Expert insights: Building a professional team for property investment

More than 20 years ago, real estate led Australia’s rebound out of its last recession, when the unemployment rate hovered around 10 per cent from 1991 to 1993. During this three-year period, all capital cities produced property price growth between 2 and 27 per cent. Even regional markets experienced strong growth of up to 37 per cent.

Similarly, property emerged as a resilient asset during the global financial crisis 12 years ago, which was widely considered as the biggest economic downturn in history. Property prices increased across the eight capital cities from 2008 to 2010, with Darwin (32 per cent) and Melbourne (21 per cent) emerging as the best-performing capitals.

“The property market is still really, really strong… In fact, I went to an auction (recently) where the guide was $5.5 million and it sold for $6,810,000. It just shows the strength of what’s going on out there,” according to Cohen Handler’s co-founder and director Simon Cohen.

Moving forward, the professional sector of the property market will be the lifeline of home owners and the market itself, he said.

Apart from helping investors navigate the changing landscape, access and relationships with professionals will be the two most important keys to thriving in the property market right now as they may lead you to opportunities that will otherwise be buried under the cloud of uncertainties and fear.

“When you find yourself a good partner, they can support you. They typically already have established relationships and it’s really good to leverage those relationships… Capitalise on those team members,” Mr Cohen highlighted.

Building a winning team

Cohen Handler’s buyer’s agent for the North Shore Arija McQuillan said that, first and foremost, investors are strongly encouraged to get in touch with their mortgage broker.

According to Ms McQuillan, engaging a mortgage broker is the best way to get the best rates, which would matter more in times of crisis when people need a sense of security more than ever.

“I’ve had clients in the past who have come to me, who’ve been referrals from past clients and they’ve gone directly to a bank for their mortgage and they’ve been very sort of adamant that they’ve got the best price because they’ve been with that banker for a long period of time,” she shared.

“Then, I [introduced] them to a mortgage broker who’s been able to give them a much better rate than what they’ve already got with their current bank.”

Financial partners and property managers are also vital to thriving in the property market, especially amid uncertainty, as investors would need not only to make the most out of their money, but also manage them well in order to get through the hard times.

Further, solicitors and conveyancers will help in dealing with legal matters pertaining to investments.

“They’re the key people, and then it just branches out from there,” Ms McQuillan highlighted.

Referrals

As referral partners, Ms McQuillan and Mr Cohen connect their clients with the right professionals and help them build strong relationships with them so they could thrive in the property market.

For Ms McQuillan, a tight-knit group of referrals allows her to give the best services to her clients.

According to her: “I prefer to work in a tight-knit team – I’ll have multiple relationships with different people in the same fields – and I like to keep them consistent. So I might go to a panel of three to five mortgage brokers or the same with conveyancers or financial planners... and just match them to the best people who they can help in the long run.”

At the end of the day, it’s extremely important for investors to operate from a place of trust when dealing with property professionals, Mr Cohen said.

“As humans, we all make decisions out of trust, and if we can get a referral from someone that comes from a place of trust, you’d know that you’ll be doing business with some of the greatest people… but I think you just never know where you’re going to meet that great person,” he concluded.

“I think if you’re out there on your own, it’s a scary place because you don’t know who to trust… When you’re spending that much money or you’re actually putting something quite serious in someone else’s hands, you want to make sure you’re using someone you know has a good experience.

“if you don’t have the right people around you, you can lose a deal.” 

Tune in to Simon Cohen and Arija McQuillan’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the movements of the market amid a health crisis.

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