TRADIE COSTS

It’s part of the property investor’s dream to add some value to a property through a smart renovation job. At the same time, it is a critical part of an investor’s job, as a landlord, to provide a good quality, safe and healthy rental property for their tenants.

And that means effectively engaging with tradespeople – on renovations and/or repairs and maintenance - to achieve those aims and to meet their responsibilities.

Yet a frequent topic of conversation for investors, both online and in person, revolves around tradies: what constitutes reasonable costs, how to tell if a quote is a fair one, how to find a good tradie, and so on. Often the views expressed are disgruntled ones.

One reason for this is that, traditionally, Kiwis are DIYers. As a nation, we like to think we can do these things for ourselves. But, in reality, that is not often the case. Most people are not the handymen they think – and shouldn’t be trying to do work which has specialised, professional standards.

That means most