Property Investment
6 min read
Author: Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Reviewed by: Ed McKnight
Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Here at Opes Partners, we help investors grow their wealth through New Build investment properties.
We do this through our Wealth Plan framework. This is our 5-step process for how to buy and then manage your properties over the long term.
Through these 5 steps, you’ll assemble your Property Panel. This is your team of advisers who can help you make the right decisions along the way.
If you’ve ever listened to the Property Academy Podcast and wondered: “What do these guys actually do?” This is the article for you. Because we’re here to break it down.
We’re going to pull back the covers and tell you exactly what happens when you work with us. Here are the 5 steps of the Wealth Plan framework. Click here to check it out in more detail.
The first step is to forget about property ... just for the moment.
You’ll sit down for a 1-hour session with a financial adviser. You’ll ask yourself:
This will be one of the most valuable hours you ever spend in your life.
But it’s not just fluffy goal-setting or day dreaming.
You’ll use our software, My Wealth Plan, to crunch the numbers. That way, you can see how your money grows over time and what you need to do next.
For some investors, this meeting provides a lot of comfort. They see how their investments will create a passive income in the future.
But for other people, this can be a bit of a wake-up call.
You’ll leave this meeting with a written financial plan. This includes how many properties you’ll buy (and when).
For many investors, this is the first time they’ve ever put their financial goals down on paper.
You can then decide if you want to progress to the 2nd stage of the Wealth Plan framework.
The second step is to look at properties. This happens in another 1-hour meeting called the Property Selection Meeting.
Your financial adviser will find 3-4 Rent Ready properties to show you.
These properties will be New Builds and have been pre-negotiated. They meet our 23-step checklist and are from one of the 122 developers we choose to work with.
You’ll then analyse the potential returns using our Return on Investment spreadsheet.
This forecasts how fast your properties will grow in value and what the cash flow will be.
At the end of this meeting, you'll usually have a few days to decide which property (or properties) is right for you.
After that, you sign a conditional contract (which you can pull out of). That way, other investors can’t buy it while you move into the Detail Dive.
After you sign a contract for a property you like, it's time to dig into the details.
Some people call this due diligence. But we call it The Detail Dive. That’s because you’ll follow a few additional steps that others sometimes miss. This is to make sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.
The Detail Dive is a 10-day period where you investigate the property. This is to make sure it stacks up as a worthy investment (And that you can get the money to buy it).
To help you out, you’ll get access to ClickUp. You can use this tool to see all the tasks you need to do.
That includes talking to a lawyer, a mortgage broker and the developer.
The whole process requires juggling a lot of players and running on a tight deadline. This is why you’ll work with a Client Relationship Manager. They’ll guide you through the process.
When you get to the end of the Detail Dive, you can decide to Confirm the Commitment. That means deciding to invest in the property.
Or, you might decide to let the property go and look at other options.
When you decide to Confirm the Committment, that’s when things kick into gear.
Your New Build property might not be built yet. So your Client Relationship manager will send you build updates from the developer.
As your build progresses, you’ll move into the Smooth Set Up. This is where you:
There’s a bit to do, and many investors struggle with this when they do it on their own.
Again, your client relationship manager will guide you through the process. That means they will:
And you can bet there’s another checklist on ClickUp. That way, we don’t miss important steps.
On the big day, your lawyer will pay the money to the developer and the property is now yours.
Next, your property manager will find a tenant for your new investment property.
The final step is the Background Wealth Builder. You'll continually manage your property while it quietly goes up in value.
Your property starts earning rent, and your property manager looks after it.
Your mortgage adviser will stick around. They'll help you choose your interest rates and manage your mortgage.
Your accountant is with you, too. They’ll be managing your taxes.
You’ll also talk to your financial adviser every year to review your portfolio and plan the next steps. You’ll regularly review your Wealth Plan to make sure you’re still on track.
There are some costs. But most of this service is free. It doesn’t cost anything.
Some investors ask, “How is this free if I’m not paying you?”
We make money in two ways.
We get paid by the developer when we can find you the right Rent Ready property.
We’re a bit like a mortgage broker in that way. Mortgage brokers don’t charge you to work with them. They get paid a commission from the bank when they organise the lending you want.
We work in the same way but with properties.
Our team consistently talk to developers. They’re on the lookout for good investment properties.
So, when we recommend a property to you, the property developer pays us a fee. But that’s only if we can find the right investment for you.
We try to help property investors in many ways. That’s why we also have a team of mortgage advisers, property managers and accountants.
If you choose to go through the Wealth Plan framework with us (and we do a good job), you might consider using them.
So we can earn money through:
Although, of course, it is up to you whether you choose to use these services.
If you want to get started, your next step is to choose your financial adviser and book a time for the 1-hour meeting.
This is the Portfolio Planning Session. You’ll walk away with your written financial plan.
Once you have this, you can decide whether to move on to step #2 and look at Rent Ready properties.
Click here to book your free session and choose your financial adviser.
Your next step is to book a portfolio planning session. This is where a financial adviser will create you a financial plan. They will then find properties that fit your plan.
Book your free sessionManaging Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Andrew Nicol, Managing Director at Opes Partners, is a seasoned financial adviser and property investment expert with 20+ years of experience. With 40 investment properties, he hosts the Property Academy Podcast, co-authored 'Wealth Plan' with Ed Mcknight, and has helped 1,894 Kiwis achieve financial security through property investment.
