Featured Review

Brad (bought two properties while working in Australia)

My wife and I moved to Sydney in 2017 to capture some of that opportunity that has always been available across the ditch; higher wages, more jobs, lower cost of living, etc. We saved a good portion of our wages while we were there, and periodically transferred our money over the Tasman to offset the mortgage we held on our family home in the Waikato. After a while we realised that we weren’t using our capital very efficiently and we decided to sell our home, and use the equity to purchase two residential investment properties. While we had been landlords for a good 18 months, we hadn’t really been investors in truth because our money was tied up in an asset where the yield was pretty poor.

We started by offering to sell the family home to the tenants that had been living there the entire time we’d been overseas and they managed to get a deposit together and buy it. That made it all very easy for us, but as soon as we knew the sale was going to happen we had to start thinking about where we should be buying investment properties. There was a short amount of searching before we realised that very few real estate agents understand yield. They’ll make statements like, “this is a perfect family home or even your first investment property.” That’s just them widening their buyer pool. When we would ask what the weekly rent would be they would have no idea, they certainly didn’t know what the yield was. Through Facebook we stumbled across Nick Gentle who was a frequent property commentator. I reached out to him and he explained that he was part of the iFindProperty business and once we understood what they could offer we realised it was exactly what we needed.

Nick connected me with a couple of finders from around New Zealand who hunt in their local areas and after telling them all what we were looking for, we chose to work with Ben. The primary driver for the choice was yield and location. We wanted to achieve a 7% yield which was much higher than the 4.5 – 5.5% yields that we were managing to find online from our PC in Sydney. The location was also appealing because we knew the Waikato pretty well, having lived there for years. We signed the paperwork which involved carefully articulating the type of deal we wanted Ben to find and also outlined our budget. I seem to remember that Ben actually had a deal that he wanted to talk to us about before we had formally signed, so we knew he was capable. Once signed he shared all the details about the deal and that’s what we ended up buying.

The best part about it was that we could confidently buy it sight-unseen because Ben had done a comprehensive walk through and had even made recommendations about improvements that could raise the rent. He had an outline of potential future development of the site to hugely improve our return down the track too and it’s still something that we plan to do. Working with iFindProperty was also brilliant because they already have all the intel about which markets are good and which are poor at the time. They already know what type of deals are achieving the best yields, and they can spot properties that are under-rented or have development potential which is a huge part of making a deal work. I’d highly recommend their services for those overseas, in fact we’ve used them since even though we are now based in NZ. For the second property we worked with Chris in Christchurch and if anything, it’s an even better deal which surprised us. Using IFindProperty let’s us buy like experts without having to put in the time to actually become one.

My partner and I were interested to invest in New Zealand and went into NZRelo to discover Maree from iFindProperty. When she replied and called us straight away we were very appreciative and found her to be professional and upfront. Maree guided us and gave us all the information we required to invest back home in NZ. Don’t hesitate to reach out to her as we found her very informative.

Marlena – Brisbane

I used iFindProperty to buy an apartment while overseas, she was very quick to reply to all my questions. Working with them made the whole process go a lot smoother. They understand the struggles of buying property while overseas, so they helped me out in anyway they could. I would highly recommend iFindProperty.

Moemen Elbeltagi – Overseas Buyer

After 9 years of searching for a way to invest in an NZ rental property whilst in the middle east, I finally found iFindProperty. It was well worth waiting for. Not only have I now purchased my first rental property, I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge from working with a team of professional investors who have a lot more experience than myself to help me make informed and sensible decisions.

The entire team was there for me every step of the way, regardless of how many questions I asked! I feel like I have not only been introduced to an entire network of contacts, whom I hope to use going forward, but I have also gained friends.

Simon – Qatar

As a new overseas investor to the NZ market and buying my first property in Wellington, I was introduced to iFindProperty. Our initial meeting was spent to better understand the Wellington market, desirable areas, price points and what I was after. The agent is knowledgeable, an avid property investor themself, and certainly has their pulse on the local market. With iFindProperty, I always felt I was in a safe pair of hands.

They found me an off market private deal – which meant not having to compete with others. They assisted with due diligence, and continued to step me through various facets of purchasing. There were moments when it felt like there were a dozen balls in the air – lawyers, brokers, insurance agents, surveyors, rental valuations, builders, renovation options etc. But they have this uncanny ability to remain calm under pressure, which definitely put me at ease and helped make the right choices. My wife and I are celebrating our first overseas purchase, sight unseen (we got photos and videos) – all thanks to iFindProperty. Very much appreciate their help.

I will most certainly be using iFindProperty for my next purchase and have no hesitation in recommending their services to overseas or NZ based buyers.

Sandeep – Singapore

A great service, they helped us buy remotely and we’re really happy with the result. They really know the market in Christchurch and was a great partner to work with.

Andrew Thorne – Remote Buyer

As we are living overseas, iFindProperty helped us buy an investment property in Whangarei. They were very helpful, knowledgeable and responsive over a number of months, throughout the searching and buying process. They gave us a lot of confidence to make the purchase. Great service.

Jared & Joyce Duxfield – Overseas Investor

Dean did a brilliant job. For over a year we had had the ambition of buying a Dunedin investment property, a city we thought we knew from younger days, but were handicapped by being overseas, being out of date with the market and developments on the ground, and the scorching pace of the 2020-2021 market. Slowly realizing that chances were slim of succeeding without professional help, we reached out to Dean at iFindProperty. Dean has deep roots in the south, has his own portfolio of investment properties, and has a relaxed yet organized style, the combination of which completely transformed our search.

What was previously an aspiration became a plan that we collectively executed. Suddenly we had clear criteria, we were seeing properties we might not otherwise have considered, we had access to more sophisticated pros and cons when evaluating a property, and we had a team of vetted inspectors, rent appraisers, property managers, and other professionals at our fingertips. And we had a good time along the way too!

On top of all the indispensable theoretical aspects—his knowledge, his expertise, his contacts—one thing that really stood out is that Dean gets stuff done: whether it was enumerated points on an email, a narrated video house tour (jokes included), a dropbox of photos, a late-night text, or a weekend call, he does what it takes to get you what you need, when you need it, so that you can maintain momentum and get something over the line. You go into the process with Dean to secure an investment property, but you come out a much more knowledgeable property investor.

DL & JL – New York

I have been working with Maree from iFindProperty with residential investments for over ten years. The reasons are simple: experience, depth of knowledge and advocacy.

In 2021 Maree sold one of my properties for me and I advised her upon the sale that I intended to invest the funds in commercial property as I wanted to take advantage of the tax benefits available.

Maree gave me a warm introduction to a colleague who runs a commercial property fund. This has been a great outcome for me as I have seen my investment increase in value as well as receiving good cashflow. I plan to continue investing with my new team Maree has introduced me to.

iFindProperty and their peers in the industry have a wealth of both experience and knowledge in residential/industrial brokerage and in the greater NZ market for foreign investors like me. They also have the ability to assemble and present your package to the community (lawyers, banks, insurers…) as well. And, all with superior results.

iFindProperty advocates for your position whether representing you in a purchase/sale transaction . Most important they are the real deal, honest, trustworthy and highly capable. I am happy to recommend them to anyone looking for assistance with their real estate portfolio.

Max Amimer – Paris

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