REAL WEEKLY, the publication carrying photographs and details of all REAL listings around the country, this week has
over 500 properties listed from the Rodney District in the north to Christchurch and Timaru in the south.
Real Ltd's National REAL Estate Manager, Ian Grindle, says that while listings by the end of the week topped the 600
mark, the additions had arrived too late for publication in REAL WEEKLY, which appears every Friday.
Listings are across the spectrum from moderately priced homes and sections, and include an eight, two bedroom rental
unit investment in Milford listed at $1.2 million. The feature of this week's growing rural listings is a harbour-front
home in Te Puna, which is priced at just over $1 million.
Tauranga's REAL Branch Manager, Dickie Burman, who listed the Te Puna property - one of the 78 listings in the area -
says there is tremendous support for REAL from both lawyers and the public of Tauranga.
"We're discovering that homeowners in particular like the way the REAL system works," he says. "They obviously favour
the substantial savings from the lower commissions and legal fees, and they prefer our banded valuations because they
are calculated by independent valuers.
"The feedback I'm getting is that they feel that our system gives them more control over the selling process and,
importantly, takes the pressure off them having to accept an agent's arbitrary valuation."
Donna Hargreaves, REAL Ltd's Branch Manager in Pukekohe, says she is finding that vendors enjoy working through REAL
lawyers. "They tell me it makes them feel more secure and consequently takes much of the stress out of the negotiation,"
she says.
Ian Grindle adds that along with the growing listings, increasingly there are more REAL sales being recorded each week,
with a number being unconditional.
"We're becoming more successful every day because as the public comes into contact with the REAL system the more they're
buying into it," he explains.
ends