Hear real stories from Kiwis and why they are considering a private sale.
Julie listed her property with an agent who seemed great at first. The agent gave a high appraisal to win her business, but the property sat on the market for months. The only offer Julie got was $150,000 below the listed price.
This has been stressful for Julie because she has another property under contract that depends on selling her current home. Without selling her current home, she might lose the new house she and her family love.
“We really liked our agent when we had a meeting. He gave us lots of assurances, and we felt like we were on the same page price-wise. He made us feel super confident. Lots of good communication to get everything set up and ready to go. Then it all kind of fell short. We’ve had about 50 groups through, and one offer $150k below the price.”
The experience has been a rollercoaster for Julie. Initially, she felt assured and confident due to the agent’s promises. However, frustration and anxiety set in as time passed without a successful sale. The potential loss of her dream home only made these feelings worse.
Mike bought a property in 2022 from a serial property flipper. Unfortunately, he took bad advice and bought it without a builder’s report. The “renovation” was poor, and now Mike needs to fix various issues, including the roof. The property has lost value due to high interest rates, and the needed repairs will force Mike to take out a personal loan, adding to his debt and stress. Even after repairs, he expects to lose $30,000 based on an appraisal
“I bought my property two years ago. It needs a lot of work, and I no longer have the money or time to invest in it. I’m interested in seeing if I could sell it, accept the loss of some of my deposit, and start over.”
Bad advice led to buying without a builder’s report, which revealed a poorly done renovation. The property’s value dropped due to high interest rates, and needed repairs required a personal loan, adding to his debt. Even after repairs, he expects to lose around $30,000. It highlights the risks of relying on bad advice and the financial strain of unexpected repairs.
Arjuna and his partner bought an investment property two years ago for $699,000. With interest rates going up and the risk of Arjuna losing his job, they tried to sell the property twice. There was no interest even with a price drop to offers over $589,000. This left them with a cashflow-negative asset, causing stress and a property now worth over $100,000 less than they paid for it.
“Our fixed mortgage rate expired and we couldn’t get a good rate from the banks. The property is cashflow negative, but the rent helps us pay off the mortgage a bit. We’ve decided to take it off the market and try to keep the property, hoping to break even in 2-3 years. We’d like to stay in touch about this. The bank doesn’t want us to sell at a loss due to our existing property leverage, which led to this decision.”
This has been very stressful for Arjuna. Changes in interest rates and job uncertainty made them rethink their financial strategy. Even after lowering the price, there was no market interest, and the banks didn’t agree to a loss sale, leaving them with a cashflow-negative asset. This made them feel trapped and cornered and even though they didn’t sell, they still had to front the $5000 marketing fee.
