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Selling a rental property? How to keep your tenants sweet

Selling your house is regularly rated as one of life’s most stressful experiences. Try telling that to investors who’ve gone through the sale of a tenanted property. I for one know many a hardened real estate agent driven to their wits’ end when selling a house occupied by untidy and unhelpful tenants!

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Selling your house is regularly rated as one of life’s most stressful experiences. Try telling that to investors who’ve gone through the sale of a tenanted property. I for one know many a hardened real estate agent driven to their wits’ end when selling a house occupied by untidy and unhelpful tenants!

Fortunately, as I’ve said before, times are changing.

The Property Market has recently sold a number of tenanted properties and we think we’ve cracked the formula for keeping all parties to the transaction sweet – buyer, seller, tenant and (somewhat selfishly!) real estate agent.

Our Magic Formula

  1. Communication is absolutely critical. As soon as you know you’re going to sell, advise your tenants – verbally at first and then in writing. If you have a property manager on board, so much the better… they will break the news for you.
  2. Introduce your tenants to your real estate agent. I like to meet tenants in person (I usually take a small pressie to make sure we start off on the right foot… chocolate works a treat). At the meeting I explain when the marketing campaign for the property will begin, how long it will last and on which days open homes will be held. I also let tenants know that they’ll be given at least 24 hours’ notice for viewings outside of scheduled open homes.
  3. Set expectations early. When I meet with tenants I make sure we walk around the property together and I explain what is required in terms of presentation for open homes and viewings. While tenants will never have the same vested interest in a property’s image as its owner, it is fair to expect both house and garden to be clean and tidy.
  4. Offer a financial incentive, payable after settlement. Rather than offering a rent reduction during the marketing campaign, authorise your real estate agent or property manager to offer a financial incentive that’s payable after settlement. They will let your tenants know that, if they keep the property looking smart and facilitate access for open homes, you’ll rebate part of their rent once the property has sold. The trick here is to make the rebate a decent amount – say a third or half the weekly rent – or else the tenants won’t see the benefit.
  5. Keep a record of what’s been agreed. After I meet with tenants I prepare a brief report that summarises what we talked about, and send copies to both property owner and tenant to ensure there are no surprises down the track.
  6. Stay in touch. Make sure your tenants are kept in the loop throughout the campaign. For example, let them know when an offer has been received so they can plan accordingly. If the property is being marketed as tenanted, make it clear that the tenants would love to stay (assuming this is the case) and offer to introduce them to serious buyers.

While this formula does wonders for keeping tenants sweet during the sale process, if you’re looking for the maximum financial return on your investment, the best bet is to give your tenants notice well before the property goes on the market.

Why? Well, bear in mind that your tenant’s furniture is unlikely to represent the home in its best light, and they are not obliged to leave the property during open homes and viewings. It’s far better to have them long gone before the marketing campaign begins, allowing time to complete maintenance and repairs and have professional property stagers work their magic inside.

If you’re looking for more advice about selling property investments we can help – contact us on 09 965 3656.

Tenants

Coworking Countdown – 4 Things to Prepare Before You Move In

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The coworking scene has done anything but slowed down. Coworking spaces in Auckland alone vary between your upmarket, corporate office to the trendier, chic ones. Certainly, investing in this type of commercial real estate has never been more attractive.  There is a space for everyone in this landscape and for businesses looking for new workspaces there’s not only variety available, there’s options at an affordable price.

When a business has finally found an office, in one of these buildings they have not only found a workspace, they’ve also found community as well. One coworking space – Servcorp – is a good example of the way work and networking have intersected to provide business with the chance to grow. This new way of leasing premises is highly attractive to the leasee and the property owner.  Here are some tips for moving into a new coworking space, so the business can prepare to maximise their working experience.

Continue reading to learn what you can do to prepare for your move to your new coworking space to ensure the move is as seamless as possible.

Purposeful Coworking

Coworking presents professionals with the chance to use the space to just work or to build on their professional network. Before getting comfortable in your new office, sit down and take inventory of the tasks beyond work that you would like to accomplish. When writing down your goals and objectives, keep in mind the types of activities that you would like to engage in the space.

Of the many activities, formal networking events and community social events are the types you want to pay attention to if you plan to use the space to build a social network. Not that you have to be out and about every night, but scheduling time to promote your business is one way to maximise the coworking space. Ultimately, if the purpose of coworking is to build a networking platform or to grow your business, find ways to incorporate the more social aspect of the space.

Tool Of The Trade

Another thing that professionals moving into a coworking space should prepare for is knowing what amenities the space provides. Standard spaces fit out the office with exceptional IT services and office equipment, but other amenities include programs and conferences that help teach entrepreneurs how to build their businesses. Before moving into your space, consider checking out all the perks of working in your coworking space.

Moreover, make sure you know what is available for use in the office, so as to bring supplies if necessary. While staplers and other office products come standard in a conventional office, some spaces might not make this available to employees. On a larger scale, make sure there is a receptionist available, and if not, know exactly how to retrieve any messages.

Change Of Business Address

Before leaving your conventional or home office, make sure that clients and other important people know your new location and phone number. One simple way to do this is to email clients of your relocation as to avoid any mix-ups. Furthermore, make sure to forward any business mail to your new location, as to avoid missing important parcels. Finally, make sure you know the building’s office hours for scheduling appointments.

Event Calendar

Check out the coworking space’s event calendar. In addition to the numerous networking opportunities in the day, many coworking communities hold events to get the professionals to engage with each other. Make an exerted effort to attend at least a few of the events every week to raise your business’s profile. You never know what opportunity awaits when engaging people from your profession and others.

Preparing And Putting Coworking To Work

Coworking makes moving effortless simply by alleviating much of the work associated with relocating. You can, however, maximise your move by putting together an agenda of how you plan to use the work to benefit your business. Your plan will help you use your space more effectively for building a platform for business success.

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Tenants

Auction Site For Renters

New Zealand will soon see the rise of a new auction site for renters. Just in on stuff.co.nz Rentberry has confirmed they will be launching here and in Australia. The online service offers renters the opportunity to bid for rental properties. Landlords set the ‘reserve’ or rent level they hope will generate lots of prospective tenants interest and then the bidding war takes off.

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New Zealand  will soon see the rise of a new auction site for renters.  Just in on stuff.co.nz Rentberry has confirmed they will be launching here and in Australia.  The online service offers renters the opportunity to bid for rental properties.   Landlords set the ‘reserve’ or rent level they hope will generate lots of prospective tenants interest and then the bidding war takes off.   Landlords get the final say on whom is the successful applicant and while they may review the highest bids first, they won’t be choosing the tenant just based on what they’re prepared to pay.

An Auckland property management company spokesperson said common-sense will prevail among Landlords.  Securing long term tenancies with tenants that have good credit histories and references will remain the top priority.  Prospective tenants information is available to the Landlord in the service so they can select the tenant without delay.

Rentberry will provide more transparency of the selection process with prospective tenants and Landlords learning what the true market value is for their property.  This is a positive move for investors especially those who are new to the rental market and Landlords whom self manage their rental properties and may currently be charging more or less rent.

There has been some healthy criticism of the service even in it’s infancy.  In America affordable housing advocates are angered by the service and tenant groups in Australia are wary that the service will push up prices.

Rentberry has been operating in the USA since 2016 and is currently expanding into 1000 cities there. It’s focus is on renting Apartments and this is where we see the service take off in our neck of the woods in our main centres in New Zealand.


This blog article was written for PropertyBlogs by Mobilize Mail.

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Tenants

Tenants Let Off With 4.8% Increase

Weekly rents rose just 4.8 percent in the twelve months to July 2016 according to Trade Me Rent Price Index. Tenants will be relieved Landlords are being realistic and not keen on hiking rents arbitrarily. Property sales have slowed and the average asking price has dropped significantly up ten percent since July 2015.

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Weekly rents rose just 4.8 percent in the twelve months to July 2016 according to Trade Me Rent Price Index.  Tenants will be relieved Landlords are being realistic and not keen on hiking rents arbitrarily

Property sales have slowed and the average asking price has dropped significantly up ten percent since July 2015.   Of particular interest is the slow down in property asking prices in Auckland where a typical property listed in June was just $3,750 less than the asking price in July.   According to this article Investors are buying most of the houses.

In Auckland City and on the North Shore investors have purchased 50 percent of the properties on the market.  A North Shore and Auckland City property management company spokesperson said investors are listing new properties with them.  In Auckland City it’s mostly apartments and there’s high demand for quality living quarters downtown.

“In July 2011 New  Zealand’s median weekly rent was $350 a week, that has risen by $90 a week over the past 5 years, while at the same time the increase in the average asking price of a typical New Zealand property has risen by $200,000 an increase of 51 per cent.”

Trade Me Rent Price Index

While there’s the odd sensational article on ‘greedy landlords’ hiking rents to unprecedented levels evidence proves otherwise and tenants are the winners.

In the regions there has been some catch up with rents rising by double digit percentages in Northland, Manawatu, and Marlborough.  However urban average rents have remained stagnant.


This blog article was written for PropertyBlogs by Mobilize Mail.

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