01-09-2010
September '10 Issue
We all know the old saying about how much Kiwis love bricks and mortar as an investment but some of us take that even further.
Once we become property investors we turn it into a full time occupation. For some of these people its using the knowledge and skills they have learned along the way to help them set up property investing related businesses and escape from their former jobs.
In the September issue of the NZ Property Investor Magazine we meet and talk to a number of Kiwis who have done this. We ask them how they did it, what sort of incomes they are now making and about their lifestyles.
Our couple on the cover, Jay Bennett and Jane Williams, typify people who have made the move. Their ultimate goal is to livie a life of adventure and travel - sustained through property, of course.
We call this "The Freedom Issue" of the magazine as its theme is to help you find out how people have used property to create new lives.
On the nuts and bolts side of property investing, or should that be the hammer and nails side, we continue to look at changes and what they mean to all investors and in this case tenants too.
The big change is the introduction of the new Residential Tenancies Act. This is essentially the rule book which landlords and tenants have to abide by.
Up until now there has been high level information of the changes, but now we can drill into more detail and explain the new rules investors have to play by.
There are a lot of changes and when we wrote this piece we discovered there were plenty of things that most landlords will be unaware of.
We all hate taxes and need to know as much as we can about them. In this article PricewaterhouseCoopers explain in more detail what some of the changes introduced in this year's Budget mean and we also give you a practical guide of what to do in that awful situation of being audited by the IRD.
It's a bit like earthquakes. They are something we never want to experience but they do happen. The article in this month's mag gives you a guide of how to handle the situation.
On a much brighter note we celebrate the start of spring with a new Gardening Column for Property Investors. In this series Darryl Pierce, owner and manager of Palmers Rotorua, explains how a well-maintained, tidy lawn can add huge value to a rental property and guides readers through a step-by-step process for creating one.
Our regular investment guru Michael Yardney shares with you Eight Ways to ensure your investment Success, highlighting common mistakes investors make and how you can avoid them.
In the spotlight this month is Hamilton. In this regional review we look at the opportunities for investment in this city and show you what is happening in various suburbs.