The problem
I own rental properties. Like most self-managing landlords in New Zealand, I was juggling tenant messages at 9pm, chasing overdue rent on my lunch break, and spending weekends trying to remember which property needed its smoke alarms checked. My evenings weren’t mine anymore.
The tools that existed were either built for professional property managers running 200+ doors, or they were glorified spreadsheets with a login screen. Nothing was built for someone like me — a landlord with a handful of properties and a full-time job who just wants things handled properly without it becoming a second career.
Why I built Keel
I’m a chartered accountant by background. I understand the numbers side of property — yields, cash flow, tax. But the operational side was killing me. Maintenance coordination, compliance tracking, tenant communications, rent reconciliation — it’s a relentless stream of small tasks that individually take five minutes but collectively eat your life.
I started building Keel because I believed AI had reached the point where it could genuinely handle the operational burden — not just send you alerts, but actually do the work. Triage a maintenance request. Draft an arrears notice. Track your Healthy Homes compliance. Match bank transactions to tenancies. The stuff that eats your evenings.
What Keel does differently
Most property management software treats AI as a feature checkbox — a chatbot bolted onto the side. Keel is built AI-first. The intelligence isn’t an add-on; it’s the foundation. Your AI front desk handles the routine so you can focus on the decisions that actually matter.
The goal is simple: turn you from a “doer” into a “reviewer.” You still make the calls — approve the tradesperson, sign the notice, decide on the rent review. But you’re not the one drafting, chasing, scheduling, and tracking. Keel is.
Built for New Zealand
Keel is NZ-first. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986, Healthy Homes Standards, bond lodgement rules, the 2025 amendments to notice periods — it’s all baked in, not bolted on. When the law changes, Keel updates. You don’t need to become an expert in tenancy legislation to stay compliant.
We integrate with the services NZ landlords actually use — Akahu for bank feeds, Tenancy Services for bond lodgement, Centrix for tenant credit checks. Not international tools adapted for NZ with a currency swap.
The vision
I want Keel to be the platform where a landlord with one property and a landlord with twenty both feel like they have a professional property management team behind them — without the 8% management fee and without giving up control.
Property investment should be about building wealth, not about admin. If Keel gives you your evenings back, we’ve done our job.
Sam Sadler
Founder & CEO
Chartered accountant, property investor, and the person who got tired enough of property admin to build something about it. Based in New Zealand, building Keel full-time with AI as the co-pilot.