A property investment strategist works out which properties you should buy, in what order, held in what structure, to reach a goal you have actually defined. The property comes last. The plan comes first.
The role
Finding a listing, arranging a loan and filing a return are three different jobs, and none of them is this one. Chase Wealth Australia has worked with more than 500 clients on over 1,200 property purchases, and the pattern behind almost every stalled portfolio is the same: a first purchase made on its own merits, with no plan for the second.
The work happens before anything is bought, and it keeps happening afterwards.
Who does what
Most investors end up working with several of these. They do different jobs, and only one of them owns the plan.
| Role | What they own | What they do not |
|---|---|---|
| Property investment strategist | The plan. What to buy, in what order, in what structure, to hit a defined goal. | Does not replace a licensed financial adviser, a broker, or an accountant. |
| Buyer’s agent | Finding and negotiating a specific property, usually one at a time. | Typically engaged per purchase, so the sequence across a portfolio is not their brief. |
| Mortgage broker | Sourcing and structuring the loan. | Advises on the finance, not on which asset or in what order. |
| Financial adviser | Financial products, superannuation and investment structures, under an AFSL. | Direct residential property usually sits outside the advice they are licensed to give. |
| Accountant | Tax treatment, returns, and reporting on what you already own. | Works on decisions after they are made rather than setting them. |
| Property manager | Running the tenancy once you own it. | No role in acquisition or planning. |
Be honest about it
Before you engage anyone
If a developer or seller pays them, ask what that means for which properties reach your shortlist. Get the full fee in writing, including anything triggered later by a purchase.
A plan that can only ever conclude in a purchase is not a plan.
Published, specific, and the same for every client, or it is being invented per deal.
This is the question that separates a portfolio plan from a transaction.
Find out what a review actually covers and whether it costs extra.
Ask them to walk through a real example rather than describe a policy.
Anyone can produce a happy first time buyer, and the mistakes that trip up a first purchase are well documented. The interesting reference is the one who kept going.
Working with Chase Wealth Australia
Chase Wealth Australia has worked with more than 500 clients across over 1,200 property purchases, from offices on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne, with clients across Australia. The criteria used to assess a market and the checklist applied to a property are published openly, so you can hold a recommendation against them. The engagement is built around what purchase one has to achieve for purchase two to be possible, which is where most portfolios stop.
Read client success storiesCommon questions
Someone who sets the plan behind a property portfolio: what to buy, in what order, held in what structure, to reach a defined financial goal. The property selection follows the plan rather than leading it.
A buyer’s agent finds and negotiates a specific property, usually one purchase at a time. A strategist sets the sequence the purchases sit inside, including what purchase one has to achieve before purchase two becomes possible.
Usually not. The value shows up when you want more than one, because the constraint is rarely finding a property. It is borrowing capacity, deposit, and structure across a sequence of purchases.
It varies by firm and by engagement. Ask for the full fee in writing before you engage, including anything that is only triggered later by a purchase, and ask how the figure is arrived at rather than accepting a range.
Structure is part of the plan, and whether a self managed super fund is the right vehicle is a decision that belongs before the property is chosen rather than after.
No. A licensed financial adviser advises on financial products, superannuation and investment structures under an AFSL. Direct residential property usually sits outside that. The two roles work alongside each other rather than replacing one another.
Every investor starts from a different position, and the right sequence depends on where you are now. The starting point is a conversation about that, and about what you want the portfolio to do. If a plan is not the right move yet, that is a reasonable outcome of the conversation.
