September 2012 INVESTOR INSIDER NEWS FROM PROPERTY BROKERS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Increase in legislation a growing risk for Landlords

In Australia 80% of all rental properties are professionally managed by a Property Management company. In approximately 30% of rental accommodation is professionally managed. Why is that? This topic is hotly debated by REINZ and there is currently a campaign to increase more managed properties. Personally I believe that this will happen and I have my own theory as to why this is. In Australia there has been a high amount of legislation and risk of liability towards landlords. So much so that landlords do not want to carry the burden of managing their investment portfolio as they do not want the risk in getting sued. In New Zealand it has been quite the opposite. Landlords have not had the same concerns and many are uneducated as to the Mould and dampness is a major problem for us. We are just boundaries of the Residential Tenancies Act. This alongside the coming out of winter and again the most common complaint Kiwi DIY attitude has meant that most landlords are happy to we hear from tenants is “The house is too cold” or “too manage the tenancy themselves. damp”. If a property persistently has a problem with mould and the tenant can prove they have tried to remedy the I constantly hear of landlords committing unlawful acts, many problem then the landlord will be held liable. are oblivious as to what they are doing and the financial risk they are putting themselves under. Changes to the Residential As more and more tenants apply to Tribunal landlords decide Tenancies Act in 2010 saw the introduction of fines for that they would rather put the property in the hands of unlawful acts committed under the Act. Fines of up to $4000 someone else. can be imposed. The fact is most people are unaware of this. My advice to you is if you do have maintenance issues attend What we will see is an increasing number of landlords realise to them quickly. New Zealand housing is generally poor that they do not want to carry this risk. I am also starting to compared to the rest of the OECD. Tenants are becoming more see more and more tenants take landlords to Tenancy Tribunal educated and will continue to hold landlords accountable. for failing to maintain the property. This carries a maximum penalty of up to $3000 per breach.

Staff Profile: Steve Sheldon Steve is one of our most decorated Property Managers. Joining the company in 2010, Steve made an immediate mark when he was short listed as a finalist in the REINZ Rookie of the Year Award for 2011 and then went on to win the Property Brokers Property Manager of the Year in the same year. Steve recently made the final of REINZ Property Manager of the Year, 2012 where he was the only male to feature in the competition. Favourite Food...... Mexican Biggest dislike...... Deception Favourite Movie...... Risky Business Home Town...... Auckland Favourite Music...... Jazz Best thing about working with Length of Employment...... 2.5 years Property Brokers...... Culture Favourite Drink...... Cabernet Merlot Interests...... Squash, Snowboarding Favour colour...... Blue

> Staff Profile Useful links > Investment Opportunities > www.realestate.co.nz > www.trademe.co.nz > Round the Regions > www.interest.co.nz > View our properties for rent > www.dbh.govt.nz > Contact Us > www.landlords.co.nz September 2012 INVESTOR INSIDER NEWS FROM PROPERTY BROKERS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Investment Opportunities

WEB ID LU26159 WEB ID LU25285 WEB ID FU25993

5A Strathmore Avenue 18 Rutland Street 2/12 Hobson Street Levin Levin 2 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom MORTGAGEE AUCTION 11/10/12 $163,000 TENDER 5/10/12 Murray Doreen 027 490 4773 Debby Turner 027 490 4773 Ian Steele 027 441 1235 Margrit Searle 027 455 7706 Joanne Steele 027 441 1234

WEB ID FU24140 WEB ID BU25850 WEB ID BU 25158

14 Andrew Street 49 Ada Street 17 Ashford Avenue Feilding Hokowhitu, Hokowhitu, Palmerston North 3 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $189,000 Price $229,000+ Price $225,000 Lianne Masters 027 288 1801 Wayne Thompson 027 490 5474 Shelley Naylor 027 227 2262

WEB ID BU26482 WEB ID BU26522 WEB ID WGU2889

44 Birmingham Street 16/520 Church Street 3/29 Ingestre Street Palmerston North City, Wanganui 3 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $189,000+ Price $125,000+ Price BEO $60,000 Francie Schwass 027 493 3559 Raewyn Easton 027 436 2600 Shona Howe 027 268 4688

WEB ID WGU2926 WEB ID WGU9769 WEB ID MTU12432

42 Plymouth Street 7A Matai Street 49A Station Road Central City, Wanganui Castlecliff, Wanganui Marton 2 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $119,000 Price $89,000 Price $87,000 Shona Howe 027 268 4688 Adie Davies 027 689 6171 Tony Hewitt 027 449 2289

WEB ID DU26033 WEB ID DU23846 WEB ID DU26033

22 Victor Street 13 Dublin Street 22 Victor Street Dannevirke Dannevirke 2 bedrooms 4 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $60,000 Price $99,000 Price $60,000 Kerry Sutherland 027 430 6210 Val Hook 027 498 8876 Kerry Sutherland 027 430 6210

WEB ID NU26236 WEB ID NU24066 WEB ID HU25604

510 Hastings Street 26 Chaucer Road South 1/104 Alexandra Crescent Napier South Hospital Hill, Napier Hastings 3 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom MORTGAGEE AUCTION 29/09/12 Price $149,000 Price $125,000 Rod & Sue Fleming 027 498 9594 Alan Stephenson 027 410 0854 Jason Whitaker 027 682 5999 David Scapens 027 607 7797

WEB ID HU26075 WEB ID WU10904 WEB ID MU12422

419 Huia Street 10 Totara Street 4 Makora Road Camberley, Hastings Waipukurau Masterton 3 bedrooms 3 bedrooms 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $169,000 Price $99,000 Price $129,000 Julie Boyes 021 409 929 Heather Whiting 021 234 5082 Richard Saunders 027 449 7053

WEB ID MU12409 WEB ID MU12114 WEB ID MU25844

20 Stuart Crescent 40 Kummer Crescent 130 Cole Street Masterton Masterton Masterton 3 bedrooms 4 bedrooms 1 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1 bathroom 1 bathroom Price $136,000 Price $168,000 Price $118,000 Richard Saunders 027 449 7053 Craig Cooper 0800 500 001 Graeme Sawyer 027 544 6884

Win $100 Prezzie Card Recommend us to a friend and we will give you a $100 Prezzie Card for every property you refer to us. September 2012 INVESTOR INSIDER NEWS FROM PROPERTY BROKERS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Around the Regions

In a new article we will provide feedback on local regions properties in the wider Manawatu region being available to regarding the rental market and what we are seeing. rent in Feilding, we see an average of 43 bonds being lodged a month in Feilding. Good quality properties at market rent Wairarapa should have minimum vacancy periods. There are currently 45 The South Wairarapa is one of our busiest regions with good properties available to rent in Feilding. quality properties renting very quickly. Over the last six months there have been 187 bonds lodged with an average of 31 Average rent for a 3 bedroom house Manawatu bonds a month being lodged. Currently there are 37 properties available for rent which means it will take approximately 1 Region Rent month to rent out properties. Awapuni West and North $274 Masterton has 67 properties available to rent on Trade Me Awapuni South and West End $308 with 62 bonds lodged on average per month. We have seen a 5.48% growth in the median rent in Masterton. The average Highbury/Westbrook $271 rent for a three bedroom house is $254. Keep your property Hokowhitu West/Lagoon $342 tidy and it will rent quick. Hospital $310 Average rent for a 3 bedroom house Wairarapa Kelvin Grove/Roslyn $293 Region Rent Massey/Linton/ $280 South Wairarapa $248 Central $302 Masterton $253 //Milson $286 Horowhenua /Hokowhitu West $306 Levin makes up over 60% of the Horowhenua region with Manawatu/Feilding $259 80 of the 125 properties available on Trade Me are located in Levin. With an average of 90 bonds being lodged per month Hawkes Bay we recommend that investors look at better suburbs to rent. Hastings is renting on average 110 properties per month Low income areas struggle in Levin. Median rents in Levin with Flaxmere and Havelock North renting approximately 30 continue to be relatively static with a small increase of 1.3% properties a month respectively. Napier is more sought after from the previous year. If you shop around you can find strong with approximately 140 properties renting per month. yield properties (about 8 to 9%). Based on median sale price The highest rents are currently in Havelock North with the for July of $225,000 a standard yield will be 5.3%. Average average rent for a three bedroom house being $356. The rent in the Horowhenua is $222 for a three bedroom property. amount of properties available for rent is consistent between Napier and Hastings. There are just under 200 properties Wanganui available in Hastings, Flaxmere and Havelock North whilst there With our recent purchase of the Professional rent roll, our are just under 190 properties available in Napier and Taradale. team has been extremely busy. Wanganui has an oversupply of available rental accommodation. My recommendation is to Waipukurau rents more than half the properties available in keep rent just below average price to maximise the potential Central Hawkes Bay. There has been no change of any note in of getting the property rented quickly. Also, make sure that rents over the past 6 months. your property looks the best. Properties that are insulated Average rent for a 3 bedroom house Hawkes Bay and dry are always in demand. The median three bedroom rents has increased by 4.8% over the last 12 months and the Region Rent average rent for a three bedroom is $223.However, it is not Central Hawkes Bay $199 all negative. The median sale price in July for Wanganui was only $161,500. Based on the average rent you can get a return Rural Hastings $296 of 7.2%. This is one of the best regions for a return on your Flaxmere $261 investment. Hastings $309 Rangitikei Havelock North $356 Bulls has 30 properties out of 40 properties that are available Napier $312 to rent. Average rent for a three bedroom property is $186. On average there are 28 properties rented a month in this region. Taradale $329 Manawatu Tararua Palmerston North currently has 364 properties available to There is just over 30 bonds lodged per month in the Tararua rent. This is an increase of 21.3% from the late autumn early region with over 50% of these in Dannevirke. The average rent for winter period. Rents are consistent with a small 2.1% growth a three bedroom house in the Tararua region is $182. There are over the last 6 months. Palmerston North is always consistently currently 55 properties available for rent on Trade Me in this region busy with an average of just under 300 bonds lodged per so make sure that your properties.. are well presented and just month. We will soon be approaching the busy student period below market rent to give the best opportunity to let the property. where lots of properties will become available to rent. This is another region where you can attract strong yields with Feilding again remains in high demand. With ¾ of all rental the median sale price in for July was $83,000 and in Dannevirke $136,000. September 2012 INVESTOR INSIDER NEWS FROM PROPERTY BROKERS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Median rent for the last 12 months

Palmerston North Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12 Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12

Northern $280.00 $280.00 $292.00 $287.00 $287.00 $280.00 $285.00 $290.00 $282.00 $300.00 $280.00 $290.00

Hokowhitu $287.00 $300.00 $307.00 $325.00 $325.00 $297.00 $320.00 $305.00 $310.00 $325.00 $285.00 $320.00

Central $297.00 $270.00 $280.00 $280.00 $280.00 $310.00 $290.00 $310.00 $300.00 $310.00 $300.00 $290.00

Southern $275.00 $265.00 $282.00 $277.00 $277.00 $280.00 $280.00 $290.00 $275.00 $285.00 $285.00 $280.00

Hawkes Bay

Napier Central $350.00 $330.00 $330.00 $320.00 $320.00 $320.00 $340.00 $300.00 $322.00 $310.00 $322.00 $325.00

Napier South $300.00 $295.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 $295.00 $290.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00

Taradale $330.00 $320.00 $312.00 $320.00 $320.00 $320.00 $330.00 $320.00 $325.00 $320.00 $327.00 $330.00

Hastings $280.00 $282.00 $272.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 $290.00 $292.00 $285.00 $300.00 $282.00

Other Regions

Wanganui $217.00 $215.00 $220.00 $220.00 $220.00 $230.00 $220.00 $212.00 $225.00 $210.00 $227.00 $220.00

Masterton $240.00 $250.00 $250.00 $255.00 $255.00 $240.00 $245.00 $250.00 $250.00 $245.00 $250.00 $250.00

Horowhenua $225.00 $225.00 $220.00 $235.00 $235.00 $220.00 $220.00 $230.00 $230.00 $220.00 $220.00 $230.00

Kapiti Coast $330.00 $330.00 $340.00 $330.00 $330.00 $330.00 $330.00 $350.00 $345.00 $340.00 $340.00 $330.00

Contact Us At Property Brokers’ we welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback. You can contact us via email (below), phone, fax or mail and we will handle your enquiry promptly.