According to GorugbyHomes.co.nz luxury property owners can make up to $2,000 a day in Auckland and even owners with just a single room to rent or a caravan can cash in.
The billboards show an illustration of a rugby ball plus a house equalling big money.On the website, it says: ‘The law of supply and demand: more tourists than you can shake a stick at – and they need beds. Rugby mad tourists need beds. Rent a property, caravan, single room even … it's not rocket science’.
There are already dozens of properties listed on the website from single bedrooms, family homes and inner city apartments to villas opposite Eden Park with prices starting from around $150 a night to up to $2,000 a night.
One in Northcote says it has a resort style pool complex, built in gas fires and barbecue, a heated pool, spa and tranquil ‘mesmerising views that sweep across bush, beach, harbour and the city’. It also features a penthouse suite with in-room double spa bath, double showers, a private deck and a games room.
With two big rooms up for rent, up to four people can stay and hosts Graham and Nyree Dorward promise a ‘full, sumptuous breakfast daily’ as well as champagne and nibbles to welcome guests the day they arrive.
Graham Dorward said he was offering much more than just a room for the night and says that for the price visitors can get a full Kiwi experience, complete with golf and fishing trips if they want and he will pick them up from the airport in a Mercedes.
He explained that his motivation is not just money, but that an avid rugby fan he wanted to make sure fans enjoy their trip to New Zealand.
GoRugbyHomes marketing director Mike Gray said people were starting to comprehend exactly how much money they could make by putting their properties up for rent during the tournament.
‘It really is an opportunity for people to make money. But if you think about it, there is just going to be so much demand. So even if you rent out one or two rooms, you're providing a much needed service,’ he explained.
Gray said many properties had already been successfully rented out to mainly overseas tourists. He said one homeowner in Canterbury had managed to rent out a property for the entire duration of the World Cup. As a result they would be pocketing around $41,000.
‘Even if you have a couple stay for three nights at $200 a night, that’s $600. It's up to you to take up the opportunity,’ he added.
