve laid out the pro’s and con’s below:
 
The Benefits of Mortgage Protection Insurance

The key benefit of taking out mortgage protection insurance is the peace of mind that comes with knowing that in the event you passed away or became disabled, the sudden loss of income would not result in your family losing their home.
It’s also significantly easier to get accepted for mortgage protection insurance, than life insurance or disability insurance as age and pre-existing medical conditions are viewed less harshly by insurance companies. If you can’t take out life or disability insurance because you don’t meet the criteria, then mortgage protection insurance is a good way to help make sure that you and your family are looked after.
In an extremely stressful time when your family has lost a loved one or is dealing with a disability and the problems that go with it, do you really want them worrying about how to pay the mortgage?
 
The Drawbacks of Mortgage Protection Insurance

Most policies also come with a maximum pay-out limitation. This means if you lost your job you wouldn’t receive the full amount of lost wages, you would only get a percentage of them (a term you would have agreed to, perhaps without realising it, when signing the policy).  
One of the other drawbacks, is that this insurance is that it provides a declining-benefit policy. Basically your monthly premiums will remain a fixed amount for the life of your mortgage, but with every month that goes by your mortgage is reduced (and the amount the insurance company will need to fork out to pay it off is reduced too).  So at the beginning of the policy the financial benefit lies with you and the insurance company has the higher risk, as time goes by the pendulum swings the other way and the insurance company gains most of the financial benefits.
 
Alternatives to Mortgage Protection Insurance

A full life insurance policy with mortgage and income protection built into it, offers more flexibility and returns than mortgage protection insurance alone. For example in the event of your death, under life insurance the funds would go to your family to use as they wanted to. However with mortgage protection insurance, the funds would bypass your family and go directly to you mortgage provider.
If you happen to have an extremely small mortgage with low repayments then mortgage protection insurance may not be the best route for you. Depending on your circumstances you may find it more beneficial to underwrite yourself and set aside 3-6months worth of salary in the bank or in a low risk investment fund that you could access quickly. If considering whether it’s better to get insurance or underwrite yourself, we strongly recommend talking to a registered or authorised financial advisor to seek a professional opinion.  
 
In Summary
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We recommend taking out a mortgage protection insurance scheme that suits your personal needs, as it’s a small price to pay to not to lose your family home.
There are a range of policies and providers out there and you are in no way forced to take out insurance with the bank that your mortgage sits with. The policies vary from insurance provider to insurance provider and are affected by your individual circumstances, so it’s important to shop around to find a policy that provides the right level of cover at the right monthly price for your needs.
If you’re feeling confused and aren’t confident to do it alone, then talk to a financial advisor and have them present you with options from the various providers along with their recommendations.

If you’re new to property market, then you’ve no doubt seen or heard of registered valuations, capital values and market valuations which are the different kinds of valuations a property can have. If you’re sitting there scratching your head thinking “Do they mean the same thing, are they realistic, which one should I pay more attention to?” Then you’re not alone, but don’t worry we’ll walk you through it all in the article below.
 
Capital Value (CV)
The capital value (CV), is the value your local council or government authority places on your property. Councils use this valuation to determine how much they should charge you in annual rates.
As a result, the CV is also sometimes referred to as a rateable value (RV) or as a government valuation (GV). It’s a basic valuation system that focuses on things like location and size and how similar properties in the area have sold recently as opposed to added value like a recent refurbishment of a building or landscape. Of all the valuations the CV has a tendency to value your property lower than the other systems, as it doesn’t take into consideration the finer details.
Your CV is a snapshot of the value of your property at a specific point in time, and tends to be reviewed every few years. You can find out the CV of your property on most council websites.
 
Registered Valuation
A registered valuation is the value placed on your property after it has been inspected and assessed by a registered valuer. A registered value takes into account the full value of a property and its land based on the size, condition and local market. The more experienced your valuer is with the local market and the industry in general, the more reliable their valuations will be. This registered valuation system is governed by the Valuers Act (1984) and provides the truest representation of what a property is really worth.
You would look at getting a registered valuation made on a property if:

• You wanted to sell your property and needed to know what price to list it at
• You wanted to buy a house and wanted to make sure it was priced fairly
• You were taking out a mortgage and needed the valuation for the application
• You wanted to refinance your mortgage.

 
Registered valuations are extremely important to banks, who take on high risk by lending you the finances to purchase a house. The Valuers Act (1984), provides banks with certainty that any registered valuations done are independent and reflect the true value of a property (and the money a bank could recoup if it needed to sell a property if a client defaulted on their mortgage).
Banks use the registered valuations to calculate how much they are willing to lend. The calculations also incorporate your age, income as well as to a slightly smaller degree the rateable and market values.
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Market Valuation
A market valuation is what buyers in a free and fair market are willing to pay for your property. This valuation for your property will fluctuate as the market ebbs and flows.
This valuation system is affected by a number of factors including supply and demand, interest rates, investor taxes, the economy, zoning laws, school districts and much more.  
It is the reason we have booms and busts. It also explains why you’ll hear crazy stories of properties selling for twice their CV values in Auckland (where demand currently outstrips supply).
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How Can You Work Out the Value of a Property?
Harcourts New Zealand explain it the best on their website when they say: “Rateable value is what you could pay, Registered value is what you should pay and Market price is what you end up paying.”

​In essence take a look at the registered value and then factor in the effect if the free market. How much are similar sized properties in the area selling for? Is the property zoned for any popular schools? Is the area being rezoned for apartments or commercial buildings in the near future? Does the property have street appeal, a nice neighbourhood and easy access to motorways? Are there structural issues that need to be addressed, is it a ‘do up’ or can people move straight in?
Talk to the experts, find a real estate agent in the area that comes highly recommended and see what they recommend. Likewise if your brother-in-law just so happens to be a builder, then ask him to look the property over and give you his professional opinion.