Common questions

Free during launch. We're not charging sellers to list at the moment.

Once we move out of the launch phase, we plan to charge a small one-off listing fee. It will be a fraction of what you'd pay an agent in commission, and a fraction of what other private listing sites charge as well. We'll tell you well in advance, and any listing you publish at the free rate stays free.

No. Nestloop is for private sales only.

The whole point of Nestloop is to connect buyers and sellers directly. If a property is also listed with an agent, a buyer who comes through Nestloop ends up paying agent commission anyway, which defeats the purpose for everyone.

When you publish a listing, you'll confirm that the property is not currently listed with a real estate agent. We do spot checks, and listings that turn out to be dual-listed are removed.

This isn't us being against agents. They're a perfectly reasonable choice for a lot of sellers. It's just that this particular platform is designed for the people who want to deal direct.

Wait until it expires, then come back. Most sole agency agreements run for 90 days.

If you list privately while you're under a sole agency, you may legally owe the agent their full commission even if they had nothing to do with the buyer. That risk falls on you, not on Nestloop, but it's a costly mistake we'd rather you avoid.

If you're not sure what type of agreement you signed, dig out the paperwork or ask the agency. The two main types are sole agency (locked in, one agent only) and general agency (multiple methods allowed, commission only owed to whoever introduced the buyer).

Most sellers get through the wizard in 15 to 30 minutes. The longest part is usually writing the description and uploading photos.

You can save and come back to a draft at any point. There's no penalty for taking your time, and listings that are clearly thought through tend to attract better enquiries.

The basics: address, region, property type, bedrooms and bathrooms, an asking price (or price range), a description, and at least one photo.

Optional but useful: floor area, land area, year built, parking, title type, garaging, features, chattels included or excluded, and supporting documents like the title or LIM report. The more complete the listing, the better the enquiries you'll get.

Yes, anytime. Open your dashboard, find the listing, click edit. Photos, price, description, features, documents, all of it can be changed without taking the listing down.

Direct to your email inbox. Buyers fill in the contact form on your listing page. Their name, email, optional phone number, and message come straight through. You reply from your inbox, and the conversation continues outside Nestloop from there.

We don't take a cut, we don't insert ourselves into the conversation, and we don't share buyer details with anyone other than you.

Yes. From your dashboard you can schedule open homes with a date, start time, end time, and optional notes. They appear on your listing page automatically.

Buyers who've saved your listing get an email reminder 24 hours before each open home, so you have a better chance of getting people through the door without chasing them.

You're not locked in. Listings stay live for as long as you want them to, and you can pause, edit, or withdraw at any time without penalty.

If you're not getting enquiries after a few weeks, the most common reasons are price, photos, or how the property is described. Have a look at similar listings in your region for a sense of where yours sits, and consider getting a valuation if you're not sure.

Yes. From the dashboard, choose "withdraw" to take a listing down. It disappears from the public site immediately, but the listing data stays in your account in case you want to bring it back later.

You can also keep a listing in draft if you want to work on it without it going live yet.

The vast majority are, yes. Sellers register with a real email address and confirm a few things before publishing. We run automated checks on every listing for things like missing photos, suspicious pricing, and contact details hidden in the description.

That said, no platform is perfect. If something looks off, use the report button on the listing page and our team will review it.

Yes, you should have one for any property purchase, whether it's through an agent or a private sale. They'll handle the sale and purchase agreement, the title check, and the settlement process.

You don't need to choose one before you start looking, but you should have one lined up before you make an offer. Solicitor fees for a residential property purchase typically run from $1,500 to $3,000 depending on complexity.

Sellers confirm at publish time that the property is not listed with an agent. If you suspect a listing is also being sold through an agent, please report it. We treat dual-listed properties as a serious breach of how Nestloop is meant to work, and removing them keeps the platform honest for everyone.

Some signs to watch for: a listing that also appears on a major agent's website with the same photos, a seller whose contact details turn out to belong to a real estate agency, or a contact form reply asking you to call an agent.

Pretty much the same as with one. You make an offer in writing through your solicitor, who drafts a sale and purchase agreement using the standard ADLS form. The seller's solicitor reviews it. You negotiate price and conditions back and forth. Once both parties sign, the agreement is binding.

The main difference is that you're talking to the seller directly rather than to an agent. That can actually make negotiation easier, since there's no middle layer translating intentions back and forth.

Use the report button on the listing page. You'll be asked to pick a reason and add an optional comment. The report goes straight to our admin team and we'll review it.

Common things worth reporting: dual-listing with an agent, fake or stolen photos, misleading information, or anything that looks like a scam. We don't tell the seller who reported them.

Yes. Tap the heart on any listing to save it. You'll need to be signed in. Saved listings appear under "Saved" in the top nav, and you'll get an email reminder 24 hours before any open homes.

Email alerts for saved searches are coming soon. For now, the best approach is to bookmark a search filtered to your region and price range, and check back regularly.

No. Nestloop is a private listing platform. We're a place where homeowners can list their property and buyers can find them, without any agent in the middle.

We don't represent sellers, we don't show properties, we don't negotiate, and we don't take commission. That's all you, with help from your solicitor at the right moments.

No. The Real Estate Agents Act 2008 regulates licensed real estate agents and the agencies they work for. Nestloop isn't an agency, doesn't employ licensed agents, and doesn't act on behalf of buyers or sellers, so it doesn't fall under that Act.

What we are is a platform for the part of the market where people sell their own homes privately, which is legal and a long-standing way of doing things in New Zealand.

Every new listing runs through a few automated checks before it goes live. We look for things like missing photos, very short or low-quality descriptions, contact details hidden in the body of the description (which is unsafe for sellers), unusual pricing, and rapid posting that suggests a script rather than a person.

Listings that fail those checks get held back and we review them manually. Most issues get sorted out in a few hours.

An admin gets notified by email. They review the listing, the report, and the seller's account. Depending on what they find, the listing might be left up, edited, hidden temporarily, or removed.

The seller is not told who reported them. If we find a serious breach, like a dual-listing or fraud, we may also restrict the seller's account.

Yes, immediately when we find them. Fraudulent listings include things like properties the seller doesn't own, stolen photos copied from other websites, fake addresses, or scams designed to extract deposits.

If you've been the victim of a fraudulent listing, contact us straight away, and contact the police as well.

The standard real estate agent commission in New Zealand sits between roughly 2.5% and 4% of the sale price, plus GST, plus marketing costs. On a typical sale that adds up to between $20,000 and $50,000.

Selling privately on Nestloop costs you the time you put in, plus your solicitor's fees, plus any optional services you choose (photography, valuation, building inspection). For most people, the total comes in well under $5,000.

Say your house sells for $900,000. Here's a comparison.

With an agent (typical tiered commission):

• 3.95% on the first $400,000 = $15,800
• 2.5% on the remaining $500,000 = $12,500
• Subtotal: $28,300
• Plus 15% GST: $4,245
• Plus marketing campaign (typical): $4,000
• Total cost: about $36,545

Privately on Nestloop:

• Listing on Nestloop: free during launch
• Your solicitor (sale side): about $1,800
• Optional professional photographer: about $400
• Optional independent valuation: about $700
• Total cost: about $2,900

You save roughly $33,000 on a $900,000 sale. Even allowing for some difference in final sale price, the gap is substantial.

The exact numbers will vary. Different agents charge differently, and a great agent who genuinely gets you a higher price can earn their fee. The point of the comparison isn't to argue agents are never worth it, it's to show what you're choosing between.

Selling through an agent usually involves a marketing campaign that can run from $2,000 to $10,000 or more, depending on whether you do print, signage, premium online placements, drone photography, video, and so on.

On Nestloop, the listing is the marketing. You can add as many photos as you like, write a full description, link your own video tour, and include documents like the title and LIM. There's no premium tier, no priority placement, no extra fees for visibility.

If you want professional photography (worth doing for most sales), you'll pay your photographer directly. Standard residential property photography in New Zealand runs about $300 to $500.

Your solicitor handles all of this. The deposit goes into the buyer's solicitor's trust account once the agreement is unconditional. On settlement day the balance is paid through your solicitor, the title transfers, and you hand over the keys.

Nestloop doesn't handle any money. We don't run a trust account and we never touch the deposit or settlement funds. That's your solicitor's job and they do it whether or not an agent is involved.

Realistic estimates for a typical residential sale:

• Listing on Nestloop: free during launch
• Solicitor (sale side): $1,500 to $2,500
• Professional photography (optional but recommended): $300 to $500
• Independent valuation (optional): $600 to $900
• Pre-listing tradespeople work, if needed: variable
• Title and LIM if you don't already have them: $50 to $400

Most private sellers spend well under $3,000 in total. The legal fee is the only one you can't really skip. Everything else is optional, and you make the call.

No. We don't charge listing fees during launch, we don't take a percentage of your sale price, we don't sell premium placements, and we don't sell your contact details to third parties.

If we add fees in the future, we'll be clear about them before they apply. Anything you list under the current free terms stays free.