Pack and save on furniture stress
Getting into the property market as a first-home buyer is hard enough but then there’s the act of actually moving in.
An English study of 2000 people in 2015 showed that moving house is considered more stressful by most than divorce or starting a new job. And having to choose and buy new furniture adds another layer of stress.
Property mogul Nikki Connors of Propellor Properties has launched a business named Metropolis Design, which offers to sort out New Zealanders’ shopping-moving dilemmas for a one-off fee with a furniture pack that includes everything from furniture to towels and cutlery.
Beginning at $10,000, the silver pack is the starting level furniture package, equipped in a colour palette of midnight blue, yellow and warm grey.
It’ll set you up with everything you need for a one-bedroom apartment, including a TV, vacuum cleaner and iron.
Whiteware is not included in the silver package, but is in the gold package for $15,000, and the platinum package for $20,000, both of which cover two bedrooms (master and single). Although the packages are fundamentally offered in the three tiers, they’re also available by room.
Connors intends the design offering to be better than having done it yourself. The range has been curated by Connors, whose home has featured in NZ House & Garden magazine, with the design choices overseen in the beginning stages by Anoushka Haskell.
The furniture has been sourced from China, and Connors said it was designed to be hardwearing.
‘‘We’re very conscious that with these furniture packs, a lot of the properties will have tenants in them as well,’’ she said.
There are options to layby or pay in three instalments over three months. Otherwise Connors suggested working the cost of a furniture pack into the mortgage, as one of the mortgage brokers she regularly deals with does for her property clients.
She said her furniture packs are a good way for landlords to maximise the return on their investment.
‘‘It’s not like years ago where you could put in an old couch and some old chairs and just mix and match, tenants are very discerning nowadays,’’ she said.
‘‘I think right now there is a lot of criticism about landlords and the state of their properties and what they provide and I think that’s probably fair enough. Around the world, most people rent; generations rent the same property. So that’s got be respected. And I feel very passionate about that.’’