You may be aware that the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill had its Second Reading before Parliament last week. These long-discussed changes to the RTA (Residential Tenancies Act), (reinstatement of ‘no cause’ terminations, changes in notice periods, pet bonds, etc) are well and truly coming and we should know precisely … Read more
All landlords should be well aware of the NZ smoke alarm legislation requiring all rental properties to have working smoke alarms or detectors and they must be photoelectric and have a long battery life, or be hard-wired. The legislation stipulates that smoke alarms must be installed within 3 metres of … Read more
I was reading an article recently that was actually about someone who had purchased a rent roll believing that the sole charge property manager was managing the properties well, ensuring the properties complied with legislation and taking great care of the landlords and tenants, however upon delving deeper this was … Read more
There were a number of promises made by National and Act during the election campaign which directly affected property investors, and it looks like they have already pushed on with the first one – to restore the interest deductibility for landlords! The Government has announced that the 2023/24 year sees … Read more
Each year we are asked to submit entries into one of several categories to be recognised at our annual Ray White Awards which were held recently. While we are not ones to enter just for the sake of entering, this year we decided we deserved to put our name in … Read more
There are a lot of different types of property managers out there – the ‘one man/woman band’ – the franchises, and the smaller stand-alone companies, and while choosing a property manager to take care of your assets is a personal choice, when it comes to making that decision there are … Read more
The definition of family violence (as described by the ministry of justice), is violence by nature which can be physical, sexual or psychological abuse. A tenant who experiences family violence during a tenancy is entitled to remove themselves from the tenancy by giving the landlord a minimum of 2 days’ … Read more
When it comes to choosing insurance for your rental property, ensuring you have thorough cover is very important, and with a very ambiguous law around a tenants liability for careless vs accidental damage now it has never been more important. Most insurance companies have very good landlord insurance policies and … Read more
Have you ever looked at rental properties listed on trademe and thought ‘wow – they are charging a very high rent’, and made the assumption that the original price it is marketed at is the rent which will actually be achieved? Well you would not be the first person to … Read more
A few months ago I wrote a piece regarding the mystery shopping the Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) were conducting in the rental property sector to ensure landlords and property managers were complying with the new privacy laws. The results are now in and they have commented that … Read more