A great salesperson is someone who can convince you to buy something you don’t actually want. Back in the 1980’s the greatest of all door-to-door salesperson was the Kirby vacuum cleaner salesperson. These American trained salespeople would walk the streets looking for an opportunity to demonstrate these ‘vacuums of the future’. As a child, I was once witness to such a pitch. I vividly remember...
One of the few benefits of getting older is that you start to notice cycles, which doesn’t mean you can predict the future it just means that you are more aware of what stage of the cycle you are in. In this current cycle (and depending on what side of the ledger you are on) buyers are still trying to pick the bottom, and vendors are looking for the rebound. The problem with picking the...
A few years back, due to some financial pressures, we had to say goodbye to Sky TV. It was about then that my love of rugby started to wane. The game has struggled to maintain its dominance in the New Zealand psyche, so I was surprised to hear that the opening game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup was free to air. Having not seen a game in years, I quickly rediscovered my passion for...
In the early 2000’s New Zealand signed a free trade agreement with China, a first for any developed nation. Through this, New Zealand benefited from exposure to over a billion new customers, something that the dairy industry has leveraged very effectively. For the next few decades this relationship served us well and their economy grew nicely, even weathering the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. But...
The family and I were lucky enough to head to Japan for the July school holidays, and if you haven’t already been I would place it high on the list of countries you simply must visit. It is the perfect mix of wonderful people, fantastic sightseeing, sophisticated culture, indescribable food and attractions your children (or inner child) will love you for – Disneyland,...
Most members of the home owning public will be aware that real estate agents offer “free appraisals”. And anyone looking to sell will likely have commissioned a handful of appraisals to compare their potential sales range. But the longer I spend in the industry, the more I ponder what role do appraisals really play in a property sale? In my former career, as a registered valuer, I...
Keen observers of our business may have noticed a significant shift in the approach we have taken to selling real estate in the current market. Auctions. This will come as a big surprise to many as it has long been argued ‘Auctions don’t work in Wellington’. This month’s Barometer will provide you with insight into our decision and shed light on why auctions have become a game-changer. The...
Last month the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, announced an easier path to citizenship for Kiwis. This has been a long awaited and now celebrated change. Prior to the 2000’s Kiwi’s crossed the ditch and settled with relative ease in Australia. That was until, in the Aussies’ eyes, we started to take advantage of that ease. It was the sun drenched country in which we could access...
The four horsemen of the New Zealand apocalypse are the supermarket, petrol, insurance companies and the banks. There is zero public appetite for 'excessive profits' which has resulted in multiple formal and costly investigations being commissioned. But how much is too much and is a bank making a substantial profit really a bad thing? Before we answer this question, we ponder 'how did we end up...
Sorry to start this barometer with negative thoughts, but it really feels like we've been putting out a lot of fires since the 2020’s rolled around. No sooner do we think the coast is clear, then yet another crisis raises its ugly head. And while some of the recent ones have been more localised, we will all end up paying for them in the end. Post the Christchurch quake of 2011, insurance...