>>updated 25 June 2010                                             

The photos above show a 270m2 home I designed and built for myself on a "quarter acre" section in the 1970's. It was the start of a career in the property market - designing, building, and selling multi-unit housing. In one 5-year period I acted as either Purchaser or Vendor in over 260 Sale & Purchase Agreements. Real estate agents were not as professional then and they completed less than 20% of those sales. I sold the rest myself. Changes in agent performance occurred after the introduction of the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. I started in Agency work in 1997 and soon transfered to Leaders Remax to get the autonomy I needed to properly care for my clients and purchasers. 

I welcome the introduction of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. It provides for, and ensures, a really professional service for all property owners and purchasers.                                                                                                                              

A new era for professionalism for our industry…    

The Act's stated purpose is to protect the interests of consumers in respect of transactions that relate to real estate and to promote public confidence in the performance of real estate agency work. The Real Estate Agents Authority has been established to administer the Act, including setting a Code of Conduct, a Complaints and Disciplinary process, and a publicly accessible Register with the record of each licensee.

I have prepared an overview of the Act, its various provisions, and the services provided to consumers by the Real Estate Agents Authority. It is linked to the image on the right...

A personal profile with some notable sales and references...                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                 The website linked to this image is a reference in itself. It was designed and built by a grateful client after one particular sale. It identifies what I believe to be the difference that matters and gives details of the variety in types of sales achieved. 

It also has a properties for sale page which I can use to host a lot more information about the properties I am selling. It often shows an aerial photo of the location with nearby amenities. Tender details are shown when appropriate. It displays a "Virtual Tour" of each property as well.

If references from previous clients are important to you, and especially if your property or circumstances are a bit complicated, please look through this site.                                                                                    

Apartments and townhouses, more complicated work ...  

Every property has a unique collection of features likely to appeal most to buyers with particular needs and preferences. A large part of what we do is to get our marketing right to achieve that premium sale. Far greater challenges come when we are working with multi-unit properties, especially apartments. With the diversity in complexities a successful agent needs a good understanding of the merits of different forms of Title, the workings of bodies corporate, and sufficient building construction knowledge to understand what may be an issue and answer questions properly.

Such skills have become much more important under the requirements of the new Act. If you are about to sell or buy an apartment please look through the content of my wellingtonapartmentsforsale website linked to the image on the right.                    

  
Many of the changes introduced by the Act have always been part of the way I have operated. You can now feel comfortable contacting me to work for you with the added knowledge the Real Estate agents Authority is monitoring our performance. Please contact me today...

Bruce Mitchell |free2mobile 0800 635 942| bruce@brucemitchell.co.nz | www.brucemitchell.co.nz