Empower Wealth experiences?

Hi Miked,

I wanted to follow up to see if you chose to use Empower Wealth? If so, how have you found the services so far?

Indi

 

Hi, thinking of using Empower wealth too for property investment advice. They seem to have a good rep. I haven't found anything negative yet.

 

Determine whether they get a commission for recommending/selling certain properties, if they do they are just another REA. If you retain them as a BA and pay for the recommendations then verify their independence and confirm there is 0 commission on the transaction.

 

Can confirm they do not take a commission/kickback from anyone else. All from the person who engages their services. Ben sits on the board/chairs PIPA. I haven't used them myself (I haven't used any BAs) but from my professional experience I have found him to have a lot of integrity. He also has a very sophisticated piece of software to help with assist planning portfolios for each individual.

Always do your own DD, but I have not heard anything bad about them, which is pretty rare in this industry!

 

I can vouch for the services of Empower Wealth used their service to purchase a property in QLD last year and the property is doing well. Like any other company do your due diligence. If you want an insight to how they work you can listen to Ben and Bryce's podcast the property couch has some really good information on it.

 

I like their Property Couch podcasts.

 

Hi @blackenator,

Just wondering if you could go into a little more detail about their BA service and how they go about it?

Obviously you will provide them with your budget but what other info was required? Did you provide locations you were interested in or did they? Did they ask for what % growth and yield you were after? Did you provide a preference for what type of property you wanted? Anything else?

Really appreciate any further info you can provide.

Robbo

 

From memory their BA service is only available in Queensland and Melbourne but I think they can do negotiating on your behalf if your interested in another property from another state. They do have quite a detailed process into buying you the right property. They see what your budget is and target certain areas. Bryce usually gives you a call and has meeting with you and goes through the process and gets some information in what your looking for in regards to how you want the property preform etc. They also get you to fill in fact find form so they can get some details about your risk profile.

 

Their BA service is not just Qld and Melbourne... at all...

Don't listen to blackenator.

 

Do you want to elaborate @miked? What have your experiences with them been?

 

Well they're looking in Adelaide right now, and I know they also look in Sydney and Tasmania. I'd be extremely shocked if they wouldn't also look in Perth if it suited, but I guess right now it doesn't suit many people so they don't talk about it much.

 

They are not looking at Perth, in fact it is a NO GO, just listened to their video on various Australian markets.
If they were, I would not be touching this group, good to know they understand this market is declining.

Also this BA group seems to target properties in the 10 km range, in particular the Brisbane market, older units, well located, close to city. My understanding is same with other cities. They also look at regional but very selective.

I never heard of this group but if anyone is considering using them they should ask for previous deals they purchased for clients, have a look at the numbers and older deals to work out whether their selection made sense.



MTR

 

When I used their service they did not mention Adelaide so that may have changed

 

[/QUOTE]Does anyone have any experience with EW in general, or more specifically for this plan, with advice to share?[/QUOTE]

I have just recently used both their property plan services & Full BA service....

to give a balanced view, the property plan was approached in a detailed way, truly using your personal circumstances & goals & can highly recommend Ben.

However, for the BA service with Bryce, it has been the worst money i have spent & lost in my property investment journey, and will be that 'mistake' I do not make again.

But of course, i have to explain this: when you start and do a 'fact find' and have a 'set to buy meeting', they get a grasp of your circumstances & if your strategy is growth or yield based, which is good.... but then your told your expectation should be no more than 7% growth p.a (which is average & safe) & are asked qualifying questions: do you worry about money? how much do you know about property? how good are you at analysing a market and selecting the right property?.... questions i wouldn't consider to be there to help tailor & best serve the client.....

The main frustration that you should be aware of is what & how they have been recommending properties to me (yes in an agreed blueprint):

• average locations, 50m from rail lines, few kilometers from the direct landing flight path of a major airport (otherwise general flight paths are usually ok)
• not doing comparative sales analysis
• sending something through asking what i think it is worth & if it is a good investment, followed by a general sales pitch on why this property is the one & he knows the agent. not much logic, analysis, true indicators that the recommendation will outperform....

3 properties have fallen through due to truly poor building inspections with water damage, structural damage, re-stumping of piers needed, maintenance repairs at 30k+.... all of which were inspected by Bryce & his team & still recommended to me without mention of any maintenance or condition issues would be red flags....thank god for P & B inspections - which is money i have been forced to waste at this point on top of the BA fee.

It is your right if you want to use their BA service and should make your own decision at the end of the day with all info you have available.........plz if it is an older property, heavily investigate the condition, asking Bryce to point out all visible issues with the property, take photos of them all, factor this into the purchasing strategy & if your in doubt, reject it, don't just trust the experience of the person recommending (like i did)....

I started off trusting the value of professional support, now i am a 'Questions Machine'!!!

 

BA service sounds pretty disappointing @bestor Investor92.
Sounds like the outcome is to have a quick buy outcome so they can move onto next client/buy.
Do they offer different BA services as in inspection only or do they offer only full BA service?

 

They offer Full serivce (area blueprint, selection & potential for off market properties-13K), select right serivce (you both share looking for properties, all on market- 9.9K), and the negoiation & assessment serivce (would consider this one for interstate purchasers - 2.7K).


hope this helps!

 

So you select property and you pay them 9.9k!!!

 

Does Ben also still do the buyers agent service himself?

Thanks

 

Think Ben does the detailed property purchase plan and Bryce is in charge of the BA operation

 

Agreed... Bryce heads BA & Ben director & heads plans/ strategy/ advice etc.

They also respect these lines and would refer you to each other, as they are partners...