1. About these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and OurHouse Ltd (PO Box 22, Pukekohe, Auckland 2120), which runs OurHouse. By creating an account or using OurHouse you agree to them and to our privacy policy. If you use OurHouse for an agency or business, you agree on its behalf and confirm you're allowed to.

2. Your account

  • You need to be 16 or older, and to give us accurate details.
  • Keep your password and API keys to yourself. You're responsible for what happens on your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used it.
  • One person per account. Share watchlists with the sharing tools rather than sharing a login.

3. Property information

OurHouse brings together information from sellers, agents, public sources (such as LINZ, school zones, hazard maps, OpenStreetMap and weather services) and estimates we calculate, like commute times, walkability and affordability. We work to keep it accurate, but it can be incomplete, out of date or wrong.

OurHouse isn't financial, legal or real estate advice, and we aren't a real estate agent. Before you buy, check what matters to you yourself: get a LIM, a building report and legal advice, and talk to a lender or mortgage adviser about what you can borrow. Listings are the responsibility of the seller or agent who provides them.

4. Premium

  • OurHouse is free to use within the Free limits, which are described on our Free and Premium help page. Premium removes those limits and adds extra tools, for the monthly or yearly price in effect when you subscribe (in NZ dollars, including GST).
  • New Premium subscriptions may start with a free trial of 5 days. We remind you before it ends. Unless you cancel before then, your subscription starts and your card is charged.
  • Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each month or year until you cancel. You can cancel at any time, and our Free and Premium help page explains how. You keep Premium until the end of the period you've paid for.
  • We don't give refunds for part-used periods, except where the law requires it (see section 11).
  • If we change the price, we'll tell you at least 30 days before your next renewal, so you can cancel first.
  • If you go back to Free, anything over the Free limits is paused rather than deleted.

5. Sellers and agencies

  • Only list property you're entitled to sell or market. Describe it honestly: the Fair Trading Act 2010 applies to how property is advertised, and agents must also follow the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and its rules.
  • Mark a listing as sold or withdrawn when it is. We may hide, change or remove listings that look inaccurate, misleading or against these terms.
  • Agency plans are billed to the agency, with the branch, agent, listing and allowance limits that apply to the plan taken. Agency plans renew like Premium and can be cancelled the same way, as explained on our agency plans and billing help page. Where a business uses OurHouse for business purposes, the parties agree the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 doesn't apply, as section 43 of that Act allows.
  • Agencies are responsible for what their team members do on OurHouse.

6. Boosts, Spotlight and messages

  • Boosts give a listing a head start in search results for a set time. They never get a listing past someone's search filters, and they don't guarantee a position, views or a sale.
  • Spotlight sends a listing, labelled as featured, to buyers whose saved searches it matches. It reaches only buyers who haven't switched featured listings off, each buyer gets a listing only once, and no buyer gets more than a few a week. We don't guarantee how many people it reaches.
  • Messages to watchers must be about the listing: open homes, how and when offers close, price changes or documents. No unrelated advertising. Buyers can opt out, and you never see who they are.
  • Boosts and Spotlight come from your allowance: free for private sellers within the limits we set, and included in agency plans. Unused allowance doesn't carry over and has no cash value. We may change the limits, and we may switch these features off, with notice where we can.

7. Appraisals and check-ins

  • If you ask for an appraisal, we pass your request to up to 3 agencies that cover your suburb. There's no obligation to sell or to use any of them, and we don't promise any agency will get in touch.
  • Agencies that get appraisal leads or open-home check-in details may use them only to respond to that person about that property or appraisal. They must handle them under the Privacy Act 2020, and must not add people to marketing lists without the consent the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 requires.

8. Your content

What you add (notes, photos, listings, comments) stays yours. You give us permission to store it, show it to the people you share it with, and, for listings, display it on OurHouse and in alerts, for as long as it's on OurHouse. Don't upload anything you don't have the right to share, or that's unlawful, misleading, offensive or someone else's personal information without their permission. We may remove content that breaks these terms.

9. Fair use

Please don't:

  • scrape, copy or resell OurHouse data, or use the API beyond your key's limits
  • try to get into accounts, systems or data that aren't yours, or disrupt OurHouse
  • harass anyone, or use contact details you got through OurHouse for anything other than the property they relate to
  • create fake accounts, reviews, listings or activity, including to earn points

10. Points and coins

You earn points and coins for using OurHouse. They have no cash value, can't be sold or transferred, and aren't property. We may change how they're earned or used, and may remove points earned by breaking these terms.

11. Consumer rights and liability

If you're using OurHouse as a consumer, nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 2010. That includes our guarantee to provide our services with reasonable care and skill.

As far as the law allows:

  • OurHouse is provided as it is. We don't promise it will always be available or free of errors.
  • We're not responsible for decisions you make based on property information on OurHouse, or for what sellers, agents or other users do.
  • We're not liable for indirect losses, such as lost profits or a lost opportunity to buy.
  • Our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $100 if you haven't paid anything.

12. Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time. We then delete it and what's in it, as set out in our privacy policy. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, puts others at risk, or that we're required to close. Where it's reasonable, we'll warn you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. If we stop running OurHouse, we'll give you at least 30 days' notice and refund any time you've paid for but can't use.

13. General

  • We may update these terms. If a change matters, we'll tell account holders at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you keep using OurHouse after that, the new terms apply.
  • New Zealand law governs these terms, and New Zealand courts deal with any disputes. Please talk to us first, so we can try to sort things out.
  • If part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
  • Questions: invite@visitourhouse.nz, or write to OurHouse Ltd, PO Box 22, Pukekohe, Auckland 2120.