Managing your own rental in Hamilton, and when to hand it over.
Plenty of owners with one or two rentals look after them well. This page sets out what the job takes, what it costs when a home sits empty, and the two ways we can help: just finding the tenant, or taking on the whole job.
Free, with no obligation. We reply within one working day.
What looking after a rental takes, every year.
None of it is hard on its own. It is the timing: most of it lands when something goes wrong, not when it suits you.
- Finding a tenantThe advert, viewings, checking applicants and the agreement. In the year to July 2026, about 36 in every 100 Hamilton rentals got a new bond, so this comes round often
- The bondLodged with Tenancy Services on time, with a receipt for the tenant
- Collecting the rentAnd chasing it the day it is late, not a fortnight later
- InspectionsWe do one every three months, with a written report
- RepairsFinding a trade, getting it done, and an urgent job that will not wait until the weekend
- The paperworkHealthy Homes evidence, insurance and smoke alarm records, kept where you can find them
- When it goes wrongNotices, a tenant who stops paying, and now and then the Tenancy Tribunal
What one empty week costs.
Take the Hamilton median rent of $560 a week, from Tenancy Services bond data for July 2026.
- One week with no tenant costs you $560
- Our full management fee on that rent is $49.91 a week, including GST
- So one empty week costs about the same as 11 weeks of our fee
This is arithmetic, not a promise: no manager can promise a home is never empty. It shows why the speed and quality of finding a tenant matter more than the fee.
Signs it may be time to hand it over.
- You are moving away, or away for long stretches
- A second or third rental is on the way
- Repair calls keep landing at the worst times
- The rent has been late more than once
- You are not sure your Healthy Homes evidence is complete
- You would rather not face the Tenancy Tribunal yourself
Keep doing it yourself, or hand over the lot.
| Option | Who does what | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Do it all yourself | You do every job in the list above, yourself | No fee. It costs your time, and every empty week costs the full rent |
| Tenant finding | We advertise, show the home, check applicants, sign the agreement, lodge the bond and do the ingoing inspection. Then we hand everything to you and you carry on | One week's rent plus GST. No tenant found, no fee. Taken off if you move to full management with us within 12 months |
| Full management | Everything, start to finish: tenants, rent, inspections every three months, repairs, notices and the Tribunal if it comes to that | 7.75% of the rent we collect, plus GST. Everything included, even finding tenants |
Every fee is set out on the property management fees page.
What owners who manage their own rental ask.
It depends on how close you live, how much time you have, and how the home is going. On a $560 weekly rent, our full management costs about $2,595 a year, including GST. Managing it yourself saves that, but you do every job on this page yourself. A manager tends to be worth it if you live away from Hamilton, cannot step out of work, or have had late rent or empty weeks. If you live nearby, have time and the tenant is settled, doing it yourself can work well, and our tenant finding covers the busiest part.
Yes. You decide the tenant and the rent. We advise, run the process and keep it lawful.
Yes. If you move to full management with us within 12 months, we take the tenant finding fee off.
7.75% of the rent we collect, plus GST. On a $560 weekly rent that is $49.91 a week including GST. See the property management fees page for other rents.
Want a second opinion on your rental?
Start with a free rental appraisal. We will tell you what it should rent for and what we would do, with no pressure to hand it over.