The Property Academy Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by Tim Weston, a property investor and property partner at Opes. Here, we discuss what Tim looks for when purchasing investment properties.  In particular, we take a deep dive into the level of detail Tim went through when considering a particular investment in Central Christchurch. Tim recognised that the body corporate fees were higher than he would usually be...

In this episode, we are once again joined by Tim Weston, who is a property investor and property partner at Opes. Here, Tim walks through how he has bought several new properties in a very short period, all focussed in and around Christchurch Central.  Tim also walks us through where he got the initial equity to build this property portfolio and how his property investment strategy has change...

In this episode, we discuss how Tim Weston bought 3 units just before lockdown, renovated them and had them on the market only shortly after the country hit Level 2. Tim walks us through how he came to learn about these properties, how he negotiated for these properties and how he renovated them, including all the numbers. We also mention our free property investment email course . The No Money Wo...

In this episode, we provide an honest review of Freedom Built homes, which is a property developer based in Canterbury.  We detail how Freedom Built position themselves as a higher-spec alternative to Stonewood Homes and other developers in the Lincoln and Rolleston markets, however, noting that that additional cost may not translate into additional rent.  We also mention our No Money Wo...

In this episode, we discuss the costs that are most often missed when first-time investors purchase a property. These are the start-up costs, such as lawyers fees, builders inspections, meth testing, values and importantly a rates apportionment.  We also mention our No Money Worries email course , which collates our top 9 property investment lessons for you.

In this episode, we discuss commercial property investment and how it differs from residential investment.  The primary difference is that commercial property is primarily driven by yield and an assessment about the quality of the tenant as opposed to the quality of the property. This distinction is primarily caused by the fact that while the residential market is primarily made up of owner-o...

In this episode, we discuss the Dollar Cost Averaging Strategy, which is a risk mitigation tactic. It involves slowly purchasing assets over time and consistently investing in the market in increments - since no one really knows when the market may take a sudden hit.  Throughout the episode, we discuss the benefits (market timing) and drawbacks of this strategy.  Those drawbacks are prim...

In this episode. we discuss how the property market is currently functioning based in the responses received from the June REINZ / Tony Alexander Real Estate Agents survey.  The key takeaways are that real estate agents are seeing more activity from investors everywhere except the Tasman region. There is a lot of activity happening at the lower end of the market, spurred by first home buyers...

In this episode, we discuss what it means to become a commercial customer to the bank, along with the triggers of when you'll become a commercial customer.  If you have lending for 5 or more properties with one bank – or total investment loans of more than $3 million, then the bank may transfer you so that your lending is held with the commercial division of the bank. That comes with higher i...

In this episode, we discuss one reason why house prices might not double over the next 10-15 years. This is based on the argument that house price inflation over the last 60 years in New Zealand has primarily been driven by one-off factors, that have cumulated to keep house prices rising.  Here, we debate whether this will continue into the future and what one-off factors could happen in the...

In this episode, we discuss whether you should buy your first home or first investment first, with a real worked case study from a fellow listener.  We then detail 5 different scenarios for how to buy your first home and your first investment property as quickly as possible. We wrap up the episode, by mentioning our upcoming property investment webinar . In this webinar, we're going to carefu...

In this episode, we discuss syndicated property investment, including how to fail and how to do it right. We kick off the episode by profiling 3 failed models of real investors who have suggested ways of investing together. These include having too many people in the syndicate, putting in differing levels of cash, and not actually talking to the people who plan to syndicate with before exploring p...

In this episode, we discuss a new announcement from the Ministry of Social Development. In this announcement, the government will give up to $4,000 to tenants who are in rent arrears, who can't pay their rent and who are at risk of being evicted.  This money needs to be paid back by the tenant, which has the effect of transferring the liability from the landlord to the government. This should...

In this episode, we are joined by Julian Ellis, a property investor and property partner at Opes based in Christchurch. In this episode, Julian shares how he grew his property portfolio to 6 properties, without renovating.  Julian shares how he bought new or near new properties and waited for capital growth to occur in order to fund the deposit for his next property. At the same time, he also...

In this episode, we discuss whether there is an alternative to renovating properties as an investment strategy. This is a question Serena, a fellow listener of the podcast has asked.  We've probably shied away from talking too much about the alternatives to renovation for fear of being too self-promotional on the podcast. So, because we were asked the question, we take the time here to talk a...

In this episode, we discuss how Opes has just acquired JUNO magazine, New Zealand's only investment magazine, which is published quarterly.  We then feature an article from the 2018 property issue, which highlights 3 different property investors and how they grew their property portfolios. This includes Christchurch's Liz Harris who owns 122 properties, Tom Alexander who owns 33 properties an...

In this episode, we follow on from our previous episode which looked into whether Hamilton was a good city to invest in for long term buy and hold property investors.  We specifically detail some of the main points that Jen Baird, the General Manager for City Growth at Hamilton City Council mentioned she was most excited about ina recent phone conversation. This included the Hamilton-Waikato...

In this episode, we discuss some of the long term terms that make Hamilton an attractive city to invest in for buy and hold investors.  In particular, we cover trends that are attracting more businesses to Hamilton, along with infrastructure projects that are creating jobs and more opportunities for the region.  We also mention our No Money Worries – property investment email course . Th...

In this episode, we discuss new data that we have collected to show how many current active whole-home Airbnbs are available in each district of New Zealand.  All up, we are seeing that Airbnbs are having very little impact on the rental market. Nation-wide about 12% of whole-home short term rentals have been taken off the market, and in the worst case, have only added a maximum of 3.25% supp...

In this episode, we discuss proposed changes to New Zealand's Building Act, which will mean that low-risk works will no longer require council consent.  This will save investors on average $2,000 per project, while also saving time. That means that councils can spend more time assessing and pushing through higher risk consents. These changes are likely to be passed in late August, which will...

In this episode, we discuss and compare the apartment markets in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, to determine which have the greatest potential to rise and which have the greatest potential to fall. Our conclusion is that the Christchurch and Wellington apartment markets are more likely to hold value compared to the Auckland apartment market. This is because apartments in these cities are m...

In this episode, we discuss a recent story from the Property Investor Magazine, featuring New Zealand property investor, Michael Burge. Michael started with just a $30k deposit and turned that into 5 properties within 18 months. he made sacrifices, choices and eventually a decent property portfolio. Here's how he did it, along with what you would need to do to replicate his success. We also mentio...

In this episode, we discuss the latest market figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand for the month of May.  We walk through how New Zealand's median house price fell by $60,000 (over 8%) month on month, but why you shouldn't feel worried at all about that, along with all the other stats you need to be aware of. We also mention our No Money Worries – property investment email co...

In this episode, we discuss how the Queenstown rental market is operating after the Covid-19 induced shutdown.  Although multiple stories are hitting the papers claiming some rents in Queenstown have been cut by up to 50% – all may not be what it appears. We walk through the headline stats as well as some of the on-the-ground experience from investors we work with, in particular, Hayley...

In this episode, we discuss how banks calculate Uncommitted / Unencumbered Monthly Income and how that number impacts your maximum ability to borrow for your next investment.  During the show, we mentioned our new Mortgage Serviceability Calculator , which you can use to calculate your maximum borrowing based on the rental yield of a property, the test interest rate and your UMI. We also ment...