Building your financial team – a basic checklist

Mortgage broker

Todd believes that a mortgage broker is the “key guy” in an effective financial team.

“I think initially, probably just starting off, [you need] the mortgage broker side of things. Start with the mortgage broker and just see what sort of capacity you can actually borrow at,” he said.

Buyer’s agent

Finding the best buyer’s agent for your team entails a little bit of “shopping around.”

According to Todd: “If you’re going to use a buyer’s agent, then you need to be talking to several of them. Find out their angle because they’re all different. If there’s any advice I can give you, it’s they have to be transparent, full disclosure. Ask them how much they charge, how do they earn their money, do they get hidden kickbacks or commissions off anybody at all? If that’s the case, then you really don’t want to be using that sort of person. You want someone with full transparency.”

Accountant

A good accountant will be able to give you the tax and accounting advice that will help you make the most out of your assets. However, Phil advises investors to be careful when picking the one to work with your financial team.

“Not all accountants are created equal. There [are] some very, very good accountants, but make sure that they are property investors themselves and not just in the game of tax minimisation. I know a lot of business owners. What they try and do in business is try and turn a very, very small profit or a very small loss because they try and run their personal finances through their business. What that means is that come tax time when your accountant does your tax return, it shows a very, very small profit. A lender’s going to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ You know you’re not painting yourself as the best borrower possible if you’re not generating profit. Sometimes, it’s okay to show profit if it empowers you to be a better property investor,” he said.

Property manager

Property managers can help you manage your assets in many different ways, especially if your property portfolio boasts establishments from a variety of locations or places you are not particularly familiar with.

Property investor

Property investors have the liberty to add as much mentors and helpers in their financial team as they see fit, but as in all businesses, they must be meticulous in choosing the people they will take on with them on their investment journey.

After all, building a financial team is an investment in itself.

Phil  said: “There’s a lot of people in the property investment space, and remember, property investment is not legislated or it’s not regulated by government. There’s a lot of stuff and noise happening around that and has been for years, but nothing’s really happening. As you sort of embark down this course of creating wealth through property, you need to understand that not everyone that works within property has your best interests in their best interests, which is an easy way of saying there’s a lot of people who will take you for a ride if they think they can. You need to be very questioning about the type of people who you choose to be a partner in terms of investing in property.”

“You need absolute transparency from anyone that supports you in this space. My recommendation would be to speak to as many people as possible. This is all about burning the shoe leather in terms of who you choose to support you on this thing,” he concluded.

Tune in to The Smart Property Investment Show’s Q&A session to know more about the ways you can achieve long-term financial stability.