Big leap in bach listings

BY KIRAN CHUG

Growing numbers of strapped-for-cash Kiwis unwilling to give up their summer getaways are letting their homes to pay for their own holidays.

But rental companies are warning people opening up their homes to strangers for the first time of the pitfalls of handing over the keys.

Tourism Ministry figures show growing numbers of Kiwis are choosing to holiday at home, which letting agents say will further encourage people to let their homes or baches.

Domestic tourism grew by 4 per cent last year, while the number of New Zealanders taking overseas holidays dropped by 3 per cent in the ministry's most recent figures.

One of the country's largest holiday home listing companies, bookabach.co.nz, has more than 3660 baches and houses listed for rent on its website.

Content manager Sara Goessi said that number compared with 2550 this time last year, with an extra 200 properties being listed each month recently.

The economic climate had made people cautious with their money, and Ms Goessi said they realised that letting baches and houses while they were empty was a way of raising funds.

People also listed their properties for tax benefits, as they could claim expenses on the income.

In Wellington, there were 250 properties listed for rent, compared with 150 this time last year on the site.

Mark Greening, who co-founded the company Baches and Holiday Homes to Rent and co-wrote the book of the same name, said more people were letting their homes or baches short-term during the peak seasons, to help offset the cost of the holidays they wanted to take for themselves.

"If you're not used to doing that sort of thing there's always doubt. `It's my own home, what are they going to do with it? – people worry."

He said problems most commonly involved breakages or disputes over payment, and excuses often involved fictional family deaths. "People listen to the weather forecast and decide it's going to be cruddy for the rest of the week and they bail early, so they don't want to pay."

Leslie Preston, whose company Bachcare provides letting and management services to about 1000 bach and home owners around the country, said the service was currently "flooded" with people listing properties for the first time.

The upsurge in listings – up 50 per cent in October compared with last year – was made up largely of people letting their own homes while they were away, and not just their baches.

"This is the time that people are trying to get things under way [for summer], and are thinking they need to get a bit more income."

People thinking about letting their homes needed to consider whether they were willing to take on the risk and organisation alone, or mitigate it by using a company to organise a bond to cover cleaning and other payments, Ms Preston said.

HOME RENT TO PAY FOR TRIP

For Chris and Rachel Roberts, the risk of letting strangers live in their home this summer is worth taking for a road trip with their sons.

Mr Roberts said they had always planned to do a South Island trip with Ben, 10, and Adam, 7, and were spreading it over four weeks so they could to it properly.

However, after being quoted $8000 to rent a campervan and looking into holiday park fees, they realised they were not going to have a cheap holiday. "You think you can do a month in the South Island and it's going to be cheap, but it's probably like doing a month on the Gold Coast."

The couple had rented other people's houses and baches for their own holidays in the past, and had preferred the experience to staying in a hotel as well as finding it good value for money.

So they decided to take the risk themselves. "We thought our house is going to be sitting there empty for a month, it makes sense to offset the cost of the holiday by renting our house out."

The Robertses are not using a letting agent, and will instead trust their instincts in choosing who to hand over their keys to.

"You're taking a little bit of a gamble," Mr Roberts admitted. "You probably will feel more comfortable if it's a family than a group of students coming for party time in the city."

Their home has been listed on a website since the start of the week for $600 a week, and they have already had an inquiry from Australia.

They are now waiting for more inquiries, and Mr Roberts said they would simply have to trust that the people they chose would respect their home.

"You have to have faith in people."

LETTING AGENTS' TIPS FOR FIRST-TIMERS

* Sound out potential tenants by email and phone.

* Go with your gut feeling.

* If something doesn't feel right, you don't want them in your home.

* Consider using a property manager. Decide how much you want for a deposit and when you want it paid by.

* If you don't want people to see it, touch it or break it – lock it away.

* Have a simple written agreement stating terms and conditions regarding cancellations and refunds.

* Put rules in writing to cover cleaning, smoking, pets and the maximum number of occupants.

* Tax is payable on rental income, and the IRD needs to be informed of what you are earning.

- © Fairfax NZ News