Empower Wealth?

Hey property people,

Does anyone have experience or feedback regarding Empower Wealth for property planning, BA, tax etc.?

 

Ok will do. I did briefly do a search the other day and found some old threads but nothing recent. I'll have another browse. Cheers.

 

I've used them for portfolio planning and BA service. Portfolio Planning was ok but I wouldn't recommend the BA side. I felt like I was being sent any old property to get my deal done and dusted. When purchasing in a different state I'm not overly confident in their due diligence processes as the property I ended up with has had quite a few maintenance issues.

 

Ok that's interesting. I have began the portfolio plan but no meeting with BA yet. I am more apprehensive about the portfolio plan as it seems I will get a rigid plan. Things change like promotions and whatnot which would deem the plan irrelevant. However I can use the plan as a blueprint and I am at stage I am happy to pay a professional to ensure I don't miss something or perhaps I learn something, for example. That's disappointing about your BA experience. Did the BA choose a well located property for you? Has the performance been ok? I am planning to purchase in Melbourne and as this is their main area I am hoping they can use their knowledge to secure a good asset for me!

 

The plan isn't rigid, it just gives a view of the type of property and approx price and cashflow modelling into the future based on anticipated price/rent increases, the one I had done, while good as it gave me focus, is no longer relevant and interest rate assumptions are redundant with the interest rate hikes over last couple of years.

I'm based in Melbourn and I purchased in SE Brisbane, valuewise it's gone up, with rent it's gone up a little but the maintenance issues have hindered rental returns a bit. They used 'Spotters' up there to view properties and take pictures/video... Something you could ask them if you decide to use their BA service - do they use spotters in melb or do they eyeball each of the properties.

 

This is the problem with property investment plans. A key part of the planning process is the finance and I've long been thinking of a 'finance plan' for clients. The problem is I can't see a good way to implement it.

It would be ideal to have a plan that takes you from A to B to C to D. The problem is a few rate increases will render this moot. Policy changes can be even worse. I can easily model your borrowing power today, add a property purchase and model borrowing power after that purchase, then keep doing this indefinitely. This all works today, but lots of parameters change over time and the plan becomes irrelevant. There's also the issue that the plan depends on buying properties with certain paramteres, of which there's no guarantee.

The other issue is that a financing plan doesn't deliver the finance that a lot of investors want. Simply put, people want to aquire lots of properties quickly, such as 10 properties in 10 years. The reality is with property values these days most investors only have the borrowing capacity to purchase one or two, then sit out for long periods until their circustances change. There's not much point in planning for the next ten years when the plan says you're not going to be buying houses past year 2.

I have seen a few property plans and I generally don't think they're worth paying for because they don't deliver what people really want. I've seen people pay thousands for a plan that effective contains:

* 50% repeating back the information given by the investor.
* 20% generic risk analysis.
* 10% generic strategies for you to consider (you can get these strategies by reading these forums and networking).
* 10% explaining your borrowing capacity today.
* 10% an explaination of how many properties at different price points you can buy within that borrowing capacity.

These plans also tend to be a quick series of templates pulled together based on the investors basic parameters.

I can appreciate that a property plan will give some short to medium term focus, but I've never seen anything even comes close to describing the path from buying the first property through to financial independance. My observation over the last 30 years has been that this is a path that people need to discover for themselves.

 

I considered using them but everything felt like an ‘upsell” and I wanted a BA who ONLY focused on where I wanted to buy. Ended up with a local BA - Couldn’t be happier with the result

 

solid! good write up.

 

Exactly. It seems the plan will become somewhat redundant due to various factors. Focus, like you said, is what I think I will get out of it. The plan hasn't even been completed yet and my mindset seems to be focusing on strategy which is motivating. Good tip about asking if they use spotters vs someone to eyeball the property. I will definitely ask this question.

 

I haven’t used their services but I regularly listen to their podcast and it is excellent. Perhaps listen to the last 15-20 episodes and you will get most of their philosophies on property investing and even where they are buying for their clients now.

 

Hey Todd. Yeah I've listened to heaps of their podcasts and enjoy them. I was originally Barefoot Investor fan but I am being converted to more of the Money smart system by property couch and Empower Wealth. Only concern for me is if the property market goes flat for the next decade while I have a lot of my eggs in one basket.