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Information for Owners

Welcome

Welcome to Mana Property Management where our goal is to provide discerning landlords and their superior properties, with the quality tenants they deserve, for the best overall return possible.

A thorough understanding of the Residential Tenancies Act, solid processes, a personal element of care for your tenants and an eye for maintenance play a key role in the service we aim to deliver.

We are constantly on the look out for new ways of doing things and we are not afraid of change if it means a better outcome for our owners, our tenants and our properties. We are members of the OPIA and the LPMA NZ. We are establishing a direct relationship with Tenancy Services' compliance team (soon to have a presence in Dunedin) and volunteered to be one of the first in their audit programme back in Nov 2018 which we passed with no recommendations for improvement.

We have established processes to ensure our properties are compliant with insulation and smoke alarm requirements and are currently building a process to work through all of our properties with respect to the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act requirements which were finalised at the end of Feb 2019.

 

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A snap shot of our management

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Maintenance

We are taking an early intervention approach to maintenance to minimise the long term cost of maintenance for your property and therefore keeping the yield up. We have trade accounts for whiteware, appliances, building supplies etc and we pass on those trade prices to our owners.
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Renovation

We are actively looking for opportunities for our owners to increase the return on their investment and often renovation is one of those options. We have handled everything from a full gutting and renovation through to a new bathroom, new kitchen, or a simple refresh of a property by way of a repaint and recarpet. Sometimes something as simple as replacing an old, tired and stained bathroom vanity, or a kitchen bench that’s had a hard life can make the world of difference.
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Tenants

We have a comprehensive tenant selection process which includes multi-bureau background and credit checks. Once tenants have moved in, we do our best to make them comfortable by employing our kindness and empathy ethos. We believe that this leads to less wear and tear and longer term tenancies meaning less vacancy. We are not casual about enforcing the Residential Tenancies Act but we do it with kindness and empathy.
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Rent arrears

Rent arrears are constantly tracked and all efforts made to keep tenants on track with payment. We use the avenues available to us under the Residential Tenancies Act as well as a lot of personal contact to encourage payment.
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Rent reviews

Our tenancy agreements are fixed for 12 months as is usual in Dunedin. Each time we sign a new agreement, we consider the rent. We also factor into the agreement a mid-year increase if appropriate as we like to be as transparent as possible with our tenants and let them know our intentions up front.
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Inspections

We perform inspections on a quarterly basis as that is the requirement of most insurers. Our inspections are thorough, with around two hundred photos being taken and stored in our system in case they are needed as evidence at a later date. You will receive an inspection report with around 20 photos to give you an idea of the condition of the property and notes on what we found and any maintenance we have actioned.

Please browse through the FAQs below to find the answers to your questions, if your question remains unanswered, please contact us and we will be more than happy to help. Similarily, if you believe we should have specific information listed, please let us know.

There are some variations to our charges depending on where the property is situated, the quality of the property, residential or student and if you were attending to your own maintenance. Check out our price list or contact us to discuss your individual needs

On the first working day of each month a detailed statement is e-mailed to you and the net rent is deposited into your account. Monthly payments minimise an owner's bank fees, accounting costs and mortgage payments can usually be set up to be paid monthly to coincide with your rental income.

After the tax year ends on the 31st March, you will receive your usual March statement and payment and additionally a year end statement showing all income received and expenses incurred for the year split into the typical accounting categories. This information minimises the workload your accountant needs to do to prepare your accounts, thereby minimising the costs you incur. We can also set up to two people to receive your statements so both yourself and your accountant can automatically receive them each month and year end. This again saves time and expense for you.

Dunedin mainly runs on fixed term tenancies and the peak season for non-student properties is January / February each year. Ending a tenancy at this time makes good sense for both the tenant who will have the best choice of properties to choose from for their next home and the landlord for the best choice of quality tenants. Tenancies beginning outside of January / February are often set to finish in January / February the following year, rather than 12 months, which puts both the tenant and the owner in the best position for their next tenancy.

We ask for one month's notice to allow us to give reasonable notice to the tenants who among other things will need to change the bank account they pay rent into, wrap up and settle any outstanding invoices we had actioned on your behalf and to settle the final rent payment to you. 

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New tenancy fee - $350 + GST

This covers the letting service:
  • Taking advertising photos
  • Organising the advertising (owner pays external advertising costs e.g. Trade Me), advertising on our website is included
  • Taking enquiries via our website, Trade Me, email and telephone
  • Booking viewings
  • Attending viewings and being positive ambassadors for the property
  • Credit checks (up to two)
  • Background checking - multi-bureau check
  • Reference checking
  • Making a selection on your behalf based on merit of applicants
  • Drawing up the tenancy agreement
  • Meeting with the tenant to talk through the agreement and sign in
  • New home introduction and welcome pack etc

 

Management fee - 8.5% + GST

This covers:

  • Collecting rent into a separate client funds account
  • Following our rent arrears process if rent does not come in  including communication and breach notices
  • Enforcing the RTA on behalf of the landlord for instance liaising with the Council and taking action over noise complaints
  • Maintenance plans
  • Our access to specialist legal advice
  • Time not fully covered by maintenance fee and inspection fees as these are priced well below the amount of time we spend on them. We are very comprehensive with our inspections.
  • Managing keys
  • Emergency phone for tenants to call out of hours regarding maintenance
  • Handling tenant enquiries
  • Preparation for and attendance at mediation and tribunal hearings
  • Small maintenance and cleaning tasks (up to 30 mins). Our property managers have tool sets, vacuum cleaners and a full set of cleaning products on board their cars).
  • Access to REAL Landlord insurance (only available via a property manager)
The management fee is 10% + GST for student properties and 9.5% + GST where the owner arranges their own maintenance

Maintenance and renovations - 8.5% + GST

This covers:
  • Access to our preferred contractors, monitoring of their H&S management plan, public indemnity insurance and registration/qualifications
  • Arranging quotes
  • Liaising with you where appropriate
  • Instructing contractors
  • Monitoring progress of jobs
  • Arranging access to the property
  • Processing and paying invoices
  • If you choose to pay for maintenance and renovations using your rent, we can arrange to hold back an amount each month to “save up” for it

The fee on large renovation projects may be negotiated prior to work commencing.

Our property managers are quite handy and will do up to 30 mins of maintenance or cleaning as part of the management fee.

If there is a task our property managers can do, but it is more than 30 mins, the charge Is $30 +GST per hour or part thereof. We find this saves our owners a huge amount on calling out tradesmen for small tasks such as re-stringing a washing line. There is no 8.5% maintenance fee on top of this.

Property expenses - 5% + GST

This covers:
  • Expenses paid for by us on the owners’ behalf such as insurance, council rates etc. Water rates are not charged separately in Dunedin.

Inspections - $50 + GST

This covers:
  • Performed quarterly to comply with the requirements of most insurers
The first inspection is a “check-in” inspection, the last is a “check-out’ inspection. These are doubled up if there are back to back tenancies and the fee only charged once.
 
Full furnished properties are $110 + GST for the check-in/check-out inspection, but $50 + GST for routine quarterly inspections.
 
Sale Fee - One week's rent + GST
  • Charged when a tenanted property is sold
Covers our time that otherwise wouldn’t have been incurred, in liaising with sales agents, existing owner, new owner and the tenants to arrange access etc.

Other Services

  • Rental appraisal (where we do not manage the property) - Refunded if we end up managing the property - $50 + GST
  • Rental appraisal (where we do manage the property) - No charge
  • Additional credit checks (two are included in the Tenancy Fee, or if they are required throughout the tenancy)  - $30 + GST
  • Tenant re-signs for another term - admin charge (covers liasing with the tenant about their intentions, 
    reassessing the rent level, drawing up a new fixed term tenancy agreement, meeting with the tenant to sign the agreement) - $60 + GST
  • Video tours for advertising the property - $75 + GST
  • Trade Me advertising (actual Trade Me cost) - $86.09 -$164.35 + GST
  • Other ad hoc activities - $50 per hour or part thereof
    (attendance at body corp meetings on an owner’s behalf, helping prepare insurance claims etc)