Buyer demand, a defective title and an outstanding result.

Properties suited to first home buyers and investors seem to be moving quickly, especially while interest rates are good and property values seem to be holding. There are more buyers than property on the market which means busy open homes and plenty of phone calls and some solid offers. Take our listing at 25B Redmond St, Judea for example (pictured below).

With New Zealand in lockdown and most people confined to their homes, you might think now is not the time to be talking about the shrinking Kiwi section.

I would argue the opposite.

Yes, we might be longing for the wide blue yonder and a return to all our favourite sports and activities, but there are a couple of lessons to be learnt from staying put:

1. We are lucky in Tauranga to have an amazing array of walkways within our immediate neighbourhoods.
2. A well designed home that makes the most of the available space is... everything.

As the summer holidays draw to an end, and with them a return to the daily grind, you might find yourself dreaming of a different lifestyle... one beyond the confines of suburbia.

All that beach bathing, lakeside lounging and riverside relaxing is bound to fill your head with notions of freedom and wide open spaces.

But you're not ready to go off-grid, nor are you wanting to go Red Band boots 'n' all rural. Could a 'lifestyle property' be the answer?

Back in 'the day', if you wanted to create an outdoor living space, you invited your mates around to help you whack up a deck in an afternoon, followed by a celebratory crate of beer.

And when it got too hot, you put up the trusty beach umbrella. You know the kind - floral, fringed and secured by one of those concrete umbrella stands. Which you invariably stubbed your toe on.

Outdoor living spaces have moved on a lot since then. Increasingly sophisticated, they are now seen as an extension of the home.

Would you buy a house with a complete stranger?

A new property 'speed dating' concept is pairing people up to do just that.

Let me tell you a tale of two brothers.

One bought his first house 10 years ago, and is now settled down with a family. The other went travelling, recently returned to New Zealand, and is now looking to buy his first home.

Over the past few years we've seen a lot of new kids on the real estate block. A booming market has attracted a lot of new players. Which is great – choice is always a good thing right?

When you make an offer on a property it will either be conditional or unconditional. But what’s the difference and is an unconditional offer worth all the effort? Read on for a plain-english explanation.