Empower Blog Professional Advice

What was Ben and Bryce’s First Home Buy?

So, they’re both Qualified Property Investment Advisors and two of Australia’s top industry experts … but what was Ben Kingsley's and Bryce Holdaway’s first home buy? Money Magazine put the question to The Property Couch’s main men for their Special Edition issue and their responses were unexpected! Sneak Peek: “With very little know...

Read More

Be a Farmer, Not a Hunter

Bryce appears again in Money Magazine ... this time in their Special Edition issue! In this article, Bryce talks about the importance of being a farmer, not a hunter when it comes to a property investing. The theory behind it is that you need to play the investment game for the long term, planting tree seedlings now so that you will sit, cover...

Read More

The Three Hidden Mistakes That Property Investors Often Make

Today I want to talk about three hidden mistakes that property investors often make. The first one is wanting to settle on a Friday. This comes from the fact that when we're buying our own home if we settle on a Friday, we get the keys and we move in over the weekend. But the challenge is that 20% of settlements don't settle on the due date because...

Watch Video

How Do Mortgage Insiders Feel About The Market?

APRA’s approach to managing investor lending has raised some concerns and question marks for the property investment industry. But a new survey conducted by PIPA, as recently explained in Your Investment Property Magazine, proves that property professionals are rightfully optimistic. Ben, also Chair of PIPA, is excited about the level o...

Read More

Why I Love Property

I was recently asked by a journalist when they were interviewing me, “Why is it that out of all the asset classes out there, why do you actually love property as a form of investment?” And it's pretty simple. It’s actually leverage. The fact that I can use the cash that I've got and leveraged it to buy a much larger asset, and then I can get...

Watch Video

Interest Rates 2017: What Investors Need To Know

Ben appeared in Your Investment Property Magazine this April and, as it turns out, there's a whole lot he wants to tell investors about interest rates 2017. Let's face it: interest rates matter. When it comes to your lending capacity and structure, they can make or break how (and when) you invest. Your cash flow can really dive or soar too ... an...

Read More

Tax Structures and Tax Avoidance | What you should know?

Hi, Ben Kingsley here with another How to Session. Today I want to talk about tax and tax structures, and potentially tax avoidance. Now tax avoidance is illegal in this country so it's important to understand what you can and can't do around tax. In the property investment industry, there are a lot of property spruikers out there, and some of the ...

Watch Video

Seven Tactics of a Property Spruiker

As a property investment Advisor I'm often asked by people: “How do you actually avoid property Spruikers?” “What is it that you're actually looking out for?” And I think it's important to revisit what the definition of a property spruiker is. There are three groups of people in my mind that you can take your advice from when you're buyi...

Watch Video

Beating The Lending System

Hi, Ben Kingsley here with another How to Session. This one is a little bit more of a serious How to session because I want to talk about potential fraud in regards to lending fraud. Now we've seen the APRA which is the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority make some significant changes to the way in which consumers can borrow money to invest...

Watch Video

Is Your Property Portfolio Built On Sand or Stone?

Isn't it interesting to see the celebrations people have at New Year's Eve when we're seeing out the old year and welcoming in the new one? We tend to flock to iconic buildings and iconic bridges all around the world to capture the moment when the clock strikes midnight. If you think about Australia, everyone likes to flock to the Sydney Harbour Br...

Watch Video

Smoke and Mirrors

Like any other sector, there are tricks of the real estate trade that a property investor needs to be aware of. In order to ensure that you aren’t paying any unnecessary costs when investing into a new property, this article provides tips and analogies of what to avoid and look out for when dealing with real estate agents. In order to help you st...

Read More

Too High a Price for Property Advice?

When it comes to finding trustworthy property advice, it can be a daunting task to find someone that you know will give you the best advice suited to you. With so many spruikers out there claiming to be able to help property investors find worthy investments; it’s hard to tell who is genuinely trying to help investors or the ones who are only try...

Read More

Is the Advice worth the Price?

Did you know that property is not a financial product as defined in the Corporations Act? And what does this means? This means, property advisors are not required by the Corporations Act and Future of Financial Advice to have a certain qualifications and a best interests duty. And how does this affect you? Well, technically if you are not carefu...

Read More