Welcome to the February 2022 edition of the APM Client Newsletter.
A Word from Howard – Changes to our Leadership
Welcome to the new year, I hope that you were able to take some time out over the holidays to rest and recharge. I am looking forward to the year ahead as 2022 has started off with some exciting changes to our leadership team here at Auckland Property Management (APM).
Maintaining the growth and longevity of the company is important to me and last year I announced in the February Client Newsletter that we had appointed Bill Highet as our Chief Operating Officer. The addition of Bill was part of the succession plan for APM and after twelve months working alongside each other, the succession plan has come to fruition.
I am pleased to announce that Bill has been appointed the new Managing Director of Auckland Property Management, and I will continue in a Director role. We are a stronger team since Bill joined us last year and I’m very pleased to be working together with Bill to continue the legacy of the company.
These past 30 years as Managing Director have been rewarding and fulfilling and I’m looking forward to my next challenge as a Director in APM. I am of course remaining active in the business and, having passed the torch on to Bill, I will now more than ever be focused on growth and pursuing business opportunities – I am expecting APM to have an exciting year.
There have also been some other changes to our leadership team that we can share.
We are also pleased to announce that James Bangerter, is now the General Manager for our Commercial Property Management department which we intend to expand very soon. We are sure James has much to contribute in this role and as a member of the leadership team, and congratulate him on his work with the department over the years.
Our Business Manager Kristin Xu has had a change in title and is now our Finance Manager to better reflect her role in the company and as a member of the leadership team.
I predict it’s going to be a big year for our Residential, Commercial, Body Corporate, and Waiheke Holiday Home Property Management divisions. If you would like to discuss the professional management of your investment property then please do get in touch with our team or I am available to take your call anytime.
Kind regards
Howard Morley
Director
Auckland Property Management
Stepping into the big guy’s shoes
It is an honour and a privilege to have been passed the baton from Howard to take on the leadership of Auckland Property Management and Waiheke Escapes. It’s also a little daunting given the shoes I’m stepping into and the reputation of the company that needs to be maintained! Fortunately for me, Howard is remaining actively involved in the company so will continue to be a valued advisor and mentor.
We have an exciting year ahead at Auckland Property Management. All of our existing business services are in growth mode – residential and commercial property management, body corporate and residents’ association management, and holiday rentals – and we’re now adding two more services to the mix: facilities management and Home Watch.
At the time of writing this we are shortlisting candidates and expecting to appoint our first Facilities Manager within the next week. The quality of applications is impressive and gives us confidence that we will be able to offer an enhanced level of service to commercial, industrial and body corporate clients requiring close attention to maintenance inspections, renovations and new developments. We’ll be happy to assist residential property owners with major renovations and rebuilds too.
Home Watch is property management of residential properties that are not tenanted – for example holiday homes. We receive requests from people to provide routine inspection and maintenance services for their holiday homes or even their primary residences, especially if their properties are vacant for extended periods, so we have decided to formalise that service. Its property management without tenants and therefore a service we can easily provide.
We’re also working with insurance brokers and accountants to ensure that we can jointly provide more comprehensive services to our clients, so if you need help with insurance or accounting services, let us know and we’ll put you in touch with the experts.
Kind regards
Bill Highet
Managing Director
Auckland Property Management
Residential Property Management
Omicron and Property Management
On the 22nd of January the New Zealand government notified the public that there were recorded cases of Omicron in the community, and as a result, we are currently in the Red Light setting. It appears most are remaining positive with increasing cases in the community, however, I think we should still remain a little concerned about the change in economic conditions and the market which can put pressure on the industry. Thankfully under the Red Light rules property management practices continue, with enhanced health and safety procedures ensuring we are following the guidelines, be that at a property viewing, rental inspection, out and about, or in the office.
The Omicron variant is creeping into our daily lives in many ways now, including having tenants advising that they have had a positive test or are a close contact and are isolating – of course our policy is to stay away until such a time that it is safe to return…Click here to read more.
Kind regards
Celia Burbery
General Manager – Property Management
Auckland Property Management
We are a Trusted Partner
Did you know we are a Trusted Partner with Tenancy.co.nz? Tenancy.co.nz is a property management consultancy service and helps with the tenant on-boarding process to ensure documentation is compliant. Being a ‘Trusted Partner’ is their highest level partnership agreement so when you are a client of Auckland Property Management, you know that we work with the best.
What is Market Rent?
Unsure what is meant by the term ‘Market Rent’? This is referred to in the industry as the amount a property owner can expect to receive, and the amount a tenant can reasonably pay, in relation to similar rents charged for similar properties in similar areas. More information on this can be found on the Tenancy Services website.
Body Corporate Management
The Role of a Body Corporate Manager
Before you became a Body Corporate (BC) owner or a Cross Lease (CL) owner or a member of a Residents Association (RA) you may have lived in a house where you were in charge of all aspects of the property 100% of the time. This would have meant that you were responsible for making sure the property was complying with all statutory requirements, you arranged someone to undertake all the maintenance or did it yourself, paid your rates and placed the insurance. If you were a limited liability company or a Trust you probably also kept financial records to either present to your accountant or forward directly to IRD.
When you joined a multi-unit development in any of the three forms noted above virtually all of those tasks have now been delegated to your Body Corporate , Cross Lease or Residents Association Manager (Auckland Property Management Ltd – APM) with oversight provided by the owners’ Committee and instruction approved by all owners at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). As you know, APM arranges the AGM plus other meetings throughout the year if required such as Extraordinary General Meetings and, in some circumstances Owners’ Committee Meetings….Click here to read more about the services of a Manager.
Kind regards
Steven Garland
General Manager – Body Corporate
Auckland Property Management
Commercial Property Management
Commercial Management and the Year Ahead
Happy New Year to everyone from the Commercial Team and what a year it’s going to be if the beginning of the year is anything to go by. We have had a few major changes recently and we are planning for more throughout the year. I am very excited to have been appointed as General Manager of our department and I am very grateful to Howard and Bill for giving me the opportunity. Our team is considerably smaller than the other departments but new members will join us throughout the year and it will be my pleasure mentoring and assisting everyone in the team so we can offer the best service possible to our clients.
With the recent departure of Jack, Tracy has taken over his portfolio and is slowly but surely getting to know all her clients, if you haven’t met her yet I’m sure you will soon. She brings a can do attitude and attention to detail to the role and is only a phone call away if you need any assistance or just want a chat.
We have had our new software system in place now for the last quarter and, as usual with any such change, we have had to deal with a few little glitches but overall we are very happy and we hope the change has not impacted you adversely in any way. Feedback is welcomed so please let me know either good or bad.
Kind regards
James Bangerter
General Manager – Commercial Property
Auckland Property Management
Waiheke Escapes
List your Waiheke Island holiday home with Waiheke Escapes
When you list your holiday home with Waiheke Escapes you don’t just get a booking service, you get full property management.
Services include:
- Cleaning Management
- Linen hire services
- Maintenance check-ups and reports
- Guest meet and greets
- Reservation services
- Marketing services
- Bond/security deposit collection
- Accounts management
Talk to our team today about management for your Waiheke Island holiday home.
You can also take a look at our full list of properties on the website here or contact our Holiday Accommodation Managers on [email protected] if you have any queries.
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APM News
Feedback is a Gift!
From time to time we will email you one simple question to check whether our service is meeting your expectations. There are a lot of questions we could ask but we believe that the most important one is ‘How likely is it that you would recommend Auckland Property Management to your friends and family?’. Depending on your answer to that question we will ask just one follow-up question. Your feedback is very important to us. Every positive response is a reason to celebrate and every negative one is an opportunity to fix a problem that we otherwise may not have been aware of. We would very much appreciate you taking 1 minute of your time to respond to the survey when you receive it. Currently the response rate is around 25% and our goal is to get to 100%!
We can organise an expert to help with your Accounts
If you have a rental or commercial property with us, but manage your own financials, then it might be good to think about saving yourself some time and use the services of a professional instead.
We can introduce you to an expert accounting service that specialises in landlord returns, and we can work with them directly to produce annual financial statements and tax returns. Email us at [email protected] to enquire about this service.
Staff News
Celebrating Staff Anniversary
Congratulations to Leanne Hale, a Residential Property Manager who has recently celebrated her 5 year anniversary with APM. Thank you for being part of the team Leanne!
Meet our new Team Member
Welcome to the team Shaun Beresford who has joined as our new Business Development Manager. Shaun is just a phone call away and is always available by email to discuss or provide you with expert knowledge, and provide solutions for your Residential property management.
7 Questions With…Tracy Zhu
I’ve been in the industry for almost 5 years.
I often get asked what services we provide in commercial property.
The number one thing is to find a good tenant for their commercial property.
I like to be with my family and enjoy everything we do together.
That’s a tricky question! I would choose Vanilla.
That would be the ability to know what others want and then deliver.
If space travel could be an option then I choose Neptune! That’s also my husband’s name, lol.
