Is Opes the right fit for me? (The answer may be ‘no’)

Some property investors love working with a property investment company like Opes Partners.

But it’s not the right fit for everyone. In fact some property investors should absolutely NOT use Opes.

So, in this article you’ll learn the 6 questions to ask yourself to see if Opes Partners is the right fit for you.

This article isn’t to be snooty or say that we don’t want you as a client … of course we want to work with you.

But we also have your best interests at heart. We want to be as open and honest as possible. And sometimes the honest truth is that we’re not the right fit for you.

Here are the 6 questions to ask yourself to figure out whether we’re the right fit for you.

#1 – How many properties do you want to look at?

A real estate agent will happily hand you a sheet of all their properties and say: “You pick”.

That’s not how we work at Opes Partners.

At any given time we’ve got over 100 properties on our stock list. But you’ll probably only be shown 3-5 when working with one of our financial advisers.

If none of those properties is suitable, the adviser may look at others to show you. But, we don’t send investors the list of every property we currently have available.

We do this because at Opes we start by creating you a financial plan. Then we go and find properties that suit your plan.

That’s why we’ll show you a couple of properties, rather than everything we have.

Now, this approach doesn’t work for everyone. Some people love looking at lots of properties. So, if you prefer to hunt through lots of listings on OneRoof of Trade Me, we may not be the right fit for you.

If, on the other hand, you want targeted recommendations about what to invest in, we may be the right fit.

#2 – Do you want a hands-off strategy, or a renovations-based strategy?

Here at Opes, we just work with New Build properties. This suits people who want a hands-off investment strategy.

And, of course, New Builds are ... well, new. So you don’t need to renovate or be on the other end of a paintbrush every second weekend.

This works really well for some investors, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

So, if you are a super keen, renovations-focused investor, it’s likely we are not the right fit for you.

You're better off contacting another property investment company or a real estate agent.

#3 – How long do you want to hold these properties for?

If you work with Opes, we’ll recommend that you hold your investment properties for at least 7 years.

We follow a buy-and-hold strategy. Our standard investment philosophy is:

• Buy good quality properties

• Hold on to them for the long term (7+ years)

• Use professionals like mortgage advisers and property managers to minimise risk

This is what we find works best for our investors.

If, on the other hand, you want to buy and sell quickly, we won’t be the right fit for you.

I once had an investor who wanted to buy a property from us that was being built, then sell it once the property was finished. I couldn’t in good conscience sell this investor a property because there’s a risk the property could fall in value during construction.

I told the investor not to buy a property from us.

That doesn’t mean this investor was wrong. It’s just that I thought the strategy was too risky for me to recommend. In this case, a real estate agent will be a better fit for that type of investor.

#4 – Do you have the money to invest?

Many Kiwis want to get ahead financially and think investing in property is the way to do it, but some people can’t get a loan to invest (at least, not yet).

If this is you – we still want to help. But, our core service where you buy an investment property will not be the right fit for you … just yet.

That’s because you’re not ready to buy your next investment property.

Instead, you’ll want to use our Investment Ready service. This is where you work with a mortgage adviser to get into a position to invest.

Again, it’s not that we don’t want you as a client or that we don’t want to help you. We do. The question is, “What’s the best way for us to help you right now?”

And if you can’t afford an investment property right now, Investment Ready is the best way we can serve you.

#5 – How do you want to find properties?

We work with over 100 developers to find the right properties for our investors.

As part of this we handle the property-finding and negotiation with developers on your behalf.

Some investors will see this as a negative because they think:

• “I can get a better deal if I negotiate directly with the developer,” or

• “I can get a better property if I look for it myself.”

Here at Opes, we have working relationships with 123 developers. We follow a strict vetting process for each one to ensure the company is reputable.

Many of these relationships are exclusive, meaning we have deals you can’t find on Trade Me … and we negotiate hard on investors’ behalf.

Having said that, some investors just prefer to work directly. They want to go direct to the developer and negotiate themselves.

That’s understandable. But if that’s you, we won’t be the right fit for you. We’re a better fit for people who want a more hand-holding service.

#6 – Are you ready to take the plunge?

The key to investing is to actually buy property.

Sure, this sounds obvious. However, some investors over-think or get overly anxious about making an investment decision.

Just to be clear, getting nervous is normal and OK, but letting those feelings paralyse you is not right either.

Here at Opes Partners we don’t charge you anything for our service.

Instead, we get paid by the developer when we find you the right property.

So, if an investor, after months and months, still can’t make a decision, we might say:

“Hey, it doesn’t feel like it’s the right time for you to invest at the moment. Why don’t you come back to us when you’re ready?”

This gives our financial advisers the time to work with Kiwis who are ready to build a property portfolio.

Should I invest with Opes Partners?

This article isn’t to scare you away from investing or shame you for your choices.

We understand that our investment strategy doesn’t suit every single investor in the country – and that’s OK.

Instead, we’re helping you to make the best investment decision for you. That includes sharing the reasons why we’re not the right fit.

This way, you can make an informed decision about whether working with Opes Partners is the right for you.

To be really clear – in this article we’re talking about our core investment service.

Even if you aren’t the right fit for this core service, we still want to help. You might choose to work with us through:

• Opes Mortgages
• Opes Property Management, or
• Opes Accounting