Property Advice

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are Empower Wealth’s Property Plans?

  Empower Wealth’s Property Plans are personalised strategy and modelling services designed to help you make better-informed property decisions.

  Depending on your goals, this may involve planning your next major property move, reviewing your current property position, modelling future scenarios or building a long-term investment portfolio strategy.

• What exactly is a QPIA® and why should I care, especially if I’m not looking at an investment property?

  A Qualified Property Investment Adviser (QPIA®) has completed six rigorous modules on strategy, lending, tax, risk and ethics, all assessed by the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA). It’s the closest thing Australia has to a formal licence for property investment advice—so you know you’re working with someone who puts your goals first.

  But don’t let the word “investment” throw you.

  A QPIA® is trained to look at property decisions through a strategic lens — considering your goals, cash flow, lending position, risk profile and long-term financial outcomes before recommending a pathway.

  That matters even if you’re not planning to buy an investment property right now.

  For example, if you’re deciding whether to upgrade, renovate, rebuild, downsize, sell, hold or keep your current home as an investment later, those decisions can still have a major impact on your borrowing capacity, cash flow and future options.

  A QPIA® can help you step back, model the numbers and understand how today’s property decision may affect tomorrow’s opportunities.

• What is the difference between the Property Pathway Plan and the Property Portfolio Plan?

  The Property Pathway Plan focuses on your next one or two major property decisions over the next 5 to 10 years.

  The Property Portfolio Plan is a longer-term strategy designed around portfolio growth, debt reduction, retirement outcomes and future passive income.

  You can compare both Plans here >

• Who is the Property Pathway Plan for?

  The Property Pathway Plan may suit you if you’re deciding whether to sell, hold, upgrade, renovate, rebuild, downsize, keep your current home as an investment, buy your first home or model one additional property decision.

  It’s designed for households who want clarity on their next major property decision, usually over the next 5 to 10 years.

  It may suit you if you are:

  • A first home buyer wanting to understand your first move and what may come next
  • Planning to upgrade to your next home or “forever home”
  • Deciding whether to renovate, rebuild or move
  • Considering downsizing and wanting to understand what it may unlock
  • Thinking about keeping your current home as an investment
  • Weighing up whether to sell, hold or optimise an existing property
  • Wanting to model one more property move, rather than a full long-term portfolio
  • Looking for practical short- to medium-term guidance, not a retirement-focused portfolio strategy

  In simple terms: the Property Pathway Plan is for people asking, “What should we do next?”

• Who is the Property Portfolio Plan for?

  The Property Portfolio Plan may suit you if your goal is to build a long-term property portfolio designed to support wealth creation, debt reduction, retirement outcomes and future passive income.

  It is generally suited to households who want a broader investment-led strategy through to retirement.

  • An established property investor wanting a clearer long-term strategy
  • Planning to build or grow a property portfolio over time
  • Looking to understand how many properties you may need to reach your goals
  • Wanting to model your position through to retirement
  • Focused on creating future passive income from property
  • Looking to reduce debt strategically over the long term
  • Considering multiple future property acquisitions
  • Wanting a more comprehensive, investment-led strategy for your bigger financial picture

  In simple terms: the Property Portfolio Plan is for people asking, “How do we build a long-term property portfolio that supports our future?”

• What do you think about us making a holiday house our first investment property?

  We think it’s the worst idea ever – unless you are on track to make a surplus $200K income per year continuously after your holiday house repayments are subtracted! Come and have a chat with us to find out why we are so anti-holiday house purchase as a first investment.

• Should I buy an investment property using a trust/company structure?

  Trusts can be useful for very specific, long-term estate planning or business-related purposes — but for residential property, they’re rarely the right fit. Most investors don’t benefit from trust structures once you factor in lending hurdles, tax limitations, higher costs, and ongoing complexity.

  We’ve created a detailed article explaining when trusts might make sense and when they’re best avoided:
  https://empowerwealth.com.au/blog/trust-structures-property-investment/

• How will I be able to afford more than one property?

  Through a careful combination of capital growth prospect forecasting and cash flow planning – with a cautious buffer for provisioning. Each property is considered based on affordability, ongoing management and maintenance costs, gross rental income (now and future), and capital growth prospects. The property which we buy now is deliberately intended not to adversely impact your borrowing capacity for the next one, and so on.

• How do investors deal with tenant issues?

  They interview their property managers like any other employee whom they would entrust with the running of a business. It’s always a shame seeing an investor meticulously select and buy a property, only to hand it over to the first managing agent who comes along.

• Shouldn't we pay down our home first before going into more debt?

  What you should do first and foremost is talk to an experienced and accredited finance specialist. It’s true what they say about good debt and bad debt, and it’s vital to get the right information that fits your your specific situation. Talk to one of our investment mortgage specialists to find out more.

• I would love a new car. Should I do that first and then think about investing?

  NO! Talk to us first. Would you choose to upgrade an asset if you knew it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost opportunity?

• What do you think of buying off-the-plan for investment purposes?

  We consider all assets on their merits – taking into account your motivation for considering them and more importantly the impact on your cash flow and future wealth. As a general rule of thumb, we are very cautious about off-the-plan investments and our primary reasons for applying caution are as follows:

  • Many are sold directly by developers and advice around their performance is sometimes pitched as ‘free’. If anyone is giving you ‘free’ advice, you need to ask yourself if it is independent, unbiased advice, and whether the advisor or their company is getting a commission, kickback, rebate, or other interest from a potential sale.
  • Banks are often tough on ‘off-the-plan’ sales. We don’t like assets which banks don’t like. Full stop. If it’s hard for you to buy, it could be hard for you to sell. These all have a flow on effect on the growth potential of an asset so we do tread cautiously.
  • A sudden release of a large number of similar or identical units/apartments can compromise the values (both rental and sale values) of the asset. To compound this, if a vendor has to make a distress sale, the lower sale price will have a direct effect on the value of your asset.
  • We typically prefer assets with higher ‘land-to-asset ratios’. Come and chat to us about what types of assets fit this preference.

• Am I just paying for a report/Excel Sheet?

  No, the Plan in Moorr is simply the final output.

  What you’re really paying for is the strategy, modelling, analysis and professional advice that goes into creating it.

  Our team reviews your goals, income, expenses, assets, debts, borrowing position and future plans, then models different scenarios so you can understand what each pathway could mean for your cash flow, debt, lifestyle and long-term position.

  The value is not just in the digital plan you receive through Moorr.

  The value is in the clarity it gives you before making a major property decision because the cost of getting that decision wrong can be far greater than the cost of getting proper advice upfront.

• Are your services only available in Melbourne and Sydney?

  Our Property Investment Advice and the rest of our services are available across Australia! We’ve got offices in Melbourne and Sydney if you would like to meet face-to-face, but appointments are typically conducted online. More than 30% of our clients are based outside capital cities.

• Do you receive kickbacks from developers?

  No. Empower Wealth and any of its subsidiaries do not accept kickbacks from developers.

  Our planning process is designed to put your goals, numbers and long-term interests first. We operate on a transparent fee-for-service model. Zero secret commissions—ever.

• What is the relationship between The Property Couch, Empower Wealth and Moorr?

  The Property Couch, Moorr and Empower Wealth are connected, but each plays a different role.

  The Property Couch is our free education platform and podcast. Moorr is our free in-house money, finance and property platform. Empower Wealth is our advisory business, providing personalised professional services across property, mortgage broking, financial planning and tax.

  In simple terms: The Property Couch helps educate you, Moorr helps organise and support your numbers, and Empower Wealth can provide personalised advice to help you move forward with clarity.