| 67 Selling homes is a chance to help High Street lot 13 exterior. High Street lot 13 interior. With 40 years behind it, it’s not surprising that trusted brand Professionals Redcoats Real Estate holds between 40% and 50% of the Hutt Valley market at any one time, keeping 35 real estate agents busy. Shane Brockelbank joined Redcoats 13 years ago, knowing that it was a tried and true brand. Having spent 13 years in the fire service he was ready to enjoy the flexibility of being his own boss, although not necessarily working any less hard. He enjoys working as part of a team, which he believes benefits clients, and he enjoys one of the aspects of real estate that is less obvious from the outside, as he explains. “I like being able to help people. A lot of the time when people are selling, it’s not necessarily for a good reason. There could be financial pressure, or a relationship break-up, or it may be health, so yes, you’re selling their house, but you’re also helping navigate through what can be a pretty tricky part of their life a lot of the time.” The Hutt Valley offers something of a microcosm of the country, with homes within a few blocks of each other selling to very different markets, and priced accordingly. The cheapest house Shane’s team has sold so far this year was for $375,000. Measuring 90sqm, it was a former state house in need of a transformation. Less than five minutes’ drive away, he sold a house for $2 million. “So we have the whole range of houses, and I try not to pigeon-hole myself one way or the other, because at the end of the day they’ve all got someone that wants as much as they can get, and someone that wants to get it as cheaply as they can, and they’ve all got four walls and a roof,” says Shane. “The average price in Lower Hutt is about $750,000 at the moment. It was just under a million a couple of years ago, but it’s tracked back.” The unpredictable market has reduced the hundreds of people that were buying, renovating and selling houses a few years ago to fewer than 10 today. Over what time frame? As people look for safe buys at a good price, many turn to new developments if the price is right. Shane and his team have already sold six out of 13 such homes from the Boulcott Central development. They range in price from $959,000 for a three-bedroom/ two-bathroom with internal access, up to $1,079,000, which offers a second living room, to a 200sqm stand-alone executive home for $1,350,000, and include the three, two- bedroom, two-storey townhouses, which sold for around $700,000. Having been built and designed by well-known developer Rudy Van Baarle, means buyers can have confidence in what they are buying. “He’s been in Lower Hutt 40 years, and because it’s Rudy, it’s built to a really solid level, but more so, he’s still supplying the 10-year Masterbuild Guarantee, which is becoming uncommon these days,” says Shane. T T Virginia Wright If builders go under, the Masterbuild Guarantee will cover things that go wrong, regardless, whereas under the Building Act there’s no protection if the company’s gone. Boulcott Central REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Wellington’s Premier Home Builder Subdivisions Medium Density Housing Home Builder Renovations 04 979 6523 / 021 221 1059 Get In Touch We’re here to make your dream home a reality. www.designandbuildhomes.co.nz Put that together with the location: two- minute drive to the CBD, five-minute walk to the hospital, and easy access to both the train station and bus stop, and it’s an appealing combination for anyone looking to own their own home, or for landlords who know the power of location. No wonder the open homes are always well attended.
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