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Staging

Q: I am looking at listing my house for sale. Can you give me some ideas on how we can get it ready for sale? I’m particularly interested in whether it’s worth staging the property. Raewyn L. A: Good question Raewyn. We cover this comprehensively in our book “Sold” so I am sending you a copy, but in the meantime, here’s the short answer. Firstly, we would highly recommend that you have your property staged (or ‘dressed’) if you’ve moved out…

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Mortgage Interest Rates

Our friend and fellow-speaker, Janet Xuccoa of Gilligan Rowe & Associates, received this question and we thought it would be of interest to our readers:  Q. Janet, my home mortgage interest rate is 6.5%.  Given interest rates have fallen, should I look at refinancing? A. I feel for you. Hindsight’s a great thing isn’t it?  Many borrowers have fixed as it wasn’t widely anticipated interest rates would fall.  Consequently, they are now pa…

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Auckland council and Unitary Plans

Q. Recently I’ve been hearing friends say you can make money through the Auckland Unitary Plan.  Can you explain how this works?  Pete B. A. Recently we spoke at an event alongside Janet Xuccoa, Partner at Gilligan Rowe & Associates, who spoke on this topic so we asked her your question.  Here’s her answer… It’s no secret; Auckland is experiencing a shortage of housing.  Demand is outstripping supply and consequently as a result of this…

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CrossLeases & Freehold Titles

Crossleases Q: I am new to NZ and have been told I should be wary of cross-lease titles. What is a cross-lease exactly? Raymond W. A: Fee Simple cross-lease is not a leasehold title in the normal sense of the word. It is a freehold title that consists of an undivided share of the whole piece of land that the dwelling or ‘flats’ are built on, and a registered lease (Memorandum of Lease) for a fixed year period (usually 999 years) for each fl…

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