Cocaine Energy Drink Sponsor NZ Drift Series

Cocaine Energy Drink, a new Energy Drink in New Zealand that has kicked off with a bang and with a lot of controversy is now sponsoring the New Zealand Drift Series in 2009. The massive sponsorship means that the Cocaine Energy Drink will be branded throughout the series, on websites, TV, and throughout the magazine.

The exposure that Cocaine will get from this series will be huge and will have huge beinifits to the company itself and to the people selling the drink around New Zealand. If your wanting to buy the drink in New Plymouth you can buy it from Pack and Save in New Plymouth where they stock the drink.

Round One is at Manfield Radeway Fielding Saturday 16th May 2009 and it will be great to see people there supporting a great event.

Myanmars Cyclone and Chinas Earthquake

Isnt the events happening in these countries right now tragic. There aren’t any words that can explain how it must be over there for the people of these countries. Its sad that both have happened at such a close time frame.

On one scale you have the Total devistation from Chinas 7.8 magnitute quake. This has left buildings crumpled and hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The estimated death toll from this quake is set to be approximately 50,000 people. Can you imagine this, Its almost the same as everyone in my town New Plymouth is dead. Sometimes I feel that having the media as we do plays down the actual realness of the events that are panning out. (From my experiences in afganastan have shown me to appreciate how much we take things for granted.) These are real people like you and me and they are fighting for their lives. Whats amazed me though is Taiwan suspending all their differencies and giving so much humaitarian support. Such a great thing for Taiwan to do (taking in the recent history between China and Taiwan) and is a great credit to their government. Have a look at this youtube clip to see the devistation. and this one MAYNMAR – caution this has graphic images of the actual events unfolding

But on the other end of the scale and which is just as bad if not worse is the Cyclone ravaged areas of Myanmar which is truely a disaster zone. The suffering that is going on in this country is among the worst I have seen ever. The widespread devastation from this power category 3 storm has ripped a deep hole in this country. The official death toll stands at 128,000 people and rising by the day. Can you imagine that. The latest census figures put Tauranga at 112,000 people. Thats alot of people killed in a single event. This toll is set to rise because of the ongoing problem of humanitarian support by the military government and the lack of supplies getting to the people who need it. The latest thing I have read is there is another storm heading towards the area now. I believe that the true impact of this storm hasn’t been bought out yet. The military government are limiting the release of information so who knows what the impact is going to be. Here is a CNN Report of the Devistation.

I truely feel for the people affected by both of the natural disasters. The devastation and loss from both of these are beyond what anyone can imagine. I have been involved in some pretty grim events over the past few years and I understand what they might be going through. But I cannot comprehend the pain and suffering that the people are going through. I think its hard to see how much the devastation is from our TV as we see so much of it in movies and shows these days.

I have donated $1000 to the cyclone relief effort through UNICEF and google is going to match every dollar that is donated by another dollar. Go GOOGLE!! Well done. Here is the link. Its a good cause if you feel you can help in any way. UNICEF CYCLONE RELIEF DONATIONS.

Thanks to everyone who does donate. I seriously am touched by these two events. Unlike war where then you still get innocent people involved this is something that noone could have either preicted or prepared for and in both situations there has been nothing anyone could have done to get away from it.
I am amazed already from the amount of people who have become involved with the relief efforts. The people in these countries must be hurting. Imagine if it happened here, and if you were loosing your friends and family. Please leave a comment for your support for all affected.

Many Thanks

Deon

How Much is it costing you to survive?

How much is it costing you to survive each month?

I earn myself not a bad income. But I do work very hard for it. 7 days a week on the go do drag out sometimes. But I love what I do. But lately I have struck a bit of a snag and I know it’s just not me having this problem.

Over the past few months the cost my cost of living has increased by massive proportions. I can’t give you an average weekly income because I don’t have one but I can tell you how much it’s now costing to survive, now I am not doing anything different in my day to day activities but the cost has gone up hugely. Every month I analyse my spending and my income and work out a plan for the next month, so you could say I am well disciplined when it comes to money and spending. But I’m now struggling.

I will go through some of my monthly spending so you can compare today to yesterday….

Item                             Last year                     This year

Fuel                                        $350                                      $500

Power and Gas                   $120                                      $180

Food                                      $350                                      $500

Work Costs                          $500                                      $750

Mortgage                             $900                                      $1300

Each of these are in proportion and aren’t the actual figures. But I have used the percentages on each to make it easier to read and understand. But if you read this my personal costs that I am paying have gone up 60% in the past year alone. From my reading and understanding most of this is attributed to the rising cost of fuel and rising interest rates to take the fire out of the Real Estate market. As fuel is the main driver of our total economy if that goes up so does our living and transport costs. But at what extent has this had on our pockets and our condition of living in New Zealand.

For myself with the rising costs I have had to get out there and make more money. So I have a lot less time with my family just to keep up with things. But I know I am not the only one in this boat. New Zealanders must be hurting. I know a few of my friends who have good jobs have gone out and got a second job just to stay afloat. The government is telling us that job vacancies are at an all time low, but how many of those jobs are only a second job for someone. What about the people on fixed wages that aren’t going up at the rate of the living costs? Whats happening to them. We are in a bit of a terrible way here; it’s no wonder the latest poll showed that 1 in 10 New Zealanders are considering moving to Australia to live. The cost of living in Australia is more expensive yes but the wages over there are just that so much better that it is so easy to start saving some money.

In the past couple of months I have had former and current colleagues move to Australia to work in the mines. With the promise of jobs offering in excess of over $100,000 AU a year and all living costs included while on the job why wouldn’t you.

Please leave a comment and tell us your situation. I would be very interested to know how other real people like you are fearing with the increasing costs of living.

 

Thanks

 

Deon

How much infuence does the meadia have on the market?

Well this is something i have been talking to many people about. The media are all over real estate. They are talking about the housing market slumping, how bad real estate agents are, the so called depression New Zealand may experience. But you have to admit that real estate is interesting and something we all like to talk about, But how much is enough. An article in todays paper actually disturbed me. It said that New Zealanders worry more about what the prices and interest rates are doing that what their diets, weight and health. I think this is terrible.

Now realisticly there is cause for concern on whats happening to our economy, but is there mush we can do. Our markets are hugely influenced by overseas markets. But we need to look after ourselves first. I think part of the reason for this though is the media. The media are always talking about the Real Estate. The media are after stories that the public wantand the New Zealand public are obviously interested about Real Estate.

But where does this become a problem for the market and start to have adverse effects. The market we are in at the moment with buyers beig hesatant and worried to buy and sellers wanting to get out could be somewhat attributed to the media coverage. I am always hering from clients this question. “Is what the media saying true? is it that bad out there?” What do i say to that. Alot of public do take what they see on tv and read in the papers as gosaple. So at the endof the day I am finding there is less confidence out there in the market…

What i would love to know is what do you as the public see the media doing, are they all doom and gloom or are they actually helpful 

Whats it cost to own a property of your own = $375k house – costs $900 a week

I was today looking through articles online on The Heralds Website. This article hit me in the face. Its sad to see this. But its a fact of where we are at the moment in the market.

$375k house – costs $900 a week

Soaring interest rates will see Kiwis fork out almost a billion dollars extra in mortgage payments this year.

GE Money home lending director John Grant said an average interest hike of two per cent will affect about $45 billion of home loans rolling off fixed rates – a total of about $900 million.

The revelation comes as housing affordability continues to fall.

The latest quarterly report by Massey University’s Property Foundation shows a 6 per cent decline in the past year.

And financial pressure is being felt even by high earners, with one budget service giving food parcels to a family with a six-figure household income.

Grant predicted the increase in interest rates would cause more misery for cash-strapped Kiwis and warned unexpected changes in income could see some lose their homes.

“It’s one heck of a lot of money being channelled out of the pocket,” Grant said.

“It’s not just those with 100 per cent loans. They could have borrowed 60 per cent and be facing exactly the same predicament.”

 Banking industry experts estimate there are about 600,000 mortgages in New Zealand.

Based on that figure, senior analysts say about $155b is owed, with the average mortgage about $250,000.

That’s a massive jump from 10 years ago when there was $56b in mortgage debt with an average of about $100,000.

The change is hurting huge numbers of average Kiwis with mortgages, among them first-time owners Lee Potter and Lori Clearwater.

The west Auckland couple both work 50 hours a week, with a combined annual income of $120,000, but are crippled by weekly mortgage payments of over $900 for a $375,000 house. Starting a family is out of the question, while holidays, Sky TV and a social life are also off the agenda, as the couple budget down to the last dollar.

They are weighing up a move to Australia where, even if they lost money on the sale of their home, Potter estimates they could double their income and quickly end up better off. Sick of forking out “dead money” in rent, the couple approached banks for a 100 per cent $375,000 loan when the Sunnyvale house next door to Lori’s mum came up for private sale.

“They welcomed us with open arms. We were quite surprised when they said we qualified,” says Potter, an engineer.

“We would have needed a $32,000 deposit and it was just too hard to try to save that amount.”

Before becoming homeowners, the couple had money to spare, but the mortgage has put a stop to that – and their social life.

“We always had that bit of extra cash. Now, we only buy what we need.

“Then again, it’s not dead money any more, I’m not paying someone else’s mortgage.”

Potter says he’s sickened to think about how much he and Clearwater, an electrician, have paid in rent.

Now they also have to cope with a $1400 rates bill, which had risen more than $100 in the eight months the couple have owned the house.

They’re on a fixed 9 per cent mortgage for 24 months and are hoping interest rates fall by the time it ends in the middle of next year – if they haven’t already decided to cut their losses and cross the ditch.#”We are in a better position than most because we pay a slightly higher interest rate anyway,” says Potter.

“I know some people who are really freaking out at the moment.”

Grant told the Herald on Sunday it was becoming harder to secure a 100 per cent loan.

GE Finance had again tightened its lending criteria in the past few weeks to offset the economic downturn and more homeowners were struggling to meet repayments.

“We are getting three times the volume of those types of enquiries.”

Many families facing mortgage misery are seeking free financial advice.

Darryl Evans from Mangere Budget and Family Support Services said 15 per cent of the organisation’s clients had mortgages – treble the figure three years ago.

Families on middle and higher incomes were increasingly needing help and some asked for free food parcels.

One client had a combined income of $140,000 but were grappling so hard with a huge mortgage, holiday home, leased car and two sets of private school fees that feeding the family had become an issue.

Mandy Paget, A mortgage broker for New Zealand Mortgage Assignments, said those hurting most were first-home buyers who had borrowed 90, 95 or 100 per cent.

With property prices slumping, the capital value increases families were relying on for security were neglible. “There is hardly any equity there. They are in no position to sell, and even if they do, they won’t make the money back.”

The reality was, once you included lenders fees and insurance, 100 per cent loans often ended up being 101 or 102 per cent.

She said rises in living costs were adding to financial hardship but assured sacrifices made now would pay off sooner rather than later.

“If they can get by for the next year or two, then they should be okay. They will need to restructure their life and really budget, but houses will come back in value. In five years time houses will be much more expensive than they are now.”

There was also a glimmer of hope from Hayden Atkins, New Zealand economist for Macquarie Capital Securities. He believes interest rates may drift slightly higher but are “close to their peaks” and should ease at the end of this year.

But there is little comfort for people saving to join the property ladder.

Negotiating A Real Esate Deal

Do you really need to learn special techniques for negotiating a real estate deal? Absolutely not. You can get by with offers that you know work for you, and just keep making them until one is accepted. On the other hand, if you know a few simple real estate negotiation techniques, you can get that yes more often, and at a better price and terms. Here are three of the many techniques you can use.

Negotiating Real Estate – Time Investment

The more time a seller spends with you, the more they will fell he has to make a the deal work. This gives you leverage. For example, suppose a seller has a nice home for sale for $450,000. In his mind, he may be thinking he won’t go below $435,000. In fact, if you walk into his office one day and drop an offer of $420,000 on his desk, he might just throw it straight into the garbage can.

On the other hand, what if he has spent several days showing you the property, and has spent hours talking to you about the property. It helps that he has time to get to know you and like you, but even if he doesn’t like you, he will now feel like he need to get a deal put together after investing so much time. At this point, if you make your offer of $420,000, he might not be thrilled, but he might at east give you a counter-offer. In the end, you might settle on a price of $425,000 – a price he previously considered too low to consider.

This doesn’t mean you should waste his time or abuse this technique. But if you seriously want the property, and need a lower price to make it work for you, take your time. Time investment is a negotiating technique that has been proven to work in everything from buying a washing machine to the most expensive real estate.

Negotiating Real Estate – Limited Authority

A tough negotiator often offends a seller. they can’t necessarily understand why you can’t accept this “reasonable” counter offer. they may think you are being difficult and unfair. How do you avoid this?

Give the seller an acceptable reason for your offer or for your rejection of his counter-offer. The most convenient reason? You lack authority to accept his terms or to offer more. In the case of a house, you can say something like, “I can’t do that – my wife said I could only go up to…” In the case of a rental or commercial real estate, you can say that you have to check with your partner, or that your partner already said you were limited to …

Why does this work? It make perfect sense if you think about it. Put yourself in the seller’s place. If you thought you are being perfectly reasonable, and the buyer was just saying no, you might feel some resentment. You might even want to look for other buyers. On the other hand, if he tells you that he thinks you are being fair, but he just can’t say yes without checking with his wife… Well, in that case, you might feel bad for him, and even want to make it easier for him to get his wife to agree.

Negotiating Real Estate – Step-By-Step Commitment

Get a seller to agree to everything else first, and you are more likely to get him to agree to a low price. To do this, start getting his verbal commitment to anything and everything along the way to a discussion of price. There are two reasons that this can work.

First, the process of saying yes many times just makes a seller more likely to say yes to whatever else you ask – including a lower price. You essentially are conditioning him. You are getting him in the habit of saying yes. He may not say yes to everything, but he will be more likely to move in your direction.

The second reason this works involves another technique for negotiating real estate deals. That is the technique of asking for many things in order to have something to “throw back into the pot” when it comes time to talk about the things you really want. With a step-by-step commitment to things like closing dates, what will stay with the property, and more, you have many things that the seller feels obligated to give you. You can use these then, as “bargaining chips.”

When the time comes to get what you really want – let’s say a low price or low interest rate on a note the seller will carry, you offer to “give up” these things you already won in the negotiating. For example, you might want low payments on an apartment building for the first two years, so you can fix things up before raising the rents. If the seller hesitates, you can say something like, “How about we close when you want to, and you keep the maintenance truck for your other properties?”

A few good techniques make a big difference when negotiating real estate d

Real Estate Market Trends

Once you look at these trends which run off the average house price you will be able to see how much the market has increased over the past 15 years. you will also see that over the last year it has gone down. This is interesting stuff.

The first Graph Below is the Local trend for prices of homes in Taranaki from 1992 till now.

The second Graph Below is the National Trend for prices of homes in New Zealand from 1992 till now.

The graphs are displayed in monthly bars. so each line is the seperate months data for that year and time. It shows the general trend quite simply as been going up but it also shows very well the trend of the past few months where house prices have started to fall quite significantly.

Recession, whats going to happen if it does happen?

This information come out today and is something that should be monitored by everyone in New Zealand. In terms for real estate its hard to judge what impact it could have. But any impact will be the same right accross the board.

Recession cannot be ruled out – Cullen

12:48PM Tuesday March 18, 2008

 

Your Views

Is economic recession likely in 2008?

Finance Minister Michael Cullen has warned a recession cannot be ruled out as the economy struggles against a weak housing market, drought and the international credit crunch.

The Bank of New Zealand warned at the weekend that the economy was being hit by a “perfect storm” that would probably blow it into recession.

Dr Cullen today acknowledged it faced some stiff short-term challenges and a technical recession – negative growth for two quarters – could not be ruled out.

“Given drought, given the international financial turmoil, given the credit squeeze, given the housing market coming off, it would be foolish to rule out the possibility that there could be two successive quarters of very small negative growth at some point in the next year or so.

“But we are not expecting to see the economy going through the floor,” he told reporters.

“I think people when they hear the word think of depression and something long, sustained and with large increases in unemployment.

“I don’t see the prospect of that.”

Asked if the Reserve Bank should be cutting the Official Cash Rate to cushion any blows, Dr Cullen said that was a matter for the bank’s governor.

But he said business tax cuts, which come into force next month, would have a limited cushioning effect and monetary policy was still the best tool in that regard.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said there had been no advice from Treasury that the country was heading into recession, but there was likely to be some “rub off” from the weak United States economy.

However that was counterbalanced by rapid growth in the developing economies of Asia, such as China and India, she said.

“The advice I’ve seen is that New Zealand has a wide basket of markets that it trades into, in fact China on its own could substantially hold up commodity prices, so we are as well positioned as any country to deal with the volatility.”

- NZPA

Taranaki market still healthy.

As advertised in todays Taranaki Daily News the latest quarter statistics from the national bank show our market here in Taranaki outshone the rest of New Zealand. The number of slaes New Plymouth rose by 29% up 0.6% nationally. And the average house price was up fractionally against a drop that was experienced nationwide. The average time for a house to sell in Taranaki was 45 days.

The other things that showed in these statistics were that building consents were up which backs onto strong economic activity. The officials are sudgesting tha the good gains and strong economic growth felt was a rsulult of the recently commissioned Tui gas field, the notice of Methanx reopening part of its processing plant and the anticipated increase in the Fontera payout.

These seem to be having a positive spin off on Taranaki’s property market with strong volume of sales. So its an interesting time out there for a buyer right now. But its definately not bad.

Our Market

Whats happening to our market?

This is a very big question that everyone in New Zealand is asking. Are house prices actually falling? Are the amount of houses being sold becoming less? These questions are things that we have been asking for quite a while and the answer is still up for mixed emotion. The true fact of reality is that the edge and the heat that the property market has been experiencing has cooled off and the market has slowed down considerably.
What does this mean for the those of you who are selling your house?

The answer is that it is probably going to take longer to sell. But its not all doom and gloom. From the point of view of someone who is working in the market every single day the buyers are still out there. They are just been more picky about what they choose to spend their money on. But if you want a buyer to spend their money on your property then you need to stand out from the rest. Currently as we speak New Plymouth has over 350 homes on the market and as a vendor your home is only 1 in that massive pool of stock.

What has caused this trend? Well its really a combination of a few factors in the market and in the economy. During the property boom around 2005 the prices of property was rising at an alarming rate. But as with everything there is only so much that it could go up within the current economic climate at the time. Towards the start of 2007 the prices of Real Estate hit saturation point and with this started the downward trend we are seeing today.

Part of the reason the property prices hit saturation point in 2007 is that the government started to raise interest rates. This was done in an attempt to make it a little harder to fund a new home lone as the interest repayment will be higher. This means also that when a buyer expresses interest in your property they will not be willing to pay as much as they would if interest rates were lower. This effect is causing interest rates to lower. Our interest rates are now almost 10% which is hitting the average New Zealander hard in the pocket and has helped to make it extreamly difficult for young people to buy there first home.

Well thats all doom and gloom, so how do i get my property to sell??

Well for a vendor you need your property to stand out. There is two general ways of doing it. The first thing that could be done is to have the property looking stunning. The things that buyers look out for are new appliances such as kitchenware and bathroom gear. Also if your property is freshly painted or recently re-roofed it will be better than one that isnt. The truth is that most buyers looking for a home for themselves just want to move in and spend as little as they can to get it to the standard they want. The other thing that will always work is to have the property priced right for the market. Now as scarey as this sounds property that isnt priced right will not sell. Its the hard truth that noone wants to hear. I may think my house is worth $300,000 but the market tells me its worth $275,000. But if i market my home at $300,000 noone will ever buy it because there will be one thats the same around the corner at $275,000 and that one will sell.

Be realistic and you will sell your home is your selling it. Listen to the advise from your agent, they are living and working daily in the industry and they know exactly what you need to do to sell your house, Thats if you actually want to sell it though. But dont be affraid of the market. Your at no loss if you are selling and then rebuying because you will be doing both transactions under the same conditions.

Don’t be alarmed by all the doom and gloom from the papers and media. New Plymouth is a great spot. We have a great economy here with great job prospects from the port and the oil industry and we have strong economic foundations with the dairy industry at our doorstep. All these things add weight to our economy and create consumer confidence. And on top of those things New Plymouth is a destination that people come to. We have the surf, we have the sea. We also have all those beautiful parks all through the city including Brooklands Park which has housed some high profile events.

All in all New Plymouth is a great place to live. Our market is falling victim to the New Zealand trend for real estate but we are holding our own compared to the country. And this is thanks to all the great things we have going for us here.