| ¡¡ | HOME |
Take back the jungle to add value to your home
New Zealand¡¯s rainy climate makes our landscaping prone to overgrowth. Take a walk around your neighbourhood and you are likely to spot many crimes against landscaping: the crab grass hedge, the bushes taking over the driveway, the trees so cramped and intertwined they seem to be strange hybrids of multiple species.
If your home is amongst these, it¡¯s time for a thorough yard clean up, the more so if you are thinking of selling your home.
Your first job is good tree care. Remedial pruning will open views, increase the light to your home, and improve access. Trees look best with a rounded, symmetrical crown, and it goes without saying, no invasive bougainvillea or self-seeded native growing up between the branches.
Pruning and shaping trees is highly skilled work, so hire an arborist (tree surgeon) to do this
. If the tree is diseased or dying, the branches can become a danger and the tree may need to be removed.Other high-return clean up jobs:
Remove dead or dying plants. Nothing degrades the look of your home more than shrubbery corpses. If your hedges have been pruned so many times they are showing mostly woody branches, remove them and start fresh.
If an area has been completely taken over by weeds, rip out everything. Install weed barriers, fresh topsoil and a quick-growing ground cover.
Mulch your garden beds. It will fill in any gaps in your garden and give fresh appeal.
The recent dry weather has stressed lawns. Apply weed killer and use a fall fertilizer to prevent a weed infestation once it starts to rain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High immigration levels pushing house values up
One quarter of young Britons trying to buy their first house would consider moving overseas to do so, and their favourite markets are New Zealand and Australia. They plan to buy a ¡°cheap¡± starter house and later move back to the U.K., according to Britain¡¯s National Savings & Investments group.
That comes as no surprise to many in New Zealand, as they watch immigrants loaded with foreign currency snap up Kiwi homes at record prices.
In the year to February, New Zealand gained 13,200 more permanent migrants than it lost, an increase of almost 60% over the year prior. Some estimates are even higher, as many immigrants intending to live here for a year stay longer. (So much for going back to the U.K.)
This helps explain the continued rise in the median home price, which hit a record $335,000 in February, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.
L.J. Hooker salespeople are finding buyers anxious to lock in deals. Many properties are achieving record prices at auction.
If you are thinking of selling your home, there could not be a better time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I HAVE A QUESTION:
I¡¯ve done business with the same bank for years. Will they give me a good deal on my home loan?
You will only know what a ¡°good deal¡± is if you shop around.
While interest rate differences can be small between banks, the fees charged and the size of the loan can vary a lot, up to $100,000 depending on your income and type of property.
That can be the difference between getting your new property or not.
If you don¡¯t have time to shop around, contact your L.J. Hooker Financial Services representative. They have access to 10 lenders and more than 260 products in New Zealand and can quickly compare packages for you at no charge.
They can even meet with you at home, which makes shopping a quick and easy process.
For more information, call your local L.J. Hooker office for a referral to a financial services representative or call:
0800 253 647
Disclaimer: This newsletter has been prepared by L.J. Hooker. Every effort has been made to ensure the contents are accurate at the time of publication L.J. Hooker takes no responsibility for any subsequent action that may arise from the use of this newsletter.
|
|
|
|