Apartments Expert
Apartment returns
Lyn asks:
What do you advise when looking at buying an apartment as an investment? Freehold units with net yield 5.5% or leasehold units at 7% with freehold lessor interest of 6.5%?
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Body corporate matters
Lin asks:
I have an apartment in a building managed by a body corporate. At the usual annual meeting only 25% of the landlords vote and the annual accounts are approved in a second session having the body corporate manager collecting proxies and practically approving his own activity and accounts. Is this situation legal? It looks like the body corporate manager looks after just the few landlords acting as the body corporate committee. Is there any responsibility over the body corporate to require for example an annual quote to see if the body corporate manager is really offering a good deal to the building? Is there any association protecting the landlord against the abuse of body corporate and its manager?
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Making sense of apartment rent
Sean asks:
I am currently renting a one-bedroom apartment in the Auckland CBD. It is fully furnished and being managed through a property management company. I moved in to the apartment at $550 per week rent. In my welcome pack, I found a letter to the owner from the property management company (I think it was put in here by mistake) dated a few days before I moved in, stating that the estimated property rent is $400 to $430 per week. So I am being charged $120 a week more than estimated. I have now received a letter stating that they are putting the rent up by another $20 a week saying they have completed a study of rents in the Auckland CBD and the apartment is currently being rented out below its market value. I am trying to make sense of this?
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