Couple top NZ landlords
Kristy and Richard Kelly had paid off their first mortgage by their mid-20s and now, in their mid-30s, the Taranaki couple own seven properties and are on track to retire by 50.
Those seven properties, all tenanted and valued at $2.5 million, have seen the Kellys named New Zealand’s Best Landlords by the NZ Property Investors’ Federation.
Kristy, an accountant, and Richard, a semi-professional rugby referee, entered the competition not expecting to win, but just to see where they were at.
‘‘We were over the moon to win. It was a real wow moment and very humbling,’’ Kristy said.
The couple bought their first home in New Plymouth for $145,000 in 2003, when Kristy was 19 and Richard 21. Their mortgage was $120,000, which they aimed to pay off in 10 years.
They actually did it in seven. ‘‘Our income was only, like, $20,000 and we got a flatmate for the first six months,’’ Kristy said. ‘‘By nature we’re both savers, not spenders.’’
They sold the property for $280,000 and used the equity on a bigger family home worth $420,000 – paying off the mortgage in just three years.
From there, they started getting in to rental properties.
‘‘We had always talked about buying rental properties one day and seeing the success of paying down debt early, it gave us the confidence.’’
Their properties include four houses and a block of three flats in
Papamoa, Bell Block, Palmerston North and New Plymouth.
Kristy said they got on the property ladder early as they wanted to be proactive about their retirement. They encourage other young people to do the same.
‘‘We are where we are because of getting on the ladder early. Don’t be picky about your first home, it’s not your forever home.
‘‘We live well below our means and we have to sacrifice quite a bit but that means we get to retire early, which is our overall strategy.’’
The couple live on about 40 per cent of their income and the rest goes into the investments.
They do all their own maintenance, which has saved them extra costs on property managers and tradies.
The Kellys have a 10-week-old daughter, Laine, so are planning to slow down in terms of investments but will be concentrating on adding value to current properties and making sure they meet the Government’s new Healthy Homes standards.
Kristy said she believed the keys to being a great landlord were communication, flexibility, and acting promptly.
They’ve also been known to give their tenants welcome gifts and Christmas presents.
For being named the country’s best landlords they won $1000 which they donated to Habitat for Humanity.
Kristy said they have an open line of communication with all their tenants and use WhatsApp, a free texting app, to chat with them which they can use from all over the world. ‘‘We try and put ourselves in their shoes. It’s our house but it’s their home.’’