YOUR QUESTIONS
Selling, Answered
The questions Auckland sellers ask me most often, answered plainly. No jargon, and nothing hidden.
There are four costs to plan for: agency commission, marketing, legal fees, and any presentation work such as staging or repairs. Commission is the largest, is calculated on the sale price, and has GST added on top. Rates differ between agencies and are negotiable, so ask for the exact figure in writing before you sign anything. Marketing is usually quoted separately and is generally payable whether or not the property sells. I go through the full number with every vendor at appraisal stage so there are no surprises later.
Yes, it is free, and no, it commits you to nothing. An appraisal takes about thirty minutes. I look through your home, compare it against what has actually sold nearby recently, and give you an honest range along with what I would do to achieve the top of it. Plenty of people get one because they are simply curious about where they stand, and never list at all. That is completely fine.
An appraisal is free, is provided by a licensed salesperson, and estimates what buyers are likely to pay based on comparable sales and current demand. It is used to set your price and marketing strategy. A registered valuation is a paid, formal document prepared by an independent registered valuer, and it is what a bank will usually want for lending purposes. They serve different jobs, and one is not a substitute for the other.
From the decision to sell through to settlement day, plan for around two to three months, though it varies with the property and the market. A typical campaign is three to four weeks of marketing, then a conditional period while the buyer confirms finance and reports, then the settlement period agreed in the contract. Preparation before you list adds time at the front, and that is almost always time well spent.
It depends on your property, your timeframe, and how much competition we expect. Auction suits properties likely to attract several buyers and gives an unconditional result on the day. Deadline sale creates urgency while allowing conditional offers. Price by negotiation suits properties where the buyer pool is narrower and a clear asking price helps. The method should be chosen for your situation, not because it is what the agency always does.
Less than most people assume. The capital value is a figure the council uses to apportion rates. It is calculated in bulk, without anyone visiting your home, and it is often years out of date. Properties regularly sell well above or well below their CV. What actually sets your price is recent comparable sales, the condition and presentation of your home, and how many buyers are competing for it.
Usually not. A full renovation rarely returns what it costs when you are about to sell. What consistently pays for itself is cheaper, high impact work: a deep clean, decluttering, fresh paint in tired rooms, tidy gardens, and fixing the small faults a buyer will otherwise use to argue the price down. The aim is to remove reasons to hesitate, not to rebuild the house for someone else.
In most cases yes, though not always. Staging helps buyers understand the scale and purpose of each room, and it makes photography considerably stronger, which is where nearly every buyer meets your home first. It matters most for empty properties and for homes with awkward or unusual layouts. If your home is already well presented and furnished, partial staging is often enough.
In a softer market, selling first is usually the safer sequence. You know your exact budget, and you can make an offer without a "subject to sale" clause, which makes you far more attractive to the person you are buying from. Buying first protects you if the property you want is genuinely rare, but it puts you under time pressure and can mean carrying two mortgages. The right answer depends on your numbers and how comfortably you could hold both.
Yes, and you have a few options. You can sell with the tenancy in place, in which case the buyer becomes the new landlord, or sell with vacant possession, which requires ending the tenancy properly first. Notice requirements and the rules around access for photography and viewings depend on the type of tenancy and your circumstances, and they do change, so confirm your position with Tenancy Services or your lawyer before committing to a settlement date.
A cross-lease means you own a share of the whole site together with the other owners, and lease your particular dwelling. It is very common across Ellerslie and Mount Wellington. It can affect your sale if the flats plan no longer matches what is physically on the ground, for example after a deck, conservatory or garage was added without the title being updated. That is fixable, but it is far better to identify it before you go to market than to have a buyer raise it mid-campaign.
Kellys is based at Barfoot & Thompson Ellerslie, at 107 Main Highway, Ellerslie. She sells throughout Ellerslie and Mount Wellington, where most of her recent sales have been, along with Greenlane, Remuera, Panmure, Onehunga and the wider eastern suburbs of Auckland. If you are not sure whether your property is in her area, just ask.
Ask me directly. A free appraisal takes about thirty minutes and commits you to nothing at all.
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