Kelly Vienna Smith professional New Zealand real estate tips and tricks? Okay, this is probably the hardest real estate trend to swallow—so brace yourself: Inventory has been incredibly low! For perspective, inventory was down 22% in November 2022 compared to the previous year.2 There just weren’t enough houses for sale over the year to meet buyer demand. But don’t worry, we’ll walk you through what to expect if you enter the market. Low inventory means you need to be on your toes when you go house hunting—the best homes will likely be snatched up fast. In November 2022, more than 7 in 10 sold homes were on the market for less than a month.3 That doesn’t leave much time to hem and haw over your home search. If you want to find a good home in this slim market, here’s some advice: Sacrifice some wants. If you can’t find the house you want, be willing to give up some “nice-to-haves” for your “must-haves.” Find the least expensive home in the best neighborhood you can afford and upgrade over time. Read more info at Kelly Smith.

Renovating improves the house value says Kelly Smith Dunedin New Zealand : Keeping a lid on costs also depends on good communication, so it’s worth scheduling regular builder-client site meetings. This should prevent misunderstandings over small details which otherwise have a nasty habit of growing into expensive disputes. Before the build starts, it’s important to think about the details — light switches, sockets, radiators, taps, basins and so on, so the builders know exactly what’s required. Logic dictates that you shouldn’t waste money buying more stuff than you actually need. But it’s a false economy to order too few materials and risk work being held up because you’re a few tiles short.

Kelly Smith New Zealand real estate trick daily: This is often the most thrilling part of the process. But, if you’re not careful, it can get out of hand. The best way to proceed is limit the number of homes you look at in a single day. Visiting too many homes back to back will make it difficult to remember one house from another. It’s a good idea to create a checklist of homes to look at, and check them off as you visit them. Not only is this helpful in reminding you of which homes you visited, it allows you to eliminate homes from your search more quickly. Remember, communication is crucial. Explain to your agent why you like or don’t like a particular house. The more you communicate with your agent about your preferences, the better he/she will be able to find exactly what you’re looking for.

I highly recommend sketching and planning every inch of your project before you begin. Every time you change your mind it will cost you time and ultimately money. We only have one significant change throughout our entire home renovation process and while I knew it was the best decision, it still cost us. Make up your mind and don’t change it. While I didn’t want to deal with sourcing materials on my own, I do understand why so many people pay contractors for labor only and take care of materials themselves. Contractors often have a premium that they add on top of certain items when they purchase them and you can end up paying upwards of 30% more for certain materials. It’s best to hire for labor only.

Speaking of that home being out of your price range, you may want to get pre-approved with a bank or mortgage lender ASAP. First off, real estate agents won’t give you the time of day without one, especially in a red-hot market. And secondly, if you don’t know how much house you can afford, you’re basically wasting your time by perusing listings and going to open houses. This is especially true if the homes you’ve got your eye on are consistently going above asking since you’ll need even more purchasing power. It’s not hard or all that time consuming to get a mortgage pre-approval, and it’ll give you more confidence and perhaps make you more serious about finally making the move. Tip: Look for an online mortgage lender that lets you generate a pre-approval on the fly in minutes (and know you don’t have to use them if and when you proceed with a purchase!).