First Homebuyers? YIP!

Hey Everyone! Hope you and your families are staying warm and dry. When interest rates peaks, typically prices will bottom out as well, making it an optimum time to consider buying a home. Purchasing your first home can be an exciting but overwhelming experience, here are several things you need to know to make the process smooth and stress-free:

1. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage can give you a clear understanding of your borrowing power and the price range of homes you can afford. It’s a good idea to get pre-approved before you start looking for a home, so you don’t waste time and energy on properties that are outside of your price range.

2. Research the Suburb

Look for areas that match your lifestyle and needs. Consider factors such as proximity to schools, shops, public transportation, and other amenities that are important to you. If these natural events keep happening, it may be worth considering where the house is and what risk profile it may have to natural disasters.

3. Pick an agent per company!

With so many houses on the market it can be hard to filter through everything, pick and agent and let them know your situation. A good agent will proactively match properties for you, but they may also suggest properties you may not have considered.

4. Consider Resale Value

Yes prices have falling significantly, but as markets recover it’s important to consider which areas are likely to grow more in the future. Even if you plan to live in the home for a long time, you can still pick good areas to grow your equity (which you can use to buy an investment later).

5. Make an offer!

Don’t wait for the perfect house, it may never come. If you like something enough, just make an offer where you see value and see how it goes. Avoid the regret! With landlords struggling to make their investment profitable in current market conditions, more and more tenants will be displaced. It may be time to give you and your family some certainty and look at getting your own place to call home! If you would like to discuss anything Real Estate, get in touch – love to hear from you!

By Frank Neill

Free live music concerts at the Johnsonville Library’s Waitohi Hub return for 2023 on 22 February.

Called “Waitohi Sessions”, these 30-minute concerts are available to anyone who happens to be in the Johnsonville Library at the time. They start at 3:30pm.

The first Waitohi Session on 22 February will feature Patrick performing guitar and flute looping.

The second, on 29 March, features Sue performing a classical “mash-up”.

The third, on 26 April will see Stephen in a concert called “Aotearoa Magic”, which will explore New Zealand’s finest composers.

What’s the mental image that springs to mind when you think of a librarian? Quiet, studious, conservative?

This is being turned on its head with Waitohi Sessions, a monthly musical offering where local librarians put down the books and pick up their musical instruments to play from the Johnsonville library terraces while you browse.

“We started these sessions in May 2022 for New Zealand Music Month, and they proved really popular so we decided to continue them on a monthly basis,” says Sue Jane, Community Librarian at Johnsonville Library who, with other like-minded staff, oversees the sessions.

“We have an amazing and fully equipped recording studio as part of our T hura HIVE Makerspace which is part of the Johnsonville Library, so much of the equipment we use comes from this space.

“And more importantly, we have some talented staff who are keen to add this performance component to their library life.”

Last year’s sessions included an eclectic mix of classical piano, Spanish guitar, a full band set up, synth deluge, oboe, flute and some bass looping.

“And this year, we’ve already booked keen staff from other Wellington City Library branches as well,” Sue says.

“Expect to hear flute, cello, violin, double bass, guitar. We’ve been blown away by the talented staff out there.”

Written by William YIP Your friend in Real Estate 021 106 9997 William.YIP@CollectiveFN.co.nz

NEVER PAINT YOUR WINDOWS AGAIN!

World Day of Prayer

By Frank Neill

Johnsonville Uniting Church is hosting the Ecumenical World Day of Prayer on Friday 3 March at 10 am. This year’s service has been prepared by the World Day of Prayer committee of Taiwan.

Because of that the church would especially like to invite anyone living in the area from Taiwan to join them. Observed on the first Friday in March each year, the World Day of Prayer is a worldwide ecumenical movement of informed prayer involving people of many denominations in more than 170 countries.

The theme this year is “I have heard about your faith”.

It is based on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and is an invitation to active listening, which is the ground of our prayers.

In his letter Paul praises the church members for their faith in Jesus and love toward all the saints.

This year’s worship service contextualizes the witness of the saints with the stories from Taiwan.It shares the letters of encouragement sent to women who faced suffering and injustice.

The letters point to the urgency to protect the environment and have a nuclear-free homeland; to be aware of the gender stereotypes women face when defying the traditional role in the workplace or in the family, and to care for the healing of the victims of verbal and sexual abuses.

They also bring to lightthe hidden struggle of the essential workers during the pandemic who had to balance work and family in a vulnerable economic situation.

The sisters from Taiwan thank God for the natural resources of the island and pray for wisdom in face of the political isolation of Taiwan in the international community. They also ask for peoples’ prayers.