New Zealanders are keen on real estate, and issues around home ownership are rarely out of the headlines these days.
Every homeowner who makes a decision to sell has a reason for undertaking what can be a stressful, tiring, but also potentially exciting move. Many of those reasons relate quite simply to the normal cycle of life, but there are many other factors that can come into play.
1. You’ve got to start somewhere
Although there’s no denying that getting on to the home ownership ladder is tough, every year thousands of kiwi couples do become first-home buyers. Many settle for something simple as a springboard to getting ahead with carefully laid-out long-term plans in mind.
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Chances are that that they’ll renovate, or at least redecorate that property and perhaps start a family there, but around half of New Zealand babies move at least once in their first two years of life.
2. You want more room
Although it’s no longer a given that Kiwi families can afford the traditional quarter-acre pavlova paradise, space is still a major consideration for those with growing children, so young home-owners often sell up in order to gain more room. School zones are also a major consideration at this stage of life, and many moves are strategic in this regard.
When children are older, high school zones become arguably even more important, and the pursuit of those deemed the best ones is behind many thousands of house sales each year.
In Auckland, the celebrated double-Grammar zone, which refers to Auckland Grammar School and Epsom Girls’ Grammar School has a life cycle of its own as empty-nesters in Remuera, Epsom and Mount Eden, whose children have finished school and left home, regularly sell to parents with younger families who are following a few years behind them.
3. You want to break free
Stanley and Barbara Armon have been in real estate for many years with Barfoot and Thompson in Remuera, and they’ve seen all sorts of variations in the property life cycle.
“The baby boomers’ parents are getting out of their big homes and many are looking for a new lifestyle at an age when their own parents might have gone into a retirement home or village,” says Barbara.
The Armons say that these sorts of vendors want lock-up-and-leave properties requiring minimum maintenance and they think that this is definitely behind the huge move towards apartment living in Auckland.
“Some of them have realised that only by shedding the big family home can they guarantee that so-called ‘boomerang’ adult children, can’t move back in with them,” says Stanley.
He adds that now these older couples can go travelling independently, having freed up some of their investment by downsizing and many are joining an ever-growing group of cruise fans who love to spend months on the waterways, and at sea.
“Another thing we’ve noticed is that older people also love local getaways, as life in the city becomes busier and more hectic by the day.”
“Barbara and I realised that was exactly what we needed about 10 years ago, and now we have a bolthole in Awhitu for relaxing weekend wind-downs.”
4. You want to renovate, renovate, renovate
While some potential homeowners want to walk right in, unpack, and get on with everyday life, more and more of us are keen on renovating and redecorating, with some people doing it on a very regular basis.
Naturally, there are those who start out with the express purpose of making money, but the popularity of TV shows, such as The Block NZ demonstrates that a huge number of New Zealanders hanker after the perfect dream home and are prepared to work avidly to achieve it.
Then, if they’ve really enjoyed the experience there’s always the temptation to sell and move again, taking on a new blank canvas.
5. Tragedy strikes
Of course, many property moves are made necessary by the end of a relationship. In this case, both parties will probably need all that they can possibly get from a sale in order to start over.
“You do see those situations and they can be very tense and stressful,” says Barbara.
“And you also see widows and widowers having to leave a house that holds a lifetime’s memories and while that’s sad, of course, it can often be uplifting too.
“We know of a lady who sold the big family home after her husband died and now lives five months of the year in France, where all her friends come to stay with her for in summer.
“She’s still in good health and has found the whole experience very liberating.”
6. Money, money, money
There’s certainly a positive side to money and real estate, especially if you got into the market before the incredible boom of the past few years. If you are prepared to sell now in order to kill debt and get the use of your equity by moving somewhere more modest, that can be a great idea. Selling a home to free up cash flow for a new business often makes sense too.
However, there can be a dark side to the financial part of moving and if you’ve over-stretched or over-capitalised, the resulting situation can be disappointing.
7. That’s life
Of course there are still many more reasons behind people’s property moves. A change of job and location, a need for public transport or motorway access, sickness or immobilisation come to mind.
Vendors might need to be closer to invalid parents, and grandparents often want to be closer to their little ones. With a fresh flow of properties hitting the market after a quiet winter, one thing is for certain — moving companies won’t be twiddling their thumbs any time soon!
