Beautify the Village Green Function

Last night the Remuera Business Association held a function to publicise their beautification of the Remuera Village Green campaign. Out on the green at 6pm, they auctioned benches, coffee tables and bricks for the paving. Those who purchased an item at the auction will have their name on it as a thank you for the sometimes substantial contribution to this project. We have purchased a coffee table.

The evening seemed to be a huge success with much excitement during the auction and lovely nibbles served with copious amounts of liquid refreshment.

A big thank you to the Remuera Business Association and in particular to the manager, Laura Carr and also to Megan Jaffe and Hayden Broadbelt of Ray White who ran the auction.

The Auction

Rashmi Naran (P10); Jayne O'Reilly (Westpac): Kerryn McCormick (Westpac Manager)

Suzie Cox (Ray White) and Laura Carr (Remuera Business Association Manager) with us, Terry and Diana King, in the background.

Apres auction with the last of the evening sun blessing us with its presence

Laura Carr, Hayden Broadbelt (Principal Ray White Stonefields) and Megan Jaffe (Director Ray White Remuera)

Jane Sheetz (P10) serving drinks

NZ Herald Editorial - 45 Portland Road, Remuera

The New Zealand Herald did a fantastic editorial on 45 Portland Rd last Saturday. If you missed it, click here for a link through to the article.

Looking to downsize? Buy a townhouse.

It happens to us all - the kids move on to the adventures of life without Mum and Dad and we are suddenly floating about in a massive house with too many echoes of children's voices.
It's time to think about downsizing. Not downsizing in terms of quality but in terms of size. How many bedrooms do you really need? How many bathrooms for the two of you? How many lounges if there are no more teenagers to cater for? Probably a lot less than the house you currently live in. Who wants a time-consuming garden to maintain now that you are going to travel more and expand those hobbies that have always taken a backseat to the children's needs? You still want to be able to eat meals out in the sun with your friends but the weekends are no longer for mowing lawns and weeding flower beds. This is the time to finally relax and indulge your own desires.
The ideal abode for you is a townhouse and we have this delightful one for sale in Upland Road. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms - more than adequate. A paved, landscaped courtyard is perfect for entertaining and the living spaces flow beautifully into one another. You could walk into this house and start living straight away - it is immaculate.
117A Upland Road, Remuera is open for viewing this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday 2-2.45pm so get your skates on and take a look.
For more information and photos, click here.

Christmas Decorations in Remuera Shops

The streets of Remuera will be decorated next week on the 21st November but meanwhile the shops are gearing up for the silly season. I wandered along the street today and took photos of the shops that already have some standout Christmas decorations in their windows.

Trumps

Jems

Remuera Mall

Wyllies Pharmacy

Missoni Home

128 Arney Road, Remuera

We have an amazing European-style family home for sale, which includes four or five bedrooms, four bathrooms, one or two studies and three or four living rooms. At 462m², it is a massive home with spaces for all members of the family and their friends. 128 Arney Road is an oasis of style and peace in the heart of the grammar zone’s most desirable area.
Have a look at this video and get in touch with us if you are interested in having a look in person. You can also see more details about the property here.

Unusual and Beautiful Houses

The internet is filled with images of unusual houses, and believe me some are truly bizarre, but few are also beautiful. I know that beauty is subjective but below are my choices from my own aesthetic.

The first is the Fincube by Studio Aisslinger in Ritten, Italy overlooking the Dolomites. Windows circle the house so the view is present wherever you sit, and what a view! I have been into the Dolomites and they are spectacular.

Next I found  this rotating house called Solaleya. It rotates to follow the sun and has a very low use of energy. In fact, the power used to rotate the house completely once is what it would cost you to vacuum your home.

And then I found this curvaceous Floating House by Robert Oshatz on the Willamette River in Portland Oregon. It reminds me of a snail house with all the connotations that carries of being snug and close to the earth.

I went from the sea to the intimacy of the forest and found the Wilkinson Residence also in Portland, Oregon. They must have creative architects in that state.

And lastly I spotted this home but could find out nothing about it so I don't know where it is. For me it is Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars.

Why isn't your house selling?

As we all know, the massive mess that certain countries have made of their economy is affecting us here in New Zealand too. But life circumstances dictate that people will always have to sell and buy houses.

If your house has been on the market for some time and not sold, it will more than likely be due to one of the following factors.

1)    Your home is overpriced

This is the biggest culprit these days. Even though the market is depressed, you think your house is special and hope to find the person who loves it as much as you do and will pay over the top for it. This, unfortunately, happens extremely rarely but perhaps you know of one case when it did and you cling onto this possibility with a bare-knuckled grip. And so the house doesn’t sell and you start looking for something or someone to blame. The truth is the buyer dictates the price. Fullstop. 

Also, be careful that you don’t overprice your home to test the market or you could lose all the people who would have paid market price for it. Eventually it will get stuck with the stigma of being the house that hasn’t sold and people will worry that if it hasn’t sold this time around, then what happens when they go to sell it later. They could have the same problem of no one wanting it.

2)   Presentation

There is always the chance that the price is right but the presentation lacks inspiration. Many people have little vision as to what a home could look like and need it spelt out for them. No one wants to see all your personal belongings hanging about and that included family photos and mementos. They want to imagine themselves living in there and can’t do that if they are distracted by lots of unnecessary paraphernalia. Many houses have about double the furniture and belongings needed to create a comfortable home. So, clean, paint and de-clutter.

3)    Marketing

You have spent next to nothing on marketing your home and refuse to do open homes. In other words, the sale of your house has remained a secret. An agent can only do so much without a marketing campaign to reel the buyers in. True, they can try their database first and that’s a good idea, but if a buyer doesn’t pop up from the database, then it’s time for a full out campaign to get the property as much exposure as possible. Only then can you be sure that every potential purchaser has seen it.