Few investors opt to DIY

Few property investors have any budget set aside for maintenance, the latest Crockers market research shows.

Monday, September 8th 2014, 12:00AM

by The Landlord

The firm carries out a survey of investors each month to form its Property Investment Index.

This month, investors were asked about the maintenance on their rental properties.

The survey found 17% had a budget for work that had to be done while 83% would pay for maintenance as it was required.

Only 18% would do their own maintenance. Another third would contact tradespeople and almost half left it up to their property manager to deal with.

Crockers reported that 40% of the investors surveyed were likely or very likely to complete some upgrades before putting the next property they planned to sell on the market.

Only 25% were unlikely to do any work on the property and 10% were very unlikely.

Of those planning to do work, 75% planned to upgrade the kitchen, 66% would turn their attention to the bathroom and the outdoor area and garden would be in for an upgrade in a third of cases.

The Property Index, showing investors’ expectations for their properties, rebounded in August. “Since the high in April there has been a steady decline in those expecting investment performances to improve in the next 12 months; however this has turned around in August with a strong bounce back to now sit at 34%. There has also been a decline in those expecting performance to be worse (12%) in the next 12 months while 54% of investors feel the performance will be the same,” the report said.

It showed how sharply Auckland’s rental returns have dropped as prices in the city rose.

Although in 2012, the returns in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were roughly even, there has been a lot of divergence since.

Christchurch‘s annual average rent return is now 4.9%, Wellington’s is 4.8% and Auckland’s is 4%. Dunedin was the standout, with an average rent return of 5.6%

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