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Whether you're after a four bedroom home in a high-growth suburb for medium term capital gains,or a development for immediate profits, we can help you select the right property or development project.
It's one of the most effective yet hassle-free ways to tap into the very promising Brisbane market."
Business Development Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does Investment House do?
- Who do you work with?
- Why doesn't everybody use your strategies?
- How much money do I need to start?
- How does Investment House make its money?
- Is it true that it can cost as little as $45pw to own an investment property - and if so, how does it work?
- If this strategy will lead to financial independence quicker than superannuation, why doesn't the Government promote this instead?
- What if a tenant trashes my investment property?
- How can tenant vacancies be minimised?
- How much tax can I expect to save with a property investment?
- How do your strategies differ from other property investment alternatives?
- What kind of investor is most suited to your “armchair developer” strategies?
- How do I find out if I qualify financially?
- I′m potentially interested in becoming an “armchair developer”, but I need to see more facts and figures. Can I see a sample “feasibility analysis”?
- What are the initial and ongoing cashflow commitments of doing an armchair development project? I don′t want to compromise my lifestyle with heavy cash commitments
What does Investment House do?
Investment House provides a complete project management service that allows our clients to acquire residential investments at wholesale prices then develop the property to add value and capture profits. The whole process is project managed by us, allowing you to participate even if you′re time-poor or new to property investing.
Our services include:
- Investment planning and education
- Property research
- Mortgage broking
- Project management
- Construction
- Property management
- Project marketing
You are free to choose only the services that you need. Contact us today for an obligation-free discussion about how we can assist you.
Who do you work with?
We work with investors who are interested in
- building long-term wealth through property investment, and/or
- developing property for immediate profits.
Our clients come from not only Brisbane but also elsewhere in Queensland and other Australian states. We also deal with a few overseas clients, including Australian expatriates. Our projects are based in Brisbane – generally within 6-8km of the city centre.
Many of our clients hold full-time jobs and use our services to leverage their time and money to allow them to invest more successfully.
Why doesn't everybody use your strategies?
Investment House uses a number of innovative investment strategies to acquire property at wholesale prices and add value, capturing additional margins in the process. So why doesn′t everyone use the same strategies instead of paying retail?
There are two reasons - ignorance and psychology.
Most of all it's ignorance - people simply don't know about these strategies. Many people have heard terms such as "negative gearing" in general conversation but don′t understand how they work in detail. We take the time to explain how these strategies can work in your favour.
The same can be said for developing for immediate profits. Most people just don′t know how easily it can work for them when they use our turnkey project management service.
The other reason is psychology. We inherit 80% of our "money mindset" from our parents, and we often learn that "debt is bad". Often we confirm that when we've borrowed ourselves (usually for cars, furniture or travel.)
So we form an opinion that debt is bad and to be avoided. It simply never occurs to us that debt is a tool and it is the application of debt (not debt itself) that is either good or bad.
Investment House strategies use "good debt" to fund the acquisition of appreciating assets and cashflow streams.
How much money do I need to start?
In many cases, you don't need any money at all because it's possible to harness equity that you may have elsewhere (e.g. in you home or other assets). However, if you are looking to establish a project on a stand-alone basis then you need to fund a deposit of 5% and have additional funds for acquisition costs (stamp duty and solicitors fees etc) of an additional 6%. So that's 11% in total. On a $500,000 development you would need $55,000.
How does Investment House make its money?
Investment House is a complete project management service for property investors. This includes financial modelling, property financing, investment research and selection, construction management and sales or rental management.
In some cases we charge an hourly fee; in other cases we are paid an introducer fee; and in others we are paid a fee linked to the success of your investment.
It depends on which of our service offerings you choose. We are always happy to explain what services attract what fees.
The net result of using our service is that our investor clients are able to build equity quickly or generate an extra $50,000 in annual income without working any harder – we do the work for you.
Is it true that it can cost as little as $45pw to own an investment property - and if so, how does it work?
It certainly is. In fact, the cost of ownership often works out to be even less (depending on your taxable income).
It sounds odd to the uninitiated because most of our experience comes from having a loan on our own home, with loan payments taking a considerable proportion of our income. But with an investment property, you have a tenant and the tax commissioner to help pay the monthly repayments. By being smart you can set it up so the tenant and the tax commissioner pay the lion′s share. We can show you exactly how to do this so you reap the maximum return.
If this strategy will lead to financial independence quicker than superannuation, why doesn't the Government promote this instead?
The strategies that we promote aren′t for everybody. If you're not paying a significant amount of tax, then negative gearing may not be appropriate for you. If you don′t need any more income, developing for immediate profit may not be appropriate for you. And if you don′t have a reasonable financial base, you may not be able to access these strategies (yet!).
Superannuation is a safety net for everybody so it must take into account all situations and income levels.
Many people pour huge amounts of money into superannuation when they could get a far higher return using the leveraged investment strategies that we provide.
What if a tenant trashes my investment property?
We've all heard terrible stories about the tenant from hell. Fortunately, it's now possible (and highly recommended) to get an insurance policy to cover you against this type of event. It′s called Landlord Special Protection (and it will also cover you against a tenant breaking a lease).
By selecting the right property in the right area, and using a good property manager you can minimise the likelihood of having a bad tenant - but it can still be worth paying for the insurance.
How can tenant vacancies be minimised?
This is the element that causes many property investors the most worry, yet interestingly it's one of the lowest elements of risk.
It comes down to doing the right research and embarking with the right recipe. The right type of property in an area with good rental demand, coupled with good property management is unlikely to have any more that a 4% vacancy (the average for the properties we manage is only 1.5%).
Key elements in your planning include proximity to employment, infrastructure and services in addition to the general appeal of the dwelling. We are able to advise you on the right mix of ingredients to generate above-average rental demand.
How much tax can I expect to save with a property investment?
Tax savings are an individual thing – they will depend on how much you earn and how much tax you′ve previously paid. The majority of our investors save from $4,000 to $9,000 a year from each property they develop. We can also plug your data into our investment modelling software to illustrate the savings that you could receive. Please contact us to arrange this.
How do your strategies differ from other property investment alternatives?
There are a number of differences between the strategies we recommend and other investment alternatives.
Firstly, Investment House is the only company that provides a comprehensive project management service in Brisbane′s Inner Ring suburbs. These Inner Ring suburbs are clearly a great place to invest. This Inner Ring area is underpinned by two key growth drivers:
- a significant constraint on supply (there is very little new land available because we′re talking about established suburbia), and
- there is substantial and rapidly increasing level of demand from the thousands of people moving to South East Queensland from both interstate and international sources. That′s the recipe for a great investment environment – strong demand coupled with a constraint on supply – it doesn′t get any better than that.
The second element that differentiates Investment House strategies is their attractiveness to the more sophisticated investor. In fact a novice investor may find them a little hard to get their head around. These strategies work for someone who wants a faster option than standard “buy and hold” investing. By using these strategies, you effectively buy property at a wholesale level and add value to lock in additional profits. Instead of starting behind the eight ball and waiting for prices to increase over time, you′re able to be $50,000 to $100,000 ahead of the game right from the outset.
The third difference is, Investment House has pioneered several specific project types that make navigating the myriad of planning and building laws simple and easy while still delivering a healthy profit for the developer. We′ve been successfully developing projects in Brisbane on behalf of our clients for over 15 years. To my knowledge, no other property firm can say that.
Finally, we do the work for you. Property development offers some great rewards but it also requires a great deal of research, experience and time to identify and capitalize on a development opportunity. Our service allows you to reap the rewards of property development, even if you have no experience or free time, while we handle the hard work for you.
To find out more about how you could take advantage of our unique project management service, contact us now.
What kind of investor is most suited to your “armchair developer” strategies?
Being an “armchair developer” is not for everyone. If you′re a novice investor just getting started and looking for a cheapie investment – this probably isn′t going to be for you. If on the other hand you′re a serious investor looking for high performance investments, then it could very well be. Here′s an idea of the kind of person who can most benefit from these strategies…
First of all, if you pay a lot of tax. Your taxable income is over $60,000, and you′re paying at least $15,000 pa in tax. You could use these strategies to massively reduce the amount of tax you pay and effectively channel those tax dollars back into your own pocket.
Secondly, if you′re time poor. You know about property development but you′re very busy and don′t have the time to research and execute your own property development projects. That′s where Investment House offers you the best of both worlds – you can develop property at a profit without putting in the work yourself.
Finally, if you have the time but you don′t have the expertise required to identify the right site, obtain development approval, build the project and sell or rent it at a profit – we can provide the expertise you need to make your project successful.
To investigate this opportunity further, please contact us now.
How do I find out if I qualify financially?
This is an interesting one because most people we talk to have vastly more investment capacity than they initially think they do.
To answer this question, we need to find out a little about your current situation. The easiest way to find out if you qualify financially is to download and complete our Engagement Letter and our Initial Qualification Finance spreadsheet. Then you just email it through to us ad we can crunch the numbers for you.
By the way, submitting an Engagement Letter does not commit you to anything. It just tells us you′re serious, and it satisfies the Privacy law requirements. Once we have your Engagement Letter and the Initial Qualification Finance Spreadsheet we can assess your financial capacity and present some options to you from there.
At the end of the process, you′ll know where you′re placed financially and also what kind of projects fit your goals. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
I′m potentially interested in becoming an “armchair developer”, but I need to see more facts and figures. Can I see a sample “feasibility analysis”?
We′re very happy to supply you with all the facts and figures you need. Just contact us to request a sample feasibility report on a recent “armchair developer” project.
You′ll see exactly how the numbers stack up including projected costs, timeframes and profits.
Contact us now to find out more or simply submit the Engagement Letter and Initial Qualification Finance Spreadsheet. You′re under no obligation by doing this and it does speed up the process for you.
What are the initial and ongoing cashflow commitments of doing an armchair development project? I don′t want to compromise my lifestyle with heavy cash commitments
I couldn′t agree more – you don′t want to live like a pauper, even if the potential payoffs are fantastic.
Because we′ve been working with armchair developer clients for over 15 years, we′ve refined a range of financing strategies to minimise your ongoing cash commitments – in fact, it′s possible to structure your loans in such a way that you pay no repayments whatsoever until the project is complete. From there you do one of two things – sell your project for an immediate profit or get tenants in to provide cash flow while you enjoy the capital gains.
Our projects are also designed to be extremely tax-effective – so you have the tenant and the taxman paying a sizeable chunk of your expenses, while your portfolio increases in value! Typically, you′re net cost of ownership is between ½ and 1 ½ % of the property value per year – depending upon your tax savings. And there is also a strategy where you can capitalise your holding costs which means it won′t cost you a cent out of your pocket at all.
Why not take action now by submitting an Engagement Letter and Initial Qualification Finance Spreadsheet? You′re under no obligation and this clears the way to explore what projects may be appropriate for you.