Free advice for Landlords - ask our property experts a question
Do you have a property investment question you want answered? The Ask an Expert section is a free service provided for property investors in conjunction with a panel of selected property experts.
Please note that questions should be of a general nature about property investing and your question and the subsequent answer may be published in the NZ Property Investor magazine. There is a limit of ONE question per submission. We will use our discretion whether questions are published and we reserve the right to paraphrase your comments for our experts.
Before you send in a question, please read the Ask an Expert archive thoroughly. There is a chance that your question may have been previously answered and it will be listed there.
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Property Management
Ask Bernard Parker from Quinovic Property Management questions relating to property panagement
Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 30 years.
Last answered question:
Appliance repair responsibility
My tenant's refrigerator needs to be repaired. In our lease agreement I was able to get the tenant to sign off on paying for repair/replacement of all appliances in the house. Is this legally sound to impose this on the tenant?
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Finance & Strategy
Ask Kris Pederson, director of Kris Pederson Mortgages questions relating to Mortgages, Finance, and Strategy
Kris is a respected commentator on the property and finance markets in New Zealand and overseas. He spends his time working closely with his support team sourcing clients leading edge finance strategies.
Last answered question:
Future rental income
I am doing retirement forecasting for 15 years' time and want to gauge how much rental income our rental properties will generate in the future. Are there any future forecasted average rental amounts available? If not, would it be fair to look at the graphs from the past and assume the same rental increases over time?
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Apartments
Ask Aaron Tunstall, owner of Impression Real Estate, questions relating to apartments.
Aaron Tunstall is the owner of Impression Real Estate, specialising in sales, building and property management. Impression has been awarded property management company of the year three times.
Last answered question:
Small apartment development
I’m lucky enough to be able to develop the section my family home is on. I have invested for years. However, this is likely to be my biggest project to date and I quite honestly don’t know where to begin. I’ve been told by a house building company that we could get up to 10 of their terraced town houses on to it. However, I’m curious as to whether we could build apartments and, if so, are they cheaper to build or could we get more on? Also, what companies build smallish apartment blocks in Auckland? Can you recommend anything I could read or do I just start with council? Thanks for any help you can give.
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Tax/GST/LTC
Ask Mark Withers, director of Withers Tsang & Co questions relating to Tax and Asset Structures
Mark Withers and his team at Withers Tsang & Co specialise in advising on property related transactions, valuation and restructure services and tax planning.
Last answered question:
Trust matters
The Trust owns the property. As a beneficiary of the Trust I currently stay in the house and the mortgage is under my name. So when I buy my own house under my personal name, what is the best position to hold the current house which will then be an investment property? Is it to continue to hold it under the Trust or move it to an LTC? And what about the bright line test?
Note: the current mortgage will have to move to Trust after I purchase my own property as will have mortgage for the new one under my name.
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Tax/GST/LTC
Ask Matthew Gilligan, managing director of Gilligan Rowe + Associates, questions relating to tax, trusts and finance.
Matthew heads GRA's specialist property and asset planning division. He helps clients create optimal tax structures and build wealth through property. He has an extensive buy-to-hold property portfolio, is currently involved in over a dozen developments, and is author of two books - Property 101 and Tax Structures 101.
Last answered question:
Trust matters
The Trust owns the property. As a beneficiary of the Trust I currently stay in the house and the mortgage is under my name. So when I buy my own house under my personal name, what is the best position to hold the current house which will then be an investment property? Is it to continue to hold it under the Trust or move it to an LTC? And what about the bright line test?
Note: the current mortgage will have to move to Trust after I purchase my own property as will have mortgage for the new one under my name.
Read on...More Questions & Answers about Tax/GST/LTC »
Tenancy
Ask Jennifer Sykes, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment questions relating to tenants and landlords
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment provides information and guidance on building law and compliance, services including weathertight homes, and advice for tenants and landlords.
Last answered question:
Costs for ending a fixed term tenancy
We are ending a fixed term tenancy in agreement with the landlord. We gave three months notice. She has an agent who will advertise the property and start bringing people in the next week or so. I know that we must pay reasonable costs to find new tenants but the landlord is asking one week's rent plus $330 which I think is for the advertising. I don't think she should be asking us for the week's rent. I think she is trying to recuperate the expenses she must pay in any case to the agent. What is reasonable in this situation?
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Insurance
Ask Rene Swindley, CEO of Initio Insurance, questions relating to insurance.
Rene is the founder of digital insurance platform Initio, which is about insuring houses online in real time to provide a faster, smoother and customer-first approach to property insurance.
Last answered question:
Missed inspection cover
I'm going away for an extended period of time over the festive season and I can't commit to my periodic inspection. Every three months is onerous. If I don't organise an inspection will I still be covered?
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