recommendation for Property Manager in Wellington (Lyall Bay area)

[coolbananas]

Can anyone recommend a property manager in Wellington - Lyall Bay area.

I've googled and was going to contact a few but I'd prefer to use a PM that someone has first hand experience with.

[coolbananas]

Thank you BEANO for your pm. Apparently I can't pm back until I've posted 10 times.

I'm going to hold off on your suggestion for the time being. Thank you for your reply.

[Sebastian]

I've used Niall at Rent Wellington for years. He and his team have their office based in Kilbirnie plus he used to live in Lyall Bay so he knows the area intricately. They do an excellent job.
Cheers.

[Nick G]

Have met Niall, very very sharp. +1 to that. I use Tom Finlay at Quinovic J-Ville, he's a long term friend and did an amazing job helping me with tenants through a tricky reno recently.

[Eugene]

http://www.totalproperty.net.nz/

Langi is a licensed builder and saves me a lot by quickly sorting the problem himself. Helen does the property management side.
Very reasonable costs

[BigWal]

When you think you've found a PM, do a search in the TT database here for their name, and then read the rulings. Pay attention to:

1. any patterns of bond not lodged,
2. uncertainty about exactly what the rental arrears are
3. how many weeks rent was owing
4. whether the property was found abandoned.
5. getting the timing wrong on serving notices
6. exemplary damages awarded against them
7. failure to win at the TT because the condition of the property wan't recorded and / or photographed at the start of the tenancy.

1. is a no go.
   
2. is a no go.
   
3. IMO, if they're on to things immediately for any missed rent payments they will get quicker TT rulings, thus reducing your exposure. You can often work out from the ruling how many weeks in arrears they were. My personal opinion is that 3-4 weeks is great, 5 weeks is 'Crap, but oh well', and 6 weeks plus is a definite warning sign.
   
4. length of time to discover abandoned properties, or many abandoned properties should be another warning sign. If people do a runner, they don't carry on paying rent. And if they haven't paid rent the PM should be investigating and should spot that the property is empty pretty quickly.
   
5. is 90% a no go
6. mostly a no go, although occasionally the TT can be a bit harsh, especially with tricky / convoluted cases.
7. depends on the circumstances - the TT can be a bit fickle about how much is good enough.

If you do this you should get an idea of how switched on / organised the PM is. One caveat though - it's a bit harder for the larger agencies, as it can vary by agent / office.

From memory, last time I looked, Rent Wellington looked fairly impressive. I found one or two real shockers too, so it pays to do your due diligence.

-------------

Oh - and ask to see a sample tenancy agreement. At the very least, if it doesn't have a 'joint and severally liable' clause, plus a 'tenant liability for collection costs' clause as a minimum I'd walk away.

And if you really want to dig - ask to see their terms and conditions for a fixed term tenancy. If it has one of the three clauses listed here it's a fairly good plus in my book.

[Eugene]

When you think you've found someone, do a search in the TT database for their name, and then read the rulings. Pay attention to any patterns of bond not lodged, difficulties in working out how much is owed, or many weeks of rent in arrears / property found abandoned. Once or twice is (maybe) OK, but if there's a pattern IMO that's a warning sign.

IMO, if they're on to things immediately for any missed rent payments they will a) find abandoned properties much more quickly b) shorten the time it takes to get a TT ruling, thus reducing your exposure.

Inadequate notice periods would also definitely, and look at the circumstances of any exemplary damages awarded against them.

Oh, and watch for failure to get damages awarded because of the condition of the property not being recorded and / or photographed at the start of the tenancy.

You'll soon get an idea of how switched on / organised they are.

From memory, last time I looked, Rent Wellington looked fairly impressive. I found one or two real shockers too, so it pays to do your due diligence.

-------------

Oh - and ask to see a sample tenancy agreement. At the very least, if it doesn't have a 'joint and severally liable' clause, plus a 'tenant liability for collection costs' clause as a minimum I'd walk away.

And if you really want to dig - ask to see their terms and conditions for a fixed term tenancy. If it has one of the three clauses listed here it's a fairly good plus in my book.

Great post, very useful