Been a while....

(download)

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nelson-is-obviously-currently-the-coolest-place-in-n-zed-for-2011-waEtkwFBDfebJuxyDhGH.zip (8.47 MB)

but heres a couple pics that I hope try to transpond the feeling about the excitment I experience every day in this part of Godzone 's paradise.

Waking up to this every day....you may think it becomes a habit......can I say no. Its an incredibily wonderful feeling every time you see (& feel the heat/warmth) the sun arise over the horizon.

Perhaps no more so than if you visit here and can say you have experienced it yourself.

At a time when there are many naysayers stating "diversify diversify" this Real Estate related "who am I" may just be a great addition to your next Newslatter.

Who am I?

I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise the thrifty and the prudent.

I am the poor man’s joy and comfort, the rich man’s price, the right hand of capital and the silent partner of many thousands of successful men.

I am the solace of the widow, the comfort of old age and the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want.

I am handed down to children through generations, as a thing of great worth.

I am the choicest fruit of toil, credit respects me, yet I am humble.

I stand before every man bidding him to know me for what I am and possess me.

I grow and increase in value through countless days.

Though I seem dormant, my worth increases, never failing, never ceasing.

Time is my aid and population heaps up my gain.

Fire and the elements I defy, for they cannot destroy me.

My possessors learn to believe in me; invariably they become envied.

While all things wither and decay, I survive.

The centuries find me younger, increasing in my strength.

I am the foundation of banks, the producer of foods and the basis of all wealth throughout the world.

Yet I am so common that thousands, unthinkingly and unknowingly pass me by.

I AM LAND!!!

The world of the “interwebs” ..........can guarantee to bring one thing to us, that we perhaps unwittingly don't realise we seek……immedicity.

The fracture that happens once many folk approach...…or actually hit retirement is something that, hopefully God willing, we will all have the opportunity to experience.

There’s no doubt that it certainly has, in its own way …. sure enough a great percentage of workers who reach it………its own “once in a lifetime” excitement factor.

A “what now” moment that you’ve been looking forward to (perhaps planning) immensely for the last 6 -7 years!

Working for the company for 25 years, the gold watch, the history, etc…….all this will be something that future generations will more than likely lose because, in their world, a job lasts for “as long as you like it…..”

Tell them you have been an appreciated employee of GM for over 22 years and they just look at you kinda weird……..frankly this concept for a young Gen X’er is just, well..... too hard for them to comprehend.

But hey for once in life – now you do not have to live “a short convenient distance” from work!

The daily commute – Mum & Dad...........“you’re now officially over it.”

From discussions, anecdotal too, there's many thoughts associated with the fact that from now on you don’t have to live here, because once......that’s where your job was ……and now, all of a sudden, its not....... allows all sorts of new horizons to open up.

Heres a quick list;

North Americans – let’s investigate Florida

Australiians – lets investigate Surfers / Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast

Kiwis (South Island ones) – lets investigate Nelson,or Golden Bay

Kiwis (North Island ones) – lets investigate Whangaparaoa or the Tauranga region (grew up there too) or if its a lower density population you want, perhaps Nelson comes up on the radar

Poms (Englishmen) …how does a move to Spain ………sound? Perhaps Eastbourne or Bournemouth or some other spot on the South Coast.

Canuks – sorry guys haven’t yet been to your fair country yet, so at this stage from my contacts can’t forward someplace that would make sense, although I suspect that anything south sounds like it would be good/warmer.

At the end of the day though………and here’s the rub....there really is only one inescapable fact, and that is ……that all of us combined, as Real Estate Marketers (Realtors ™) know – because we have been in the process so many times before ……what we call on the "coal face" for want of a better term.... that what Mum & Dad want......(as you & I know too, thats not the first time we've heard that.)

So.....frankly ...why don't you just ask us.

Long Story Short – if you have parents that you want to ensure are looked after in their later years (and who doesn’t) then you need to pick a Realtor™ in the location that Mum & Dad desire to be, and just phone one of us for the ubiqtious "no obligation chat." (in fact phone 3-4-5-6-7-8-9 of us, you want the whole story don't you?)

I don't care if you're a Wall St banker, a GM factory worker or someone from the local area.....at the end of the day we all have parents .......and we all want the best for them.

I am always building a business, and therefore it should follow, and it has to, that first up, you should talk to an active local in your designated region (in this case your parents desired retirement region), frankly......I surely would.

On top of that, anyone serious about their vocation in life, would definitely have an vested interest in it......and nothing more especially so than if you are actually in the Real Estate industry.

So the whole point of my post here today.........

Follows here that .......

If you are going to promise yourself that you indeed can consciously commit to Mum & Dad that you are going to look after their best interests.......then there is one extra step, that perhaps in "the rush" you may not have thought was important.....but let me tell you here and now....IT IS!

You need to, once the occasion eventuates....start making some immediate enquiries to your parents future desired location.

In fact once Mum & Dad hit 59, you should ask?

"Mum, Dad ......man you've led a busy life......one day I suspect you are going to want to quiet'en down....now where is that going to be?"

And you know what? Each time I hear this, well except for my last 4 personal enquiries that is......the enquiriers start in the wrong place!

Surely they should know that most Realtors offer their most crucial services up front......on a "no obligation" basis..........and thats undoubtedly based on that fact that "down the road" if I've done a good job then I'm sure "you'll spend the time to revisit me" basis.

Downunder, its no different....if my Mum was to want to move somewhere else than where she is now,  today.....then no 1st up I'm not going to look to find a two bedroom, ensuite, Open Plan lounge/diner, sun gathering kitchen on the net.

Yes, undoudtably in time, I may get around to that angle, but certainly not first up.

But.... No......up front for me from my many years of Real Estate experience is that I am going to encourage her to phone Real Estate Agents (US Speak - Realtors) in her future desired location to get "the local guss."

When I was over to visit my Mum last year, she had, unbeknownst to me, accepted the local courtesy of 3 x "lovely men" Brisbane Real Estate agents to offer her an appraisal.........and.....

.....all 3 agents gave her an "appraisal" on her property gave her about "1 Paragraph" worth of words description of the excitment they experienced when they visited her preoperty.

Now cut me off here early if you want, but my typical description of a prospective sellers property usually flow's to at least 700 - 800 words.

Hello......do we remember why people buy a property.

Surely I don't have to tell you the ratio of those that buy "emotionally" verse the other that buy "locgically" do I?

Ninety percent of buyers end up in love with a home emotionally.

After watching all those TV programs.... you might wonder about the importance of some sort of "X-Factor".

If you are interested in moving down under to the sunniest place in New Zealand, I suggest you visit www.nelsonians.com.

Mum & Dad....welll its just Mum now.....but I know what I would do for my own Mum, and its.....absolutely no different than what I've suggested above.

Was this meant to be under the radar or not…

So far this year, many Aussies and Kiwi Real Estate Agents have made known to me their views on the “US inspired” and perhaps “perceived” future of Real Estate Marketing.

So what future direction/path could we be heading down, in the short term anyhow, down-under?

The headline , as shown above, “Google Rumoured to be Hiring Online Real Estate Sales People” from the Property Portal Watch website certainly pipped my interest.

According to the report, “sources” indicated…..

  that Google had approached a number of sales people from domain.com.au in an effort to hire them as field sales people for the Google real estate initiative. Sources also believed that Google may be initially targeting the Inner West region of Sydney.

While on a “fa-mil” to Japan in the late 80’s, I always remember a statement told to me back then by a Marubeni executive, and in a "long story short" version…..

Australia and New Zealand are fabulous testing / proving grounds for us, for products ultimately destined for USA/UK. Smaller population/support/technical backup network required for product launch due to lower population density, nearly the same political system, same language, etc. It lets us find out early if there are any hiccups/problems so that we can fine-tune for a major US launch.

The world scene is a bit more global now, but one wonders whether the reasoning behind/benefits of trial testing a product down under, don’t still stand?

This comment from propertyportalwatch.com seems to hint at a more aggressive Real Estate approach from Google in Australia.

As I’m sure you are aware, once they build up to warp speed in any one locale the Captains Log will be there for any other country to read & follow…….and that’s certainly been the way it has transpired to date with most launches, usually tagged “Beta” to start, from Google.

However AIM Group reckon they have the word from Google, that it was a storm in a teacup.

After a very visible Real Estate addition to Google Maps, perhaps this would have to be the next logical step.

Will they Inbound or outbound reps? - watch this space I suggest.

My thoughts…….…we haven’t heard/seen the last of this thread yet.

My off-site blog - www.nelsonians.com

7th December 2009

The Biggest Houses in the world, it would seem, are in Australia, USA and New Zealand......and in that order.

PHOTO Fairhaverns Great Ocean Rd Pole House** - video link here

PHOTO CREDIT  - www.realestate.com.au

You see the ubiquitous word "lifestyle" bandied around so much these days.

So here's the question I pose.

Involuntary / Unconscious?

Well many visitors from overseas visiting NZ or Australia for the first time seem to always be struck by the lifestyle, well thats what they tell us/me anyway.

Ok so I haven't worked out this U-tube thing but go here and yousee it........

What I'm wondering out loud here is if the fact that our larger residences, say in comparision to the UK for example, could play a bigger psychological role in forming that overall lifestyle equivalent equation.

After all our larger Open Plan living area's do mean you aren't constantly bumping into another family member, or having to put up with juniors constant beep beep beeping of his handheld game machine.....something that might be just a tad different when your reception room is just 14ft x 12ft?

Usually large residences are the realm of Hollywood stars, millionaires, residents of California or Florida, or those folk who feature in editions of that US TV Show "Extreme Makeover."

Just consider the above chart if you will.

The latest report was commissioned by the Commwealth Banks research arm Commsec, via ABS data.

The Courier Mail quoted CommSec's Craig James as saying;

"The increase in the size of the average family unit may mean that fewer new homes need to be built"

One also wonders whether the fact that Kiwis and Aussies have so much of their individual personal wealth tied up in their family home doesn't have something to do with it either.

Then again I'm not so sure that all countries measure the same way as we do too. I mean do other countries always count the garage square meterage as part of the home, likewise porch or patio?

And in a slightly related yet interesting factoid the Sydney Morning Heralds Peter Martin reported in his front page Monday story last week, that in Australia fully 1 in 7 new homes (15%) are only replacing demolished homes. That is interesting.

This quote below, albeit from April 2005, from Ian Graham of nationmaster.com also adds to the discussion;

The only point being made here is that people in the top five countries for this statistic have a lot of space, and that they all speak English, which is a factor of their sharing a common mother country. It isn’t surprising for the United States, New Zealand, Canada and Australia to have such large houses, since those countries all have population densities of less than 30 people per square kilometer, far less than the United Kingdom’s rate of 244.69 people per square kilometer.

One point I could make is that, along with its language, England also exported a culture which valued individuality and privacy, and also that these former colonies have prospered economically, with New Zealand having the lowest ranking of the five in GDP per capita, at 35th-highest in the world. Presumably, people in Pakistan, India and Nicaragua would build houses large enough so that up to three people didn’t have to share a room, if they could afford to.

Other points could also be made, such as the relationship that seems to exist between controlled population growth (all five of the countries with the largest houses have an average annual increase of less than one percent) and a higher standard of living.

Also in Australia, their Bureau of Statistics data in a report commissioned by CommSec also showed the average floor area of a new free-standing houses (thats not including apartments or flats) across the ditch was 245.3sqm, a record high they stated.

CommSec's Craig James told the ABC, in referring to new build house, that;

our homes are about a third bigger than they were 20 years ago, and 10% bigger than they were a decade ago

And the last interesting factoid to leave you with, courtesy of demographia.com ..........

Meanwhile, over the last 20 years, the average new detached house in Australia and New Zealand has increased by an amount equivalent to the average total size of a house in United Kingdom.

** the Pole House pictured top is available to rent out for your next holiday I see here.

and with interesting results I might say...check out the post here....  http://3.ly/fd   yes thats right its pretty short but 3.ly is a new SHORT URL Service designed to most probably save us just a few precious charactres out of 140!

Being the first time I've seen this in either Australia or New Zealand, would love to know if any US Realtors have seen this type of campaign being conducted stateside.

[higer-res version of photo here]

I had just pulled to a stop at the lights, and because it was raining I didn't wind the window down, but just had to get a shot of this sign depicting some creative psychology par excellence.

Someone with some copywriting / word pattern / psychology certainly had contributed to this one.

Things in its favour to attract attention, or to "trick" someone into reading it were....

- the style and type of sign, sign mount were exactly the same that a Real Estate agent would use to attract buyers / visitors to one of their Open Homes.

secondly while approaching the sign from a distance, the first few highly visible words state “Executive Level……” along with the word “home” two lines down (and the word EXIT at the top also helps to conture up address directions) and as such certainly do encourage the reader interested in real estate topics to read further.

Lastly this sign on its "real estate type mount" was placed on a busy main intersection, traffic light equipped co-incidentially, on a Wednesday, thereby minimising its chance of getting lost in the typical competition it would be up against with competing Realtor signs on a normal Saturday or Sunday and saving the best part to last, is the last line.

Tis a bit hard to read but it says “Don’t believe? Don’t call.” Just loved it.

Am curious is this a campaign by an amway type organisation, and these signs have already been tried in the USA or Canada, or is it a new ploy to take advantage of the currently still "hot topic" of Real Estate with such a look-a-like and worded sign.

Brad Maxwell, Managing Director for Christchurch based Premier Realty Ltd has come up with what he says is a NZ first to sell his own personal home.

In his Press Release he asks the question....

Hi all

However I'm pleased that I have managed to pick up a Blogger of the Month award in NZ already.

Is the sort of content that I am placing on my blog the right sort, right sort for clients / customers or perhaps more for other agents /realtors (we are called Real Estate Agents over here - no one would know what a realtor is) Retired folk use the more english term Estate Agent or Land agent).

Would appreciate any thoughts / feedback on what I could do better. If you'd like to know anything about NZ then I'd love to help too.

All the best

David

Ooops forgot this part....

http://voices.realestate.co.nz/sunny-nelson/

Thanks in Advance