48 | Central Otago: Tall Poppy Real Estate REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Offering tailored real estate solutions Kelly Deeks Top New Zealand real estate agent Peter Hishon is enjoying a heightened demand for semi-rural living, with his Tall Poppy Central Otago/Wanaka franchise area covering a number of rural communities and small towns with multiple burgeoning industries, setting the region up for a prosperous future. Peter started his career as a stock agent, working in Southland, Otago, and Canterbury for about 30 years before setting his sights on real estate in 2014. He says when he found the home-grown Kiwi business Tall Poppy, it was unlike any other real estate company and was shaking up the industry norm. “We have centralised administration which means we don’t need local offices,” he says. “I work in one because it’s convenient and cheap, but most Tall Poppy franchisees around the country don’t. Tall Poppy invests in people not infrastructure, and embraces technology.” The window cards in real estate office windows are no longer a viable selling tool, as today buyers’ window for their real estate is their laptop or their phone. Instead of charging a commission, Tall Poppy charges flat fees of differing tiers, so vendors can choose the amount of service they require, and know exactly how much it will cost to sell their home. Peter says this is the best competitive offer in New Zealand, and the increases in values of homes we have seen in the past few years have made commission-based sales financially unviable. “4% of $200,000 is bugger all, but 4% of New Zealand’s average property price today makes it bloody expensive to sell your house at the old rates.” Tall Poppy advertises its new listings every Sunday, with open homes scheduled for the following weekend, giving buyers a bit of extra time to get organised. All marketing is included in the client’s package, including social media. Industry leading property marketing from Trade Me, homes.co.nz, realestate.co.nz, Facebook, and Google are combined to attract large numbers of potential buyers and create the best platform to sell a property. Peter says Tall Poppy was a pioneer at the cutting edge of social media marketing when it started 10 years ago. An upcoming workshop for Tall Poppy franchisees is going to cover how to use Instagram Reels to film and edit multi-clip videos and create engaging content. “We have to be where our customers are,” he says. The post-Covid real estate market is catering to an increasing number of buyers who are working from home, and looking for a bit more land so they can be more self-sustaining. “Central Otago is one of the few lifestyle 03 448 7709 | 67 Tarbert Street, Alexandra | info@scholefield.co.nz Established in 1912, Scholefield Law comprises seven partners. With over 150 collective year’s legal experience, you can be confident that you will receive sound, secure, sensible advice that assists you in your legal matters. 286 Earnscleugh Rd Alexandra P 027 554 9166 E chappycontracting@gmail.com Earthworks better than you imagined! “They think this is a nice spot with good weather, and they come back and buy property. These cycle trails have been a real opening up of the area.” areas in New Zealand that people want to live in. Like the Hawke’s Bay, the Bay of Plenty, and Marlborough, a lot of people are starting to head our way.” The cycle trails have brought many more tens of thousands of people to Central Otago who otherwise might not have been. “That is their first taste of the region. They think this is a nice spot with pretty good weather, and they come back and buy property. These cycle trails have been a real opening up of the area for people outside of the locals.” The local wine industry is growing massively and is now a huge attraction bringing people to the area as they look to visit vineyards and taste the award-winning wines being produced in Central Otago. Development is afoot in local towns, with new shops, supermarket, and restaurants going in to Alexandra and new subdivisions in Alexandra, Cromwell, and Wanaka Otago Polytechnic’s expanding campus at Cromwell is also bringing business and population to those centres.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=