Let us start with what you need

It depends on how much of the content already exists, which is usually the real variable rather than the build itself. You get a date in the written quote before the work starts, and if that date is going to move you hear it from me before it does.

Yes. The work is the same wherever you are in New Zealand, and most of it happens over email and a shared document either way. If you would rather meet in person, West Auckland is where I am.

Sometimes. If the existing site is sound, the work is improving it. If it is built on something that cannot be kept secure or fast, rebuilding is usually cheaper than maintaining it, and I will tell you which one I think you are looking at before you commit to either.

Whatever suits the job, chosen per project rather than from habit. What matters to you is what it produces: pages that load fast, stay up, can be kept secure for years, and that you own outright. If you want the technical detail, ask and you will get it in full.

Hosting, certificates, daily backups with a stated retention period, uptime monitoring from a separate network, security and dependency updates, and your content changes up to the allowance in your plan. It is a retainer for keeping the site running, not a payment plan for the build.

Your domain is registered in your name from the first day, so it is never held hostage. On termination, with the account settled, you receive your site code, content, database and media within twenty working days in a standard portable format.