A traditional NZ property manager typically charges 7–10% of rent + GST, plus per-occurrence charges for letting, inspections, and maintenance coordination. On a $550-a-week rental, the all-in annual cost usually lands around $3,100–$3,900 once GST and one letting fee are counted. keel is built for landlords who want the day-to-day work handled but prefer to keep the per-occurrence fees and approval calls themselves — for $15/month per property, capped at $99/month for 10 or more.
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Industry norms reflect public NZ market sources (cited at the bottom of this page). keel claims are verifiable on our pricing page.
Property manager
7–10% rent + GST
keel
$15/mo, capped $99
Property-manager ranges reflect public NZ sources (Rental Managers, Opes Partners, Waikato Real Estate, all 2026). Individual managers vary — ask your specific manager for a complete schedule of fees including add-ons. keel pricing is per-property graduated and listed in full at /pricing.
On a $550/wk rental, a property manager typically costs $3,100-$3,900/year all in. keel is $180/year for one property, capped at $1,188/year for 10+ properties. The savings get bigger as the portfolio grows.
A property manager generally acts on your behalf for routine matters. keel surfaces every outbound action — tenant message, maintenance dispatch, document edit — back to you for approval. Nothing happens without you signing off.
Skip drafts every reply, triages every maintenance request, and answers NZ tenancy law questions instantly. You read, tweak if needed, and send. The same outcome as a property manager doing it for you, but you stay in the loop.
Property managers usually arrange tradies from their own panels and may apply markup. keel lets you choose who attends, see the recommendation, and approve before any tradie is engaged.
Property managers work business hours and clear queues. AI drafts replies the moment a tenant message lands — including weekends and after hours. For routine questions, the back-and-forth is removed entirely.
Tenants report maintenance with photos, view their tenancy agreement, see repair status, and message you through their own keel portal. Less SMS chasing, more visibility — at no extra cost.
Honest comparison. There are real situations where a property manager is the right choice.
If you're overseas, in a different region, or travel often, having a manager who can physically attend the property — for inspections, callouts, meeting tradies — is something keel doesn't replace. Boots on the ground still matters.
keel surfaces every action back to you. If you'd genuinely rather not look at maintenance approvals, tenant questions, or arrears decisions — and you're willing to pay 7-10% of rent for that — a property manager is the right tool. keel is for landlords who want the work done, not the decisions made.
Difficult tenants, contested bond claims, complex multi-occupant arrangements, or properties with chronic issues can benefit from a human manager's experience and ability to attend Tenancy Tribunal hearings on your behalf. AI can draft submissions; it doesn't replace the courtroom presence.
A property manager is the named contact for tenants, tradies, councils, and insurers. With keel, you remain that contact (with AI helping you respond). For some landlords, having a buffer between themselves and tenant calls is the whole point.
Both models are legitimate. The choice usually comes down to: how involved you want to be in your rental’s day-to-day, and whether the savings are worth the time. Read the full fees breakdown if the numbers are what’s deciding it for you.
A property manager makes sense if you want a single point of contact taking calls, managing tradies, and handling tenant comms entirely on your behalf — and you're willing to pay roughly 7-10% of rent plus GST plus per-occurrence fees for that. keel makes sense if you want most of the same outcomes (compliance, maintenance triage, tenant comms, arrears chasing) handled by AI for a published flat fee from $15/month, with you approving each action.
Public NZ market sources put standard property management fees at 7-10% of rent plus GST, often with additional charges for letting, inspections, maintenance coordination, lease renewals, and admin. On a $550 a week rental, that typically lands between $3,100 and $3,900 a year once GST and one letting fee are counted (Rental Managers, Opes Partners, Waikato Real Estate, all 2026).
keel uses graduated per-property pricing — $15/month for 1 property, $25 for 2, $35 for 3, and so on, capped at $99/month for 10 or more properties. All prices include GST. On a $550 a week rental that's $180/year for one property; the cap of $99/month works out to $1,188/year regardless of portfolio size from 10 properties up.
A property manager typically handles: finding and screening tenants, drafting tenancy agreements, collecting rent, chasing arrears, scheduling inspections, coordinating tradespeople, managing Healthy Homes compliance evidence, and being the point of contact for tenant issues. With keel, you do those things — but with AI drafting the replies, triaging the maintenance, chasing the rent, and answering NZ tenancy law questions on demand. You approve each action; keel handles the typing.
Yes — physical presence at the property is the main one. A property manager can attend a callout, meet a tradie at the site, conduct a physical inspection, or be at the property when you can't. keel doesn't replace boots-on-the-ground when that's needed. For owners who live far from their rental or travel a lot, that physical-presence layer can be worth the percentage fee.
Tenancy Services and HUD have outlined incoming regulation of residential property managers — including a public register, minimum standards, complaints processes, and separate handling of client funds. Private landlords (self-managers) are outside this scope, so the regulatory environment is changing for managers but not for owner-managers using tools like keel. Worth tracking if you're choosing between the two paths.