But will they ever sell? asks Jon Chomley quietly as he stares at the dozens of tiny apartments being put up outside his office window.
Monday, April 11th 2005, 7:58AM
by The Landlord
The real estate expert, who has spearheaded many of New Zealand’s largest property deals in the past 19 years, remains somewhat of a sceptic at heart, particularly about inner-city shoebox units.
As a real estate rainmaker, he has learned to suspend belief until faced with irrefutable evidence.
For two decades, a central tenet of his career has been never wholly to believe a deal is closed until the money is in his hands.
Real estate people are more known for their unhesitating optimism but he has a wry pessimism beneath his shiny real estate agent exterior.
That extends to settling a few scores before he responds to the pull of family ties and leaves the country.
He tells how one developer lied to him. While working at a consultancy, he was doing his own deals on the side but denied this when confronted.
