8 min read
Author: Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Reviewed by: Ed McKnight
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.
Opes+ is a free tool for property investors. It has grown exponentially since we launched in September 2024 and now has over 35,000 users.
Because of that, you might have some questions about how it works. Here are answers to the main questions you might have.
If we’ve missed anything, leave a comment in the comments section at the end of this page.
Opes+ is a free app that helps you run cashflows on your investment properties.
It started back in 2021 when we, here at Opes, built the Return on Investment spreadsheet.
It was a free spreadsheet so you could run the cashflows on your investment properties. That way, you could decide which one to buy.
Over the years, we received feedback:
We’ve set up a new email address for anything Opes+ related.
If you need technical support, you can email support@opespartners.co.nz.
We understand that it can feel weird to rely on a free app, so you might wonder if there are any hidden gotcha’s or costs.
Nope. There are no hidden costs. We don’t even ask for your credit card information. It. Is. Free.
There are two reasons we’ve done this as a business.
Firstly, a lot of people hear about Opes because we put out lots of free information.
Whether it’s our podcasts, webinars, articles or spreadsheets. Over 18,000 investors downloaded our previous free spreadsheet. All this free education grows our brand because people then use our information and talk about it.
If we give Opes+ away free, more people will use it. Then they might decide to use our other services at Opes.
We have no plans to charge for Opes+. The core features currently in Opes+ will be free forever.
There is a chance that in the future we develop additional features, and there may be a cost for those, but we have no plans for that right now.
Cyber security is top of mind for us. You don’t want to put your financial information in only to find that it wasn’t secure.
That’s why we work with a local, New Zealand-based, web-development company to build Opes+. They run penetration tests on the app to make sure we are following industry best practices.
We also have hired CyberCX. They are a third-party cyber security agency who audit the app. At the time of writing we have been through 3 audits with them. Most recently the wrote a letter to us that said:
"Comparing the target of the review to others that CyberCX has reviewed in the past, based on the age, size and complexity of the application, the overall technical risk appraisal of the Opes+ web application was low risk, with no significant security issues outstanding."
Just keep in mind that no website is unhackable. Even banks sometimes get hacked! But, cyber security is top of mind. We are very aware that we need to protect your financial information.
We have big plans. We want to release lots of new features in Opes+.
The next features we plan to build are:
We are currently planning at least a year in advance. We know what big features we want to release at least 12-15 months in the future.
Yes, the new Opes+ app is available on iPhone.
Simply search for “Opes+” in your favourite app store to download it.
We are currently working on an Android app.
Make sure you are logging in using the same email address as you use with your financial adviser at Opes. All Wealth Plans should show within Opes+.
The main purpose of Opes+ is to give you the projections and insight you need about your money. So, we use your data to crunch the numbers and show you what you need to see.
Beyond that we also use your data to be genuinely helpful when we think we can add value.
Here are a few examples:
#1 – To offer help when your interest rate is about to expire
Let’s say you’ve got a fixed interest rate coming up for renewal on your mortgage. We might give you a call or send you an email: “Hey, would you like help choosing your next interest rate?”
(That’s if you’re not already using one of our mortgage brokers).
If you say ‘no’ that’s totally fine; there’s no pressure. But we do it to see if you need help at that specific part of your property journey.
#2 – To see if you want everything in one place
One of the main benefits of Opes+ is that you can have all your property services and information in one place.
Let’s say you use Opes Mortgages and Opes Accounting, but you don’t use Opes for property management.
We might get in touch to ask: “Do you want us to look after your rentals too?”
It might be helpful for you to have everything in one place. You can keep on track of everything in Opes+.
Again, no worries if the answer is ‘no’. We share this example so you can see we only use your data where we think you get a benefit.
Here’s what we won’t do …
We won’t pounce on your details and cold call you the moment you decide to upload an investment property.
If there’s no way we can help, you won’t suddenly get a phone call.
We know you won’t like it, and that’s not how we operate.
The trouble with our old system is that the data was all in spreadsheets, so the app isn’t pulling through your properties.
We don’t have plans to automatically pull through previous properties you have bought through us. You can either enter these in yourself or you can add them when you have your next annual review with your financial adviser.
The idea in releasing Opes+ was to provide it early before every feature is in place. That way you can start getting the benefit of Opes+ now, even before those other types of features are ready.
You can create a free account at plus.opespartners.co.nz
Nope. Our old spreadsheet only let you put in 3 properties, but in Opes+ you can add in as many properties as you want. That’s part of the reason we ditched the spreadsheets and built Opes+.
Not yet, but we hope to bring this feature soon.
Our mantra is: “First version. Not forever version”
So our plan was to get a first version live that could replace our old spreadsheet. That’s happened. Now, we’re focusing on adding new features and this has been hotly requested.
Your projections will be as accurate as the data you put in. The more accurate you can be, the better. However, we can’t predict the future, so treat the numbers as ‘projections’ rather than ‘forecasts.’
That means the numbers won’t work out exactly as they appear in the app, but it gives you a robust view of how the numbers might work out.
To make sure the projections are accurate, we had all our spreadsheets and models audited. Twice.
First, by an investment company. They tested the way we calculate the numbers. Do they match up with investment best practice?
Then we got them audited again by a spreadsheet analyst and model builder. This was to make sure the formulae are correct.
These audits aren’t compulsory. We didn’t legally have to do them. But, we knew that this was the right thing to do since you’ll rely on these numbers to make investment decisions. We went through these audits so you can feel confident the projections are robust.
Yes, you can click the “Change Assumptions” button throughout the app and change any of our assumptions.
Yes, you can add any property from throughout the world. However, we are not experts in overseas property, so be careful with your assumptions.
Not yet. This is another hotly requested feature we are working on.
If you’re an Opes Partners client, you get a few extra features through the app. You get access to your Wealth Plan and our investment guides.
If you don’t have a Wealth Plan, you can get one free by requesting a session with an Opes financial adviser. You can do this through the app.
Yes. You can create a free Wealth Plan with an Opes Partners financial adviser. Your Wealth Plan will then appear within the app.
You can request your free Portfolio Planning Session with Opes+.
Managing 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.
This article is for your general information. It’s not financial advice. See here for details about our Financial Advice Provider Disclosure. So Opes isn’t telling you what to do with your own money.
We’ve made every effort to make sure the information is accurate. But we occasionally get the odd fact wrong. Make sure you do your own research or talk to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
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