Renters ruling the Roost

October 19, 2008

Prime Indicators — Tags: , , — admin

The following article was initiated by the Andrew King newsletter, Prime Indicators. If you want to subscribe to this newsletter, see the sign-on  section at the top of this website.

Tenants still have the upper hand in the rental market, and real estate agents are urging clients to inject their properties with the wow factor, or drop the rent if they want to fill them quickly.

RangitotoAndrew King, vice-president of the New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation, says it’s common to experience a flood of rental listings during the slump phase of the property cycle.

“In a slow market, tenants have a high degree of choice and often face nervous landlords who may be willing to reduce rents just to secure a tenant,” he says. (more…)

Crash course for Accidental Landlords

September 29, 2008

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Accidental investors need to school up in the basics of being a landlord, or they risk capitulating in a weakened market, says author Andrew King.

King, who with Lisa Dudson, has co-written the new edition of Create Wealth: The Complete Guide to Residential Property Investment in New Zealand , says the slumping property market has created thousands of new landlords, and whether they sink or swim will depend on how quickly they learn the skills. (more…)

P Labs and Property Inspections

September 25, 2008

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The following news item on HNZ’s successful court ruling enabling them to seek compensation from convicted P manufacturers who used one of their properties is excellent news for all rental property owners. However the key lesson to be learnt from this is that regular property inspections are essential.

If Housing NZ had conducted thorough and regular inspections of their property the damage would have been more limited. Although they have won the right to seek damages from non tenant perpertrators, there is still the problem of actually getting the money from them. (more…)

Landlord group’s code sets high standards

September 5, 2008

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Landlords have developed their own set of rules, barring them from renting dirty places, telling lies or making racist remarks to tenants.

The national landlord membership and lobby group, the Property Investors Federation, has released a guide which it wants members to show to tenants.

Federation vice-president Andrew King said most members were already following the code. (more…)

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Should you buy or rent a house right now?

July 22, 2008

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Buying a house is now almost two and a half times as expensive as renting, according to figures to be presented at a seminar today.

Property Investors Federation vice-president Andrew King says a 25-year mortgage for 90 per cent of the cost of the country’s median-priced house, worth $345,000 last month, would currently cost a new home-buyer $745 a week, including rates, maintenance, insurance and an allowance for other costs.

By contrast, the national median rent last month was only $305 a week. (more…)

Capital gains tax lifts its ugly head

July 11, 2008

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There is no capital gains tax in New Zealand – but it seems that nobody has told the Government.

Tax rules tabled in Parliament recently will affect many property investors and, once enacted, will widen the net that taxes capital gains on the sale of rental properties in some circumstances. Are capital gains from properties taxable? (more…)

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Drop in rental prices unexpected

June 23, 2008

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The median rent level has dipped $5 a week to $295, according to a quarterly report on the residential rental market.

The record high reached for rents at the start of the year was $300 a week, Massey University’s Real Estate Analysis Unit said.

The unit’s director, Prof Bob Hargreaves, said the 1.6 per cent drop was somewhat unexpected because rents had been rising steadily last year and during the first months of this year. (more…)

Boom time for renters

May 11, 2008

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Potential homebuyers are choosing to remain long-term renters – freeing up their savings for less volatile investments.

Industry experts say even tenants who can afford a deposit and mortgage repayments are taking advantage of market conditions and enjoying a less stressful life.

Andrew King, of the Auckland Property Investors Association, said renting was “extremely good value” at the moment and believed the number of long-term tenants had been rising for at least 18 months. (more…)

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Price dive on over-borrowing

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Poor investments and over-borrowing could force more property investors to sell this year, causing property prices to dive, says Andrew King, vice-president of the Property Investors’ Federation.

This adds to the grim outlook portrayed in property mortgage insurer PMI’s mid-year report, released on Thursday, and Quotable Value’s monthly report, which is out tomorrow. (more…)

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Who’s using Trade-Me to find tenants?

April 29, 2008

Prime Indicators — Tags: , — Andrew

Many members of the Auckland Property Investors Association are using Trade Me to promote their rental properties to tenants. I was curious to see if other New Zealand areas also used the internet to find new tenants, so did a study of New Zealand Cities.

I looked up the number of properties advertised on Trade Me for each city and compared this to the local population, giving an indication of local usage. The results were interesting. (more…)

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