Landlording

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#759710 11-Feb-2013 20:01

Cbfd: Have 20 houses and best thing we ever dis was get a property manager - she looks after everythng finds the est tenants and does all the hard yards - the extra 15$ a week she charges per house is well worth it :)

15bucks per week per house... wow thats cheap !
Im paying 7.5% plus GST per week of the total rental income per week and I thought that was quite a good deal for Auckland (one house), and Im sure you have a bulk discount for the 20 you have !

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surfisup1000

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#759721 11-Feb-2013 20:27

Treat it as a learning experience.

As soon as a tenant is 2 weeks behind in rent, start eviction proceedings against them.

Don't feel sorry for them as you can't tell if they are telling the truth or spinning a story.

I had the worst tenant in my place, pretended they had cancer and other stuff.

Learn the rules, or find a good property manager.ie, one that does inspections and has checklists for commencement and termination etc.

Linuxluver

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#759769 11-Feb-2013 21:32

jeffnz: been there done that cost about the same as you estimate. Mine knew the law better than I and knew how long it would take to get rid of them and moved out the day before the order came into force, the money was non recoverable.

Good luck I feel your pain.

Thanks, Jeff. My tenant is nowhere near as cynical as that. He's just a young guy who lives in the moment...and gets bitten by the consequences, which include loss of income and tangles with the courts.

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Linuxluver

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#759770 11-Feb-2013 21:36

mattwnz: Sorry to hear. Sounds like renters get more protection than the landlords. I wouldn't want to be one these days, especially with P epidemic. Just make sure they don't trash the place prior to moving out.

The place was pretty much trashed when I bought it. The previous owner had started renovations and run out of money. The flat needs to be totally re-done right from the framing. This guy was happy to live in it in that state and was living there when I bought it. I would have fixed it up if he had paid the rent. As it was, I spent $3,400 on new front steps so no one (including me) would break their neck if the rusted-out rotten old ones collapsed. But I stopped there....

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Linuxluver

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#759772 11-Feb-2013 21:39

networkn: Sorry to hear about your troubles, it's one of the reasons we have opted to not buy rental property, and have stayed away from Commercial property. If I did rent property it would be through an agent because they understand the law.

I've rented before....and it worked out well. But in those cases I was able to choose the tenants. In this case, I opted to allow the existing tenants to stay. My mistake. I should have required vacant possession as a condition of sale.

I've come to understand the tenancy law fairly well over the past few months. I also live fairly close - a 2 minute drive away. Not hard to keep an eye on the place.

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Linuxluver

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#759774 11-Feb-2013 21:45

crackrdbycracku: Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I'm renter who has had major problems with both landlords and property management companies. The best/worst was calling up to say we think the roof is leaking because the ceiling tiles are becoming discoloured and sagging. The proposed solution was 'don't put anything valuable under those tiles'. OK...

I have often wondered why there isn't a better mechanism to get good tenants and landlords together.

In this instance I would try to, in a friendly way, get into the flat and take as many pictures as possible. I have heard a lot of nasty stories about tenants who do as much damage as possible before they get moved out.

My rule of thumb is that provided the tenant pays the rent and there is no major damage in the periodic inspections, the tenants can forget I exist.

If they call and report damage, leaks, I get onto it straight away. For example, the tenants in my front flat reported the shower head had fallen apart. I had a plumber in there the next day and he replaced the whole fitting, including the wall slider. I was happy with that as it was a nicer, more sturdy fitting anyway. Investing in avoiding future maintenance. I also completely replaced the steps on the back flat because they were rotting, the railing had gone and the metal poles were rusty at the base.

I have no time for landlords who let the roof leak for years....as I saw in Dominion Road in my daughter's flat. Water pouring out of the bathroom light socket whenever it rained. That landlord was storing up a lot of trouble for later by leaving leaks like that unfixed.

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networkn

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#759775 11-Feb-2013 21:45

Linuxluver:
networkn: Sorry to hear about your troubles, it's one of the reasons we have opted to not buy rental property, and have stayed away from Commercial property. If I did rent property it would be through an agent because they understand the law.

I've rented before....and it worked out well. But in those cases I was able to choose the tenants. In this case, I opted to allow the existing tenants to stay. My mistake. I should have required vacant possession as a condition of sale.

I've come to understand the tenancy law fairly well over the past few months. I also live fairly close - a 2 minute drive away. Not hard to keep an eye on the place.

Be very careful "how" you keep an eye on the place, there are very strict rules and penalties for failing to adhere to them.

Linuxluver

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#759777 11-Feb-2013 21:48

keewee01: I am shocked at how ignorant, stupid and disrespectful some tenants are! It is scary!

We're just about to get into the Landlord game were wondering whether we should use a Property Manager. After seeing the discussion here we'll definitely be using one!

It certainly would remove the hassles if they do their job properly. I'm happy to keep the money for now and see if I can manage it myself. It's easy for me as I live about 2km away from the rental property. It only takes 2-3 minutes to pop around if there are any issues. I also have a builder and a plumber and and electrician I call on for my own house, so I just get these guys to do the work on the flats as it arises. They deal with the tenants and give me quotes...and I authorise any work recommended. Usually this is all pretty easy.

I didn't pick the problem tenant....so that was where I went wrong.

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Linuxluver

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#759779 11-Feb-2013 21:54

networkn:
Linuxluver:
networkn: Sorry to hear about your troubles, it's one of the reasons we have opted to not buy rental property, and have stayed away from Commercial property. If I did rent property it would be through an agent because they understand the law.

I've rented before....and it worked out well. But in those cases I was able to choose the tenants. In this case, I opted to allow the existing tenants to stay. My mistake. I should have required vacant possession as a condition of sale.

I've come to understand the tenancy law fairly well over the past few months. I also live fairly close - a 2 minute drive away. Not hard to keep an eye on the place.

Be very careful "how" you keep an eye on the place, there are very strict rules and penalties for failing to adhere to them.

Totally agree. :-)

It's near a park I go to often. I just have a glance in passing. No issues there. I'm also allowed to go on the property to mow the lawns and I usually give day notice at least of that as a courtesy.

There are also a couple of neighbours who know me now...and if there are "issues" they either call or email me. Like when they call the fire brigade to put out the bonfires....or the hub-cap tossing contests at 2am.

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Linuxluver

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#759781 11-Feb-2013 21:55

Gooseybhai:
Cbfd: Have 20 houses and best thing we ever dis was get a property manager - she looks after everythng finds the est tenants and does all the hard yards - the extra 15$ a week she charges per house is well worth it :)

15bucks per week per house... wow thats cheap !
Im paying 7.5% plus GST per week of the total rental income per week and I thought that was quite a good deal for Auckland (one house), and Im sure you have a bulk discount for the 20 you have !

Yeah....I want that 7,5% + GST....but I only have 2 flats. If I had 20 houses all around the place a property management setup would be essential. :-)

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Wheelbarrow01

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#759875 12-Feb-2013 08:37

I probably had one of the world's worst tenants a few years back. He stopped paying rent almost as soon as he moved in and had about 8 people dossing down with him (it was a small two bedroom flat). He seemed so clean and nice before he moved in (as they all do). He came to the tribunal and they sided with him (sympathy for his prosthetic leg maybe) and decreed that I should give him another chance.
Of course he just got even more behind so I had to go back to the tribunal. This time he didn't turn up. After that he just turned nasty and I was actually too scared to go around to the place by myself to enforce the eviction, and he just refused to leave for ages. I was young and didn't really know how to handle it. Eventually I got court bailiffs to remove him, but he left a whole flat-load of cr@p behind, and made no effort to contact me to get it back. Kids had drawn all over the walls and there were the obligatory holes punched in them. Tons of paper and rubbish scattered around the flat including about 1000 empty bourbon cans (no exaggeration) , as well as a prosthetic leg (a spare?) He also left a Nissan Terrano in pieces in the carport.

While I was cleaning up the place I found a whole bunch of paperwork that proved he had a penchant for buying electrical items on credit using various names, or renting them from Mr Rental etc, then pawning them at Cash Converters etc. Seeing this I knew I would be well down the list of creditors so I had nothing to lose......
The day after he vacated I siezed the Terrano, put it on a transporter, and took it to my brother's aircraft hangar. Suddenly the tenant wanted to speak to me! His reaction was swift - he turned up at my house with his bro's threatening me because I had 'stolen' from him. I called the Police as he was beating on my windows with a wheel brace demanding I come out so he could smash me.

After they calmed him down the Police kind of sided with him, saying I had no right to take the car, even though I had a possession order for the flat. They said I had to return the car to him. I advised them that the car was in a secure storage facility and I was not going to get it right that minute. I agreed that the car would be delivered to the street outside the flat by midday the next day, and he could pick it up from there.

I dropped the car off early then took up my position about 50 metres down the road in a mate's car with very tinted windows. The tenant and his mates seemed happy when they turned up to find the their car waiting for them, thinking that they had got one up on me. I had the last laugh tho - having already seen the finance documents for the car, and assuming he had defaulted on the loan for it, I had called the finance company and told them where to find it. They were pleased as he hadn't made a payment on the car for a little over a year. Their bailiffs turned up right on que, and I enjoyed a front row seat, watching the argy-bargy that ensued.

The big lesson? Always credit check every tenant, and check references thoroughly. 4 weeks bond, no exceptions, preferably in cash and not through WINZ. I figure if they can't save to pay the bond themselves then they will most likely be trouble. That may sound harsh but this is only one of many tenants from hell that I have had, and the common denominator in all of them was that WINZ paid their bonds. If they have no investment of their own in the tenancy then they have nothing to lose and no reason to keep the place tidy. They just bleed you dry then move on to the next sucker landlord. They are like the ultimate parasite.

Good tenants, however, are worth their weight in gold! I finally have good tenants for all my properties and I hope they never leave.

Klipspringer

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#759879 12-Feb-2013 08:50

My rule of thumb, never rent to someone on WINZ ...

surfisup1000

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#759883 12-Feb-2013 08:54

Wheelbarrow01: Their bailiffs turned up right on que, and I enjoyed a front row seat, watching the argy-bargy that ensued.

Ha,best story I've heard for a while. You're lucky that he didn't take further revenge on you though.

Wheelbarrow01

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#759889 12-Feb-2013 09:07

surfisup1000:
Wheelbarrow01: Their bailiffs turned up right on que, and I enjoyed a front row seat, watching the argy-bargy that ensued.

Ha,best story I've heard for a while. You're lucky that he didn't take further revenge on you though.

Yea - he sent me a few abusive text messages after that, but I advised him that I still had all his abandoned paperwork showing all his dodgy dealings and that if he didn't stop I would go to the Police. Initially he laughed that off, saying that neither I nor the Police would ever find him.

By this time I had already traced his address through the Post Shop using the number plate of the car he had been using (not the repossessed one). I sent a text of his address back to him, and that was the last time he ever made any contact with me.

The vehicle register at the Post Shop was one of my best rent recovery tools - I was gutted when they took that service away.

LookingUp

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#759894 12-Feb-2013 09:12

I can endorse other recommendations to get a good property manager. While they're not all perfect, it's a LOT easier to swap property managers if you don't feel they're doing the job for you, than to deal with bad tenants.

Having found a good property manager, I'd also suggest getting their advice before buying a rental property. If they're good they'll have a feel for the area, and be able to advise on the likely quality of potential tenants. Advice like this saved us from buying what appeared to be a great investment, as subsequent learning about the area suggested the reason the house was so cheap. The PM's advice - "We will NOT manage that house for you - yes, you'll be able to rent it for $x, but your chances of regularly collecting it are pretty slim!" Turns out even the police are wary of going into that area after dark :-s

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

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