Rental Appraisals

As professional property managers, part of your job description is undertaking rental appraisals for clients, potential investors and sometimes tenants.

An onsite property inspection is best practise and caution should be taken when completing an appraisal without having physically seen the property. It is important to ascertain that the property is compliant with the various regulations property managers work within: Residential Tenancies Act, Health and Safety at Work Act, Building Act, Fencing of Swimming Pools and any local authority bylaws to name a few.

A full description of the subject property, along with the approximate floor area, any improvements, chattels, school zones and local amenities should be included in your appraisal. It is very useful to include recent rental statistics along with other similar properties in similar areas. It is important to note that property managers are not registered valuers and a rental appraisal is not a valuation.

A rental appraisal could be relied upon by an investor for budgeting purposes, the bank for finance and sometimes by the Tenancy Tribunal for a rent increase dispute. There is a duty of care to ensure a realistic rental range and understand the supply and demand of the subject property’s location.

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Case Update: Noisy tenants

The landlord in this case applied for termination of the tenancy and rent arrears. The tenant wished to repay the debt with the hopes of avoiding immediate termination.

Law:
The Tenancy Tribunal has the power to terminate a tenancy where it would be inequitable to refuse to terminate the tenancy. Where the breach is capable of being remedied, the landlord must serve a 14 day notice on the tenant, requiring them to rectify the breach. If the tenant has not remedied the breach within the 14 day period then, the landlord can apply for termination of tenancy under section 56 of the Residential Tenancies Act.

Facts:
The tenant failed to pay rent and as a result, breached their obligations. The landlord accordingly, served a 14-day notice on the tenant however, the tenant did not remedy the breach within the specified period.

The landlord had also served another 14 day notice in relation to other breaches relating to “excessive noise…yelling at people on the streets” and “smell of drugs from the apartment.” The landlord claimed that neighbouring unit owners of the apartment, and the Body Corporate Manager had made numerous complaints about the tenants’ behaviour. The landlord provided evidence of the complaints by way of emails indicating offensive language and noise.

Finding:
The Tribunal took into consideration that the tenants had breached their obligations on multiple occasions and therefore, granted a conditional termination order to allow the tenant to pay the overdue amount.

You can find the full decision here.

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Christchurch Workshop: Understanding Resilience

Tuesday 9 July, The Tannery, Christchurch

As a Property Manager, do you sometimes feel STRESSED, TIME-PRESSURED and UNDER THE PUMP? Then this workshop is for you!

By understanding resilience you can become better informed about, and aware of, how to cope with the pressures of working life.

NV = 2 hours

Register Now

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2019 RPM Conference - Thriving in Changing Times

Friday 2 August, Hilton Hotel Auckland

This not-to-be missed Property Management Conference is hosted by Simon McKinney and filled with a great line-up of speakers such as Lisa O’Neill, Dr Annette Beautrais, Steve Watson, Lisa Gerrard and Sheree Nicholas.

Breakout sessions will be available for Property Managers and Business Owners.

Registration includes Cocktail Networking Drinks where the winner of the ‘2019 Recognition of Contribution to the Property Management Industry’ will be announced.

Book in now!

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REINZ Residential Rental Review - May 2019

The May REINZ Residential Rental Review is now available here.