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If you’ve ever listened to the Property Academy Podcast you might wonder: “What do these guys actually do?”

Great question. So, we’re going to pull back the covers and tell you exactly what happens if you decide to work with us.

In this article, you’ll learn the process of working with Opes Partners, from your first Portfolio Planning Session to the settlement of your new property.

What is Opes’ main service?

Our main service is our Wealth Programme. It’s here to help investors grow a passive, long-term property portfolio.

You’ll work with a financial adviser to create a plan for how you’ll invest in property.

Best of all, you don’t pay for this service. It’s free.

This programme is a 3-step process:

  1. Portfolio Planning Session – Creating a plan
  2. Property Selection Meeting – Choosing the right property
  3. Due Diligence – Making sure the property is right for you

Step #1 – Portfolio planning session – Create a plan

Every Opes investor begins their journey with a 1-hour Portfolio Planning Session.

This is where you sit down with a financial adviser (a property partner). Here, you’ll discuss your current situation and your future financial goals.

You’ll then create a wealth plan using our in-house software – MyWealth Plan.

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This software creates the financial plan you’ll use to retire using property.

The plan gives us a base to work from and it will steer all the advice we give you. All the properties we recommend for you to invest in are based off this plan.

Wealth Plan
What are your financial goals?

There are two parts to the Portfolio Planning Session.

In the first half, you discuss:

  • current financial situation
  • goals
  • KiwiSaver
  • income
  • assets
Wealth Plan
Add in your Kiwisaver, lump sums, property, and savings

This gives you, as the investor, a sense of whether you are in a position to invest.

You’ll also discuss whether the passive buy-and-hold strategy is right for you.

Opes almost exclusively deals in New Builds and off-the-plan developments. These properties fit a passive strategy.

If a passive buy-and-hold strategy doesn’t sound like it’s going to be the best fit for you ... then you’ll know before diving any further.

For example, one investor came to Opes who was keen on New Builds.

The adviser suggested he use a renovations-based strategy.

This was because he had tradesman expertise, and had lots of equity in his current portfolio.

This is why the initial conversation with your Property Partner is so important. We learn about you, your goals, and what resources you have.

The second part of the Portfolio Planning Session is where you create a financial plan. This is done using Opes’ in-house software.

You leave this meeting with a PDF. This is your plan. This could be the first time you have a written plan for how you’ll achieve your future goals.

Wealth Plan
Current Plan vs New Wealth Plan

Step #2 – Property Selection Meeting – Find the properties

The second meeting is the Property Selection Meeting. This is where you’ll see potential properties.

Your Property Partner will come to this meeting with properties for you to consider.

These properties meet our 23-step checklist and are from one of the developers we chose to work with.

Page 1 of the 23 step checklist
Page 1 of the 23-step checklist

Opes Partners regularly works with 97 developers. These are developers who have proven they build quality housing.

Your Property Partner will usually have 3-4 properties to recommend to you. These are chosen based on the plan discussed in the first meeting.

After looking through the information packs, you then analyse your potential properties. This is done using the Return on Investment spreadsheet.

Ppack 001 min
Snapshot example of a property pack

The ROI spreadsheet is a meaty document made up of hundreds of formulae. You can download it for free here.

This second meeting is pretty data-heavy. It delves deeply into the nitty-gritty world of turnkey developments.

At the end of this meeting you’ll usually have a few days to decide which property (or properties) are right for you.

From there, it’s about getting it under contract and embarking on due diligence.

Step #3 – Due Diligence – Make sure the property is the right one

Due diligence is a 10-day period where you investigate a property. This is to see if it stacks up as a worthy investment.

The 10-day timeline begins once you sign the contract. You’ll also be finding out if you can borrow the money to finance your investment.

The whole process requires juggling a lot of players and runs on a tight deadline, but it’s there to serve you, the investor.

For example, in the 10 days you will speak to:

For some investors, the whole thing can feel a bit overwhelming at first.

This is why you’ll work with a Customer Relationship Manager from Opes. They are there to guide you through the process. They’ll introduce you to professionals we, as a company, can vouch for.

Finally, if at the end of the 10 days you decide it is the right property and your finance is accepted ... you’ll confirm and your contract will go unconditional.

Now, you have to wait for your property to be built (most likely).

Don’t worry, the CRM will regularly update you on the construction.

Following on from this, you will meet your property partner every year for a review. This is to touch base with your plan and discuss expanding your portfolio.

How is this all free?

Some investors ask, If I’m not paying you, and this is free, how do you keep the lights on?”

We make money in two ways.

First, by recommending properties as investments. We’re a bit like a mortgage broker.

Mortgage brokers don’t charge you to work with them. They get paid a commission from the bank when they organise the lending you want.

We work in the same way, but with properties.

Our team at Opes Property are consistently talking to developers. They find properties that make good investments.

So, when we recommend a property to you we get paid a fee by the property developer. This is if you think it’s a good property and decide to invest.

The second way is through our other property-based businesses.

If we coach you to purchase a property and we do a good job, you might consider using them. So we can earn money through:

Mortgage broking – Opes Mortgages

Property Management – Opes Property Management

Accounting – Opes Accounting

Although, of course, it is up to you whether you choose to use these companies.

Think Opes is the right fit?

Your next step is to book a portfolio planning session. This is where a financial adviser will create you a financial plan.

Book your free session
Opes Partners
Laine 3 001

Laine Moger

Journalist and Property Educator with six years of experience, holds a Bachelor of Communication (Honours) from Massey University.

Laine Moger, a seasoned Journalist and Property Educator with six years of experience, holds a Bachelor of Communications (Honours) from Massey University and a Diploma of Journalism from the London School of Journalism. She has been an integral part of the Opes team for two years, crafting content for our website, newsletter, and external columns, as well as contributing to Informed Investor and NZ Property Investor.

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