Which experts should clients engage when investing in property?
Australians love property! Just as most people wouldn’t seek advice from friends about heart surgery if they weren’t a surgeon, it is important to realise that the same level of awareness should apply when investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property.
It’s therefore also important as Advisors when working with your clients, that you help them to understanding that risk mitigation is factored into establishing a property portfolio and that engaging experts is part of the process.
Investors should think of property investing as a business – where their team of experts all form part of the success of that business. Independently, they help them to maximise the investment opportunity, minimise tax and/or risk, while collectively they combine their expertise to increase your success multi-fold.
If they were building a house, they would need expert advice to ensure the foundations, concrete, frame, bricks and mortar were sound and kept their house standing strong and upright. There would be significant consequences if they found out the concrete was too thin and the mortar too weak AFTER the house has been built! The same applies when engaging experts to help them in the property investing process. After they have purchased the property, it’s too late for these experts to help.
As you can see in the chart above clients need different experts to be engaged at different stages, and some of them need to be engaged simultaneously. The chart shows they will usually need nine professions to ensure their property transaction is sound – and all their experts will play a very important role.
As with any business, they should seek out the best experts available who specialise in working with investors to successfully build a portfolio.
Why? Because they need to step into the future with them and consider all of the implications – how big they want to build their portfolio, what type of properties they will buy, which strategies they will use and who will benefit financially and when – so that they can provide the correct advice, planning and structuring in advance.
Why in advance? Because after the purchase, it is TOO LATE!
Some of the article content is extracted from the book Property Prosperity – 7 Steps to Buying Like an Expert by Miriam Sandkuhler © 2013, with the authors permission
Miriam Sandkuhler is the founder of Property Mavens - a specialist property advisory firm based in Melbourne.
Unlike most ‘Property Advisors’, Miriam is an Accredited Property Investment Advisor (PIAA), Licensed Estate Agent and REIV member and award nominated Buyer Agent, with 15 years of real estate experience in two states. She is also the author of the book Property Prosperity.
Miriam and her team excel at identifying high-performing property and strategically building a client’s portfolio with high capital and income growth assets. She is also a passionate advocate of fair play for all and complete accountability and transparency in the real estate industry. She has a strong track record helping investors and home buyers and believes education is the key to empowering people on their journey to achieving their goals.
Miriam is a regular real estate and investment media commentator and has published articles in Australian Property Investor, Property Observer, Smart Property Investment and Your Investment Property magazines, as well as having appeared on radio and in metro daily newspapers.