Building a financial team: ‘You’ve got to fit and be comfortable with each other’

Property investment most certainly entails hard work, and while they do have the passion to go through rigorous processes, Simon and Vanessa learned that one of the most important secrets to success is being able to delegate responsibilities to trustworthy professionals. Upon learning about the value of a financial team by listening to several property investment podcasts, the property investors made sure to find people who will be willing to understand their goals as well as their capabilities and limitations.

Being aware that they only have a limited time to grow a portfolio, it’s important to them that they build a team who can cater to their specific needs. Their first buyer’s agent, for instance, has a very aggressive approach to investment, which didn’t sit quite well with the couple.

According to Simon: “I'm thinking, ‘[We] don't want to own 40 properties and have this big portfolio' … It felt like an explosion.”

“I think, just philosophically, it wasn't exactly where we wanted to be … We weren’t ready for that explosion,” Vanessa added.

Finding the ‘right fit’

Simon and Vanessa continued going through different resources to find the property professionals that could help them achieve their financial goals. Throughout their search, they learned that it’s important to find people who “fit well” in your journey. For them, the “right fit” means someone who is willing to work with capabilities and limitations as property investors in order to help them achieve their specific goals.

The buyer’s agent that they found after they let go of the first one has been in sync with their rhythm since day one.

Simon said: “He fit for us ... He wasn't massively aggressive. He just fit where we're at.”

Soon enough, they were able to find other members of their financial team, including accountants and mortgage brokers.

According to Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant, there’s no problem in treating your relationship with your financial team as a personal one because, at the end of the day, being comfortable working with each other can ultimately lead to success.

Go at your own pace

Four years since they have purchased their investment properties, Simon and Vanessa want to keep growing their portfolio to achieve a financially stable future for themselves and their children. The couple has already started looking for properties and they are expected to buy another investment in March.

Being aware that they have entered the market quite late and there could be massive repercussions for every wrong step, they wanted to minimise risk as much as the could. Thankfully, their financial team understands the pace they want to go at.

According to Vanessa: “They've been great in that just letting us travel along the idea where we are comfortable … [They are] giving us some space … some time.”

“It seems to be a pretty consistent message [from our team]—buy when you want to buy,” Simon added.

Phil’s final advice for budding property investor: Don’t hesitate to go at your own pace.

“Make decisions you need to make. Don't be rushed. If anyone told you to hurry up, they're not the right person for you,” he concluded.

 Tune in to Simon and Vanessa Refalo’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about what happened after they decided to sell each of their living properties and the challenges they faced with negative gearing before succeeding in the property game.