Steve Hart: CVs a double-edged sword

Properties will continue to sell at the market price following negotiations between seller and buyer. Keep calm everyone. Photo / Doug Sherring

The new Auckland Council property valuations are out and causing a storm with the average valuation rising 46 per cent above the 2014 figure.

However, those looking to sell shouldn't use their new valuation as an expected sale price, and those wanting to buy should not be put off by them.

Properties will continue to sell at the market price following negotiations between seller and buyer. Keep calm everyone.

Nevertheless, many people have seen their property valuations rocket with some worried it will mean higher rates bills next year. It will be about six months before we find out how the new CVs will influence our council rates.

In Rodney, home owners have seen their CVs change dramatically, one example is a property rising from $990,000 (2014 CV) to $1.625 million today.

And give a thought to people living in this district north of Auckland, they have been asked to pay extra to help fix the district's crumbling roads; roads that are being bashed to within an inch of their life by increasing numbers of heavy trucks carrying soil from the Super City's housing developments to landfills in the area.

If the targeted rate is introduced it will raise just $2.5 million a year — a drop in the ocean when it comes to repairing roads.

Estate agents of tomorrow
The estate agent game is changing as buyers and sellers have greater access to information than ever before.

That means some of those working in the industry may need to change how they work.

Last week more than 300 industry professionals heard from real estate coach Tom Panos on how to survive, as buyers and sellers can do more for themselves.

Those attending the event, sponsored by CoreLogic, heard that agents have to prove their value as a trusted advisor or risk winning business by competing on price, and that is a race to the bottom.

Panos said: "Customers these days are surrounded by information. What they need is someone experienced they can trust to help them understand what all that information means for them."

He recommended agents be process driven, not energy driven. They should be generous with their time, and not expect that to pay off for a year or two, and that they should solve problems for clients — not cause them.

"Every buyer or seller has a problem they want to solve — be the person that solves that problem for them, and you'll earn their loyalty for life," says Panos.