Growing up in an in over-crowded home sparked Samoan businesswoman’s interest in property.
Owner of her own company, That Rental Plug, 28-year-old Daisy Pedersen is not your average property manager.
Drawing from her own lived experiences of being raised in a Housing New Zealand home, her interest in property management spawned early in life.
“It would be me and my parents and my siblings and then my mum’s sisters’ children, and my mum’s other two sisters and their children and that kind of thing,” she says.
Despite the crowded conditions, Daisy still remembers her childhood as a beautiful one. However, it was also an eye-opening experience that changed her career path for the better.
“Just growing up in a crowded home, I realised… when I would go to other people’s houses… I would see how they would live. I think that’s where my interest in property started,” she says.
Her path to becoming a property manager wasn’t without its challenges as she was faced with discrimination while trying to find her own rental properties.
“Trying to find a house was really difficult… I felt that if I didn’t come dressed properly, they wouldn’t even give me a second look,” she recalls.
She also felt that being accompanied by her husband, who is of European descent, made landlords more receptive to them as a couple.
Unfortunately, statistics show that her experience is not uncommon in New Zealand.
Homeownership is on the decline, with glaring disparities by ethnicity. Europeans are likely to be homeowners at 56.8%, Maori at 28.2% and Pacific peoples at 18.5%.
Discrimination in housing is illegal, and Daisy is determined to combat it.
“Maybe once every year in my career, I have come across a landlord who has specified that they don’t want Maori or brown… we have to tell them, ‘look, we can’t do that’,” she says.
That Rental Plug was born out of a need to provide fair and equal housing opportunities.
The company, run by Polynesian women, focuses on educating both landlords and tenants, ensuring everyone is treated with the same respect and fairness.
“We have values that are a little different from your standard property management or your real estate company… I’m not in it for the money, it’s for the people.”
Whether you’re struggling to find a rental or you’re a landlord in need of assistance, Daisy and her team at That Rental Plug are there to help. Find them at thatrentalplug.co.nz.
