Thanks for your enquiry

We’re thrilled that you’re considering Groundswell Property as your management partner for short-term stays at your home.

Your home, or holiday home, is one of your most valuable assets. For some, it’s a cherished part of family life; for others, it’s an important investment that deserves to perform at its best.

At Groundswell, we understand the responsibility that comes with managing your property. We balance three priorities with equal care — the care and protection of your home, the delight of your guests, and the return on your investment.

Learn more

Local team.
International standards.

He tāngata. He tāngata. He tāngata.

Groundswell’s people are our biggest asset, and your best indicator of our professionalism and standards.

  • Led by Nada and Tomek Piatek, systems and standards are set high, and are robust - ensuring consistent and reliable delivery, even through the busiest of busy times. Nada has years of entrepreneurship, financial control and governance chalked up, and Tomek brings a technical/IT foundation.

    Molly Mundell and Sarah Hogan complete the on-the-ground leadership team. Both have years of operational experience in the industry. As Owner Relations Manager, Molly will be your point of call for all management and business aspects. Sarah hails from the superyacht industry and competently fulfils the role of Property Services Manager. The property care team grows and contracts with seasonal demand, and our seniors, Makere Ranga and Meg Woodward, hold the fort at all times. Jannah Franco handles administration and is an assistant to Nada and the team.

    Together, we will address all aspects of your vacation property management, ensuring top-notch service.

Pricing

Fees for management are separated out from set up, guest reservations, and maintenance.

Owners vary in how they manage scheduled and responsive maintenance. Contractually, this is an owner's responsibility, but our team is happy to support you in this. The more you do for yourself, of course, the more cost-effective it will be, but we will always have your back if need be. Of course, in urgent situations we will always take action.

Reservation costs, including linen, are charged to the owners, but guests pick up the cleaning fee. Both linen hire and cleaning are notably more costly in Raglan than in main centres, reflecting limited access and increased freight and mileage.

Expect to take home 50-60% of the guests accomodation charge (night rate & extra person charges) after Groundswell, platform commission, and reservation costs. Accommodation charges include GST, and if you are not GST registered, you will receive a flat-rate credit, per the tax legislation. See IRD advice regarding short-stay and visitor accommodation.

A comprehensive breakdown of all charges, on a per-reservation basis, will be provided in a statement at the end of each calendar month. Groundswell will receive all guest payments, less third-party platform fees. Your monthly invoices will be settled from this income, and the balance will be paid out on the 20th of the month following the arrival date of reservations.

  • Listing fee $500+gst
    Includes home inspection, safety audit and listing process. May be waived or reduced at Groundswell’s discretion, where significant prior resources are available.

    Professional photography $80+gst per hour
    Styling, photography, editing, management and selection. Expect 7-8hrs. May be waived at Groundswell’s discretion, where suitable images are available.

    Home preparation $65+gst per hour, as required
    As required by our team to set the property ready for the first guests, including cleaning and bed making.

    Lockbox + Installation + 4 keys, cut
    $100 + install, on request

  • Groundswell Management fee
    20%+gst, of gross property income

    Platform fees*
    Each reservation will incur one of the following charges, in line with the platform from which the booking has been received.
    AirBNB 15.5% + gst = 17.825%
    Booking.com12% + 2.2% processing fee = 14.2%
    Bookabach 12% + 3.8% processing fee = 15.8%
    Groundswell website/direct booking 7%+gst = 8.05%

    *(Groundswell Property has no control over platform booking fees and cannot guarantee the platform fees will remain the same throughout the duration of the agreement.)

    We offer guests booking direct a 5% discount, but oncharge the credit card processing fees to the guest.

    Monthly Restricted-Booking Fee $80+gst per month. Extended blocks on the calendar that prevent bookings will incur a charge to cover Groundswell costs.

  • Linen hire $12.50+gst per guest/reservation
    Includes bed linen, towel, bathmat, hand towel, face cloth & tea towel. Required.

    Guest consumables

    $1.90+gst per guest per night.
    Includes shampoo, body wash, soap, toilet paper, dishwashing liquid, kitchen paper towels, bin liners, instant coffee, tea & sugar, salt, pepper. Required.

    Milk, blue rubbish bag $1.40 (milk) + $4.60 (Rubbish bag and disposal).
    Required

    Pantry items, welcome gifts, etc.
    Only as requested. Prices vary.

  • Optional fees

    GST monitoring $30+gst/month
    We will alert you if your bookings in any 12 month period approach $5000 below the threshold for mandatory GST registration.

    Administration fee $65+gst per hour, as required
    Any out-of-scope reservation or administration work, for example, extensive calendar management to accommodate non-trade activities or gst threshold compliance.

    Reservation reschedule fee $50+gst per booking, if required.

  • Scheduled lawn mowing, window cleaning, deep cleaning in Spring and Autumn, and insect control are required.
    As hosts, we need to ensure standards are met for guest readiness. Owners may manage this, but Groundswell reserves the right to review and arrange further maintenance tasks if needed.

    Where you request Groundswell to manage this on your behalf , contractors can be coordinated, and if required, we will settle their invoices and on charge this.

    Trade Administration $65 + gst per hour, or 10% of cost

    Laundering $40.00+gst/per load
    Bed & couch throws, cushion covers, mattress protectors, duvet inners. As required.

  • Standard cleaning fee, less platform commission. This varies per property.

    Occasionally, and by agreement only, owners may do your owner post-stay cleans, but as hosts to the following guests, we need to ensure standards are met - which we have found often exceed domestic cleaning.

    In this case, Groundswell will do a post-clean inspection, will make the beds with fresh linen, and charge for any extra time required to reset the house.

FAQs

  • It’s yours - of course, you can use it! Whenever you like… but with a few restrictions that make it reasonable for us to manage it as a business resource - for us both.

    • If it’s already booked, the reservation must be honoured, and your home won’t be available for you.

    • We need at least 7 days’ notice. At shorter notice, you are welcome to request to stay, and if we can manage our cleaning schedule, ensuring no disruption for guests at your or any other property within our portfolio, we definitely will. At the height of summer and some event weekends, this is not always possible.

    • Groundswell needs sufficient access to the property to allow reasonable bookings and the associated revenue. Long or very repetitive owner stays, or blocks for maintenance disrupts revenue, while Groundswell still incur (mostly technology) costs. Sometimes that can’t be avoided, in which case we will pass on these costs with the Monthly Restricted-Booking Fee. (See above)

    You will have access to the owners portal and can track reservations and calendar availability from there.

  • We work hard to ensure that we only have great guests! For you… and for us!

    The OTA platforms, like Airbnb, verify guests’ identity and reviews from their previous reservations are reviewed if our approval is needed.

    For high-risk event weekends, such as Soundsplash and NYE, we will take extra care to ensure the reservation holder, and ideally the whole group, are over 18.

    We are an authorised partner with Good to Book. This is a secure, compliant network for guest risk alerts and Incident Reports. It gives us a heads-up ahead of time if someone who is known to be a poor guest confirms a reservation with us.

    For guests who connect with us directly, we request ID verification ourselves, using this tool.

    We can’t guarantee great guests - but we do put a lot of effort into trying hard to avoid bad ones.

  • Our team at Groundswell has created a Service Level Agreement so that we are all on the same page about what constitutes urgent issues, when we will step in to resolve them, and in what timeframe, and when we will (and won’t) request your input on these issues.

  • Groundswell will check the property at each post-stay clean, and will document any damage that is noted.

    The OTAs offer some protection against damage, and they oversee resolution payments - although with differing levels of care for different platforms. Groundswell will lodge claims for these where appropriate, an will liaise directly with guests to evidence and agree liability where possible.

  • We have a comprehensive list of mandatory, highly recommnded and nice-to-have items for short term rental anagement and will provide you with this.

    Our team at Groundswell are happy to help with styling and inventory selection if you would like our help.

    Linen is not required as hotel-standard linen is hired, and sent back for laundering.

    We use Ecostore consumables throughout all Groundswell properties. We will provision this before the first guest stay so you don’t need to do anything.

What’s next?

If you have provided us with your details, our customer service team will be in touch soon. If not, please enquire here.

Our team will guide and support you through the onboarding process—we’re experts at this!

Getting listed. What's the process?