KEY POINTS:
"We want to be known as a company that's innovative," says Russell Benshaw.
The licensed real estate agent is the Auckland-based director of Key2, a company specialising in property investment brokerage.
The tough market saw his company adopt vendor finance as a serious strategy six weeks ago.
They had used it for one sale and were likely to complete another two.
He said some vendors were guaranteeing the growth in value of their property for up to three years - and if this did not happen then part or all of the vendor finance might not have to be repaid.
These favourable conditions for purchasers would "probably disappear within six months". They were just a short-term fix for some developers to sell excess stock.
That's the case with the remaining five villas at the Golf View Estate in the Auckland suburb of Browns Bay, selling from $525,000.
Twenty per cent vendor finance was available with each, as well as the promise of 10 per cent guaranteed growth on the registered value, or the loaned 20 per cent did not have to be fully repaid.
"For every dollar that it doesn't meet the capital growth then that amount is deducted from the vendor funding due," said Benshaw.
He said the developer wanted to move the last stock and did not mind getting part of his money later.
