[alanc]

Hi. This may have already been answered on an earlier post so apologies if that's the case. Have been wondering if there are standards which rental accommodation has to meet for property owners to be able to charge a certain rent. Apart from location what allows someone to charge $400 for a one to three bedroomed house for example whereas a similar place could go for £350 or less in the same area? Are there restrictions on rent or is all arbitrary? Is rent negotiable or does competition mean that you're inevitably stuck with the advertised price?

[james the mechanic]

Rents in NZ are simply regulated by supply and demand some may be negotiable some may not. Landlords are free to charge what they like but if they are too unrealistic the property may be empty for a very long time.

[zardell]

Landlords are free to charge what they like but if they are too unrealistic the property may be empty for a very long time.


Either empty for a long time or let to a newcomer to the area who isn't aware of the local market.

As with every unfamiliar situation, research is the key.

Also, as far as your question re negotiability is concerned, we have found that almost everything (including rent) in NZ is negotiable.

Julie

xx

[rjadams2]

I'd agree with Zardell, we negotiated our rental fee and also the car we brought and our laptop.

I must admit rental prices were more expensive than I had anticipated and we look at rentals that were somewhat less but found they needed a lot of work doing to them before we could have moved in. How landlords can rent house out in such a state is beyond me!

[constablechuck]

Rentals seem to vary considering the area, Auckland, Christchurch, Invercargil are all different.

Investment property here is different than what I'm accustomed to, I had some properties in the U.S. and with the low interest rates (actually fixed for the entire term of the loan) and reasonable prices I was turning a profit and building equity at the same time, here in NZ the interest is high and changes every few years, the mortgage payment is generally higher than the rent received, so the landlord has to go out of pocket to pay for the mortgage, rates, insurance maintenance ect.., the only incentive to have investment property in NZ is to build equity, depending on where the property market goes it could be a good or bad venture.

I can understand how landlord could get in over their heads and not have the money to properly maintain their property.

[KerryS]

Investment property here is different than what I'm accustomed to, I had some properties in the U.S. and with the low interest rates (actually fixed for the entire term of the loan) and reasonable prices I was turning a profit and building equity at the same time, here in NZ the interest is high and changes every few years, the mortgage payment is generally higher than the rent received, so the landlord has to go out of pocket to pay for the mortgage, rates, insurance maintenance ect.., the only incentive to have investment property in NZ is to build equity, depending on where the property market goes it could be a good or bad venture.

I can understand how landlord could get in over their heads and not have the money to properly maintain their property.

Constable Chuck have you got property held under a LAQC to offset against taxes? I have found that is the reason why Kiwis tend to invest heavily in rental properties, rather than the potential future equity.

[Tia Maria]

In popular areas rents can sometimes be negotiated up.

We lost out on a rental as the other couple interested simply offered to pay more than the advertised rate.

Cheers

Tia

[Caroline and Dave]

Thought I'd put this on here,it gives you the average rent being charged per area
http://www.dbh.govt.nz/market-rent

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[constablechuck]

I don't have any property in NZ so I haven't considered an LAQC, I can see how an LAQC which would be able to claim all the losses and them transfer them to the shareholders would be a clever way for someone to reduce their taxable income ;) but even with the LAQC I think it would be hard to turn a profit on a rental property when your paying such high interest and all the other expenses associated with the property.