Property obligations moral as well as legal
Kathryn Seque is officially the best landlord in the country, at least, she jokes, until October when the Property Investors’ Federation (PIF) names its next landlord of the year.
Seque was born to landlording. Her father was a professional investor and landlord in Dunedin, and she learnt a lot just from chat round the kitchen table.
‘‘I knew tenancy law when I was in high school,’’ she says.
Knowing legislation is a must for landlords, but it is only the start.
Being available when tenants need you, and having good interpersonal skills are important, she says. Her tenants all have her mobile number, and email. Not all landlords behave that way, especially investors who buy property in other cities and do not pay property managers to look after them.
‘‘In Dunedin we get a lot of Aucklanders buying property because it is a lot cheaper,’’ Seque says.
Having long-term maintenance plans, and renting out only decent places is also important.
Landlords don’t look like they will face a full rental WOF on their properties unless a Labour-led coalition gets voted in at the next election, but there are insulation standards.
Landlords have to set their own moral standards.
‘‘If I wouldn’t live in it, I won’t rent it,’’ Seque says.
Where do most landlords get their skills?
‘‘Most, unfortunately, just do it through trial and error, and experience,’’ says Andrew King from the PIF.
In the early days of their landlording, he reckons most just ‘‘wing it’’.
Seque advises joining the local chapter of the PIF, which runs training, but also seeking out some of the few books on the subject.
King recommends Brian Kerr’s Complete Guide to Landlording.
There may be signs that the skills of the new generation of landlords created in the property boom that started around 2000 are improving.
Despite a rise in the number of people renting, the number of orders the Tenancy Tribunal makes is falling.
King wonders if landlords, forced by insurers to take precautions against meth contamination and rent runaways, have become much better at doing their due diligence on prospective tenants.
And tenants, having come to realise that, are behaving better.