Notes on building homes that last.
Writing on New Zealand property, development and buying well, from the people who design and deliver Heartland projects. Everything here comes from doing the work, not from rewriting someone else’s market commentary.
Why a two-level home often beats a three-storey townhouse
Three storeys became the default shape of the Auckland townhouse because of how the numbers work on a section, not because it lives well. A developer's honest look at the trade, and who two levels actually suits.
Read →Living in Epsom: a local read on Auckland's most settled suburb
What Epsom is actually like to live in: the corners, the two maunga, the schools, and the kind of person the suburb rewards. Written by a developer who has spent years building here, not a brochure.
Read →The Double Grammar Zone: what it covers, and how to actually check an address
The DGZ is the overlap of the Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls' Grammar enrolment zones, and it does more work in an Auckland property search than any number of bedrooms. Here's what it covers and the address check most buyers get wrong.
Read →Buying off the plans: what to check before you sign
Deposits, sunset clauses, the valuation gap and what a render doesn't tell you. The checks that matter, written from the developer's side of the table.
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