Property Investment
4 min read
Author: Andrew Nicol
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Reviewed by: Ed McKnight
Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Want to invest in property? You might consider using a property investment company.
These companies help you create a financial plan and then find properties to invest in.
It’s a bit like using a company such as Milford or Fisher Funds to look at other types of investment.
Because property investment companies don’t always charge and offer similar services, it can be hard to choose the right one for you.
In this article, we’ll go through 5 of the best-known property investment companies in Christchurch (in no particular order).
First up is Opes Partners. Yes, that’s us — the company I own and the website you’re currently on.
I get it — including ourselves might seem biased — but here’s why we’re on the list:
Opes Partners is one of the biggest names in this space, so if you want to know what’s out there, you need to know we are an option.
We’ve got offices in Christchurch and Auckland, plus remote team members around the country, although Christchurch is our home base (it’s where I work most of the time).
To do this we use our Wealth Plan framework. This is a five-step process designed to help investors buy and manage investment properties over the long term.
We also offer a wrap-around service, including:
Unlike some other companies on this list, we don’t charge a fee to use our service.
Instead, if you choose to invest in a property we recommend, the developer pays us a marketing fee.
Education is a big part of what we do. We produce New Zealand’s #1 investing podcast, The Property Academy Podcast. I host that with our economist, Ed McKnight.
Ed and I often write for Stuff, the NZ Herald, OneRoof and Woman’s Day.
We also run webinars and have NZ’s #1 property YouTube channel.
The Property Factory is another Christchurch-based property investment company, although you can use them nationwide. It also specialises in New Build properties.
The company launched in 2010 and rebranded as Property Factory in 2016. It was originally run by Campbell Venning and is now led by Andrew Wilson.
They have a team of 16 and work with developers like Wolfbrook, Golden Homes and Mike Greer.
Unlike some others on this list, Property Factory is a real estate agency, not a financial advice firm. So, they don’t help you build a financial plan, but they do help you find and buy investment properties.
Their sales team is registered with the Real Estate Authority, so you’re working with licensed agents.
They also don’t charge investors a fee. Like us, they’re paid by developers when a property is sold.
Positive Real Estate has been operating in New Zealand for 15 years, although they have a longer track record across the ditch: 22 years in Australia.
They’re headquartered in Wellington, but have 15 staff spread across offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The NZ operation is headed by Sue Mathieson (née Irons).
Their approach is centred around education and mentoring. You pay to join their Lifetime Mentoring Programme. This includes a structured investment plan and coaching support to guide you all the way through to retirement.
The programme starts at $4,995 and goes up to $9,995, depending on what you’re after.
You can go through the coaching programme then choose not to buy a property through them. Until recently, their coaches weren’t licensed financial advisers.
Wolfbrook isn’t a property investment company — they’re a developer.
So why are they on this list? Well, they actively market themselves to investors, and you’ll likely come across them in your search.
Here at Opes, we generally say: “If you’re buying something as an investment, don’t get investment advice from a developer.”
Why? Because a developer like Wolfbrook can only sell their properties. They can’t compare options across different developers, like an investment company can.
And since they are a developer – they can’t give you financial advice.
That said, Wolfbrook does build some good homes, and some of our clients have bought Wolfbrook properties through us in the past.
But if you go to them directly, just remember — you’re getting a product, not tailored investment advice.
The company you should use depends on the service you’re after.
Need a full financial plan and long-term support? Opes Partners could be right for you.
Want to buy a one-off property and don’t want financial advice? Try Property Factory.
Each company offers something a little different.
Another option I often mention is: “Look at their websites, read their articles, look at the education each company puts out online. Then choose the company that seems to know their stuff best.”
That way you will know which company seems the most clued up on the investment industry.
Managing Director, 20+ Years' Experience Investing In Property, Author & Host
Andrew Nicol, Managing Director at Opes Partners, is a seasoned financial adviser and property investment expert with 20+ years of experience. With 40 investment properties, he hosts the Property Academy Podcast, co-authored 'Wealth Plan' with Ed Mcknight, and has helped 1,894 Kiwis achieve financial security through property investment.
