My wife and I are just beginning our investment journey and are seeking some advice. Both of us had no idea about investing and are still very raw at it, however after researching numerous avenues of investing we engaged the services of Future Assist Financial Services (Not advertising or spruiking for them here!!) to set up a SMSF which we used to purchase a property and am currently building our second investment property (outside of the SMSF) due for completion at the end of Sept. We have used Future Assist for both of these properties and we pay a yearly fee of approx $2500 for their services which include all admin for the SMSF and organising of Finance for both properties, accounting and legal aspects of purchase. (fees increase as our portfolio increases) My question is, do I continue using them for property investment outside of the SMSF or should I start seeking out other brokers and accountants, etc to pursue investment outside of our SMSF? Any advice or opinions are greatly appreciated. Cheers Pete
My concern with this kind of thing is that they are benefiting from every stage of the process and may not always have your interests at heart. By using a separate non-related Accountant/Broker/Legal, you're allowing a double check of what you're doing. I think for legal particularly, using in-house from the firm who are organising the investments is a recipe for disaster. Looking at the cost, you'd probably pay similar to have your own people take care of things. Breaking it down - Broker is free to you if you get it done externally, but they'd get the commission when you do it inhouse. Legal you're wise to get done separately Accounting - the cost varies, and I'm not all over SMSF accounting so someone else might comment on this. They would get a hefty commission for the sale of the property you're buying - which you pay for in the inflated purchase price.
Thanks Jess, I have been feeling like it might be best to branch out form them for the out of SMSF investing. Thanks very much for your advice. Much appreciated
@pj79 $2500 sounds reasonable! If you happy with their services, may continue using them. Also, use propertychat and other resources to get advise from experienced property investors.
Jess. What is wrong with this service? My only issue is if they are sourcing the properties for them.. If they are just doing the legal, brokering, accounting and admin at $2500pa then that is a good price! Audit fees alone on a smsf are 6-800... I fail to understand how they have clients best interests at heart?? If anything it is beneficial as there is efficiencies having this all done together.. As long as they are not sourcing properties then they are doing all they after the fact processes..
Hi Greyghost, Future Assist do research and source properties for us however we are under no obligation to proceed with their recommendations we do have the freedom to source our own if so desired. We have full control to source our own or proceed with any of the properties that they source for us.
I reckon you should put your big boy pants on pj and give it a crack yourself. You might save some money and learn a heap in the process.
My interpretation was that they were sourcing the properties too. Using the same firm for legal, particularly, can end you in a world of hurt. By using them (or anyone) for the whole kit and deal, you're placing a lot (too much) faith on their integrity. To me, using non-related parties is a risk management thing. For eg, they sell you on the tax benefits of a certain OTP property that has rental guarantees. They pocket big commission from the dodgy developer, their lawyer tells you the contracts are all good (and they are, for the developer!), and their broker 'makes it happen'. Their strategy is a big X-coll mess, and the accountant, while very good at SMSF, doesn't understand the quirks of property investment lending. See how it can all go bad very quickly? Of course this is worst case scenario, but by using someone external you have independent eyes on the deal that can raise red flags that might otherwise get pushed aside. The thing is that often people go into these things with little existing knowledge, and take these groups advice as gospel. While what they offer may not be all that bad, by using separate people you expose yourself to additional knowledge that can at a minimum improve your own knowledge, and at a maximum save you from a potential disaster.
$2500 sounds very reasonable. Just make sure any and all advise you get is sound. The best way to do that I've found is to read the forums and ask questions. I like that what you are getting is service for a fee and not "free" advise with strings attached. The forum has a wealth of experience and knowledge, so feel free to ask questions as you have done.
