BUYING AND SELLING GUIDE.
Whether you're buying your next home or getting ready to sell, knowing how the process actually works in Wellington takes a lot of the stress out of it. Here's a plain-English walkthrough of both sides, written the way I'd explain it over a coffee.
BUYING A HOME IN WELLINGTON.
Sort your finances first. Talk to your bank or a mortgage broker and get pre-approval before you start seriously looking — it tells you what you can actually spend and makes your offer far more credible to a vendor. Worth knowing: the Reserve Bank lifted the Official Cash Rate to 2.50% in mid-2026, its first increase in three years, so fixed mortgage rates currently sit roughly between 3.5% and 6% depending on the term and lender.
Lock in advice from your broker early, as rates can move between pre-approval and settlement. Understand how the property is being sold. Wellington agents generally use one of three methods:
• Auction — competitive, unconditional, and fast. Best suited to buyers who've already done their due diligence and have finance sorted.
• Tender or deadline sale — you submit your best written offer, often with conditions, by a set date. More private than an auction and gives you room to negotiate terms.
• Negotiation (price by negotiation) — a more traditional back-and-forth process, which suits buyers who need finance or building report conditions.
Do your due diligence. Before you make an unconditional offer, get a LIM (Land Information Memorandum) report from the council, a builder's report, and a title search, and have your lawyer review the sale and purchase agreement. If the property has a body corporate or unit title, ask for the body corporate minutes and financials too.
Make your offer. You'll typically put down a 10% deposit and can include conditions such as finance, LIM, or building report approval, each with its own timeframe. Once those conditions are satisfied, the agreement becomes unconditional and the sale is locked in.
Settlement day. This is when the balance of funds changes hands, the title transfers into your name, and you collect the keys. Your lawyer handles the legal side; I'll make sure the practical handover goes smoothly.
SELLING A HOME IN WELLINGTON.
Prepare your home properly. Presentation genuinely matters — a tidy, well-staged home photographs better and sells faster.
Even small jobs (a fresh coat of paint, tidy gardens, decluttering) can lift buyer interest noticeably.
Choose the right method of sale for current conditions. With buyer inventory sitting around 17 weeks of stock across the region and the median time to sell now 44–46 days (well above the ten-year average of about 35), auctions aren't always the best fit right now. In a market like this, I often recommend deadline sale or negotiation, which give buyers — many of whom need finance conditions — the room to engage properly.
Price realistically from day one. Overpricing in a buyers' market almost always costs sellers more in the long run through extended time on market and price reductions. We'll set your asking expectations using recent comparable sales in your specific suburb, not just the regional headline figure.
Manage the marketing and negotiation. I'll handle inquiries, open homes, and offer negotiation, keeping you informed at every step and making sure any conditions in an offer are realistic and achievable. Settlement and moving out.
Once unconditional, we work backwards from your settlement date to coordinate moving day, final inspections, and handover of keys.
Got a question about your own situation? I'm always happy to talk it through — no obligation, just straight answers.