Commercial and residential real estate is booming – but beware of bad financial advice
With buyer demand at record levels, commercial real estate is experiencing one of its strongest transactional markets in years – but buyer’s should remain vigilant, according to Scott O’Neill on Inside Commercial Property.
“Buyer’s agents, or good ones, are very busy at the moment,” O’Neill said.
“That just shows the demand for houses, commercial assets. It’s really as strong as I’ve ever seen it.”
O’Neill, founder and CEO of Rethink Investing, said nervousness in other asset classes, particularly shares and ETFs, was pushing investors towards commercial properties.
To listen to the latest episode, click here.
“We’ve seen more people flock towards commercial because they’re a little bit nervous about what’s happening with their ETFs,” he said.
Commercial property offers higher yields, longer lease terms, and inflation-linked rent increases, but O’Neill said the sector remains misunderstood by traditional financial advisers.
“The financial planning industry was so far focused towards insurance and shares,” he said.
“Property is just a forgotten thing.”
To address this gap, O’Neill recently launched Rethink Wealth with financial planner Patrick Casey.
“There’s a gap in the industry created from buyer’s agents giving advice they probably shouldn’t,” he said.
“So we need to fill that gap legally. Pat’s the solution. AFSL-backed advice that can help you purchase your first property.”
O’Neill warned that getting the first property wrong could delay retirement by a decade.
“You’re going to battle because of that mistake for an extra decade,” he said.
He said today’s market, with interest rates stabilising and buyer-seller expectations aligned, presents prime opportunities for investors with the right strategy.
“Most markets across the country have now priced in those new rates,” O’Neill said.
“It’s just a really good transactional market at the moment.”