Waikato Business News August/September 2023

10 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023
CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE OF
NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON
Mike Neale, Managing Director, NAI Harcourts Hamilton
New Tenant Interest?
- Role of your
Commercial Agent
This is a leasing market where we are
starting to see some warning signs
– with increasing vacancy rates,
Landlords are often keener to get a Tenant
signed up and less reputable Tenants see
this as an opportunity. For Landlords, not
every not every Tenant is a good tenant
and sometimes it can be best to steer clear.
What are some of the warning signs?
• Asking to draw up a lease offer without
having seen the property
• A long term lease offer at the asking
rental, along with a significant rent
free period
• Asking for a significent cash contribution
to fitout
• Asking to reduce the deposit to one
months rental
• Asking to defer payment of the
deposit
• They don’t have a solicitor
The downside to signing a commercial
lease with a poor or undesirable
tenant, has various downsides
and risks for a landlord.
These include:
a) Non-payment of rent: Disreputable
tenants may have a history of
not paying their rent on time, or at
all. This can result in a loss of rental
income and financial/emotional
strain on the property owner.
b) Property damage: Problem tenants
may not take good care of the
property, leading to damage that
can be costly to repair. They might
also make unauthorized alterations
to the space, which could further
devalue the property.
c) Legal issues: Disreputable tenants
may engage in illegal activities
on the premises, such
as drug manufacturing
or distribution, which
can lead to legal troubles
for the property
owner. If such a
tenant engages in illegal
activities or causes
harm to others on the
property, the property
owner could potentially be held
liable for damages or injuries.
d) Eviction difficulties: If a tenant with
a bad reputation refuses to vacate
the premises when the lease is terminated,
it can be challenging and
costly to evict them through the
legal process. This can result in a
prolonged vacancy period and lost
rental income.
e) Insurance invalidation: Unauthorized
uses and alterations may invalidate
your insurance policy.
f) Increased management workload:
Dealing with a problem tenant can
be time-consuming and stressful.
You may need to invest more time
and resources in property management
and legal proceedings.
To mitigate these risks, it’s essential
for landlords to conduct thorough tenant
screening, including background checks
and references, before entering into a lease
agreement. Some of this should be undertaken
initially by the Agent and some by
the Landlord or their legal advisor.
Additionally, having a well-drafted
lease agreement that clearly outlines
expectations and consequences for lease
violations can help protect the landlord’s
interests. Seeking legal advice or consulting
with property management professionals
can also provide valuable guidance in
dealing with disreputable tenants and minimizing
potential downsides.
What should I expect from my real
estate professional?
While it can be a fine line between what
information you can ask for and what is
commercially sensitive or an over reach,
the following are some items you might
consider asking:
• Do they own any assets, such as a
house?
• Can their accountant provide a
statement of position?
• Can they provide a rental bond or
even a bank guarantee?
• Could the rental be maintained 3
months in advance at all times?
• Does anybody in their office know
of this potential tenant ? have they
asked around?
• Can we find out who their previous
Landlord was and talk to them, or
even the Landlord for where they are
currently living?
• Should a credit check be completed?
• If they are on an overseas passport,
do they have appropriate visa’s and
how long do those visa’s last?
I believe that a competent commercial
agent should give you
good advice and be able to act
as a sounding board for suggestions,
as how to mitigate
any potential issues. As a
team, we constantly strive
to provide advice and solutions
that mitigate risk for
our clients.
We had a recent case where a
potential tenant enquired. Fortunately,
within our office we try to keep an eye on
the Public Notices in the Waikato Times
and application notices for liquidation etc
– in this instance, one had shown up several
months priors, for the same director.
A copy of the notice was provided to
the potential Landlord and a face-to-face
meeting set up between the two of them,
which the agent also attended. The Landlord
is an experienced commercial owner,
so the landlord works were limited and a 3
month deposit was agreed and paid before
the keys were handed over. Thus, the landlord
was fully informed of the risks before
a decision was made and hopefully mitigating
as much as possible, any risk.
Under Real Estate Agents Act 2008
we advise all parties that they need to
seek their own legal and other professional
advice before signing anything
NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed
Agent REAA 2008
Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON
07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz
www.naiharcourts.co.nz
Tech Talk: User
Experience and User
Interface design is
about more than
look and feel
There is a misconception that user
experience (UX) and user interface
(UI) design exist to make a system
look and feel good.
This is just scratching the
surface.
The role of a UX
specialist is to ensure that a
product goes to market with
the greatest chance of success.
This is made possible by working
to understand the needs
of a system’s users, and creating
a user-friendly product
that helps real people get their
tasks done.
When you’re going to market
with a product, you need
to have strong marketing and
sales strategies behind it.
Investing in great
design means
getting it right the
first time.
You’ll want to put extra
thought into the onboarding
experience and keep an eye
on adoption rates and churn,
you need to know exactly how
many people are using your
system.
The development team and
client need to work closely
together to ensure the product
achieves your sales objectives,
minimises churn, and maximises
adoption.
But in terms of what goes
into the user interface, if you're
selling the product that you're
building, then you probably
want to think about when are
the key moments in this experience
that we close the deal
or upsell the customer a larger
plan? Thinking about where
are the sales opportunities
within the context of the user
experience? How are we going
to excite and delight, entice?
Often when a product is
falling short in the market,
businesses will say they’re
wanting to improve adoption
or retention rates.
When we review the user
interface, we can identity UX
and UI issues that are inhibiting
success.
Software businesses want
to improve conversion, adoption
and retention rates, and
look to marketing and commercial.
However sometimes
when the stone is turned over
to have a look at the product
there are UX issues and opportunities
missed to delight
users!
Investing in great design
means getting it right the first
time.
Another way to think about
it is, without investment in
good design, businesses run
the risk of paying the high
price tag for a product that
ultimately fails in the market.
TECH TALK
BY BRIANA CHRISTEY
Briana Christey is a
user interface and user
experience consultant at
Waikato software specialist
Company-X.
This can tarnish their brand
reputation and puts them
in a tricky decision to either
cut their losses or try again
by reinvesting good design,
rebuilding and rebranding
which can come at a very large
cost.
There's a well-known quote
from former Jaguar chief executive
Ralf Speth that summarises
it well: "If you think
good design is expensive, you
should look at the cost of bad
design."
Often the problem is cluttered
and confusing UI that
results in a high cognitive load
for the user to navigate and low
overall product satisfaction.
Achieving simplicity in
design requires real understanding
of users, so that the
UI can be designed to exactly
what they need, at the right
time, and in the right order in
their intuitive journey to complete
tasks.
Without a doubt, quality
of design is directly related to
product success in the market.