The man trying to fix New Zealand’s ‘stale and broken’ renovations sector

Jon Bridge and his team at Refresh Renovations are on a mission to improve what he describes as New Zealand’s ‘stale and broken’ renovations sector.

He and his wife bought their first home (an ex-state house in Auckland’s Panmure) in the early 2000s and now live in Remuera with their three teenagers.

We asked him about his journey in the property realm, and picked his brain for tips for first-time buyers and those planning their own renos.

What is your role, and what do you love about what you do?

JON: I’m one of the founders of Refresh Renovations. I’m responsible for strategy and systems.

What I love about our business is that we’re implementing a new and better model in a pretty stale and broken industry. Our company is all about creating a better way to renovate from both a business and consumer perspective.

‍What are the challenges of what you do?

There are huge challenges with regard to the structure of the industry and what we need to do to address it with a better business model.

We’re constantly working on improving our systems and processes to make them as efficient, effective and ‘bulletproof’ as possible.

How did you get into this industry?

I did my Master’s degree in marketing in the late 90s, and did my thesis on internet marketing.

When I left university, I thought the internet would be the future of marketing, so I started out working for a large IT consulting firm called Unisys.

After a few years there, I joined a few people who were starting a business and marketing consulting firm. That company (Traffic) focused on developing marketing-driven business growth strategies for clients in the building sector.

During this time, we identified a huge issue with the residential renovation market. In our view, it was incredibly fragmented and customers were having terrible renovation experiences.

We approached some of our clients and suggested that someone create a larger-scale renovation company that focused on systems and processes and customer service. Those customers agreed and actually gave us the funding to start Refresh.

Over time, we wound up the consulting side of the business and now Traffic is the parent company of our franchise networks. Our business is very much marketing- and IT-focused.

In addition to Refresh Renovations, we have three other brands: Zones (residential landscaping), Oncore (maintenance and insurance reinstatement), and We Sort It (a range of home services).

This year we’re launching a new franchise system called Planfirst, which is going to be a franchised network of renovation design specialists.

Tell us about where you live

I live in Remuera. It’s a black cedar-clad home with lots of light and good privacy.

It’s on a pretty small section, but we’ve made the most of the space by putting a pool in, as the outdoors was pretty much unusable before we did that.

My wife Rosie and I own the house and we live there with our three kids Sammy (17), Benji (15) and Maddie (13). We do plan to stay there as it’s a good central location, with everything we need nearby.

Where and when did you buy your first home?

We bought our first home in Panmure in the early 2000s. It was $341,000. It was an ex-state house with a really dirty and dusty carpet. Our first job was to rip that carpet up and polish the rimu floors and it made a big difference..

How many homes have you lived in since then?

We’ve only lived in three houses. The first one, then a townhouse in Greenlane, and now this house, where we’ve been since 2016.

Do you own investment property?

No. I prefer to put my time and money into my business. I back myself to make my own money, and not just rely on a market passively going up over time. Maybe a risky strategy, but I guess we’ll see!

What is your advice to first-time home buyers right now?

Do everything you can to purchase your own home as soon as you can, as it’s great for a feeling of security. Even if the bank owns most of it, it’s better than a landlord.

Don’t waste your time mucking around to get the perfect deal - there isn’t one. Just get any reasonable house and deal that you can, and then you can move on from there.

It’s always really hard servicing a mortgage at the beginning, and it’s a long-term commitment, but over time it becomes easier as it gets paid down.

Once you’re in the market, you can buy and sell, and you’ll be on the same footing as everyone else. If you’re not in the market, it will continue to run away from you and ultimately become impossible for you to buy a home as prices will keep rising and you won’t have built any equity.

I’d also say buy the most expensive home you can as the dollar value of any percentage increases is higher on a higher-value home.

What do you think of New Zealand’s housing market right now?

It’s terrible at the moment due to the high interest rates and the high cost of living.

f the government can get its spending under control, as the Reserve Bank’s policy starts to loosen, we’ll eventually see inflation and interest rates drop back. Then we’ll be back closer to where we were a few years ago, and the market will start to pick up again.

Everything is cyclical and New Zealand is still an attractive place to live, so there will always be a level of competition for housing, which will continue to drive property values up over the long term.

Do you have any other property advice?

You can add value yourself by doing simple projects such as painting and decorating, but with building regulations, insurance and health and safety requirements, what you can do yourself is becoming less and less.

If you’re going to engage a professional, make sure you get a clear scope of the work and a contract.

Don’t engage with contractors who say “it’ll be about this much” or who want to work on a time and materials basis (unless they absolutely have to for specific aspects of a project which are impossible to cost upfront).

Going off a rough estimate or engaging on a time and materials basis usually ends in tears. Contractors who operate like that are incentivised to take as much time and use as many materials as possible!

Finally, land is extremely valuable and getting more expensive, so make the most of your outdoor space. Get creative and think about ways you can improve your outdoor areas. It’s not just about the house, it’s about how you enjoy your entire home.

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