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The dos and dont's of visiting your parents at a retirement village *** Failed property deal: Buyer appeals over $730k deposit *** One in nine Kiwis brush off record prices and plan to buy a home in the next year, surveys find *** Watch NZH Focus: Subdivision or wildlife reserve? *** Saying 'I Do' to a Tiny Grain Silo Home *** An 1800s Sheep Wagon Turned Tiny Home *** Belgian developers plan Auckland apartments *** Sit back and admire the view *** Mind over matter *** Always an open invitation *** Record first half commercial sales *** Revealed: the city with a bigger property bubble than London *** What It Really Costs to Live 'Tiny' *** Struggling family find temporary home *** Property deal fails: Buyer to pay $730,000 deposit despite pulling out of sale *** Inns full as homeless fill up motels *** The new 5:2 lifestyle: country by week, city by weekend *** CBD office market enters next phase *** Mood of the Boardroom: Split over how to tackle the housing crisis *** Savills negotiates big Christchurch deal *** Wellington City office floor for sale *** Leonardo DiCaprio Lists Second Home in a Month *** Mood of the Boardroom: Bosses to Government - act on housing *** Mood of the Boardroom: Four-point plan to solve housing crisis *** Warner Bros. Mansion on the Market for $40M *** Here's the Wackiest Tiny Home You've Ever Seen *** Meet Dee Williams: She Lives in 84 Square Feet *** The Tricky Thing About Buying a Tiny Home *** From napkins to Nutribullets: the changing look of the modern wedding list *** Property Doctors: do I have to tell buyers about the dogs buried in the garden? *** RECENT DEALS for September 26 *** Rising rolls challenge Bay of Plenty schools *** Queen's Rise development set to open early 2017 *** The life of sex, scandal and tragedy lived by Winston Churchill's cousin, Clare Sheridan *** Meeting the people who are at the heart of Britain's greatest estates *** Safe as houses? Not in this fast, volatile market *** 5 Things You Need to Know About Real Estate Disclosures *** How to get your home into a film or TV show *** Revealed: The best new homes that have been built by you *** Clintons Buy the House Next Door in Chappaqua *** Could Vienna be the new Berlin, city of dreams for international investors?  *** 'What Do You Mean My Home Isn't Legal?' *** 5 Organizing Secrets Only the Pros Know *** Where are the youngest first-time buyers in the UK? *** Cambridge's property market falters as house prices in Scotland climb  *** Jackie O's Childhood Estate in the Hamptons Lists for $39M *** House of the Week: An Art House in New Orleans *** DIY: Refresh Your Bathroom With a New Sink and Vanity *** Peek Inside a Candy-Colored Mid-Century Modern Throwback *** Johnny Depp Lists 5-Unit Compound in the Sky *** Tips for Designing a Perfectly Timeless Coastal Home *** Prices of London's most expensive homes won't rise until 2019 *** Bargain house on sale for £20,000 – but there’s a catch *** 10 Tips for Renting with a Roommate *** Should My Lender Try to "Cross-Sell" Me Other Banking Products? *** Could Bridget Jones still afford that flat above Borough Market today? *** Leonardo DiCaprio Asks $10.95M for Malibu Beach House *** House prices in Port Talbot soar despite uncertainty over steel works *** 4 Things to Know About Buying a 'For Sale by Owner' Home *** For sale: Harry Potter's home in Privet Drive (complete with cupboard under the stairs) *** Property Doctors: can my council tax band retroactively change? *** First-time buyers hit with steep price rises after stamp duty surge *** Generation Rent's new home: yoga classes, a dog cleaning station and communal living *** Cornwall crackers: amazing properties in Poldark country *** Live like the literati: homes owned by famous writers *** Unearthing the secret revolutionary history of Britain's first garden suburb *** Lakeside living: the new style of holiday home in the Cotswolds *** Revealed: the most sought-after waterside views in the country *** New Buyer Bound to 'Fifty Shades' Penthouse *** My Journey From Green Beret to Real Estate Agent *** The six top interiors trends from London Design Festival *** How a new train station could expand Cambridge's 'red-hot' property market *** Home Shopping? Walk Away If You Spot This in the Kitchen *** The 19 coolest buildings you can discover during this weekend's Open House event *** House of the Week: A Glimmering Castle in Vermont *** Live Like Jackie and JFK at Their Former Country Estate *** 10 Homes for Sale in the Most Kid-Friendly Cities *** Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent List Remodeled Vintage LA Home *** Corpus Christi Named the Best City to be a Kid *** Wine Storage for Every Budget *** Tina and Ike Turner's Former Home on the Market *** A Trellis or a Pergola? Get to Know Garden Structures *** How does London compare to the most expensive cities in the world? *** The Cost of Off-Campus Rent at Top Colleges *** Renters: Are You Ready to Buy a Home? *** Housing market cools in first post-Brexit official figures, but prices are still soaring *** Meet the man hunting for Britain's ghost signs *** Do You Own the Air Above Your Home? *** The 15 best places to raise a family in the UK *** Find it, Fix it, Flog it: creating a new a new life for odds and ends *** How Soho Farmhouse has transformed its nook of the Cotswolds *** The English valleys where hot property commands high premiums *** Property Doctors: mock-Tudor windows, vinyl flooring and negligent tenants *** Where to buy to avoid the second homes backlash *** Michael Phelps Trades Baltimore Townhouse for Scottsdale Mansion *** Helping Pets Cope With Back-to-School Blues *** Roommate Relations: Making Smart Use of Shared Spaces *** Radical Essex: discover a side of the county you never knew *** Queens, New York: where you can live in the childhood home of Donald Trump *** Could you live here? 22 terrible estate agent photographs *** Before & After: A Kitchen Goes From Drab to Fab *** House of the Week: A Wavy Home in Venice *** Emily Blunt and John Krasinski List Third Home in a Year *** Preserving Personal Mementos and Children's Artwork *** Confidence returns to the UK's jittery post-Brexit housing market *** Remodeling a Traditional Cape Cod-Style Home *** Creating a Homework Station That Gets Top Marks *** The best modern range cookers *** UK house prices slip as market feels a chill *** 3 Situations Where It Pays to Buy a Fixer-Upper *** 5 Steps to a More Organized Home for Back to School *** Get green: how to bring the outdoors indoors *** Countdown to Moving: 3 Steps to Get Prepared *** 5 Stops on Your Home-Buying Journey *** Where to live for the best schools in the country *** Property Doctors: how do I deal, once and for all, with the condensation in my loft?  *** The new seaside chic sweeping the English coast *** Secrets of a real haunted house: Crimplesham Hall *** From £350 to £1 million: the homes that haven't been sold since the Fifties *** House of the Week: A Three-Pavilion Home Connected by a Pool *** Meet the Freebird Club: a new type of Airbnb for the 50-plus adventurer *** For rent: a rare house on Park Lane for only £5,000 a week - complete with glass floors *** Airbnb accused of 'pushing rents up' as landlords swap long-term leases for short-term deals *** The state of the UK housing market in five charts *** Which buildings survived the Great Fire of London? *** House price growth defies post-Brexit gloomy forecasts - but will it last? *** From David Bowie's album to refugees' tents: the best designs of the year *** On your bike: why we all want to buy a home near a cycling route *** Forget the English seaside: buy on the French coast for half the price *** Romanoff Lodge: the Gothic 'gingerbread' house from 1852 *** Property Doctors: can wooden floors and neighbours co-exist? *** London's house prices are crushing the hopes of a generation *** How to bring your holiday back home into your interior design *** North beats South as UK house price growth divide narrows *** Damac's new tower in Nine Elms to be built in £200m deal with Lendlease *** Buying a new home: why you have to see it to believe it  *** Property Doctors: my new flat is smaller than the dimensions on the plan *** How a home made in seven days could help solve the housing crisis *** Spice up your home with tailor-made scents *** The new skyscrapers taking luxury living to new heights with karaoke rooms and wine vaults *** Mapped: Where house prices have zoomed up along the Night Tube route *** Revealed: the happiest place in the UK *** House prices rose in run-up to EU referendum despite uncertainty *** Skinny living: houses that are less than 10 feet wide *** Property Doctors: becoming a landlord, lining the gutters and dressing your home to sell *** Mapped: Which top state schools are in bargain property areas?  *** Summer slowdown hits house prices, but number of rental properties booms *** For rent: a home with a shark through the roof *** Verandas: a taste of the Deep South in rural England *** Grandparents to the rescue: relocating to be near the family *** The €50 million spruce up schemes hitting the Med’s sports resorts *** How to brighten up your home with a splash of neon light *** Amazing Grade I listed homes that don't need to break the bank *** Number of homes on the market at record low as Brexit uncertainty hits house prices *** Which university city is the best bet for graduates investing in property? *** Grainger: the property company making the most of Generation Rent  *** Property doctors: chimney ventilation, renting to pet-owners and when to buy your first home *** Exploring Paraty, Brazil’s new property gold mine *** Eyes up: the people restoring amazing ornate ceilings *** House price growth cools as summer slowdown hits *** Inside Jungle House, the modern wonder hidden in Brazil's rainforest  *** What Brexit property lull? Renting London's luxury homes on the up *** Island living is tough - the pleasure is in the small things *** The Olympic legacy: which housing areas have won gold? *** Property doctors: mossy roofs, noisy neighbours and the non-negotiables when buying a home *** Property doctors: Cesca chairs, white goods and buying in Putney  *** Property doctors: damp, interiors help, and furnished or unfurnished? *** Revealed: The best places to raise a family, be an entrepreneur or retire, if you're a global butterfly *** Regional auction watch: Strong demand for family home *** Hot and cold in regional auction *** Rotorua property auction delivers varying results *** English Wine Week: how to start your own vineyard *** The best fridge freezers *** Chinese buyers holding back on 'high-end' property *** Open letter from John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith *** A Labour win for landlords to celebrate *** Very little crystal clear with Govt's state housing plans *** Landlords switch on to need for warm, dry properties *** Buyers getting creative: Harcourts *** LVR move likely to hit provinces hardest: QV *** Regional first-home buyers acting fast: REINZ ***

THE PERFECT PLACE FOR HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS

There are all sorts of helpful resources all over the internet that can make home buying and selling much easier. But that's the problem. They're all over the internet. 

We've pulled together all of those resources and put them in one, easily accessible place. 

But Hometopia isn't just a portal full of links. 

We've added original content from our best-selling books, The Streetwise Home Buyer and Where to Live in Auckland to help you buy and sell better and provided expert commentary on suburbs and neighbourhoods from both a buyer's and a seller's perspective - all downloadable for free! 

Have a rummage around the site, you'll find all sorts of information for first time buyers, old-hands, investors and sellers about houses for sale and neighbourhood information. You can search for your ideal suburbs by lifestyle preference, compare real estate agency fees at a glance, get the low-down on who lives where, check how your suburb is doing in the price appreciation stakes and a whole lot more.

We hope you'll find Hometopia practically valuable, whether you're a home buyer, a seller or both. 

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DON'T GET RIPPED OFF - BECOME A STREETWISE HOME BUYER

If you're a first time buyer, check out our Streetwise Home Buyer articles, providing a step-by-step guide to successful home buying. Everything is covered, from buying an apartment to building your own home; from where to buy to what to buy; from making an offer to making a killing.

Need a CV or a LIM report? Use our Council Links to go straight to the relevant web pages without getting lost in the labyrinth of local government websites.

Ever wondered what your rent could buy you, or how much that mortgage will eventually cost you? Have a play with these Buyers' Calculators and find out.     

WHICH SUBURBS BEST SUIT YOUR LIFESTYLE?

Try our unique Suburb Sleuth lifestyle locator to discover which suburbs and neighbourhoods will suit you best.

Search by region, environment, style of homes, neighbours, quality of schools, commute time, budget and even hip factor to find the places that are right for you; then read about their pros and cons from the experts and view houses for sale in real time. 

WHAT WILL IT COST TO SELL YOUR HOME?

Get an immediate feel for the value of your home and see how your neighbourhood is performing in the price appreciation stakes.

Discover which agents are specialists in your area and find how they compare price-wise at a glance.

Or maybe you want to sell privately, let us show you your options and put you in touch with the resources you will need.

NEED A LENDER, MORTGAGE BROKER, BUILDING INSPECTOR,
LAWYER OR VALUER?

Due diligence is an important part of the buying and selling process, but who can help you in your area? We've got the relevant professionals listed so you can check them out for yourself before calling them, as well as mortgage brokers, valuers and new home builders.

Need a home loan? Check out the latest home loans and interest rates and what each of the banks are offering.