How to choose a property manager

• Tenant communication. Acting as the day-to-day contact for the tenant, handling requests and notifying you of anything that needs a decision.
• Rent collection and arrears. Monitoring rent, following the agency's arrears process and telling you when payments fall behind.
• Inspections. Carrying out routine inspections with the required notice and providing written reports.
• Maintenance coordination. Triaging requests, arranging tradespeople, obtaining quotes and approving work within an agreed limit.
• Tenancy administration. Tenancy agreements, bond lodgement, renewals, rent reviews, notices and record keeping.
• Compliance support. Helping track Healthy Homes requirements, smoke alarms, insulation records and related documentation.
• Reporting. Owner statements, inspection reports and maintenance records so you can see what has happened.

Using a property manager does not automatically transfer every legal obligation a landlord has. The property manager versus self-managing guide sets out what stays with you either way.

• The individual, not just the brand. Ask who will actually manage your property, how many properties they look after and how the team is structured. A smaller portfolio may allow more individual attention, but the number alone does not determine how responsive an agency will be.
• Tenant selection. Ask exactly which checks are run — identity, income, references from previous landlords, and tenancy history — and who makes the final decision.
• Tenant care. Ask how the agency communicates with tenants, handles maintenance requests and addresses problems before they become larger issues. This is one factor in evaluating ongoing service and how the property will be managed over time.
• Communication. Agree what you will hear about, how quickly, and through which channel. "We'll keep you updated" is not a standard.
• Inspections. How often, with what notice, and do you receive a written report with photographs?
• Maintenance. What can be approved without asking you, which tradespeople are used, and how are quotes handled for larger work?
• Compliance. How Healthy Homes requirements, smoke alarms, insulation records and bond lodgement are tracked and evidenced.
• Total cost. The management percentage plus letting, inspection, advertising, supervision and administration charges, GST included.

• How many properties does the manager assigned to me look after?
• How long have your last ten properties taken to re-let?
• What is your written tenant screening process?
• How soon will I hear if rent is late, and what happens next?
• What maintenance can you approve without contacting me?
• How often do you inspect, and will I get photos?
• How do you track Healthy Homes compliance for my property?
• What is the total I will pay in a normal year, including every extra charge and GST?
• What notice do I need to give if I want to end the agreement?

Take this property manager checklist into every appraisal and ask the same questions of each agency, so you are comparing processes rather than presentation. For the cost side of the checklist, work through property management fees in New Zealand. Auckland landlords can also read the Auckland property manager comparison guide, and if you already have an agency, the guide to changing property managers in New Zealand covers notice and handover. If you are not yet sure a change is needed, start with the guide for landlords unhappy with their property manager.

Bonds must be lodged with Tenancy Services, and there are statutory timeframes for doing so — see bond rules on tenancy.govt.nz. Ask how rent is held and when it is disbursed to you, and ask to see a sample owner statement and a sample inspection report. If the agency is part of a licensed real estate business, you can check its licence status with the Real Estate Authority. Bond handling is one process to assess, not a complete measure of credibility. The landlord remains responsible for applicable legal obligations, even where an agency carries out relevant management tasks on the landlord's behalf.

As an illustration only: at $650 per week, two weeks of vacancy represents $1,300 of lost rent. It shows the scale of a single vacancy period, and says nothing about how agencies differ on fees. A lower fee is not automatically better value, and a higher fee is not proof of better service; compare the processes and the service included in each proposal.

Useful proposals should address what you actually care about. On PMCompare you say what you value, what you want your next manager to do better, and how you weigh cost against service — then compare the responses in one place, in a consistent format, before anyone gets your contact details.