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Hi there folks.
We are having a rock and roll night.
Well not quite like the traditional style but it is all about the Christchurch earthquake and how it affected property investors.
Here are the details about the meeting. Do not miss this meeting.
Our next meeting is being held at the Nelson Suburban Club, Tahunanui Drive on Tuesday 5th April. The meeting proper commences at 7.30 pm with the ever popular meal at 6pm when you will have the opportunity to chat to other investors. Usha Ganda – Wilson an independent property manager from Christchurch and Barry Rowe a Nelson registered valuer, property investor, and member of the Red Cross USAR team are speaking. They are talking on the earthquake and the way that it impacted on property investors. Usha says it will be a really informative meeting and all members should attend.
Don’t forget to book that meal in advance by emailing me.
THE RENTAL MARKET AFTER TWO EARTHQUAKES
Since writing the last newsletter the world has changed. First the Christchurch tragedy which has caused many people to relocate to Nelson, then the Japan apocalypse which is still unfolding as I write. Locally the rental market was already under stress due to the poor world economy compounded by the National Government’s tax and company structure changes. The government is still chanting their mantra that people like you and I should be investing in the share market and not in residential housing. They use the words “more productive investment” but then do not say what sort of housing the less fortunate should ideally be housed in. We will see what the world share markets will make of the Japan problems but more about that later in the newsletter.
Well we are experiencing our own tsunami of shaken stressed victims from Christchurch. All property managers are coping as best they can and I suspect some are suffering a bit of overwork stress like I am. At the risk of offending someone unintentionally my comments are generalisations and I am sure some people do not fit my description. My company has managed to let five properties to evacuees. We must have shown properties to perhaps twenty times that number of people and fielded several times more calls. The applicants fell neatly into two distinct classes.
The good half were mostly older and owned their own homes in Christchurch which were damaged. They were all stressed and upset with tears about to pop out. These were good people who had not rented for many years. I was faced with the dilemma of wanting long term tenancies and demanding market rents and bonds. Some tried to avoid paying a bond and some objected to paying Nelson market rents. Being accused of taking advantage of the situation and increasing rents was mentioned more than once. Clearly as a generalisation Canterbury people do not expect to pay more for less in Nelson compared with home. The last thing I nor any of the other landlords in Nelson want is to have half the town empty out in the middle of winter so most have been signed up for 12 month fixed term tenancies.
In some cases after trying to negotiate rent and bond down they then obtained the full five weeks of bond and rent in advance from WINZ regardless of their apparent needs. Almost all of the people were understandably shaken, stressed, indecisive, and feeling vulnerable. One applicant said she had looked at 32 properties and could not make up her mind. Trying to stay polite, rational, and objective when faced with endless lines of needy victims is something most of us property managers have no prior experience of. Clearly most of the damaged houses are going to take way in excess of three months to fix and most peoples experience of EQC on total payouts indicate that long delays are the order of the day. Because of these delays I suspect we will see many people stay for some time and that a lot of them like the retirees will stay for ever. This has to be good for our city and economy.
The other half of the applicants is another story. More than one property manager has commented to me that many of the applicants we are seeing are a bit scary. I have encountered my share of applicants who I have chosen not to let to. Sad really because they are still people with the same needs as others. Many have had bad credit reports, appear on www.tenancytribunal.govt.nz/tenancy_tribunal/search.do and come from Aranui HNZ properties. One or two have turned up at properties and looked scornfully at our small sections and higher than expected prices. Many have dogs and have no apparent rental history. By this I mean they claim they have been living for years in properties owned by relatives. More than one has rung because of numbers given out at the camping grounds and HNZ. Interesting, but none of the people who have been referred have bothered to either look through one of the lower grade properties on offer or fill in an application form. The government appears to have generously provided assistance to the victims by way of cash without question but completely overlooked the providers of 90% of the rental housing in Nelson that being you and me. I do not know when the money tap will be turned off but
meanwhile I hear the liquor trade and fast food outlets are doing a fantastic trade. An Indian restaurateur friend tells me his business has been booming.
Just when we thought things could not get worse the hideous triple tragedy hit Japan. Now we all know Japan is a long way from New Zealand but the world is round and we are all sharing the world economy. Already the worlds share markets are shuddering. So much for the advise of unqualified and un registered financial advisors who spout off in parliament telling everyone to stop investing in housing and start investing in the share market. Good bye Kiwi Saver and other New Zealand Super funds. None of these funds bother to house their own citizens like we do.
With Nuclear power well and truly discredited I can not see too many new nuke stations being built for a long time. The Japanese power stations knocked out will need to be replaced. The Japanese economy can afford to buy oil at any price at the same time as the Middle East slides into further chaos. Forget $2.50 a litre when the person outbidding you has plenty of money. Commuting will become more expensive and close in real estate will become the place to put your money.
HUFF, PUFF AND BLUFF
I recently proudly signed up a new tenant. We had told the owner to fix up his flat so we could get better class tenants. He did a stunning job on it and so I felt compelled to reject all of the dodgy applicants. At last we found a respectable looking lady past the silly age. Her credit and personal references from two landlords were all impeccable. The full bond was paid and the keys handed over two days before the tenancy was to start. The very next day a distressed call came in from the neighbours about the terrible people who had visited the flat. The described activities had all the hall marks of a previous pre fix up days tenant coming back. The observant neighbour had taken down the vehicle registration number which unfortunately indicated that the new tenant was the culprit. I texted her saying there had been a break in and vandalism had taken place and we were changing the locks. Oh the reply came back. What did they do? Is it safe for me to live there?
I replied they had thrown booze bottles and cans around, smashed the picnic table, pushed over a fence, left muddy foot prints and smoke smell through inside, and been driving her car. She was right it would not be safe for her to live there because of the dangerous angry neighbours!
Well as you can imagine the wails of innocence were loud and persistent. She rang and agreed for me to return the full bond and rent to her account which I instantly did with a sigh of relief. A few hours later the boy friend must have sobered up and rang making threats of calling his lawyer and so forth. (Have you noticed how many tenants seem to have a lawyer these days?) Is what you have done legal he says? I honestly replied no, but neither I nor the neighbours want you there so you are not getting the key. I spent an uneasy night wondering how I would defend my actions in the tribunal but my bluff worked, no claim by the tenant and peace was restored to a good street in Atawhai.
PROPERTY INVESTOR SURVEY
An intellectual at NMIT is doing a paper on property investing. He has asked me to help him. He has produced the survey located at this site. http://www.nmit.ac.nz/research/tenancy/.
Goodness knows if any of us will be able to understand or agree with his conclusions but who cares. Please do me a favour and complete his little survey. He is going to present his findings at a high level symposium. All I can say is good luck.
Many thanks
Glenn
Please note. NPIA is a voluntary support organisation by landlord for landlords. Any ideas advice or suggestions obtained at our meetings or from our newsletters is not intended to replace professional legal, accounting, or valuation advice
Anyone stupid enough to act without thinking for themselves, deserves to suffer the consequences.
Presidents Comment
We certainly live in interesting times. Just when you think things are going to settle down in the world a whole new bunch of troubles comes along and you wonder where it is going to end. But the reality of is that whether it be government or nature initiated our world is always changing and there is always a crisis happening somewhere. I thought this aspect was well demonstrated by the issue of earthquakes. Despite the terrible earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan it is easy to think we are being inundated with disasters but the reality is that the world has not suffered any great surge in earthquakes and they occur almost every day somewhere but we often forget about the ones in the past if we are not directly effected. How many people for example remember the terrible earthquake in China in 2008 when an estimated 70,000 people where killed? Sad as these events are the reality is life still goes on despite the constant change. But these events are a reminder that we should prepare ourselves for the unexpected. As an investor you need a sound investment strategy. Know why you are investing and how you want to get to your goal(s). But also think about the risks that you face as an investor and how you want to mitigate those risks. There are lots of ways to do this e.g. insurance, investing in a number of regions rather than one, ownership structures, investing some of that hard earned money in something other than property, etc. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Some of us like high risk and some don’t. Whatever your situation you should review your position regularly. If you have not done so for a while then now is a good time to review your position to ensure you have covered your bases.
Happy Investing
Godfrey
President
We are having a rock and roll night.
Well not quite like the traditional style but it is all about the Christchurch earthquake and how it affected property investors.
Here are the details about the meeting. Do not miss this meeting.
NELSON PROPERTY INVESTORS ASSOCIATION
April 2011 NEWSLETTER
PO Box 198 Nelson
Don’t forget to book that meal in advance by emailing me.
THE RENTAL MARKET AFTER TWO EARTHQUAKES
Since writing the last newsletter the world has changed. First the Christchurch tragedy which has caused many people to relocate to Nelson, then the Japan apocalypse which is still unfolding as I write. Locally the rental market was already under stress due to the poor world economy compounded by the National Government’s tax and company structure changes. The government is still chanting their mantra that people like you and I should be investing in the share market and not in residential housing. They use the words “more productive investment” but then do not say what sort of housing the less fortunate should ideally be housed in. We will see what the world share markets will make of the Japan problems but more about that later in the newsletter.
Well we are experiencing our own tsunami of shaken stressed victims from Christchurch. All property managers are coping as best they can and I suspect some are suffering a bit of overwork stress like I am. At the risk of offending someone unintentionally my comments are generalisations and I am sure some people do not fit my description. My company has managed to let five properties to evacuees. We must have shown properties to perhaps twenty times that number of people and fielded several times more calls. The applicants fell neatly into two distinct classes.
The good half were mostly older and owned their own homes in Christchurch which were damaged. They were all stressed and upset with tears about to pop out. These were good people who had not rented for many years. I was faced with the dilemma of wanting long term tenancies and demanding market rents and bonds. Some tried to avoid paying a bond and some objected to paying Nelson market rents. Being accused of taking advantage of the situation and increasing rents was mentioned more than once. Clearly as a generalisation Canterbury people do not expect to pay more for less in Nelson compared with home. The last thing I nor any of the other landlords in Nelson want is to have half the town empty out in the middle of winter so most have been signed up for 12 month fixed term tenancies.
In some cases after trying to negotiate rent and bond down they then obtained the full five weeks of bond and rent in advance from WINZ regardless of their apparent needs. Almost all of the people were understandably shaken, stressed, indecisive, and feeling vulnerable. One applicant said she had looked at 32 properties and could not make up her mind. Trying to stay polite, rational, and objective when faced with endless lines of needy victims is something most of us property managers have no prior experience of. Clearly most of the damaged houses are going to take way in excess of three months to fix and most peoples experience of EQC on total payouts indicate that long delays are the order of the day. Because of these delays I suspect we will see many people stay for some time and that a lot of them like the retirees will stay for ever. This has to be good for our city and economy.
The other half of the applicants is another story. More than one property manager has commented to me that many of the applicants we are seeing are a bit scary. I have encountered my share of applicants who I have chosen not to let to. Sad really because they are still people with the same needs as others. Many have had bad credit reports, appear on www.tenancytribunal.govt.nz/tenancy_tribunal/search.do and come from Aranui HNZ properties. One or two have turned up at properties and looked scornfully at our small sections and higher than expected prices. Many have dogs and have no apparent rental history. By this I mean they claim they have been living for years in properties owned by relatives. More than one has rung because of numbers given out at the camping grounds and HNZ. Interesting, but none of the people who have been referred have bothered to either look through one of the lower grade properties on offer or fill in an application form. The government appears to have generously provided assistance to the victims by way of cash without question but completely overlooked the providers of 90% of the rental housing in Nelson that being you and me. I do not know when the money tap will be turned off but
This newsletter has been sponsored by SBS bank.
Just when we thought things could not get worse the hideous triple tragedy hit Japan. Now we all know Japan is a long way from New Zealand but the world is round and we are all sharing the world economy. Already the worlds share markets are shuddering. So much for the advise of unqualified and un registered financial advisors who spout off in parliament telling everyone to stop investing in housing and start investing in the share market. Good bye Kiwi Saver and other New Zealand Super funds. None of these funds bother to house their own citizens like we do.
With Nuclear power well and truly discredited I can not see too many new nuke stations being built for a long time. The Japanese power stations knocked out will need to be replaced. The Japanese economy can afford to buy oil at any price at the same time as the Middle East slides into further chaos. Forget $2.50 a litre when the person outbidding you has plenty of money. Commuting will become more expensive and close in real estate will become the place to put your money.
HUFF, PUFF AND BLUFF
I recently proudly signed up a new tenant. We had told the owner to fix up his flat so we could get better class tenants. He did a stunning job on it and so I felt compelled to reject all of the dodgy applicants. At last we found a respectable looking lady past the silly age. Her credit and personal references from two landlords were all impeccable. The full bond was paid and the keys handed over two days before the tenancy was to start. The very next day a distressed call came in from the neighbours about the terrible people who had visited the flat. The described activities had all the hall marks of a previous pre fix up days tenant coming back. The observant neighbour had taken down the vehicle registration number which unfortunately indicated that the new tenant was the culprit. I texted her saying there had been a break in and vandalism had taken place and we were changing the locks. Oh the reply came back. What did they do? Is it safe for me to live there?
I replied they had thrown booze bottles and cans around, smashed the picnic table, pushed over a fence, left muddy foot prints and smoke smell through inside, and been driving her car. She was right it would not be safe for her to live there because of the dangerous angry neighbours!
Well as you can imagine the wails of innocence were loud and persistent. She rang and agreed for me to return the full bond and rent to her account which I instantly did with a sigh of relief. A few hours later the boy friend must have sobered up and rang making threats of calling his lawyer and so forth. (Have you noticed how many tenants seem to have a lawyer these days?) Is what you have done legal he says? I honestly replied no, but neither I nor the neighbours want you there so you are not getting the key. I spent an uneasy night wondering how I would defend my actions in the tribunal but my bluff worked, no claim by the tenant and peace was restored to a good street in Atawhai.
PROPERTY INVESTOR SURVEY
An intellectual at NMIT is doing a paper on property investing. He has asked me to help him. He has produced the survey located at this site. http://www.nmit.ac.nz/research/tenancy/.
Goodness knows if any of us will be able to understand or agree with his conclusions but who cares. Please do me a favour and complete his little survey. He is going to present his findings at a high level symposium. All I can say is good luck.
Many thanks
Glenn
This newsletter has been sponsored by SBS bank.
Please note. NPIA is a voluntary support organisation by landlord for landlords. Any ideas advice or suggestions obtained at our meetings or from our newsletters is not intended to replace professional legal, accounting, or valuation advice
Anyone stupid enough to act without thinking for themselves, deserves to suffer the consequences.
Presidents Comment
We certainly live in interesting times. Just when you think things are going to settle down in the world a whole new bunch of troubles comes along and you wonder where it is going to end. But the reality of is that whether it be government or nature initiated our world is always changing and there is always a crisis happening somewhere. I thought this aspect was well demonstrated by the issue of earthquakes. Despite the terrible earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan it is easy to think we are being inundated with disasters but the reality is that the world has not suffered any great surge in earthquakes and they occur almost every day somewhere but we often forget about the ones in the past if we are not directly effected. How many people for example remember the terrible earthquake in China in 2008 when an estimated 70,000 people where killed? Sad as these events are the reality is life still goes on despite the constant change. But these events are a reminder that we should prepare ourselves for the unexpected. As an investor you need a sound investment strategy. Know why you are investing and how you want to get to your goal(s). But also think about the risks that you face as an investor and how you want to mitigate those risks. There are lots of ways to do this e.g. insurance, investing in a number of regions rather than one, ownership structures, investing some of that hard earned money in something other than property, etc. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Some of us like high risk and some don’t. Whatever your situation you should review your position regularly. If you have not done so for a while then now is a good time to review your position to ensure you have covered your bases.
Happy Investing
Godfrey
President
Comment