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Matthew Gilligan

Our Opinion: The New REINZ Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Property

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You may have read in the National Business Review or elsewhere that the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand is proposing to launch a new agreement for buying and selling property in New Zealand. 

buying and selling of properties

We understand that the agreement will be made available to real estate agents in New Zealand for use over the forthcoming months.

For over twenty years, the buying or selling of property in New Zealand has been recorded using a standard agreement produced jointly by Auckland District Law Society and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. The agreement is now in its 8th edition having been improved over the intervening years to take account of changes in the way in which property is bought and sold in New Zealand and to take account of changes in the law over that time. 

The ADLS/REINZ 8th edition Agreement is tried and tested. It has been the subject of many court cases in which its provisions have been scrutinised and upheld. It has been taught in our law schools and been the subject of much academic commentary. 

The ADLS/REINZ 8th edition Agreement has a proven track record, its provisions are easily understood and it helpfully regulates the way in which practitioners deal with each other and third parties through the course of a sale or purchase of land. It is a “no surprises” agreement.

On the other hand the new REINZ agreement introduces new concepts, rules of interpretation and time frames which may be unexpected, particularly if you have previously bought and sold property using the ADLS/REINZ 8th edition Agreement.

So, if you are planning to either buy or sell property in the near future, please contact us for advice prior to signing any agreement.

In most situations, we will advise the continued use of the ADLS/REINZ 8th edition Agreement until such time as the provisions of the REINZ agreement become well known, judicially interpreted and well settled. This may take a considerable period of time. 

Don't be persuaded to use the plain English format of the new agreement. Plain English wording can be just as problematic as complex legal wording, particularly where the agreement has not had the benefit of many years of use.

Remember that all agents have access to both forms of agreement so this should not present any difficulty or delay in the buying and selling process.

Please contact our team if you have any further queries about this letter or you require any further detailed information.

Thank you,

Matthew Gilligan
signed
Matthew Gilligan
Director
© Gilligan Rowe & Associates LP

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Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide only a summary of the issues associated with the topics covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive nor to provide specific advice. No person should act in reliance on any statement contained within this article without first obtaining specific professional advice. If you require any further information or advice on any matter covered within this article, please contact the author.
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Hi Salesh, I just wanted to send you an email on behalf of GRA to say how fantastic we have found your company to date. As you know, Ben and I joined GRA a couple of months ago and have just found you so amazingly helpful in getting our new property set up correctly and sorted out. We have what I would consider a rather complicated structure as a result and it’s a fantastic feeling to know that we are getting everything done in the best way possible. We have just had approval to put a minor dwelling on the property which will make a massive difference in terms of cash flow and obviously value, something we would never have even thought of without GRA and which we are very excited about. During the buying process we attended a seminar with Matthew and from the outset thought he was fab. We therein signed up for property school and found this nothing short of fantastic. The content was relevant, up to date and comprehensive, but more importantly it was taught in a way that we could actually understand and really get value out of. I wanted to mention also, that everybody GRA have recommended to us has been just so efficient and absolute masters at what they do. A wonderful network of people that we feel very lucky to now be able to call on. From Kris Pederson and Bryan Rist who put our mortgage together to the insurance guys they then referred us to, I’m super impressed. Within GRA, Ellery has probably turned things around for us faster than I’ve ever known before, something which we appreciated so very much when it came to crunch time. She’s always a pleasure to deal with and again, we’re stoked. We’ve just settled on the property today and are about to go and get the keys. I’m pretty pumped and hence this email is probably rather excitable. So, a massive thank you to you Salesh, the partners for such a fabulous 6 weeks at property school and everyone at GRA for their help. May this be the start of our property empire. Thanks again, - A & B - July 2015

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