A lot has changed in the property market over the last year and I have been really impressed with the way you both have adapted to this change.  

For us this resulted in the sale being completed, at a good price, in a market where we are increasingly seeing properties being withdrawn.  

You managed to find that one buyer, who perceived greater value than others, and structured a deal that worked!

From our first meeting you impressed us with your honesty, integrity and most importantly open communication. At every step of the process, you let us know what the buyers were saying and exactly what our expectations should be come auction day. The figures we discussed never wavered throughout out the campaign and the final result exceeded them.
The auction process is never an easy one, but you laid out exactly how it would go and the scenarios that could occur on the day. This gave us peace of mind and confidence going into an otherwise stressful situation. It all happened to the letter and I’m sure both parties walked away happy with the result.
We would like to commend and thank both of you on achieving not only a superb result for our home, but for making the experience easy, transparent and (dare I say it) enjoyable.
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend both of you to any prospective clients; buying, selling, or just to have a beer. Thanks once more, we look forward to working with you again soon.

Nic and John, thank you so much for helping us achieve a fantastic result on the sale of our property.

From our very first meeting Nic had a genuine energy and enthusiasm for our property, and a clear understanding of where it sat in the market so we always knew if we did sell it would be with Custom. Over a period of 6 months Nic kept us up to date with the market and local sales, so that when we finally decided to list the property we knew exactly what to expect.

Being from Hamilton, it was great to be able to use your local contacts in preparing the property for sale. Your advice in what things needed attention to maximise value was much appreciated.

The marketing campaign was spot on, and we felt we were in capable hands through the whole process.

The result on Auction day was just icing on the cake to a great vendor experience, you guys have a great business model and team, we couldn’t be any happier.

Kind Regards

Jeremy & Sara Baker

From the moment we contacted them about selling, right through to confirmation of settlement, John, Nic and the team were professional, helpful and extremely responsive. Selling our Ponsonby property from Amsterdam, we needed to know we could trust our agents. Not just to manage the process, but to do so in our best interests. John and Nic impressed us every step of the way - they recommended and facilitated improvements, got the property on the market quickly, and ultimately fetched us a great price.

Nic and John worked with us for 10 months before we were ready to sell, and we trusted them right from the get-go. Nic and John are honest, hard working, straight-talking and all-around good people. From the prep, to the photos, right up to the auction itself, Nic and John were on our wave length. They always had time for us, long before our house was on the market. The result we achieved on auction night was well beyond our expectations. You guys set the standard for the future of house selling.

We recently sold our house after a wonderfully brief two week/three weekend campaign. Nic and John were so easy to deal with during the
process. I appreciated their straight up but unpushy style, particularly when we were choosing the agency we wanted to represent us. They demonstrated a very real understanding of the local market which was of great benefit. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

We recently used John and Nic to sell our home in Ponsonby. They’re well known as one of the best duos in the area and they lived up to that reputation. Appointing them was easy due to their track record, fresh marketing, and great blend of professionalism and personable style. This continued throughout the process where they were also hardworking and generally great to deal with. The awesome sale result they achieved for us is testament to their ability. We’d recommend them to anyone.

Kris and Sarah

'Thank you for the amazing job you did for us. As you can probably imagine we discussed value a number of times and we were very surprised at times with your resilience on sticking to your assessment of were the value sat. Right from the initial proposal, setting the Auction reserve and the post auction negotiations you stuck to your guns and ultimately held out for us. We have been through this a few times and have been talked down or up on value by various agents over the years depending on where we are at in the sales process but your integrity from the beginning has been impressive and is rare amongst your peers.

Thank you once again for all the hard work you put in for us, we really do appreciate it.’ 

It was a pleasure selling with the Custom Residential team. As busy professionals, we didn't have a lot of time up our sleeves but John and Nic took the reins and kept us in the loop the whole way. The end result? Timely, straightforward, and most importantly, a record price for an apartment in our building. Thanks guys!

I purchased my first home in The Avenues from John ten years ago. He was an excellent agent to deal with and made the process very easy.  I felt at ease with him and that he was actually trying to help me succeed in buying. He created a relationship of trust and honesty. Since then I've touched base with John for advise several times and he's always been happy to take the time to give me his best opinions. 

 John and Nic have recently sold our house in The Avenues. I chose them because I could trust they would do the absolute best they could and that everyone in the process would be treated fairly and with respect. I'm really happy with the result that was achieved. The level reached was above my expectations.

John and Nic were excellent in providing advice on preparation of the home and responding to buyer queries. The marketing campaign recommended was appropriate but not excessive. They kept us very well informed of all details as we went through the marketing campaign. During the campaign there were several tricky situations for them to navigate, they did an excellent job doing this.  They managed the sale process exceptionally well and made it a very easy experience. Looking back I'm very pleased to have chosen them to sell the house, I would do so again and would recommend them to others.

We would highly recommend John & his team at Custom Residential to anybody looking to sell a property in the area.  

John stood out from other agents we interviewed for his enthusiasm, efficiency, drive & commerciality. John & Nic ran a great campaign, which culminated in a fantastic result on auction night. We really enjoyed all of our dealings with the team at Custom, we were kept informed as necessary throughout, & John was always happy to answer any questions or concerns that we had, providing valuable guidance & insight based on his market experience. Most importantly, he was refreshingly genuine & straight up to deal with, which we very much appreciated.    

As a result, this was undoubtedly the easiest and least stressful sales process we have undertaken & we would certainly look to use the services of John & Custom Residential again for any future property sales.

I asked John and Nic for help with selling my Kingsland apartment. ‘Help’ was delivered in spades! Their energy, enthusiasm and sheer hard work culminated in a truly outstanding result at auction. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

A big thank you to Nic and John (and the behind the scenes team at Custom Residential)! We would not hesitate to recommend these guys to anyone thinking of selling anywhere! 

Nic and John made sure that the entire process of selling our property in Pukekohe was enjoyable and stress free for us.  They both provided us at all times with excellent advice and

support delivered in a clear, straightforward, honest and friendly manner. They engaged perfectly with potential purchasers and we were very proud to have them as our agents. 

Stepping into an area beyond their normal “patch” did not phase either of them at all. We value their professionalism, delivered with charm and integrity and will most certainly be

working with them again. Thanks again!  Jim & Jan Frazer  

The team at Custom Residential exceeded our expectations throughout the marketing and selling of our first home.

We chose John & Nic because we felt they had a genuine empathy for our home and our family, as well as a dedicated desire to achieve the absolute best result.  

They were always friendly, calm under pressure, honest, transparent, professional and extremely knowledgable about the local market. 

As first time vendors, we leant on this level of expertise to steer us towards a fantastic end result. It's been a pleasure working with them.

Thank you Nic and John!

John and Nic are genuine, approachable real estate agents who we enjoyed working with to sell our home.

Our campaign was well run, with John and Nic keeping us well informed every step of the way. We appreciated their unwavering enthusiasm for our property and know that their enthusiasm would be visible to potential buyers too. 

When we requested some last minute tweaks to our marketing campaign, Nic worked tirelessly to make sure everything was perfect for our property launch.  John and Nic are very customer focused and were not only interested in helping us to sell our home, but to find our next home too. They considered our requirements and would alert us to any potential matches, and checked in regularly to see how we were going with our house hunt, and how we had gone at any auctions we were planning to attend. Another example of this customer focus and proactivity is Nic attending an auction of a property similar to ours to gather more market insights and feed these back to us. I don't think an agent with a high number of listings could afford the time to do this, and it was much appreciated.

We also appreciated the air time our property got on Facebook, especially at launch and prior to our open homes. We weren't buried amongst 10 other properties, so our house got its chance to shine.

We felt well prepared on auction day and were pleased with the outcome. Thanks and great job John and Nic.

John and Nic are great to deal with, having both bought a new house via Custom and then selling ours in quick time.  Their approach is personable but at the same time professional and knowledgeable and they kept us well informed on everything.  A pleasure to deal with and people we happily recommend.

Thank you John and Nic for doing such a great job of marketing our house in Bayfield Road Herne Bay. You kept us really well informed at every stage and there were no surprises. You were always calm and professional and we were delighted when the house sold under the hammer for a good price after a sizzling three week campaign. You have a fantastic knowledge of the area and we are recommending you to our friends.

We chose Custom because of their brand presence & sales in our area, and we'd dealt with Nic & John whilst looking to buy recently. Custom's commission rate is competitive and they seemed easier to approach than the bigger companies - a more personal service. This continued throughout the campaign, the copywriting was thought through and felt unique to the property, not 'cut & pasted'. They have a really good photographer and we were really pleased with how it was presented/communicated across the various marketing platforms.
Nic & John communicated with us throughout the process, were thorough, gave comprehensive feedback and were always available if we had questions. We are very pleased with both campaign & result.

We were recommended to contact John and Nic by a good friend who had sold their property successfully with Custom. Right from the beginning John and Nic were fantastic to deal with and professional to a tee. The communication was just superb. Along the way they were always available to answer our questions and that went for the whole Custom team.

John and Nic just seemed to have a great balance of experience of the market mixed with being able to identify with what we needed. We were fortunate to experience a quick sale with our optimistic sale price being met in a short space of time. Our own experience met and exceeded our expectations seeing the sale through on time. It is almost too quick as the excitement of selling is already over!

We would thoroughly recommend John and Nic to anyone selling their property.

John and Nic are gold! In a time where trust in real estate agents is at an all time low, these two are an absolute breath of fresh air. Lots of fun to work through the process with, they made us feel like ours was the only house they were selling. John and Nic really went the extra mile for our family. We'll definitely be recommending them to anyone we know who wants to sell. Thanks guys! We're stoked!

Working with John and Nic was incredibly enjoyable.  Not only are they experienced, confident, thoughtful and insightful, but - most importantly - they are really nice people to share the journey of a house sale with.  There wasn't ever a time we felt stressed or put out - the process was smooth and seamless.  Of course, the fact that we had a great outcome made the whole thing so much easier, but I always knew we were in safe hands and that was confirmed on the sale day!  Putting up that sold sign was definitely a life highlight. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending them and I will when asked.

Dealing with Nic was fabulous. She established an easy, open relationship with us very quickly and we felt totally comfortable with her campaign plan.

Nic was extremely professional throughout the process and went to every effort to ensure we got he best out of our property - even offering to help out with the weeding!!

I was excited when asked to write a reference letter for Nic Blackie for several reasons. I wanted the world to know how Nic turned a seemingly stressful situation into an easy process. I was six months pregnant when we put our house in the market with Custom Residential, as we needed more space for our ever-expanding family.

Nic had such a high level of commitment, was respectful and showed initiative with great attention to detail.

We couldn’t believe the turn out at the auction, incredible. I can’t recommend her highly enough. Nic made it all so easy.

I write to thank you and your team at Custom Residential for your efforts and expertise in relation to the sale of 9 Dryden Street, which is owned by an Estate where I am the executor.

I have been in legal practice in Auckland as a property lawyer for 40 years. It is against this background of many years of experience that I express my gratitude on behalf of the charity which is the major beneficiary of the Estate.

I have been extremely impressed by your organisation and my client has benefited from your hard work.

I have been particularly impressed by your property consultants Sieva Jackson and Nic Blackie. I have been struck by their focused attention to detail, their energy and their engaging personalities.

They have relieved me of a great deal of worry in working through the sales process as executor and I am grateful for this. What could otherwise have been a stressful and difficult pre and post auction process, ran extremely smoothly and delivered a very good outcome.

Your company sets a fine example of professional expertise and, in my view as a lawyer, takes the real estate profession positively forward.
I am sure Custom Residential has a great future.

We are very pleased with the way Nic Blackie has handled the sale of our property.

We found her to be really professional, warm and friendly. We still can’t believe the sale was handled so quickly and efficiently. We highly recommend Nic to assist in the sale of your home. Thank you again for the stress-free experience.

Nic, thanks so much for all your help with our house sale in Grey Lynn. From day one to after our house sold, your professional, honest, down-to-earth advice was refreshing and I’m sure that all of our prospective buyers appreciated this too and that is so important. We would definitely recommend you and Custom Residential again.

All the best.

Earlier this year we met Nic Blackie at several Open Homes conducted by her company, Custom Residential. Her personality, presentation and professionalism were obvious on every occasion and when we decided to sell our house at 10 Murdoch Road, Grey Lynn, we had no hesitation in asking her to market the property for us.

Nic impressed us with her approach to the task, particularly in the current volatile and unpredictable real estate environment. Not only did she display sound technical knowledge and skill, she also had networks and strong personal relationships that are essential when selling a property.

To our surprise and delight, we had a sound and attractive agreement signed within three days, settlement one month. This was outstanding.

Nic’s honesty, integrity and dedication were greatly appreciated. Her ability to manage the numerous competing demands of the sale process, keep us happy and steer the matter to a successful outcome, is a talent not shared by many in her profession.

If the opportunity arose, we would not hesitate to employ Nic again. It was a pleasure to work with her. We have no doubt that she will continue a successful career in real estate. We wish her every success and look forward to keeping in touch on a personal level.

Nic, I thank you very much for helping us to sell our home so promptly. I really appreciate the way that you went about dealing with us because we are quite private people and extremely busy and you supported us in that very well. With your help we limited the drama and just got on with it.

The mowing of our lawns for the photo shoot really sealed it for me as to knowing that you were the right person who deserved to be selling our home. I will recommend you to anyone who asks, of course and know that you are going to do extremely well.

I have already had a talk with a few of my colleagues and told them what a fantastic job Custom Residential did. I am enthusiastic to use Si and Nic and the team at CR on any property that I may have in the future.

Dan and Nic did an amazing job for me. I knew that selling my home on a very busy road was never going to be an easy task. They worked hard and kept me up to date at regular intervals.

I knew I was being looked after and knew they had my best interests at heart. I was pleasantly surprised at the result they achieved which means I can get on with what I want to do next. Many thanks.

Nic Blackie showed levels of perseverance and determination in getting our apartment sold which was refreshing.

Two months of open homes in the middle of winter every Saturday and Sunday, and despite the gloom being felt by the vendors, Nic would walk in the door full of cheer and optimism. Ours was never going to be an easy sale but we quickly realised that if anyone could sell it Nic could!” As a residential real estate investor, I have dealt with many real estate agents over the years.

On a personal note, I wanted to convey how refreshing I found your approach to this whole process: you and your team were not only thoroughly professional, but also extremely nice people who I felt genuinely cared about our needs.

John Wills and the extended team at Custom did an outstanding job for me, even before the word “go”. John impressed me with his passion, his (positive) energy and pragmatism, the latter a rare occurrence amongst most real estate agents, as well as his “hunger” to be able to represent and sell my properties.
Within a time frame of 4 weeks the (multiple) properties were
marketed by John Wills and Nic Blackie AND sold on the same day via auction in March ‘09!

The next time I sell another of my properties I will most certainly give John & the Custom Residential Team “first right of refusal...”

I wanted to say that we have enjoyed the experience of selling with you. We chose Custom Residential because we wanted to support a new and local business that is reflective of what we are fundamentally about, with our new business, Art and Object.

We were so passionate about our home and wanted to find a buyer who fell in love with what we had invested in, our style, love,vision, and of course, be able to build and create their own future development of the property. So it was immensely important to us to find an agent that could relay that to the buyer and make the process incredibly amicable.

We had absolute confidence with you to present this to the deserving owners. We felt that you understood us,and our future requirements and have made a concerted effort to find us our next home.

We would (and have) gladly recommended you and Custom Residential to our friends and colleagues.

The team at Custom residential went over and above for the sale of my properties. I live overseas and so they willing offered to do many things that an owner would normally do. I can’t speak highly enough of the efforts they went to, to get the end result. Custom Residential may not be the biggest but they go the furthest.

Nic was aware that my daughter and son-in-law were returning from London in December to enjoy a summer in their rental property before putting it on the market in the New Year.

She approached me to view the house in order to prepare a sales proposal and plan.
I felt that was showing initiative and agreed to meet her there. It seemed that the house would be perfect for some very qualified buyers she had been working with…

Two days later Nic presented two excellent offers. Within ten days of our initial meeting the house was not only sold but settled and the money in the bank! What more can I say....

As first-time home sellers we were apprehensive about the whole process of selling our home, especially because it was a home that had been in the family for over 40 years. We chose Nic Blackie at Custom Residential because her name kept coming up in conversations with neighbours and friends in the area. She is highly regarded and we soon found out why.

Nic is professional but approachable. She has intimate knowledge of the area, its surrounds and its market. For sure we asked many simple and probably naive questions but Nic indulged us with her patient explanations every time.

Her information and feedback was always timely and honest. Above all, we felt we could trust her and that we were in good hands. It was also a nice to see Nic’s management and colleagues there at auction day supporting her and us in our moment of truth.

I can’t thank Nic enough for guiding us through it all with a very good result. When we’re ready to purchase another home, we’ll be calling Nic Blackie. We wish Nic and the team at Custom Residential all the very best.

Nic managed the sale of my property in a professional and straight up manner. Within two weeks of commissioning her services I received two excellent offers. With Nic’s assistance liaising between varying legal parties, the purchasers and myself she helped make what could have been a difficult sale go unconditional very quickly. Nic listened to what I needed from the sale and my circumstances and worked hard to provide me with the result I had asked for.

I would highly recommend Nic Blackie and Custom Residential to anyone who is looking to sell their home as they know their market, are approachable, sincere and results driven.

Thanks again for all your hard work and efforts over these past weeks and especially today. It’s all quite surreal and we still can’t quite believe it, as it’s all happened so quickly and without any stress. I don’t think we could have asked for a better outcome really, the approach and strategies you put in place were perfect. Mum just got the best Mother’s day present ever!

Deciding on the right agent to sell our renovated Grey Lynn villa was serious business for us. After much research what tipped the scale was not only were Nic and John successful in the area and professional in their approach, they were genuinely good people! We could see they appreciated the blood sweat and tears that had gone into making the property what it was.

We often saw Nic working around the area and while always friendly and available to talk, she gave us the space we wanted to finish the project - further cementing in our minds her priorities laid with doing what was best for us.

Throughout the whole marketing process Nic and John were extremely professional, approachable and diligent in their
follow up, which was something strongly supported by our friends and family who quietly viewed the property throughout the period. We were very impressed with the effort and quality work they produced culminating in a huge auction day and a great result for us.

We are now able to move on to our next project and we highly recommend Nic and John to any vendor who seeks an agent prepared to do the hard work, cover all bases and drive hard to achieve the best possible result for the homeowner.