Tour Our New Office, 292 Clyde Road

The building replaces our current one we’ve been in for nearly 25 years,” Branch Manager Simon Hollander says. “We had rather outgrown the space, so when the Clyde Road site became available, it looked like we might have a real shot at getting the work space we had dreamed of

The new building is a work of team collaboration – Aaron Jewell, architectural draughtsperson, builder Hamish Neave and Davinia Sutton of Detail, spatial designers – with more than a little input from Simon himself. “Aaron, Hamish and Davinia had worked with me on previous residential projects and I was sure they would be perfect for this commercial build,” Hollander says.

Christchurch Real Estate

The 235sq metre building has a central hallway filled with natural light from overhead windows. Glass fronted offices spill on both sides of the central thoroughfare, giving good connection between everyone working there. “You can’t miss seeing your colleagues and bumping into them as you walk along the hallway,” Hollander says.
“We wanted separate spaces where our agents could be private, but we also required linkages for networking which is so vital to a real estate company.

It was also important for the new office still to be firmly anchored in the community where it has been for so many years. “We love this location and know all the businesses and many of the residents,” Hollander says.
“To pay homage to the locale we have named the individual offices after local streets – Penhelig Place, Gleneagles Terrace, Chateau Drive and Chepstow Avenue for example. We are also still close to the Harcourts Holmwood HQ on Ilam Road for our auctions.”

Harcourts Holmwood CEO, Tony Jenkins, is understandably proud of the finished product. “Those involved have well and truly brought to life the vision that we sought for this build,” he says. “It is purpose-built for real estate and is state of the art in terms of design and functionality.”

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Le Race Record Smashed

Records smashed as Kate McIlroy and Daniel Whitehouse win Le Race cycling crowns

Daniel Whitehouse has broken the Le Race course record to claim back-to-back titles, while Kate McIlroy won the cycling classic on her third attempt by smashing the women’s record by a staggering nine minutes.

Whitehouse won the 100km race from Christchurch to Akaroa in 2018 after just having an appendix removed and again had to do it the hard way today after puncturing near the halfway point, as well as losing his cycling computer early in the race.

“I had no idea what was going on and had to do it old school,” laughed Whitehouse whose new record time of two hours 35minutes and 28 seconds is even more remarkable considering an enforced slow start through the city due to limited police resources.

“On top of that the replacement wheel was a bit narrower so my front break wasn’t working very well, and I had to hold off the speed a bit downhill,” said Whitehouse who found himself chasing a leading foursome of Jake Marryatt, Scott Thomas, Paul Odlin and Kees Duyvensteyn.

The 24-year-old climber managed to claw the leaders back one by one charging up the famous Hilltop, where only Marryatt managed to stay clear to take the King of the Mountain prize.

The young Christchurch rider, however, was soon caught by Whitehouse and young Andrew Bidwell from Blenheim who was the only rider to match the defending champion uphill.

On the final stretch, Whitehouse waited for one last steep climb to accelerate and lose his two young competitors to arrive well clear of Bidwell and previous record holder Michael Vink in third place.

In the women’s race, the frustrations of losing last year’s race on the finish line was the perfect motivation for Kate McIlroy to finally win Le Race in the third attempt.

“I didn’t just want to win the race, but destroy the record,” said the former Olympic triathlete who clearly has not lost any of her competitive juices, winning in 2.49.10.

McIlroy said she was not going to get caught again and was grateful to find a strong group to stay with going up to the Hilltop. “Last year, I had to do a lot of racing by myself, so it made a big difference to be able to stay with a group.”

The 37-year-old said that she “was done with Le Race” after ticking the cycling classic off her bucket list. “But never say never,” said McIlroy who finished more than two minutes ahead of Henrietta Christie and 13 minutes ahead of Julia Grant in third.

Both race winners picked up the $500 winners check as well as the $500 dollar bonus from Harcourts Holmwood for beating the course record, and were followed by a field of around 700 riders of all ages and abilities, including blind tandem rider Blair McConnell and riders on vintage bikes.

The 53km Le Petite Race to Little River was won by Chris Ross and Sammie Walker in the women’s race.

 

 

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Ilam Office Open Day

We are excited to announce that the wait is finally over. Please come along to our open day to check out our new Ilam Office at 292 Clyde Road on Tuesday 19 March 12pm-4pm.

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Le Race Sponsorship

Once again Harcourts Holmwood are offering a $500 prize to the first man and first women that break the current race records in the upcoming Le Race event, Saturday 23rd March.

Le Race is a 100km cycling race with mixture of challenging hill climbs, fast flats and exhilarating downhills that travels from Cathedral Sqaure in Christchurch, across an extinct volcano, to the French surrounds of Akaroa.

It has been won by some of the country’s leading cyclists, including nine time Tour of Southland winner and Commonwealth Games medallist Brian Fowler, former junior world champion Jeremy Yates, Commonwealth Games representative and Olympian Heath Blackgrove, six time New Zealand duathlon champion Mark Bailey and in recent times Christchurch pro cyclists Sam Horgan, Michael Vink and teenager Keagan Girdlestone, who in 2014 was the events youngest ever winner.

Kate Sheppard Christchurch House Sold

Historic Christchurch Property has Sold

Kate Sheppard’s former Christchurch home has a new owner, five months after it went on the market.

The sprawling villa with more than 4000sqm of land in Clyde Rd, Ilam sold. Built in 1888, it was Sheppard’s home for 15 years and was the base for her suffrage campaign.

Kate Sheppard House for Sale - Harcourts Holmwood

The villa passed in at auction in October, when Harcourts Holmwood auctioneer Phil McGoldrick said the owner was unwilling to discuss a sale price of less than $3.5 million. The property was valued at $3.15m.

Harcourts Holmwood Agents, Martin and Laurie Sutton, said the market for a property of that value was small, so the interest was good for the price.

The house is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home and has a Category One protection order heritage listing.

Burbury earlier said she and her ex-husband “had no idea” of its significance when they bought it.

“It was pretty amazing. Prior to that it had been just our home, but after that it felt like a real privilege to be here,” she said.

The original villa is still visible from the front of the property but it has been extended and modernised inside. A swimming pool, tennis court, stream and artesian well have been added.

Burbury, who turns 70 this year, hired the property out for a time as a venue for weddings and functions. She earlier said she plans to to spend more time at her beach house in Kaiteriteri and in England.

“I’ve truly loved it but it’s now time to pass the baton on.”

Christchurch Real Estate: February Update

Update on the Christchurch real estate market by Jim Davis

As Christchurch rolls into the traditional post Christmas busy period, it is pleasing to see that the recently released January sales statistics still show a continuing strong steady Christchurch marketplace.

The release of the REINZ stats for January indicate that there were 397 recorded residential sales in our City with a recorded median sale price of $440,000.  Anyone who regularly reads this market comment will know how steady our market has been in Christchurch over the last couple of years.  The stated figures for this January when compared to figure for January 2018 of 402, show that my steady average market comments have been spot on.

real estate christchurch

January is never a big month in terms of sales, simply because the sales teams and the market are generally in holiday mode till late in the month. What we have just experienced is very much, another average January in terms of sales data and history. Neither good nor bad and difficult to gauge any early trend from.

Property listings are the life blood of any real estate business and the volume of listings coming into Harcourts across the city continues to track well in comparison to other years. Harcourts continues to be the preferred company across the city with close to every second new property to the market being listed by Harcourts.

christchurch real estate holmwood

There is one aspect of our business that has gone through a big change since the 1st Jan and that is the new legal requirement under Global Anti money laundering legislation. We in the industry are required to conduct “Customer Due Diligence” on everyone who wishes to sell property.  This is part of Global legislation that the New Zealand Government signed up to many years ago and now the Real Estate industry is required to dig a bit deeper into the identity of the individuals owning property before it can be sold.  The process is even more in depth when we have property in owned by overseas owners, in Trusts or any company structures.  In essence we have to get all property ownership back to the person who ultimately owns the property along with a raft of other information.

For some people this can feel a bit intrusive, but unfortunately it is the new law. Why am I telling you all this? Primarily so you can be prepared, but also so you consider carefully who you are selling your property through. With all this new legal legislation it is comforting to know that Harcourts has already spent considerable time, training and educating their consultants.  More importantly they have invested in the services of the acknowledged leaders of systems needed to keep your information secure.

The months of February and March are traditionally the busiest times of the year, there is generally more stock available and more property is sold. There is no company who can offer the results that Harcourts can. With the busiest time of the year now upon us make the most of the opportunity, list with Harcourts and know we have the training, expertise and resources to get you the best result.

Jamin Marshall & his Team Join Holmwood

We are delighted to welcome Jamin Marshall and his team to the Merivale Office. Jamin is supported by Licensed Sales Consultant, Tim Harris, and Personal Assistant, Johanna Adams.

Property is in Jamin’s blood. Both his father and his grandfather were successful real estate agents and it’s something he’s genuinely passionate about. He blends that passion with highly developed communication skills and an extensive network of contacts.

For Jamin, as for Holmwood, people are always at the core of what he does.

 

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Community Highlights 2018

We are proud to look back on our sponsorship and community support in Christchurch for 2018 and excited for the year ahead!

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Holmwood Sponsor the Mission’s Christmas Lunch

Harcourts Holmwood has a positive and long-term commitment to the Christchurch community. This year we have taken another step up! Not only are we contributing to the Christchurch City Mission’s ‘Walk of  Stars’ but we are also as a major sponsor of the Mission’s Christmas Lunch.

The Christchurch City Mission is one of those institutions we all wish wasn’t needed. Alas, the statistics tell a different story. Demand continues to rise, more are living on the fringes of society and we need to give a helping hand this Christmas.

With one family in five finding the expense of Christmas too much of a burden, it is a privilege to be able to support this important event.

We are aware that others might also like to contribute so we have set up a ‘Givealittle’ page. To access this page please click here or simply text “donate” to 206 to make a $3 donation.

Help us, help others this Christmas!


Do Harcourts Really Charge More?

There are lots of different commission structures

The reality is that real estate companies are all different and will charge differently for our services, which is great from the perspective of the vendor, as it gives you huge choice. Price should of course be a consideration when you list, but there are lots of other things that are important too.

After all, if for example a sales consultant who is pitching for your business, is prepared to immediately discount just to ensure they get the listing, should you ask yourself, what else will they be prepared to cut back on when the time comes to try and get a sale on paper? Will it be your price? Or might it perhaps be the amount of time and effort they put in to sell your property.

But let’s take a step back. The good thing about New Zealand is house sellers have options. You can choose to sell your property yourself, choose a low fee company, choose someone who discounts quickly suggesting they don’t believe they are worth their ‘rack rate’, or choose a full fee, full service company or consultant.

What are your options?

You could of course sell your own home and take on the paperwork and legal advice all on your own terms, but this is not a common thing in our market as so often people feel that trusting a network of property experts and legal professionals is the best way to gain them the results that they need.

This brings us to the answer to the original question about why some real estate companies charge more than others.  It comes down to the time, effort and opportunity a good sales consultant working within a large full-service company can bring to the whole sale process.  A good consultant will be working hard with a whole network of potential buyers available from within their company rather than just the one or two they know themselves.

Do you choose a genuine low-fee real estate company?  It may well be the best choice. Ask some hard questions about their buyer network and how they operate.  Ask yourself, ‘will other consultants within their company spend the time and energy introducing buyers to your property when there is a much smaller sale fee to split? It is possible that as a low fee operator they may only be selling their listings to the one or two potential buyers they might know, not to the larger market.

That brings us to full fee operators like Harcourts who some see as more expensive

Harcourts has around 460 consultants working in the Christchurch market currently. Full details of any listing in the Harcourts system is available to all those consultants immediately. More than that the details are also available to approx. 2500 consultants nationwide. Our system is designed to enable cross selling between offices and individuals and as a result approx. 40% of sales we do, are done by a 2nd consultant. To put it plainly your property listing is available to any buyer working with a Harcourts consultant anywhere across the city and potentially across the country.

Quite simply at Harcourts we believe we get our vendors more money for their property by a combination of the sheer volume of consultants who all have buyers (pt. 1), who can then access your property information. This creates competition for your property which can produce excellent results for you, either by auction, multiple offer situations or just simply because of the superior and trained negotiation skills in our people.

Getting the best price

Yes, you may pay more for a Harcourts consultant than you do for some other consultants, but you only get one chance to sell your most valuable asset, so you need to be sure you got the best price not just any price.

While the costs of selling your property will -and should – always be a factor in deciding which real estate company to choose, selling should not be about the commission factor alone. As with any product or service, value is not the same as cost. It should, at least in part, be about the company itself, and its reputation, It should be about the skills and experience of the sales consultant, as well as the buyer network they have at their fingertips but ultimately about getting the best price for your home.

Finally, If you are still unsure trust in all the people who have voted Harcourts the most trusted real estate brand for the 6th year in a row.

There is an old saying in Christchurch – “when you’re selling, sell with Harcourts. When you’re buying, hope your new home is listed with another company”.