How do you get the home you want?

Real estate sales processes and moving-in expenses.

The vendors (sellers) will have chosen the way they want to sell their property. It’s up to you to understand the different processes so that you can make the right calls at the right time. And when you’re planning your finances, remember to allow for the additional costs that usually come with moving in.

Selling processes

Here are the main features of each method that can be used to sell a house.

Offers and negotiation:

  • Have a set asking price or price range
  • Let the seller accept your offer, reject it, or make a counter offer
  • Means your negotiation can include price, conditions or both
  • Allow the real estate agent to be the middleman until an agreement is reached

By auction:

  • No price is set
  • Buyers turn up on auction day and bid for the home
  • There’s a ‘reserve’ price, which isn’t revealed to bidders
  • When the reserve is met, the auctioneer may announce that the property is “on the market”
  • If the reserve isn’t met, the highest bidder gets the first chance to negotiate for a sale
  • A sale at auction is unconditional and legally binding, so it’s important to have valuations and inspections done and finance organised, including the deposit, before you start bidding

With a tender:

  • Buyers bid by submitting written offers, which can include conditions
  • Bidders don’t get to see other bids
  • All bids are opened at the same time and the seller considers them - the seller doesn’t have to accept any offers
  • If your offer is successful, you’ll need to pay a deposit immediately, so make sure your deposit is ready and the rest of your finance is organised

Private sales:

  • Almost always use the offer and negotiation method
  • Buyers deal directly with the seller, rather than through an agent
  • Tend to advertise in newspapers, on the internet or sometimes even through mail drops around the area

Finance

For information about organising a mortgage, check our financing your home page.

Beyond the purchase price

When you’re planning your finances, remember to allow for the additional costs that can come with buying any home. There’s more to it than the purchase price.

One-off costs

  • A property valuation by a registered valuer is usually required by the bank
  • There’ll be one-off costs if you choose to do a building inspection or request the Land Information Memorandum (LIM) from your local council
  • You’ll need to pay lawyer fees for conveyancing, which is the legal change-of-ownership process for property
  • The previous owner will normally have paid council rates in advance and you’ll need to reimburse the owner for the amount that’s remaining in credit on your settlement day
  • You should also consider moving costs - get two or three quotes from moving companies, to make sure you pay a fair price
  • You may want to have the locks changed on your new home once you’ve moved in

Insurance

You’ll need to organise insurance for your home. PremierCare from BNZ can cover house, contents and vehicles, with discounted premiums if you buy more than one type of cover. If you have a mortgage you should also have life insurance such as LifeCare to protect you from the financial problems that can come with disability, redundancy, serious illness or death.

Your ‘to do’ list

It’s likely that you noticed various things about your new home that will require attention. Make a list of maintenance and repair jobs, including estimated costs, and put the most urgent jobs at the top.

Ongoing maintenance

It’s smart to do your own ‘home inspection’ about every two years, so you can discover maintenance issues before they become too major. Our ‘what to look for in a home’ checklist can help with this.

Before you move house

  • Have your mail redirected
  • Organise final readings for electricity and/or gas
  • Arrange to have the phone disconnected and reconnected at your new location
  • Cancel regular deliveries, such as newspapers