New landlord advice welcome

[d2ba]

Hi Im a new landlord and wish to learn the ropes so any advice is welcome
First off I wrote this add and paid the Trade Me listing fee $250 and put my agent contact details in the listing--my agent insists that since its first floor and not street level in New Lynn all expenses have to be included to get a tenant in this market--she may be right ?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=308508205

thanks in advance
Dave

side note
this is renovated to a similar standard that Urban Splash in Manchester UK would do --Im a huge fan

https://www.urbansplash.co.uk/commercial/why-we-are-different

[Orkibi]

First off I wrote this add and paid the Trade Me listing fee $250 and put my agent contact details in the listing-

First - your agent should advertise your property on Trade me not you!
Management companies like RE companies have much better discounted rates.

agent insists that since its first floor and not street level in New Lynn all expenses have to be included

Do you refer to property outgoings?
Like water, electric and what?

who is the agent (PM) ?? I think you may need to change them.

Did you pay $250 for listing the property for rent?

[d2ba]

thanks Im new and are here to learn--I paid the trade me listing fee of $250 and offered to do so as i knew that most agents in this suburb dont use Trade
Me because of limited success
I clearly state in the add that $16,900 includes outgoings eg rates and building insurance--tenant pays power and water and there own business insurance of course.




I would class New Lynn similar to a up and coming suburb in Manchester City
somewhere a company like Urban Splash would be working right now

[Orkibi]

NEW LYNN, Is a good suburbs and I would like to buy somthing there in the next 24 month.

It should have no Issue with advertising on TM or any nonsenses like that, I think your PM is not correct and I wouldn't use them.

You DON'T have to use a PM which is based in the same suburb, in the area would do.

[Orkibi]

Have a look at : 11 Questions to ask a Property Manager before you hire them.

http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26412

Best use someone Like Barfoott or Rex Davi OR Im sure on this Forum there are alot of recommendations.

[d2ba]

thanks Orkibi
I like the agency Im using , they are old fashioned and quite fun to deal with-good people
Quite often people are quick to blame the agent when there are other factors involved --eg economy
and the punters simply are not there.

New Lynn is great--make sure you buy on Great Nth Rd or Totara Ave in the CBD--only buy a character building 1950's or older--these two streets are awash with beautiful old buildings--our one is a gem

Im almost thinking apply to council for change of use of the first floor from commercial to residential dwelling --our building meets the council criteria for a change of use of first floor that way building may be worth more to sell or even rent
I suspect Auckland is awash with office space to let however our one is lovely and has heaps of character and is priced fairly, I have marketed the Trade Me add as a good alternative to the Inner City Fringe suburbs --New Lynn is only
10 minutes drive away--I think the type of tenant looking for inner city fringe would like this

[ENP]

I'd look into cleaning up that alley way. Even for half a day in the weekend or something. It doesn't look too flash and might turn away potential investors.

Just a thought.

[Davo36]

d2ba, I know New Lynn well and I know Noeline Matheson, she's OK. I would have it listed with her and any other agents active in the area e.g. Bayleys, Harveys.

You need to show a picture of your building I reckon. From the outside I mean. When I first looked at your ad, I thought the space for lease was in the Octagonal building across the way, but this is the view out of the space.

If your building looks nice, why not show it?

Also, I would put the address in so people can drive by and it will come up on the Google Map so people can see exactly where it is.

The other thing is carparking. Nothing about it in the ad. People want to know this. Is there any available? If so, say so and how many.

Converting to residential would certainly make it more lettable but would be very very difficult. The council costs are huge. The construction costs are huge. It would take 6 to 12 months to do. I know because I am doing this in Papakura. See the thread "Davo Tries Again" if you're interested.

[d2ba]

thanks for tips guys both the carpark and ally way have been addressed
i was worried about putting street number in and pic of outside because of security issues
Now are far as change of use from Office to residential dwelling -New Lynn
CBD allows one residential dwelling per commercial property--resource consent is not required ( Community Environment Rules) --must have one carpark, each bedroom must have a window, cannot be less than 20 metres away from place of work, soundproof and fire rating
Ours on face value meets all these--the big question is --is my building worth more with a residential dwelling on first floor or as offices?
The big unknown is would the rates go up ?
Dave

[eri]

generally residential space is lower rated than commercial space

but you'll have to ask council about the specifics

[d2ba]

the council are charging us $7067 rates on a Dec 2007 QV of $420,000 ($205,000 land value,$215 improvements)
One shop street level 120m2, one shop street level 80m2 and the upstairs office 93m2. We have all one the one title---there is a risk that the rates would go much higher with a change of use

[Davo36]

d2ba, putting in residential is much more complicated than you are saying.

Take one issue, fire rating: How do you know it is fire rated for people sleeping upstairs? Can you prove this to the council? If not, you need a report from an engineer. YOu will then most likely have to replace the gib below (unless you can prove what fire rating it is), you may have to put spandrels on the walls outside (to stop vertical fire spread). This would all be done as part of a building consent. As part of that the council will get a peer reviewing fire engineer to check on this, they will also send it to the fire service for their comments. You pay for all of this.

And as for resource consent not required, they generally find a reason why you need one. And if not, you may need a Compliance Certificate which is a bit of paper saying your proposal complies with the district plan. Either way they get you.

Other issues will be: Stairwell -may need to be upgraded, Emergency lighting, Smoke removal system for stairwell, insulation (noise) - you will need an acoustical engineers report and need to make changes so that the noise levels are OK. Insulation (thermal) you will need to meet the new H1 calcs. This may well mean double glazed windows, lining all walls, floor etc. Ventilation: You would probably also need a mechanical ventilation system for the residential space (and then they might make you do it downstairs too...) And on and on it goes...

I don't want to sound negative but this sort of construction work is now very difficult and very expensive. Believe me, I've been through hell with my job. Just convert a bit of office space into apartments I thought. How hard could that be?

What I would do if I was you is try and let it as office space. YOu will need to offer a rent free period and maybe alter it to suit an incoming tenant too.

Anyway, all the best.

David

[d2ba]

thanks David I think your right it would not be worth all the redtape delay
when I can let it now
the trick is finding a good tenant--Im getting a lot of queries from start up business's that cant afford the $16,900 rent and I see can most not even lasting 2 years
ironically it was originally a residential dwelling in the 1950's and 1960's and
the council now has a vision to get people to move back into New Lynn CBD but I think there still would be red tape and expense as stated in post above
Fire rating is not a problem though as the building has just been CCCed and firerated

we are right in the middle of the brochure here

https://www.waitakere.govt.nz/AbtCit/cp/pdf/2010/Invest_New_Lynn.pdf

.............................
A major part of the problem also is almost all the local agents don't have a vision and self belief in New Lynn and are used to dealing in a downtrodden market and with that thought David you may be able to pick up a bargain buy in the CBD yourself

[Choc]

Hi not too sure why you paid TM $250 when yours is a rental property I've only paid $99 to list a rental on TM website.

Kaye

$99 is a rental, $250 is a lease (so residential versus commercial). Perhaps there is a loop hole there if you list a commercial as a rental (not sure as I haven't tried this).

POINTS: I note you have a note about not being registered for GST. You might want to consider what would happen if a tenant wasn't registered and then at a later date you became registered. This would effectively put their lease up by the cost of GST or your lease down by GST. While using the term 'if any' is a good disclaimer my point is raised because your advert goes one step further than this.

I am also curious why you would pay for a trademe list for an agent. If you do a general listing you can list yourself on trademe - this allows queries to come to you and you can talk directly to potential tenants. You are clearly enthusiastic about the property so are perhaps the best person to sell it. You can always refer queries to an agent of your choice.

[Kaye]

Hi Choc

Sorry didn't realise yours was a commercial property should have read further!

RE general listing I'm just starting out on my own as a Property Manager hence costs $99 per Add on TM can you PM me on general listings.

I am located in Christchurch

Kaye