The Nice Place Blog

It was almost 10 years ago that Keith Powell started building his business, Nice Place Property Management – he was managing his own character properties around Newtown when it became apparent the skills and business acumen he’d developed from his previous job could mean he could manage others’ properties on their behalf as well.

The rental market is changing dramatically across the country as the fallout from Covid-19 continues. Here’s what we’ve witnessed over the past weeks and what changes we might see for tenants and landlords.

The lockdown has made being a property manager rather tricky along with many other jobs out there. Each week we would normally be out inspecting properties, organising maintenance jobs, vetting new tenants, talking to potential landlords and visiting new properties.

The heating standards under the Healthy Homes Guarantees Act has got some landlords confused over what is currently required and what will be required when the heating standards come into law.

Becoming a landlord and managing tenants has to be one of the major reasons why people choose not to jump into property investing. With so much unknown about what you’re embarking on and the nightmare stories you read it’s no surprise that so many want to get into property investing but don’t for the fear of ending up with bad tenants

The Government has announced another set of proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act and they say landlords and tenant will both benefit from them. However, landlords in general are not in agreement with what the Government is proposing.

A shortage of rental properties doesn’t necessary mean that a tenant will be found quickly. Prospective tenants prefer properties that are tidy, clean and cared for.

The Wellington rental market has continued to be active throughout the year, whereas we usually see fluctuations with a quiet period through winter.

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2019 was a hotly contested argument between landlords and tenants during its time going through Parliament. However, this bill set out to clarify a number of issues that confused many landlords and tenants.

Heating a cold house in the middle of winter can be a hard thing to do. But since the new Healthy Home Standards became law on 1 July 2019, heating up a rental property should become easier.

Buying a rental property and finding good tenants to rent the place sounds easy, but the reality can be anything but. Landlords can make many mistakes, which can lead to a lack of income, unhappy tenants/landlords or even worse a damaged property.

With interest rates as low as they are, now is a good time to think about investing in a rental property. However, there are four rules that we recommend following that will make the buying and ongoing venture of being a rental property owner successful.

With the cold Wellington winter just around the corner now is a good time to prepare your rental property for the colder days. These few simple maintenance tasks can make all the difference, and your tenants will appreciate it. Of course if you want someone else to take care of it for you – our friendly team can organise and manage the maintenance of your rental property for you.

When the Government made the announcement of the new rental standards there was a lot of confusion around the timing that landlords would have to complete the work and what exactly needs to be done in order to meet the standards. Below we have simplified the new requirements to make them easier for landlords to understand what needs to be done and what tenants should expect.

Just like most years the start of the of the year for property managers is pretty hectic, the rush of students heading back for university as well as updating current leases keeps us busy.

Letting fees were a topic of discussion in 2018 and in early November the Government announced they would prohibit property managers from charging a letting fee to tenants. The ban started on 12 December, however prior to this date, many property management companies announced that they would still need to charge some type of letting fee. This letting fee would be charged to the property owner rather than the new tenant.  

Summer is a busy period for property managers. The start of the year brings a surge of students and new residents to the City. Last summer saw an unprecedented amount of people looking for a new rental, and with demand putting pressure on supply, we’re expecting that this summer will be just as challenging for tenants, if not more, than last year.

If the unthinkable was to happen to your investment property would you have the right insurance cover? Most insurance companies in New Zealand have a policy in place that cover rental’s many call it landlord insurance. This type of insurance policy is designed specifically for landlords and usually replaces the need for home and content insurance on rentals.

The Residential Tenancies Act came into force over 30 years ago for the purpose of governing the rental market but, over the past few months the tenancy law reform has been the topic of debate with property managers, landlords, tenants and policy makers. There has been a lot of discussion around the rights tenants could be given and the lack of control landlords will have if these proposed changes come into place.

Property maintenance includes a wide range of activities from, replacing a light bulb to bigger jobs like replacing windows or fixtures. While you most likely maintain your rental throughout tenancies by fixing broken windows and addressing plumbing issues it is also important to look at the superficial maintenance at the end of each tenancy.

Throughout our time as property managers, we’ve always worked to place the right tenant in the right property that fits their needs and suits their lifestyle. We don’t just work with property owners to fill their home and make them money – we work with them to ensure the tenant is the right fit for the place, and will treat the home with respect as well as keep it in great condition.

For some years, Nice Place had a policy of meth testing every property between every tenant to ensure that we are moving new tenants in to a clean property, and to check that outgoing tenants have left it in a reasonably clean condition.

Earlier this year, we saw a flurry of activity in the rental market. As with every January and February, when students are arriving in the city – we saw an increase in enquiries, pushing demand higher and exhausting the supply of rental stock. There were stories upon stories of tenants not being able to even find a flat, let alone make it along to viewings.

Late last year, we were approached by a landlord who suspected their tenant was illegally sub-letting the apartment in Wellington’s CBD. Because of our success with Airbnb previously, we took over the management of the property, and began investigating.

Since the Government proposed to remove letting fees altogether, there’s been plenty of speculation about how this will impact the cost of rent. But what we’ve found is that a lot of tenants, and even landlords, aren’t actually aware what it’s there for and how it affects them.

Airbnb has become a global ‘go-to’ for short term accommodation. The peer-to-peer room sharing website has impacted short term-rentals in many cities around the world, and here in New Zealand it seems to be causing problems too.

In the current Wellington rental market, properties are receiving hundreds, if not thousands of enquiries. Many students are claiming that landlords are increasing the rent due to the extra $50 increase in student allowances. For some landlords – this may be true, but overall it is simply being put down to high demand and lack of supply, as well as the increasing costs of property investment. So, what is going on in Wellington?

Airbnb can provide an extra supplement to cover costs of rent, or generate income – but it comes with risks and consequences.  With the holiday season approaching, and the growing use of Airbnb – we are seeing concerns in the property management industry, with property investors getting worried about their rentals being sublet online to people they don’t know.