September 6, 2025 • 41 mins
PropertyScouts director Ryan Weird joins the OneRoof Radio Show to discuss the need for regulation for property managers.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Jesus, I wanna be now ever here with you. Now
(00:31):
be one in this space.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yes, welcome back to the Weekend Collectible. Welcome in if
you have just joined us. By the way, if you
miss any of our previous hours, you can go into
anywhere hours. You can go and check them out on
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Weekend Collective. We had great fun in the panel with
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So if you want to if you missed out on that,
it'll be online. I would say already now actually I
(00:58):
think I'm safe and saying that, so you can go
and check that out. But of course we don't want
to do that yet. You can do that after six
o'clock because right now this is the one roof radio show.
We want your calls. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty
in text on nine two nine two. And what we're
gonna have a chat about is that, well, I guess
many of us, most many New Zelanders will have dealt
(01:21):
with property managers at one point in another, whether you
be a tenant or a landlord, unless, of course old
school I guess, back when you actually knew the landlord
because the landlord owned the house and you just dealt
with them. But it's increasingly common, and we're going to
explore a little bit about the purpose of a property
manager of guides and for and whether in fact it's
(01:45):
just a way for investors to be passive landlords. Anyway,
to discuss that and other things. We've taken your calls
as well. Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty text
nine two niney two. We're joined by Ryan where he's
a director at Property Scouts and he's with us right now.
Good day, Ryan, how are you going. I'm very good,
thanks to so property Scouts. Who are you guys?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, So, Property Scouts has been around for twenty years.
We've got twenty five franchises across New Zealand, right from
the Cargo right up to the beautiful Bay of Islands.
We are specialized in property management, meaning that we don't
sell any real estate. We're not confused by our job.
We are only focusing on managing good properties for people.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, because actually, when I first looked up Property Scouts,
not the explanation. All it's a description for people who
go hunting for properties for buyers and things as well.
So how did you come up with the name or
I mean, you love that. You might not have been
around at the invention of that company, because you do
look like quite a young chap.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
When we first started, tim you're right, we were doing
scouting for properties twenty years ago, and then those people
would turn around and say, thank you very can you
please manage it for me as well? Okay, and that's
when we got into property management, and very quickly that
took over the property finding side of things, and we
haven't done that for a very long time. Our core
(03:03):
business is property management. You're right, I am a younger guy.
My parents started property scouts. Wow, some second generation property manager.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay, hey, so have you noticed it obviously? Well, the
news is that the economy's tighter, maybe not feeling so
flash is do landlords sometimes in these times try and
save money by managing properties themselves more or have you
(03:32):
noticed a particular trend with you know, the number of
people who are seeking your services or not seeking it.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, there's probably a slight increase in the number of
landlords choosing to take back their property in order to
save money. But it's very slight. I would say out
of one hundred properties that may leave a property manager's portfolio,
only a couple of those would be for reasons of
wanting to manage the property themselves, probably because they've been
(04:01):
on the sidelines getting a sense of how complicated it
is to manage a property in the first place.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah, how hard is it to manage a property?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
It's very hard. It's getting increasingly more difficult. New legislation
is coming out all the time. You know, on any
given day, a property manager will need to be working
with the Residential Tendencies Act nineteen eighty six, Healthy Homes Regulations,
the Privacy Act, Health and Safety, the Fair Trading Act.
(04:33):
The list goes on. It's almost like the job of
a property manager is evolving. It's really becoming a profession
due to the complexity involved in the role.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So what are you guys responsible for? So if a
landlord decides that they want you guys to look after
the property and the tenancy, how hands off or hands
on does a landlord need to be Because it's not
like obviously with requirements with water tightness and air conditioning
and you know, there's a whole lot of where the
(05:05):
costs will fall on the landlords, but do they get
you to how much are you responsible for?
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Principally, a property manager is effectively there to convert capital
to cash flow. So one of the biggest jobs for
a property manager is to collect the rent, but also
track the revenue and expenses that go through that property,
but also provide reports that that landlord can use for
filing their tax returns and things like that. Another big
(05:34):
part of their job is finding someone that can pay
the rent for the property. So finding tenants is a
big part of the job, but they've also got to
vet those tenants, and good property managers have good systems
to find good tenants, so for example, background checks, credit checks,
reference checks. A property manager can also verify the idea
(05:56):
of a prospective tenant, and that helps avoid fraud and
those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
What about the suitability of the property itself and whether
it's all the boxes. If somebody say, for instance, if
I bord a house and I wanted to get a
tenant and I got a property manager involved, would they
be saying, Okay, there's a couple of things here which
are not up to religious slative standards. You need to
do X, Y and Z.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Correct. Yeah, that's kind of the advisory side of things
at the very beginning. We would like to do a
tour of any property before we take it on, and
we help the landlord understand what their requirements are in
terms of what work needs to be done to the property,
not only from a legislation point of view, but also
potentially improvements that might attract a tenant faster, or a
(06:44):
better quality tenant, or a higher rent. So it's both sides.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
So well, I can't remember. I seem to remember there
was some talk around the regulation around property managers as well.
Where's that got to?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
That was proposed under the previous government, but it wasn't
passed into luwer and when National came into power, they
did not continue with the regulation of property managers. They
wanted to put their focus on increasing the supply of
rental properties to help renters.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
What do you think about that, because I tend to
think I was thinking about the important role. I mean,
housing is such an integral part of life, having a
roof over your head. If you're not owning your own home,
you know you're tenanting it. I've got to say, I
would have thought that, if anything should be regulated, I'm
(07:38):
surprised that they haven't. Do you think I mean, not
that you are begging to be regulated, because you'd rely
on yourselves doing good job, but you must have seen
examples where you're like, oh, my goodness, there's a case
why we need to be regulated because this operator is
particularly shunky.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Those cases are coming up all the time. You know,
you can open the paper and see stories about transgressions
of property managers, but it also happens for private landloords.
I would love the industry to be regulated. We've been
calling for it for a long time. It would really
clean up the industry. It would remove the cowboys and
(08:14):
the people that give the property management industry a bad name,
because ninety nine point nine percent of the property managers
are fantastic, can do a great job. Is just the
odd bad apple.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
How we damaged it? How much hold that thought? How
much damage do those bad apples do? Because I mean
I was chatting to someone the other day and they're like, oh,
bloody property managers, how they do bugger or they charge
a fortune and you know you can't rely on them.
I mean, that's obviously a bad apple they're referring to.
But how bad is it for you guys?
Speaker 4 (08:45):
That's an interesting viewpoint. In Australia, eighty percent of rental
properties are professionally managed and twenty percent are managed by
Lennolds themselves. In New Zealand the statistics are quite different.
It's fifty percent to professionally managed and fifty percent aren't.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
We believe, yeah, believe if there was a regulation of
property managers, more people, including that person you were referencing before,
would have trust and property managers. And I think property
managers would end up with more properties to manage.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
So why I do want to dig into this a
bit and we'd love your calls on it. By the way,
if you've got any questions for Ryan, he's a director
at Property Scouts. They're a property management company if you've
got any questions from But if you've got any opinions,
we'd love to hear from you, as well as to
your attitude. If you were renting a house, would you
choose a property manager or would you try and do
(09:38):
it yourself? But let's dig into that a bit more. Ryan,
do you what reason did the government give it? I
think you touched on it. You said, they don't want
to make it any harder for people to offer their properties. Basically,
is that right.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I think Chris Bishop was in charge of it, and
I think what he said was, we don't. They felt
that the cost of regulation would be passed on to
tenants through higher rental prices, and I think the government
wanted to approach that very delicately and didn't want that
to happen, so instead they put it to the side
(10:12):
and focused on other strategies that would increase the supply
of properties to put down with pressure on rents.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I guess that is the fear, isn't it that as
soon as you decide you've got to regulate something, then
they become client sorry, compliance costs correct, and then you
get bureaucrats involved to think, well, we're going to charge X,
Y and z. I mean, can you imagine a way
in which it might work that you I mean, as
you said, you actually support the idea of some form
of regulation.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Ah, I do. I do. The proposed regulation, in my eyes,
wasn't perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.
I do also recall there was quite a tenuous calculation
between the cost of providing the regulation and the benefit
it was very slight, and I think that needs refinement somewhere.
(10:59):
We need to get a lot more benefit out of
regulation than what was proposed.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Well, what would it look like for you guys if
you were if they said, Ryan, what do you reckon
regulations should look at? Should look like? I mean, you've
been in the business for twenty years your company, so
in a way, you wouldn't want to have to jump
through a million in hopes because you've tried and true.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, there's a lot of companies out there that are
already that regulation wouldn't change a hell of a lot
for them because they're already kind of self regulating by
doing all the right things. They've got the insurance, those
sorts of things. I think one thing that would have
been good was that, as I mentioned earlier, there are
transgressions by property managers that you read about in the paper,
(11:44):
but also private landlords. Now, when you bring in the regulation,
you've kind of got one chance to get it right. Now,
what the regulation said was it was going to regulate
property managers, but it completely ignored the other fifty percent
of the market that are private landlords. Now I'm not
saying private landlords should be regulated the same way as
(12:04):
property managers, but we there should at least be a
register so we know who's managing properties out there.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Actually, here's here's I'm just making this up on the hoof,
and we got lots we can talk about. But I
would imagine that even if you just said that if
you were going to be either a landlord or a
property manager, you had to register as such, and that
would provide and as a result, you could there's something
(12:31):
you could be struck off from. So if you did
have a transgression, even if you didn't have a qualification,
anyone could become a proper manager. But as soon as
you have a transgression, then you have one or two
or three strikes and you're out. I mean that that
would have very little sort of compliance costs, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I agree, And that's why I think the regulation could
have gone a little bit further, including a register.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Okay, we'd love your calls on that. Eight hundred and
eighty ten eighty Do you think that we should be
regulating property managers and landlords when it comes to providing
properties for people to rent or not. But if you've
got any questions also for Ryan where he's the CEO CEO.
Do I get that right?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You can call me CEO.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
He's the boss at Property Scouts. If you've got any
questions as well. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty text
nine two nine two. We will take a break now,
we'll be back in just the tickets twenty past four
News Talks B. News Talk said, B, this is the
one ready your show. We're talking about property managers. If
you've got any questions. Actually, for Ryan, we are he's
director of Property Property Scouts. But actually what we're looking
at is should it be regulated and when should you
(13:39):
choose to be your own property manager versus actually I
should say Ryan before we get into the cause, I've
got a bunch of cars holding that. Most of the
time when we have property experts on here talking about investment,
just about all of them say that if you are
not hiring a property manager, you're an idiot. You won't
say that because that would be in correct view to
(14:00):
the audience probably, But anyway, look, let's get we'll get
your take on that in just a moment, but let's
get to the cause. Dan High, Gooday, how are you good? Thanks?
Heydon good.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I've got two questions I'd like to ask.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Please yep, where you go?
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Okay? My first question is what does Ryan think about
the government giving landlords the tax rebate? And my second question,
my second question is should.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
The government be able to put a cap on the
time space where rents go up?
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Okay, so so many rent increases? I don't know. Do
they already have that? Ryan? Second question?
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yeah, So what the law says is that a rent
increase can't be passed on within the first twelve months
of a tendancy, and a rent increase can't take effect
twelve months since the last one, so that's already in play.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So it has to be year by year down. Is that?
What do you think of that?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
I don't think much. I've been in the place here
for seven years. Yeah, and when I first took it over,
i was paying two twenty yeah, and now I'm on
four sixty.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
And the landlords have had put it up twice in
the year sort of thing, twice once a year, and
then the year after they've put it up. What I'm
saying is should the government put sort of a price
cap on it sort of thing? You know?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Well, I guess, I guess grind. The market sort of
looks after that. Now, But what are you what's your
take on that?
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Not a big fan of rent controls, there's already protections
for tenants around that. The RTA states that a landlord
may only charge market rent for a property, and that
can protect tenants from paying over what a property is worth.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
By the way, Dan, we'll leave that first question. So
it's a politic political one about tax and deductibility. That's
so we've hashed that a few times. But basically, if
you've remove deductibility of expenses, then it only make there's
only one way that goes down, and that adds to
the cost to the landlord, which they will try and
pass on. I mean, I don't know if that's I
(16:20):
don't think that's particularly contestable, is it, Ryan?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I agree with you there there are unintended consequences. Like
a little while ago, it's probably five or six years
ago now, the Labor government prohibited leading fees being charged
from tenants being charged to tenants. The unintended consequence was
that the rents went up. Yeah, and that's a worse
soft scenario for tenants because they're paying an extra maybe
(16:45):
ten dollars per week and that's compounding.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah, so, I mean, I guess in a way that
reflects on Bishop saying that they thought regulating it would
add another cost to tenants. But I guess, you know,
it's a matter of working out the best sort of
most expedient way of keeping people safe as well, isn't it?
Te more cause? Brenda?
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Hello, Yeah, hi guys, how are you good?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Good things.
Speaker 7 (17:13):
I set my residential property management certificate online last year
and I don't think anyone, whether they own the property,
that the property investor should be managing it unless they
know about the residential tenancies at nineteen eighty six. Yeah,
(17:35):
here all the time about shunky landlords that think they
know the law and they don't, and it puts everyone
in a really difficult situation. And thank goodness we do
have the Tenancy Tribunal are there for a reason. And
(17:56):
it was a shame that when the National Coalition government
came in they dropped regulating property managers. I just think
that was the wrong thing to do.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I think there was disappointment all around, wasn't there. Brenda?
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Yeah, Well, you know, there's a lot to know, and
that's why I don't think, you know, mister John Brown,
because he's got a rental property should be managing it
unless he's totally osay with the residential tenancies that ninety
eighty six.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, it seems sort of a reasonable position to hold,
isn't it. Ryan?
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Absolutely? I mean the RTA nineteen eighty six determines how
the tenancy operates. It's the document or the law that
governs how the tenancy runs.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
So we've just lost you there. We've got a bit
of a connectivity issue. Maybe we'll let's turn the cameras contents.
So we just lost you there for a sec. Maybe,
well let's turn the video off because we're coming down
the zoom because we just lost your connection there, Ryan,
do you want to repeat what you said?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Am I beat?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yep? Where you go? Yep? And I bet yep you are.
I think we might have aid one. We might just
need to we might just need to take them homent. Well,
we'll actually get Ryan back, but just while we are
working out, while we're working on that with my producer,
(19:20):
I think we've got them back. Actually there, Ryan, Okay,
now we'll be back in just to take We'll just
take a moment. It's twenty nine past four news Talk said,
be extra.
Speaker 8 (19:32):
We need to start adding value. That is the future
of the New Zealand economy, and this deal has been
criticized for doing the opposite. But as someone much smarter
than me set today, chopping up a big block of
butter into smaller blocks of butter and then putting a
wrapper around them is not adding value. Butter is not
a value added product. Butter is a commodity. What is
value added is all the other stuff that Fonterra does.
(19:53):
It's stuff like pulling proteins out of milk and adding
those proteins that concentrates to sports food or medical foods
or sports drinks or whatever, and then selling that stuff
to rich customers and developed countries. Now Fontia his plan
is to sell off the butter stuff, which is actually
very low margin and quite complex, and then put their
energy into the actual value added part of the business.
(20:13):
Now I can't argue with that, can you? And as
for Miles Hurrel, I mean, he was the guy everyone
was celebrating for turning around Fonterra's fortunes before the steal.
Imagine what they're going to be saying about him now.
It's not only Fonterra stocks that have shot up today.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I'd say that was a news talk z'd be extra. Yes,
we're back with I'm Tim Beverett, so that we're back
with one Routh radio show. My guess is Ryan. We're
his director of Property Scots.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Now.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I think our previous caller, Ryan was talking about the
bareest minimum you should as a landlord have an understand
all the standing of the Residential Tendancies Act. I can
easily envisage the old schools, you know what I mean,
when you get your license, you've got to sit a
written version of it. I mean it could be something
as simple as that, having to pass some sort of
test which reminds landlords of what their responsibilities are.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Yep, that would be a great idea. It's imperative that
anyone who's managing a property knows about the Residential Tendencies
Act because it's the document that's the piece of legislation
that governs everything about that tendency. And I know for
sure there'll be landlords out there that don't know anything
about the RTA.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
God, how do they get by?
Speaker 9 (21:19):
Then?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Do they just charge? But is it sort of hope
and a prayer? They just charge rent? And then if
the tenant says, I need a window repaired.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
They go, Okay, I think that's what's happened, and that's
why many of them probably end up at the tendency tribunal.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Okay, Well, taking your calls, do you think that there
needs to be legislation regulating who can actually manage a property,
whether you be a private landlord or a property manager
of eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty, But also
any questions you've got for Ryan, who's director of Property Scouts.
Let's go to Mary. Hello.
Speaker 10 (21:52):
Oh hi, I'm a landlord and from time to time
I have sort of having a property manager. I think
I got one Briefly. I didn't had the confidence that
they were going to do the job properly. I thought
they were quite casual, and things, you know, weren't looked into,
(22:16):
like rents not being paid or being being told about
problems that came up. So I sort of gave up
on property managers. Are not saying that they're no.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Good all, But was it just that you had one
you didn't quite believe had the goods.
Speaker 10 (22:37):
I just didn't have the confidence there that they were
going to do do the goods. What would have signed up.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
What would have given you confidence.
Speaker 10 (22:47):
The fact that when you look at your bank bank
account and you find that the rents haven't gone and
nothing's been done about it.
Speaker 11 (22:57):
I just need to would need to feel that bit
more twitched on. But you see, property managers have got
lots of property after so you know, you don't always
come to the top of the list. All things have
probably keenon's have got very cross and the landlord doesn't
actually know.
Speaker 10 (23:17):
About it and generally getting things done.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Well, that's an interesting question. How many ryan how many
properties should or could a good property manager handle it?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Varies greatly depending on how much support they get. But
I've employed property managers from other companies before that are
managing two hundred and fifty properties, which is far far
too many. We think a good number is between eighty
and one hundred. That's quite manageable. It properly scouts across
the country at seventy nine on average.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Yeah, two fifty, I mean that's I mean, how much
time would you ever have to deal with.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Anything exactly if you actually do the mass at something
like six minutes of property per week, and that's not
a lot of time spent on a set that could
be worth a million dollars.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Now, what do you reckon, Mary? What would what would
get you? What would what would get you? To have
a property manager.
Speaker 10 (24:16):
Nowadays?
Speaker 11 (24:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (24:18):
I've been a landlord for forty five years. Okay, so yes,
old age and a property manager.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
But concern, and rightly so, was about the rent not
being paid on time. In your experience of dealing with
property managers. There are a number of property management companies
now that provide a rental guarantee system, meaning that if
the tenant doesn't pay the rent on time for whatever reason,
that the rent will still flow through to you, but
(24:52):
out of the property manager's pocket.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Okay, Okay, that's a that's a big call. Actually, that
is a big care from a property management company. I
would have thought, what's what's your feeling about that?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Right?
Speaker 4 (25:06):
We've been doing it for approximately twenty years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
And I guess you feel comfortable because you choose the
tenant exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
So we believe in our processes so much. When we
check tenants out, it will sort of put our money
where their where our mouth is. So if they don't
pay the rent, we'll pick up the rent for up
to four weeks.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
How much does it? I mean, can you tell me roughly?
I might have done if you guys are different to
other property managers, but roughly, how is the ore the
fees calculated on what you charge?
Speaker 4 (25:39):
It's very simple. It's based on the rent that is collected.
There is a commission levied upon that commission. Rates across
the country will vary greatly, from six percent at the
low end to ten percent at the high end, and
the meeting would probably be around seven and a half
or eight percent.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So if somebody is getting five hundred bucks a week rent,
then they're paying fifty bucks a week, so two and
a half thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Yeah, and some might say that that's money well spent.
Actually do it?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Do people ever use you to text deductible?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Yeah? Do people ever use you to find to find
tenants but then manage them themselves? Or is that not
how you guys work?
Speaker 4 (26:21):
That service does exist in our industry. It's called casual letting,
and it's just when we place a tenant into the
property and then hand the file over to the landlord
for the ongoing management of it. It's not terribly common
because most property managers want to hold onto the property
and earn a fee over the life of the tenancy,
rather than just do all the upfront work and find
(26:42):
a fantastic tenant only to pass it on to the landlord.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
What would a reason, What would a landlord expect? It
would be the sort of first up conditions in terms
of how long they're bonded to you guys for.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Well, typically we see a management agreement will contain a
clause that the property's going to stay with the property
manager for at least a year. Yeah, there's not heaps
and heaps of money and property management term it can
take many months to recover your costs from actually letting
the property at the very beginning of the transaction. Yeah,
(27:17):
so that's why there's usually a minimum term with property managers.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Well, I management. I imagine most landlords, if you're going
to find the land and the tenant for them, just
sort of think, oh, it's not going to cost me
much more to have you guys look after it from
now on. So not that I'm making the argument for
you deliberately, but let's take some more calls. In fact,
I will take the calls after we've taken another break.
It is twenty three minutes to five News Talk said
B eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. Yes, welcome back
to the one Rof Freddysham. My guest is Ryan, where
(27:41):
he's a director of Property Scouts. We're talking about basically
property management. Should landlords do it? Should you have to
be registered to do it? And you're taking your calls Alan, Hello.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
Hello there. Yes, I'm a new landlord. So a few
years ago, my wife died and I remarried, so I
rented out my family home to my daughter. So that
was an easy adjustment to begin with, and then when
she moved out, I had to decide how I was
(28:12):
going to manage the property. So I engaged the services
of a property manager. I was recommended by a friend,
and they charged me ten percent of the value of
the rent. But there was something else. They also charged
GST on top of that ten percent, so a lot
(28:35):
of hidden little costs, so.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It was eleven and a half percent and gross terms.
Speaker 9 (28:39):
Really yes, that's right. And then also it was really
good property manager. So they found me some tenants and
they did their due diligence to give me some options.
I've got some good tenants, but prior to having it rented.
(29:01):
I had to have a healthy Home subscription included a
meth test, So it was about four hundred dollars for
the Healthy Homes and meth test. And I had to
have a vapor barrier put under the house, which costs
another seven hundred dollars, which I'd never had even though
(29:22):
I'd owned the house for twenty five hours. What barrier
It's called a vapor barrier, plastic sheet on the on
the ground. So the whole, my whole house was you know,
up to good standards. Another thing I had to do
was have smoke alarms installed and they had to be
(29:44):
inspected too, and they have to be inspected every year. Yeah,
pass regulation.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
These all these hidden costs that you didn't realize were
waiting for.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
You there absolutely yep. And before I moved in, I
had the windows clean, the carpets commercially clean, and the
whole play cleaned. And the other problem is I had
to make arrangements was who was going to mow the
lawns because it was a family home.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So what's happened now? Are you still managing?
Speaker 9 (30:19):
Have you got the property manager? Is doing well? So
they they send me every fortnightly. I get money put
into my bank account, and they also send me an
invoice of of of that and any any And if
I have any maintenance to do, I can either get
(30:43):
them to do it, or I can pay somebody else
myself to do it, or I go and do it myself.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
So are you basically saying it's been a good move
to have a property manager?
Speaker 9 (30:52):
Absolutely, yes, it is. I mean the biggest thing is
because I didn't well, I was new to the whole understanding. Firstly,
I wanted to guarantee that i'd get some good tenants
because I've had you know, one side of it is
you might get bad landlords, but if you get bad tenants,
I've heard of tenants who completely trashed the house. Yeah,
(31:16):
So I wanted to guarantee you. And so the property
manager found me tenants they had on their books for
fourteen years and they could guarantee those tenants. So it
gave me peace of mind that I was going to
be well looked after. And they're really good.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Oh good stuff, good stuff.
Speaker 9 (31:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Is there anything you wanted to ask, Ryan or just
your observations and your experience, just.
Speaker 9 (31:40):
My observations really, and the fact the other difficulty is
too because of the the insurance cover and everything like that.
So I was told that, I'm you know, I used
to clean the chimney myself, but now the property manager
does that to make sure that that's written. Then there
(32:02):
is a damage. And the other thing is if they
even said if I needed a washer changed, better to
get a plumber because if there was a leak. But
I becovered and I have. I've also taken out landlords insurance,
which covers a whole lot, which is more expensive than
(32:23):
normal insurance.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
It's quite a few things you've a had to take
off there all. Yeah, I mean that is quite a list,
doesn't it. But do you have to still ryand you
still have to do you have to do meth tests?
These says, do you?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
Opinions are divided about that. It is quite important to
do a baseline test because if you place tenants into
a property, and even professionals can be meth sort of
recreational myth users, if you find that there's been meth
used in the property, you can't really hold those tenants
accountable unless you did a baseline test at the beginning,
(32:57):
much like Alan did.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Okay, is that expensive?
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Yeah? I think Alan mentioned it was about four hundred
dollars and that sounds about right for a three bedroom property. Yeah,
and quite often sorry, just the other thing. Quite often
insurance companies will only pay out or mess clean up
work if testing is being done at the start of
tendancies and in between tendancies.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Yeah, there's a few little hidden things. By the way,
most landlords would they just from the GST point of view,
Are most landlords registered for GST so you know whether
you're charging the GST is irrelevant?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
No, most landlords aren't jest registered because residential rent in
New Zealand isn't ye GCT doesn't get levied on that income.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Okay, right, okay, right, let's take some more calls.
Speaker 12 (33:48):
Chris, Hello, Yes, hi, I just moved them to my
tenancy in March this year. I signed a fixed term tenancy.
Now for how long I've been three months? I think
it's three months now, three months, I've been here just
over three months.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
How long is your term for?
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Oh, it's on a one year fixed term. And just
a few weeks ago, the landlord said the owner. Because
I love the owner of the above me, I live
below and I have a property management looking after my property.
(34:29):
And he said that because I have my son over Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and he goes home on Sunday. She's saying that it's
considered having an extra person in the house, even though
that I'm the one person on the tenancy as the
one tenant because I don't have a partner. Is that
(34:52):
that's the rent up twenty dollars from my.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Because your son's but there for a part of the week.
Does is that legit?
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Ryan?
Speaker 11 (35:01):
No?
Speaker 4 (35:01):
The rent the increased at the property the first year
of your tendancy, no matter what, no matter what the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So if there was a term that he only supposed
to be one person living at the property and somebody
else comes in, that it doesn't mean anything that the
landlords can't up the rent.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
No, it doesn't. Trigger.
Speaker 12 (35:21):
Yeah, he's saying there that contributes to it because I've
got water and power included in my rent. Now I
pay for eighty a week rent and because of the
coming over and staying on Thursday, so.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
They're charging they're charging you based on the fact that
there's more power and water being used. Okay, is that legit? Ryan?
That still sounds nippy.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
No, it's not legit because it still constitutes a rent
increase because Chris's utilities are included in his rent, so
he can't try and separate the two out.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Yeah, because otherwise then you get interesting thing of the
landlord going, hey, I heard you having a twenty minute
shower the other day. I have to judge.
Speaker 9 (36:03):
Rent.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
What should he do?
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Well?
Speaker 4 (36:07):
I advise any tenant who's having difficulties to try and
communicate with your property manager or landlord, and if it
isn't going to plan, seek some free advice from the
tenancy hotline from Tenancy Services. The telephone number Chris if
you want to, it's eight hundred Enantcy.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Eight hundred Tenancy Chris. So give give that a bell
m And I mean that's you know what for people
who don't if you that is a different one. Because
he said his landlord lives up upstairs, I think so
he's got obviously a granny flats downstairs. What I mean,
how do you Some people aren't comfortable with any formal conversation.
I guess you've just got a you've just got to
how would you raise that conversation as just a renter?
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Chris mentioned he's got a property manager as scientist. So
that's really good. So there is some separation between the
landlord and Chris. So Chris should really take it to
the to the property manager and say, hey, as I
understand it, rent cannot go up in the first tear
of my tenancy. Can you explain why this is happening?
Speaker 3 (37:09):
What about just a quick question here. If you've got
a property manager, you've signed up and as you say,
a lot of them, you'll do a deal for a year.
If that property manager has been lax and is not
doing the things you require of them, what remedies are
there for you as a landlord.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
In that instance, the landlord should really negotiate with the
property manager and say, hey, certain things your responsibilities in
our property management agreement are not being met and for
that reason, I don't feel it would be fear to
hold me to the contract term.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Yeah, and then see what they say, yeah? And then
which case there? I mean? You can't a landlord can't
take a property manager to the tenancy at tribunal, can
they No?
Speaker 4 (37:55):
But they can go to the small claims court.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Okay, okay, right, well take a quick break back in
just a moment. We got lots of texts to answer
as well. So we might get onto a few of
those when you come back in just a minute. I'm
with and we're his director of Property scouts. If you
want to jump the queue and talk to run then
you can give us a call straight off. In fact, no,
we won't have time for any more cause I'm fibbing
my producers. Tott. Just let me know what we'll do
with some text when you come back, and just to
take it's nine minutes.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
The one Roof property of the Week on the Weekend Collective.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Oh yes, my goodness, the one Roof Property of the Week.
I've We've got this one on because well, a couple
of reasons. One, it's absolutely gorgeous. It's the address is
and you want to go to the one Roof website
One Roof dot co dot and zaid it is six
Island Bay Road in beech Haven, North Shore City and
I cannot get my head around it because it is
(38:46):
a stunningly the owners have gotten a history in designing
and building special projects so that they've earned a gold
pin at the Best Design Awards for Interior interior. Sorry,
I can't even say it interior architectural design. And you've
got to say looking at it it is, it says
here in the blurb. Every inch has been thoughtfully designed,
(39:06):
showcasing a perfect fusion of architectural brilliance and meticulous craftsmanship.
And it is an absolutely stunning property. It's close to
the city beach. Oven's actually not that far. People think
of it as being a little bit of a way,
but it's only minutes from the ferry. But I can't
get over how stunning the property is. And yet the
(39:28):
value of it seems a little bit cheap because it's
listed on I don't want to say cheap. Nothing's cheap
these days. One point six seven five is the well. Sorry,
the estimate for the one roof side is one point
seven million. It's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two car garage.
But it is a brand new, beautifully designed house. Maybe
(39:51):
it's you know, it doesn't have a huge well. The
house at South Johnre is eighty square meters. I might ask,
right about this, what do you think of that? You've
seen the property of the week evens Ryan.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Yeah, I have. It's absolutely stunning. There's too many amazing
feats to list, like low Kigarden, beautiful pool, it's got
a hot tub, it's even got solar in an outdoor
barbecue area. It's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Yeah, I mean the downward look on the roof, it's
just covered in solar panels. I just can't give it
must be worth more than one point seven, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Yeah, I would have to say that would be extremely conservative.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Yeah, So if you think you're going to get it
for one point seven, just get along. Hey, look, we've
only I've been got a few seconds. Unfortunately we can't
get to any of the text, but I will say
quite a few property managers have texted and saying they
support their notion of regulation along with you, Ryan.
Speaker 9 (40:42):
So we're.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Yeah, hold of you property. What's with the website for
property scouts.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
Property scouts dot co, dot m Z.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Excellent mate. Oh well, thanks for your time. We look
forward to chatting again sometime.
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Beauty pleasure.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
There we go. That is the wonder If Radio show.
We're back next with the Parents Squad, talking about talking
about early childhood education.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Jesus, I wanna be now ever here with you. Now
(00:31):
be one in this space.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yes, welcome back to the Weekend Collectible. Welcome in if
you have just joined us. By the way, if you
miss any of our previous hours, you can go into
anywhere hours. You can go and check them out on
the News Talk said b website. Just look for the
Weekend Collective. We had great fun in the panel with
Alan Blackman and Richard Lindry is discussing a range of things.
So if you want to if you missed out on that,
it'll be online. I would say already now actually I
(00:58):
think I'm safe and saying that, so you can go
and check that out. But of course we don't want
to do that yet. You can do that after six
o'clock because right now this is the one roof radio show.
We want your calls. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty
in text on nine two nine two. And what we're
gonna have a chat about is that, well, I guess
many of us, most many New Zelanders will have dealt
(01:21):
with property managers at one point in another, whether you
be a tenant or a landlord, unless, of course old
school I guess, back when you actually knew the landlord
because the landlord owned the house and you just dealt
with them. But it's increasingly common, and we're going to
explore a little bit about the purpose of a property
manager of guides and for and whether in fact it's
(01:45):
just a way for investors to be passive landlords. Anyway,
to discuss that and other things. We've taken your calls
as well. Oh, eight hundred and eighty ten eighty text
nine two niney two. We're joined by Ryan where he's
a director at Property Scouts and he's with us right now.
Good day, Ryan, how are you going. I'm very good,
thanks to so property Scouts. Who are you guys?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, So, Property Scouts has been around for twenty years.
We've got twenty five franchises across New Zealand, right from
the Cargo right up to the beautiful Bay of Islands.
We are specialized in property management, meaning that we don't
sell any real estate. We're not confused by our job.
We are only focusing on managing good properties for people.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah, because actually, when I first looked up Property Scouts,
not the explanation. All it's a description for people who
go hunting for properties for buyers and things as well.
So how did you come up with the name or
I mean, you love that. You might not have been
around at the invention of that company, because you do
look like quite a young chap.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
When we first started, tim you're right, we were doing
scouting for properties twenty years ago, and then those people
would turn around and say, thank you very can you
please manage it for me as well? Okay, and that's
when we got into property management, and very quickly that
took over the property finding side of things, and we
haven't done that for a very long time. Our core
(03:03):
business is property management. You're right, I am a younger guy.
My parents started property scouts. Wow, some second generation property manager.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay, hey, so have you noticed it obviously? Well, the
news is that the economy's tighter, maybe not feeling so
flash is do landlords sometimes in these times try and
save money by managing properties themselves more or have you
(03:32):
noticed a particular trend with you know, the number of
people who are seeking your services or not seeking it.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, there's probably a slight increase in the number of
landlords choosing to take back their property in order to
save money. But it's very slight. I would say out
of one hundred properties that may leave a property manager's portfolio,
only a couple of those would be for reasons of
wanting to manage the property themselves, probably because they've been
(04:01):
on the sidelines getting a sense of how complicated it
is to manage a property in the first place.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah, how hard is it to manage a property?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
It's very hard. It's getting increasingly more difficult. New legislation
is coming out all the time. You know, on any
given day, a property manager will need to be working
with the Residential Tendencies Act nineteen eighty six, Healthy Homes Regulations,
the Privacy Act, Health and Safety, the Fair Trading Act.
(04:33):
The list goes on. It's almost like the job of
a property manager is evolving. It's really becoming a profession
due to the complexity involved in the role.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So what are you guys responsible for? So if a
landlord decides that they want you guys to look after
the property and the tenancy, how hands off or hands
on does a landlord need to be Because it's not
like obviously with requirements with water tightness and air conditioning
and you know, there's a whole lot of where the
(05:05):
costs will fall on the landlords, but do they get
you to how much are you responsible for?
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Principally, a property manager is effectively there to convert capital
to cash flow. So one of the biggest jobs for
a property manager is to collect the rent, but also
track the revenue and expenses that go through that property,
but also provide reports that that landlord can use for
filing their tax returns and things like that. Another big
(05:34):
part of their job is finding someone that can pay
the rent for the property. So finding tenants is a
big part of the job, but they've also got to
vet those tenants, and good property managers have good systems
to find good tenants, so for example, background checks, credit checks,
reference checks. A property manager can also verify the idea
(05:56):
of a prospective tenant, and that helps avoid fraud and
those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
What about the suitability of the property itself and whether
it's all the boxes. If somebody say, for instance, if
I bord a house and I wanted to get a
tenant and I got a property manager involved, would they
be saying, Okay, there's a couple of things here which
are not up to religious slative standards. You need to
do X, Y and Z.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Correct. Yeah, that's kind of the advisory side of things
at the very beginning. We would like to do a
tour of any property before we take it on, and
we help the landlord understand what their requirements are in
terms of what work needs to be done to the property,
not only from a legislation point of view, but also
potentially improvements that might attract a tenant faster, or a
(06:44):
better quality tenant, or a higher rent. So it's both sides.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
So well, I can't remember. I seem to remember there
was some talk around the regulation around property managers as well.
Where's that got to?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
That was proposed under the previous government, but it wasn't
passed into luwer and when National came into power, they
did not continue with the regulation of property managers. They
wanted to put their focus on increasing the supply of
rental properties to help renters.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
What do you think about that, because I tend to
think I was thinking about the important role. I mean,
housing is such an integral part of life, having a
roof over your head. If you're not owning your own home,
you know you're tenanting it. I've got to say, I
would have thought that, if anything should be regulated, I'm
(07:38):
surprised that they haven't. Do you think I mean, not
that you are begging to be regulated, because you'd rely
on yourselves doing good job, but you must have seen
examples where you're like, oh, my goodness, there's a case
why we need to be regulated because this operator is
particularly shunky.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Those cases are coming up all the time. You know,
you can open the paper and see stories about transgressions
of property managers, but it also happens for private landloords.
I would love the industry to be regulated. We've been
calling for it for a long time. It would really
clean up the industry. It would remove the cowboys and
(08:14):
the people that give the property management industry a bad name,
because ninety nine point nine percent of the property managers
are fantastic, can do a great job. Is just the
odd bad apple.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
How we damaged it? How much hold that thought? How
much damage do those bad apples do? Because I mean
I was chatting to someone the other day and they're like, oh,
bloody property managers, how they do bugger or they charge
a fortune and you know you can't rely on them.
I mean, that's obviously a bad apple they're referring to.
But how bad is it for you guys?
Speaker 4 (08:45):
That's an interesting viewpoint. In Australia, eighty percent of rental
properties are professionally managed and twenty percent are managed by
Lennolds themselves. In New Zealand the statistics are quite different.
It's fifty percent to professionally managed and fifty percent aren't.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
We believe, yeah, believe if there was a regulation of
property managers, more people, including that person you were referencing before,
would have trust and property managers. And I think property
managers would end up with more properties to manage.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
So why I do want to dig into this a
bit and we'd love your calls on it. By the way,
if you've got any questions for Ryan, he's a director
at Property Scouts. They're a property management company if you've
got any questions from But if you've got any opinions,
we'd love to hear from you, as well as to
your attitude. If you were renting a house, would you
choose a property manager or would you try and do
(09:38):
it yourself? But let's dig into that a bit more. Ryan,
do you what reason did the government give it? I
think you touched on it. You said, they don't want
to make it any harder for people to offer their properties. Basically,
is that right.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I think Chris Bishop was in charge of it, and
I think what he said was, we don't. They felt
that the cost of regulation would be passed on to
tenants through higher rental prices, and I think the government
wanted to approach that very delicately and didn't want that
to happen, so instead they put it to the side
(10:12):
and focused on other strategies that would increase the supply
of properties to put down with pressure on rents.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I guess that is the fear, isn't it that as
soon as you decide you've got to regulate something, then
they become client sorry, compliance costs correct, and then you
get bureaucrats involved to think, well, we're going to charge X,
Y and z. I mean, can you imagine a way
in which it might work that you I mean, as
you said, you actually support the idea of some form
of regulation.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Ah, I do. I do. The proposed regulation, in my eyes,
wasn't perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.
I do also recall there was quite a tenuous calculation
between the cost of providing the regulation and the benefit
it was very slight, and I think that needs refinement somewhere.
(10:59):
We need to get a lot more benefit out of
regulation than what was proposed.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Well, what would it look like for you guys if
you were if they said, Ryan, what do you reckon
regulations should look at? Should look like? I mean, you've
been in the business for twenty years your company, so
in a way, you wouldn't want to have to jump
through a million in hopes because you've tried and true.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, there's a lot of companies out there that are
already that regulation wouldn't change a hell of a lot
for them because they're already kind of self regulating by
doing all the right things. They've got the insurance, those
sorts of things. I think one thing that would have
been good was that, as I mentioned earlier, there are
transgressions by property managers that you read about in the paper,
(11:44):
but also private landlords. Now, when you bring in the regulation,
you've kind of got one chance to get it right. Now,
what the regulation said was it was going to regulate
property managers, but it completely ignored the other fifty percent
of the market that are private landlords. Now I'm not
saying private landlords should be regulated the same way as
(12:04):
property managers, but we there should at least be a
register so we know who's managing properties out there.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Actually, here's here's I'm just making this up on the hoof,
and we got lots we can talk about. But I
would imagine that even if you just said that if
you were going to be either a landlord or a
property manager, you had to register as such, and that
would provide and as a result, you could there's something
(12:31):
you could be struck off from. So if you did
have a transgression, even if you didn't have a qualification,
anyone could become a proper manager. But as soon as
you have a transgression, then you have one or two
or three strikes and you're out. I mean that that
would have very little sort of compliance costs, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I agree, And that's why I think the regulation could
have gone a little bit further, including a register.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Okay, we'd love your calls on that. Eight hundred and
eighty ten eighty Do you think that we should be
regulating property managers and landlords when it comes to providing
properties for people to rent or not. But if you've
got any questions also for Ryan where he's the CEO CEO.
Do I get that right?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You can call me CEO.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
He's the boss at Property Scouts. If you've got any
questions as well. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty text
nine two nine two. We will take a break now,
we'll be back in just the tickets twenty past four
News Talks B. News Talk said, B, this is the
one ready your show. We're talking about property managers. If
you've got any questions. Actually, for Ryan, we are he's
director of Property Property Scouts. But actually what we're looking
at is should it be regulated and when should you
(13:39):
choose to be your own property manager versus actually I
should say Ryan before we get into the cause, I've
got a bunch of cars holding that. Most of the
time when we have property experts on here talking about investment,
just about all of them say that if you are
not hiring a property manager, you're an idiot. You won't
say that because that would be in correct view to
(14:00):
the audience probably, But anyway, look, let's get we'll get
your take on that in just a moment, but let's
get to the cause. Dan High, Gooday, how are you good? Thanks?
Heydon good.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
I've got two questions I'd like to ask.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Please yep, where you go?
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Okay? My first question is what does Ryan think about
the government giving landlords the tax rebate? And my second question,
my second question is should.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
The government be able to put a cap on the
time space where rents go up?
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Okay, so so many rent increases? I don't know. Do
they already have that? Ryan? Second question?
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yeah, So what the law says is that a rent
increase can't be passed on within the first twelve months
of a tendancy, and a rent increase can't take effect
twelve months since the last one, so that's already in play.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So it has to be year by year down. Is that?
What do you think of that?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
I don't think much. I've been in the place here
for seven years. Yeah, and when I first took it over,
i was paying two twenty yeah, and now I'm on
four sixty.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
And the landlords have had put it up twice in
the year sort of thing, twice once a year, and
then the year after they've put it up. What I'm
saying is should the government put sort of a price
cap on it sort of thing? You know?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Well, I guess, I guess grind. The market sort of
looks after that. Now, But what are you what's your
take on that?
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Not a big fan of rent controls, there's already protections
for tenants around that. The RTA states that a landlord
may only charge market rent for a property, and that
can protect tenants from paying over what a property is worth.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
By the way, Dan, we'll leave that first question. So
it's a politic political one about tax and deductibility. That's
so we've hashed that a few times. But basically, if
you've remove deductibility of expenses, then it only make there's
only one way that goes down, and that adds to
the cost to the landlord, which they will try and
pass on. I mean, I don't know if that's I
(16:20):
don't think that's particularly contestable, is it, Ryan?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I agree with you there there are unintended consequences. Like
a little while ago, it's probably five or six years
ago now, the Labor government prohibited leading fees being charged
from tenants being charged to tenants. The unintended consequence was
that the rents went up. Yeah, and that's a worse
soft scenario for tenants because they're paying an extra maybe
(16:45):
ten dollars per week and that's compounding.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah, so, I mean, I guess in a way that
reflects on Bishop saying that they thought regulating it would
add another cost to tenants. But I guess, you know,
it's a matter of working out the best sort of
most expedient way of keeping people safe as well, isn't it?
Te more cause? Brenda?
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Hello, Yeah, hi guys, how are you good?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Thanks?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Good things.
Speaker 7 (17:13):
I set my residential property management certificate online last year
and I don't think anyone, whether they own the property,
that the property investor should be managing it unless they
know about the residential tenancies at nineteen eighty six. Yeah,
(17:35):
here all the time about shunky landlords that think they
know the law and they don't, and it puts everyone
in a really difficult situation. And thank goodness we do
have the Tenancy Tribunal are there for a reason. And
(17:56):
it was a shame that when the National Coalition government
came in they dropped regulating property managers. I just think
that was the wrong thing to do.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I think there was disappointment all around, wasn't there. Brenda?
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Yeah, Well, you know, there's a lot to know, and
that's why I don't think, you know, mister John Brown,
because he's got a rental property should be managing it
unless he's totally osay with the residential tenancies that ninety
eighty six.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, it seems sort of a reasonable position to hold,
isn't it. Ryan?
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Absolutely? I mean the RTA nineteen eighty six determines how
the tenancy operates. It's the document or the law that
governs how the tenancy runs.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
So we've just lost you there. We've got a bit
of a connectivity issue. Maybe we'll let's turn the cameras contents.
So we just lost you there for a sec. Maybe,
well let's turn the video off because we're coming down
the zoom because we just lost your connection there, Ryan,
do you want to repeat what you said?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Am I beat?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yep? Where you go? Yep? And I bet yep you are.
I think we might have aid one. We might just
need to we might just need to take them homent. Well,
we'll actually get Ryan back, but just while we are
working out, while we're working on that with my producer,
(19:20):
I think we've got them back. Actually there, Ryan, Okay,
now we'll be back in just to take We'll just
take a moment. It's twenty nine past four news Talk said,
be extra.
Speaker 8 (19:32):
We need to start adding value. That is the future
of the New Zealand economy, and this deal has been
criticized for doing the opposite. But as someone much smarter
than me set today, chopping up a big block of
butter into smaller blocks of butter and then putting a
wrapper around them is not adding value. Butter is not
a value added product. Butter is a commodity. What is
value added is all the other stuff that Fonterra does.
(19:53):
It's stuff like pulling proteins out of milk and adding
those proteins that concentrates to sports food or medical foods
or sports drinks or whatever, and then selling that stuff
to rich customers and developed countries. Now Fontia his plan
is to sell off the butter stuff, which is actually
very low margin and quite complex, and then put their
energy into the actual value added part of the business.
(20:13):
Now I can't argue with that, can you? And as
for Miles Hurrel, I mean, he was the guy everyone
was celebrating for turning around Fonterra's fortunes before the steal.
Imagine what they're going to be saying about him now.
It's not only Fonterra stocks that have shot up today.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I'd say that was a news talk z'd be extra. Yes,
we're back with I'm Tim Beverett, so that we're back
with one Routh radio show. My guess is Ryan. We're
his director of Property Scots.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Now.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I think our previous caller, Ryan was talking about the
bareest minimum you should as a landlord have an understand
all the standing of the Residential Tendancies Act. I can
easily envisage the old schools, you know what I mean,
when you get your license, you've got to sit a
written version of it. I mean it could be something
as simple as that, having to pass some sort of
test which reminds landlords of what their responsibilities are.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Yep, that would be a great idea. It's imperative that
anyone who's managing a property knows about the Residential Tendencies
Act because it's the document that's the piece of legislation
that governs everything about that tendency. And I know for
sure there'll be landlords out there that don't know anything
about the RTA.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
God, how do they get by?
Speaker 9 (21:19):
Then?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Do they just charge? But is it sort of hope
and a prayer? They just charge rent? And then if
the tenant says, I need a window repaired.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
They go, Okay, I think that's what's happened, and that's
why many of them probably end up at the tendency tribunal.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Okay, Well, taking your calls, do you think that there
needs to be legislation regulating who can actually manage a property,
whether you be a private landlord or a property manager
of eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty, But also
any questions you've got for Ryan, who's director of Property Scouts.
Let's go to Mary. Hello.
Speaker 10 (21:52):
Oh hi, I'm a landlord and from time to time
I have sort of having a property manager. I think
I got one Briefly. I didn't had the confidence that
they were going to do the job properly. I thought
they were quite casual, and things, you know, weren't looked into,
(22:16):
like rents not being paid or being being told about
problems that came up. So I sort of gave up
on property managers. Are not saying that they're no.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Good all, But was it just that you had one
you didn't quite believe had the goods.
Speaker 10 (22:37):
I just didn't have the confidence there that they were
going to do do the goods. What would have signed up.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
What would have given you confidence.
Speaker 10 (22:47):
The fact that when you look at your bank bank
account and you find that the rents haven't gone and
nothing's been done about it.
Speaker 11 (22:57):
I just need to would need to feel that bit
more twitched on. But you see, property managers have got
lots of property after so you know, you don't always
come to the top of the list. All things have
probably keenon's have got very cross and the landlord doesn't
actually know.
Speaker 10 (23:17):
About it and generally getting things done.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Well, that's an interesting question. How many ryan how many
properties should or could a good property manager handle it?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Varies greatly depending on how much support they get. But
I've employed property managers from other companies before that are
managing two hundred and fifty properties, which is far far
too many. We think a good number is between eighty
and one hundred. That's quite manageable. It properly scouts across
the country at seventy nine on average.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Yeah, two fifty, I mean that's I mean, how much
time would you ever have to deal with.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Anything exactly if you actually do the mass at something
like six minutes of property per week, and that's not
a lot of time spent on a set that could
be worth a million dollars.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Now, what do you reckon, Mary? What would what would
get you? What would what would get you? To have
a property manager.
Speaker 10 (24:16):
Nowadays?
Speaker 11 (24:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (24:18):
I've been a landlord for forty five years. Okay, so yes,
old age and a property manager.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
But concern, and rightly so, was about the rent not
being paid on time. In your experience of dealing with
property managers. There are a number of property management companies
now that provide a rental guarantee system, meaning that if
the tenant doesn't pay the rent on time for whatever reason,
that the rent will still flow through to you, but
(24:52):
out of the property manager's pocket.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Okay, Okay, that's a that's a big call. Actually, that
is a big care from a property management company. I
would have thought, what's what's your feeling about that?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Right?
Speaker 4 (25:06):
We've been doing it for approximately twenty years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
And I guess you feel comfortable because you choose the
tenant exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
So we believe in our processes so much. When we
check tenants out, it will sort of put our money
where their where our mouth is. So if they don't
pay the rent, we'll pick up the rent for up
to four weeks.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
How much does it? I mean, can you tell me roughly?
I might have done if you guys are different to
other property managers, but roughly, how is the ore the
fees calculated on what you charge?
Speaker 4 (25:39):
It's very simple. It's based on the rent that is collected.
There is a commission levied upon that commission. Rates across
the country will vary greatly, from six percent at the
low end to ten percent at the high end, and
the meeting would probably be around seven and a half
or eight percent.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
So if somebody is getting five hundred bucks a week rent,
then they're paying fifty bucks a week, so two and
a half thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Yeah, and some might say that that's money well spent.
Actually do it?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Do people ever use you to text deductible?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Yeah? Do people ever use you to find to find
tenants but then manage them themselves? Or is that not
how you guys work?
Speaker 4 (26:21):
That service does exist in our industry. It's called casual letting,
and it's just when we place a tenant into the
property and then hand the file over to the landlord
for the ongoing management of it. It's not terribly common
because most property managers want to hold onto the property
and earn a fee over the life of the tenancy,
rather than just do all the upfront work and find
(26:42):
a fantastic tenant only to pass it on to the landlord.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
What would a reason, What would a landlord expect? It
would be the sort of first up conditions in terms
of how long they're bonded to you guys for.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Well, typically we see a management agreement will contain a
clause that the property's going to stay with the property
manager for at least a year. Yeah, there's not heaps
and heaps of money and property management term it can
take many months to recover your costs from actually letting
the property at the very beginning of the transaction. Yeah,
(27:17):
so that's why there's usually a minimum term with property managers.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Well, I management. I imagine most landlords, if you're going
to find the land and the tenant for them, just
sort of think, oh, it's not going to cost me
much more to have you guys look after it from
now on. So not that I'm making the argument for
you deliberately, but let's take some more calls. In fact,
I will take the calls after we've taken another break.
It is twenty three minutes to five News Talk said
B eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. Yes, welcome back
to the one Rof Freddysham. My guest is Ryan, where
(27:41):
he's a director of Property Scouts. We're talking about basically
property management. Should landlords do it? Should you have to
be registered to do it? And you're taking your calls Alan, Hello.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
Hello there. Yes, I'm a new landlord. So a few
years ago, my wife died and I remarried, so I
rented out my family home to my daughter. So that
was an easy adjustment to begin with, and then when
she moved out, I had to decide how I was
(28:12):
going to manage the property. So I engaged the services
of a property manager. I was recommended by a friend,
and they charged me ten percent of the value of
the rent. But there was something else. They also charged
GST on top of that ten percent, so a lot
(28:35):
of hidden little costs, so.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It was eleven and a half percent and gross terms.
Speaker 9 (28:39):
Really yes, that's right. And then also it was really
good property manager. So they found me some tenants and
they did their due diligence to give me some options.
I've got some good tenants, but prior to having it rented.
(29:01):
I had to have a healthy Home subscription included a
meth test, So it was about four hundred dollars for
the Healthy Homes and meth test. And I had to
have a vapor barrier put under the house, which costs
another seven hundred dollars, which I'd never had even though
(29:22):
I'd owned the house for twenty five hours. What barrier
It's called a vapor barrier, plastic sheet on the on
the ground. So the whole, my whole house was you know,
up to good standards. Another thing I had to do
was have smoke alarms installed and they had to be
(29:44):
inspected too, and they have to be inspected every year. Yeah,
pass regulation.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
These all these hidden costs that you didn't realize were
waiting for.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
You there absolutely yep. And before I moved in, I
had the windows clean, the carpets commercially clean, and the
whole play cleaned. And the other problem is I had
to make arrangements was who was going to mow the
lawns because it was a family home.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So what's happened now? Are you still managing?
Speaker 9 (30:19):
Have you got the property manager? Is doing well? So
they they send me every fortnightly. I get money put
into my bank account, and they also send me an
invoice of of of that and any any And if
I have any maintenance to do, I can either get
(30:43):
them to do it, or I can pay somebody else
myself to do it, or I go and do it myself.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
So are you basically saying it's been a good move
to have a property manager?
Speaker 9 (30:52):
Absolutely, yes, it is. I mean the biggest thing is
because I didn't well, I was new to the whole understanding. Firstly,
I wanted to guarantee that i'd get some good tenants
because I've had you know, one side of it is
you might get bad landlords, but if you get bad tenants,
I've heard of tenants who completely trashed the house. Yeah,
(31:16):
So I wanted to guarantee you. And so the property
manager found me tenants they had on their books for
fourteen years and they could guarantee those tenants. So it
gave me peace of mind that I was going to
be well looked after. And they're really good.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Oh good stuff, good stuff.
Speaker 9 (31:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Is there anything you wanted to ask, Ryan or just
your observations and your experience, just.
Speaker 9 (31:40):
My observations really, and the fact the other difficulty is
too because of the the insurance cover and everything like that.
So I was told that, I'm you know, I used
to clean the chimney myself, but now the property manager
does that to make sure that that's written. Then there
(32:02):
is a damage. And the other thing is if they
even said if I needed a washer changed, better to
get a plumber because if there was a leak. But
I becovered and I have. I've also taken out landlords insurance,
which covers a whole lot, which is more expensive than
(32:23):
normal insurance.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
It's quite a few things you've a had to take
off there all. Yeah, I mean that is quite a list,
doesn't it. But do you have to still ryand you
still have to do you have to do meth tests?
These says, do you?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
Opinions are divided about that. It is quite important to
do a baseline test because if you place tenants into
a property, and even professionals can be meth sort of
recreational myth users, if you find that there's been meth
used in the property, you can't really hold those tenants
accountable unless you did a baseline test at the beginning,
(32:57):
much like Alan did.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Okay, is that expensive?
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Yeah? I think Alan mentioned it was about four hundred
dollars and that sounds about right for a three bedroom property. Yeah,
and quite often sorry, just the other thing. Quite often
insurance companies will only pay out or mess clean up
work if testing is being done at the start of
tendancies and in between tendancies.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Yeah, there's a few little hidden things. By the way,
most landlords would they just from the GST point of view,
Are most landlords registered for GST so you know whether
you're charging the GST is irrelevant?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
No, most landlords aren't jest registered because residential rent in
New Zealand isn't ye GCT doesn't get levied on that income.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Okay, right, okay, right, let's take some more calls.
Speaker 12 (33:48):
Chris, Hello, Yes, hi, I just moved them to my
tenancy in March this year. I signed a fixed term tenancy.
Now for how long I've been three months? I think
it's three months now, three months, I've been here just
over three months.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
How long is your term for?
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Oh, it's on a one year fixed term. And just
a few weeks ago, the landlord said the owner. Because
I love the owner of the above me, I live
below and I have a property management looking after my property.
(34:29):
And he said that because I have my son over Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and he goes home on Sunday. She's saying that it's
considered having an extra person in the house, even though
that I'm the one person on the tenancy as the
one tenant because I don't have a partner. Is that
(34:52):
that's the rent up twenty dollars from my.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Because your son's but there for a part of the week.
Does is that legit?
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Ryan?
Speaker 11 (35:01):
No?
Speaker 4 (35:01):
The rent the increased at the property the first year
of your tendancy, no matter what, no matter what the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
So if there was a term that he only supposed
to be one person living at the property and somebody
else comes in, that it doesn't mean anything that the
landlords can't up the rent.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
No, it doesn't. Trigger.
Speaker 12 (35:21):
Yeah, he's saying there that contributes to it because I've
got water and power included in my rent. Now I
pay for eighty a week rent and because of the
coming over and staying on Thursday, so.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
They're charging they're charging you based on the fact that
there's more power and water being used. Okay, is that legit? Ryan?
That still sounds nippy.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
No, it's not legit because it still constitutes a rent
increase because Chris's utilities are included in his rent, so
he can't try and separate the two out.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Yeah, because otherwise then you get interesting thing of the
landlord going, hey, I heard you having a twenty minute
shower the other day. I have to judge.
Speaker 9 (36:03):
Rent.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
What should he do?
Speaker 5 (36:06):
Well?
Speaker 4 (36:07):
I advise any tenant who's having difficulties to try and
communicate with your property manager or landlord, and if it
isn't going to plan, seek some free advice from the
tenancy hotline from Tenancy Services. The telephone number Chris if
you want to, it's eight hundred Enantcy.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Eight hundred Tenancy Chris. So give give that a bell
m And I mean that's you know what for people
who don't if you that is a different one. Because
he said his landlord lives up upstairs, I think so
he's got obviously a granny flats downstairs. What I mean,
how do you Some people aren't comfortable with any formal conversation.
I guess you've just got a you've just got to
how would you raise that conversation as just a renter?
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Chris mentioned he's got a property manager as scientist. So
that's really good. So there is some separation between the
landlord and Chris. So Chris should really take it to
the to the property manager and say, hey, as I
understand it, rent cannot go up in the first tear
of my tenancy. Can you explain why this is happening?
Speaker 3 (37:09):
What about just a quick question here. If you've got
a property manager, you've signed up and as you say,
a lot of them, you'll do a deal for a year.
If that property manager has been lax and is not
doing the things you require of them, what remedies are
there for you as a landlord.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
In that instance, the landlord should really negotiate with the
property manager and say, hey, certain things your responsibilities in
our property management agreement are not being met and for
that reason, I don't feel it would be fear to
hold me to the contract term.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Yeah, and then see what they say, yeah? And then
which case there? I mean? You can't a landlord can't
take a property manager to the tenancy at tribunal, can
they No?
Speaker 4 (37:55):
But they can go to the small claims court.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
Okay, okay, right, well take a quick break back in
just a moment. We got lots of texts to answer
as well. So we might get onto a few of
those when you come back in just a minute. I'm
with and we're his director of Property scouts. If you
want to jump the queue and talk to run then
you can give us a call straight off. In fact, no,
we won't have time for any more cause I'm fibbing
my producers. Tott. Just let me know what we'll do
with some text when you come back, and just to
take it's nine minutes.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
The one Roof property of the Week on the Weekend Collective.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Oh yes, my goodness, the one Roof Property of the Week.
I've We've got this one on because well, a couple
of reasons. One, it's absolutely gorgeous. It's the address is
and you want to go to the one Roof website
One Roof dot co dot and zaid it is six
Island Bay Road in beech Haven, North Shore City and
I cannot get my head around it because it is
(38:46):
a stunningly the owners have gotten a history in designing
and building special projects so that they've earned a gold
pin at the Best Design Awards for Interior interior. Sorry,
I can't even say it interior architectural design. And you've
got to say looking at it it is, it says
here in the blurb. Every inch has been thoughtfully designed,
(39:06):
showcasing a perfect fusion of architectural brilliance and meticulous craftsmanship.
And it is an absolutely stunning property. It's close to
the city beach. Oven's actually not that far. People think
of it as being a little bit of a way,
but it's only minutes from the ferry. But I can't
get over how stunning the property is. And yet the
(39:28):
value of it seems a little bit cheap because it's
listed on I don't want to say cheap. Nothing's cheap
these days. One point six seven five is the well. Sorry,
the estimate for the one roof side is one point
seven million. It's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two car garage.
But it is a brand new, beautifully designed house. Maybe
(39:51):
it's you know, it doesn't have a huge well. The
house at South Johnre is eighty square meters. I might ask,
right about this, what do you think of that? You've
seen the property of the week evens Ryan.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Yeah, I have. It's absolutely stunning. There's too many amazing
feats to list, like low Kigarden, beautiful pool, it's got
a hot tub, it's even got solar in an outdoor
barbecue area. It's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Yeah, I mean the downward look on the roof, it's
just covered in solar panels. I just can't give it
must be worth more than one point seven, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Yeah, I would have to say that would be extremely conservative.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Yeah, So if you think you're going to get it
for one point seven, just get along. Hey, look, we've
only I've been got a few seconds. Unfortunately we can't
get to any of the text, but I will say
quite a few property managers have texted and saying they
support their notion of regulation along with you, Ryan.
Speaker 9 (40:42):
So we're.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Yeah, hold of you property. What's with the website for
property scouts.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
Property scouts dot co, dot m Z.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Excellent mate. Oh well, thanks for your time. We look
forward to chatting again sometime.
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Beauty pleasure.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
There we go. That is the wonder If Radio show.
We're back next with the Parents Squad, talking about talking
about early childhood education.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talk ZEDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com