Questions property owners actually ask

Look at three things: are your vacancies being filled promptly, are your outgoings being actively managed (not just passed through), and are you receiving clear, regular reporting that you can actually understand? A good property manager should be proactive — calling you with opportunities and risks, not just responding when things break. If you only hear from your manager when an invoice needs signing, that is a problem. At AssetPro, we provide monthly reporting with commentary, not just numbers, so you always know where your asset stands.

You can, and some owners do — particularly those with a single tenant on a long lease. But once you have multiple tenants, OPEX reconciliations, maintenance coordination, lease renewals, and compliance obligations (BWOF, healthy buildings, asbestos registers), the time commitment escalates quickly. Most owners who come to us were self-managing and found that the cost of mistakes — a poorly negotiated rent review, a missed compliance deadline, a vacancy that dragged on — far exceeded the management fee. The question is not whether you can manage it, but whether your time is better spent elsewhere.

Management fees in Auckland typically range from 3% to 8% of gross rental income, depending on the complexity of the asset, the number of tenants, and the scope of services. Single-tenant industrial properties sit at the lower end; multi-tenanted office or retail buildings with high OPEX and active leasing requirements sit higher. Be cautious of unusually low fees — they often come with reduced service levels or junior staff. We structure our fees transparently and tie them to the actual work involved, not a one-size-fits-all percentage.

Start with your three biggest cost lines: insurance, rates, and maintenance contracts. Insurance should be market-tested every two to three years — many owners are paying premiums based on outdated valuations or legacy broker relationships. Council rates can sometimes be challenged if the capital value assessment is out of step with the market. Maintenance contracts (lifts, HVAC, fire systems) should be competitively tendered, not auto-renewed. We conduct an outgoings review for every property we take on, and typically find meaningful savings within the first quarter.

If your commercial building has specified systems — fire alarms, sprinklers, emergency lighting, lifts, mechanical ventilation — then yes, you are legally required to have a current BWOF displayed. An Independent Qualified Person (IQP) must inspect and certify each system annually, and the building owner signs the BWOF to confirm compliance. Failing to display a current BWOF is an offence under the Building Act 2004. We manage the full BWOF cycle for our clients: scheduling IQP inspections, tracking remedial work, and ensuring the certificate is renewed on time.

Under the ADLS standard lease, you can issue a notice if rent is 10 working days overdue. The Property Law Act 2007 then requires a formal notice giving the tenant a further period to remedy the breach before you can cancel the lease. In practice, early communication usually resolves the issue faster than legal escalation. We contact tenants the day rent is overdue, escalate formally at five days, and issue notices at the statutory trigger point. Most arrears situations we handle are resolved through conversation, not litigation — but having the process in place protects your position if it goes further.

It depends on the lease terms. Most ADLS commercial leases include one or more rights of renewal, which the tenant must exercise by giving notice (usually three to six months before expiry). If no renewal is exercised, the tenant becomes a periodic (month-to-month) tenant under the Property Law Act, which gives you less certainty. The strategic question is whether to renew on existing terms, renegotiate, or use the lease expiry as an opportunity to upgrade the tenant mix. We start lease expiry planning 12 months out so there are no surprises.

A market rent review compares your current rent against what a willing landlord and willing tenant would agree to for the same premises in the open market. The process is set out in your lease — typically the landlord proposes a new rent, the tenant can accept or counter, and if they cannot agree, it goes to an independent valuer or arbitration. The key is preparation: having comparable evidence (recent leasing transactions for similar space in similar locations) before you start the conversation. Poorly prepared rent reviews leave money on the table. We commission independent market evidence and manage the negotiation from start to finish.

Speed matters — every month vacant is lost income you cannot recover. But filling space with the wrong tenant creates bigger problems: arrears risk, early termination, or a use that damages the building's positioning. We market vacancies through commercial property platforms (CommercialProperty.co.nz, TradeMe Commercial), direct broker networks, and targeted outreach to businesses we know are looking. Tenant due diligence — credit checks, trade references, understanding their business model — is as important as the marketing itself. A quality tenant on fair terms is always better than a marginal tenant on optimistic terms.

Under a typical New Zealand net lease, the tenant pays their proportional share of operating expenditure (OPEX) — which usually includes rates, insurance, body corporate levies, common area maintenance, building management fees, and specified system maintenance. Capital expenditure and structural repairs generally remain the landlord's responsibility unless the lease says otherwise. The key is transparency: tenants are entitled to a detailed OPEX budget and annual reconciliation. Disputes usually arise from poor communication or unexpected cost increases. We provide itemised OPEX budgets and reconcile annually with full supporting documentation.

This depends on your investment objectives, the property's lifecycle position, and market conditions. Generally, you want to sell when the asset has been optimised (strong tenant covenant, renewed leases, completed capital works) and the market is pricing future growth into current values. Holding makes sense when the income stream is secure and growing, or when selling would trigger significant tax or transaction costs that outweigh the benefit. We help owners think through this objectively — sometimes the best advice is to hold and improve rather than sell into a soft market.

Significantly. Buildings rated below 34% of New Building Standard (NBS) are classified as earthquake-prone under the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016, and owners have defined timeframes to remediate. Even buildings between 34% and 67% NBS can face tenant resistance and financing challenges — many corporate tenants now require 67%+ NBS as a minimum. If you are buying, always obtain a Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA) before committing. If you own a lower-rated building, strengthening costs need to be weighed against the uplift in value and rentability post-upgrade. We advise on the commercial implications and can coordinate the assessment and strengthening process.

Beyond the obvious (location, tenant quality, lease terms), focus on the things that catch buyers out: the condition of the building envelope and services (deferred maintenance is expensive), the seismic rating, the OPEX structure (are costs accurately reflected or have they been suppressed to inflate the net income?), and the town planning position (what can be built next door?). Due diligence is where deals are won or lost. We have acquired over $2 billion in commercial property across our career and bring that institutional rigour to every acquisition we advise on — whether it is a $1 million suburban unit or a $50 million CBD office building.

Commercial property value is driven primarily by income and risk. To increase value, you either grow the income (higher rents, reduced vacancy, additional lettable area) or reduce the perceived risk (longer lease terms, stronger tenant covenants, better building condition). Practical steps include: completing deferred maintenance, repositioning common areas, improving energy efficiency (which reduces OPEX and attracts better tenants), and proactively managing lease renewals to extend the weighted average lease term (WALT). We develop asset plans for each property we manage, identifying specific value-add opportunities with estimated costs and returns.

Property management is operational: collecting rent, coordinating maintenance, managing tenant relationships, and ensuring compliance. Asset management is strategic: optimising the property's financial performance, planning capital expenditure, making hold-or-sell decisions, and aligning the asset with the owner's broader investment objectives. Most commercial property firms offer one or the other well — rarely both. AssetPro was built to combine both disciplines, because operational excellence without strategic direction leaves value on the table, and strategy without operational capability is just theory.