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Property Investment Is A Business

Property investment is a business and must be treated like one. Whether residential or commercial, a new property investor is now ‘in business.’

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Property investment is a business and must be treated like one. Whether residential or commercial, a new property investor is now ‘in business.’ Not everyone is able to do this, because it’s not in their nature to cope well with such things. Dealing with tenants requires many personal attributes such as communication skills, patience, a working knowledge of the law, sometimes a very firm style of personal approach, and so on.

For someone on wages, when a customer leaves without buying anything because of the staff’s manner, or a lack of suitable product, there’s no immediate consequence to the staff pay packets.

But for a property investor, having a prospective tenant decline to rent the property because of the property investor’s manner, or because two windows are broken, there is an immediate consequence: no rental income, while the mortgage chews on.

Attention to detail is important. The pertinent laws often require many documents with precise items and language in them, especially with residential properties. NZ tenancy law is weighted in favour of tenants. Some speculate the reason is that property investors are in business, so have a greater responsibility than tenants.

Recording everything is important: expenses for repairs and maintenance items, rent received and in what form (directly into a credit union or bank account, or cash/cheque), receipts for cash payments, matters to do with bonds (if changed) and so on.

Computers with appropriate software and an Internet connection can make these tasks easier. Daily access to the credit union or bank account to check rent payments have been received is a modern technology boon for property investors.

Like many businesses, most everything can be done on a DIY (Do It Yourself) basis, perhaps more so when only one or two properties are involved. DIY covers everything from purchasing the property, obtaining a tenant, doing repairs and maintenance, to filing a tax return.

When or if the number of properties increase to the point where a DIY approach is not manageable, there’s plenty of people and companies around that will help with different aspects. A Property Manager is the most common, in such things.

However, there’s no need for an all-or-nothing arrangement. E.g. DIY everything except for using an accountant for the tax returns and a lawyer to prepare and execute the tenancy/lease agreements.

While there are Property Managers available to look after the routine aspects of tenants and property maintenance, utilising one does not free a property investor from all aspects of their business. Oversight of the property manager is important.

Liaising with a property manager does not mean interfering. It means being kept informed – both ways. A property investor should have a contract for service with the property manager and both should be sure of its contents and the obligations such a contract imposes on both parties. Being kept informed is of critical importance.

There is probably nothing quite so startling as a letter from the bank saying that no mortgage payments have been received for the last five weeks. Then the property investor realises that no rent payments have been going into the account (to cover the mortgage payments) and hurried calls are made to the property manager to find out what’s going on. “No surprises” is a good motto.

All businesses have their rewards and trials and property investment is no different. If ‘being in business’ is a scary thought, proceed with caution and lots of good advice from experienced people.

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Growing Economy Increases Housing Demand

Auckland is New Zealand’s economic hub and with our economy set to continue to grow over the next couple of years demand for housing in Auckland will remain high. Property values in New Zealand have increased by more than 25 percent in 3 years and NZHerald also reports Auckland’s the median house has risen by 46.5% however there are investors buying Auckland residential property for less than market value.

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Auckland is New Zealand’s economic hub and with our economy set to continue to grow over the next couple of years demand for housing in Auckland will remain high.

Property values in New Zealand have increased by more than 25 percent in 3 years and NZHerald also reports Auckland’s the median house has risen by 46.5% however there are investors buying Auckland residential property for less than market value.

For some investors in the Auckland property market the highly profitable property deals are apparently still out there.  PropertyTutors mentoring clients have continued to buy residential property below market value in 2015.  This month alone Lauren a new investor under the guidance of mentor Sean Wood bought two properties in 24 hours for less than the market price who would have thought it possible?

Also with demand for property at an all time high, investors like James and Elliot are managing to sell their properties whilst they’re still renovating them.  This lowers the investor’s costs as there are no property marketing or listing fees.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries says the latest Property Price Index showed that while the average asking price in Auckland has risen by 20 per cent in the last year, small houses (1-2 bedrooms) had increased 24 per cent and apartments were up a “staggering” 49 per cent in a year.
Trade Me Sales Price Index

As long as our economy continues to grow, demand for Auckland housing in all its forms will be strong.


This blog article was written for PropertyBlogs by Mobilize Mail.

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Nelson – Hot Location For Lifestyle

Baby boomers particularly those currently living in Auckland may be setting their sights on Nelson and who would blame them. Nelson offers the perfect lifestyle with a mediterranean climate, idyllic nature walks, sandy beaches, culinary delights and of course it’s one the cultural arts capitals of New Zealand too.

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Baby boomers particularly those currently living in Auckland may be setting their sights on Nelson and who would blame them.  Nelson offers the perfect lifestyle with a mediterranean climate, idyllic nature walks, sandy beaches, culinary delights and of course it’s one the cultural arts capitals of New Zealand too.

The house and land packages in Nelson are really too good to be true.  Imagine selling your property in Auckland, capitalising on the high property values, and securing a better lifestyle in a brand new home (mortgage free) in one of the safest and friendliest places in the world!  This was once a move only the wealthy could afford.  Now it’s a reality for so many Aucklanders thanks to the buoyant property market.

The latest annual property sales report showed an increase in property values of 17 percent for Auckland.  The average asking price for a property in Auckland starts at seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, while in Nelson brand new home and land for sale deals start from two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Nelson is out of the spotlight and flying under the radar right now, but it may not last for much longer.  The property market is on the move in this region with Trade Me Sales Price Index reporting property values up by over six percent during the last property sales season.

Aucklanders in their middle to late years of life will be questioning their current position.  They will want to time their move so they can cash in their property equity to create a better lifestyle somewhere else; probably in New Zealand’s answer to the Med – Nelson!


This blog article was written for PropertyBlogs by Mobilize Mail.

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Weekend Renters Trash Family Home

What can go possibly go wrong renting out your home for short term stays via a very reputable and popular online travel website? For most homeowners it all works out really well. However for this young Canadian couple it went horribly wrong.

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What can go possibly go wrong renting out your home for short term stays via a very reputable and popular online travel website? For most homeowners it all works out really well. However for this young Canadian couple it went horribly wrong.

On NZHerald it was reported the young Canadian couple found out just how bad things can get when they rented out their home for a weekend. While the $875 rent was really attractive and it’s the reason so many other homeowners use the travel website Airbnb to rent out their properties on short stays, for this couple it was too good to be true.

An early txt message from a neighbour on Monday morning suggested not all was well at their home. Their weekend renters had well and truly trashed their home and caused $80,482 worth of damage to the property. Could this have been avoided? Well not entirely but like a goods trading site e.g. TradeMe where sellers and buyers build up a reputation for their trading activities the same applies on sites like Airbnb. Therefore as a renter or landlord you can review the feedback on the interested parties and make your selection based on it. It is unclear whether the Canadian couple took this action.

‘Caveat Emptor’ (buyer beware) is the lesson here – always do your due diligence on anyone interested in renting your property.

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This blog article was written for PropertyBlogs by Mobilize Mail.

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