How to turn your home into an investment property
Not everyone chooses to sell their current home when they decide to move on. Sometimes, it’s not even an option. If you’re looking to hang on to your personal home and turn it into a rental, there are a few things to consider first.
1. Wear and tear
This is perhaps the biggest thing homeowners need to know. As a rental, your personal home will experience more wear and tear than it otherwise would if you lived in it. Your garden will probably not look as immaculate as it once did, and your walls and floors may acquire new scuff marks. So, if you can’t shake off your emotional attachment to the property, you may be better off selling it rather than renting it.
2. Location
The location of your home can have a major impact on its rentability and how easy it is to find quality tenants. If you’re close to local amenities like schools, Waikato University, Waikato Hospital or public transport routes, you have a better chance of keeping your property tenanted.
3. Maintenance
If your home is high maintenance - perhaps it has a pool, a large garden, or old appliances - know that you’ll need to keep it maintained to a reasonable condition to meet your obligations as a landlord/owner. This may involve extra ongoing costs, or costs to remedy the amount of maintenance required.
4. Family homes do best
In Hamilton, family-sized homes do particularly well on the rental market. Four-bedroom houses in Hamilton fetch, on average, between $450 and $520 per week. As for the strongest performing suburbs, Hamilton East/University, Te Kowhai/St Andrews/Queenwood, Dinsdale South/Frankton, Dinsdale North/Nawton and Flagstaff/Rototuna have recently experienced the strongest rental growth for family-sized properties with three to five (or more) bedrooms.
5. Landlord responsibilities
When you turn your personal home into a rental, you will take on the mantle of landlord, which comes with its own set of responsibilities. This includes finding and screening tenants, conducting or arranging inspections, repairs and maintenance. It’s a lot to manage—especially if you’re no longer living in the region. It’s why so many investors hire professional property managers to take care of the day-to-day running of their properties. Moreover, their fees are tax deductible.
Important note: If you’re leaving the country for more than 21 days, you’ll need to either appoint someone as your landlord in your stead or hire a property manager.
6. Tax implications
If you turn your home into a residential investment, be aware that you may not be able to make tax claims against it. It always pays to talk to a professional accountant to make sure you set up your home-turned-rental properly to avoid issues with tax, ownership and debt allocation.
What would you do if it was your job to fix Hamilton's CBD?
More alcohol restrictions, more lighting, busking rule changes and a whole lot of lobbying - these are some ways Hamilton leaders want to sort out the CBD.
Crime and anti-social behaviour in the area has been in the spotlight after recent news of a man defecating in the street near a city pub and another who flipped tables out the back of a bar after being found scrounging cigarette butts and asked to leave.
What would you do if it was your job to fix Hamilton's CBD? Tell us your reasons in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).
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What workplace change would you like to see most?
This coming Monday is Labour Day in New Zealand. This public holiday marks when the eight-hour workday and 48-hour workweek became law in 1899. The idea started with Samuel Parnell, a carpenter in Wellington, who in 1840 refused to work more than eight hours a day. Since skilled workers were in short supply, his employer had to agree.
As more skilled workers arrived, employers tried to change working conditions, but Parnell and others kept pushing for better rights. In 1890, Parnell led a Labour Day parade of 1,500 people to promote the eight-hour day. He passed away shortly after, and nine years later, Labour Day became an official public holiday.
Do you feel that we have reached the ideal in working environments yet? What rights are you passionate about relating to employment? Share your thoughts!
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