Our Process
A Clear, Structured Process — From Strategy to Property
Purpose → Strategy → Property → Performance → Portfolio → Retirement. Here’s exactly how we work with investors through each stage.
Investing in property through an SMSF is a significant decision. The property may become part of your retirement asset base for many years, so the process should be deliberate, evidence-based and focused on your objectives — not a property someone wants to sell you.
Understand You
The process starts with you, not a property. Our first objective is to understand your investment objectives, retirement timeframe, available capital, existing investments and property, income objectives, risk considerations, and what you ultimately want your portfolio to achieve. We want to understand not only what you can invest, but why you’re investing.
Establish the Investment Strategy
We consider the role property may play within your broader SMSF strategy — whether it’s appropriate at all, what role it should play, whether the priority is growth, income or both, how much capital and cash flow the fund can support, and how it fits alongside the fund’s other investments. Your formal SMSF investment strategy remains the trustees’ responsibility. We cover the requirements in full on our SMSF Investment Strategy pages.
Identify the Right Property
Only after understanding the strategy do we look at property — assessed against location, property type and quality, rental demand, purchase price, cash flow, capital growth fundamentals, supply, resale prospects and portfolio fit.
Compare the Numbers
A property shouldn’t be selected because the brochure looks attractive. We model the investment — purchase price, acquisition costs, rental income, growth assumptions, expenses, depreciation, cash flow and equity — so you understand how the numbers interact before you commit. We don’t try to predict the future perfectly; we try to understand the investment before you commit to it. Full detail, including a fillable worksheet, is on our Comparing Properties in an SMSF page.
Shortlist and Due Diligence
We don’t expect you to simply accept our recommendation. We present the opportunity together with the reasoning behind it, and encourage you to ask questions, challenge assumptions, undertake your own due diligence, raise concerns, and seek independent professional advice where appropriate.
We educate. You decide.
Professional Review
An SMSF property transaction can involve several professional disciplines — an SMSF accountant or specialist, licensed financial adviser, solicitor, finance specialist, auditor and property professionals. Our role is primarily the property investment component; we work alongside your advisers rather than replacing their specialist responsibilities. We’ve set out how these roles typically divide on our Our Services page.
Finance and Structure
Where borrowing is appropriate, finance and transaction structure need to be considered before committing to the purchase — affecting purchase price, deposit requirements, cash flow, repayments, liquidity and overall viability. Since new residential LRBAs are no longer available, borrowing today mainly means Commercial Property, which we cover in full — including how commercial SMSF lending works and what it requires. Moneysmart’s guidance on SMSFs and property covers the broader borrowing risks worth understanding too. Borrowing should be assessed as part of the strategy, not simply maximised because finance is available.
Acquisition
Once the property, strategy, finance and professional requirements have been reviewed, the investor decides whether to proceed. The acquisition process may involve contracts, legal review, finance approval, SMSF documentation, property due diligence, building and pest inspections where applicable, settlement, and property management. The precise process varies by property and transaction structure.
The Property Begins Working
Once acquired, the investment begins its longer-term journey — rental income, property expenses, cash flow, loan reduction, capital growth, equity, and the property’s role within the broader SMSF portfolio. This is where the original investment strategy becomes particularly important. The purchase is only the beginning.
Review the Portfolio
Your circumstances can change — so can property values, rental income, interest rates, investment markets, tax rules and retirement timing. An SMSF investment strategy should be reviewed regularly and when circumstances change materially, and the property itself should be reviewed against the broader portfolio: is it still performing as expected? Is retirement approaching? Does the fund need greater income or liquidity? That’s exactly what our Portfolio Review service is for.
Property #1 Should Have a Purpose
One of the most important principles in our process is that the first investment should be considered in the context of what you may want to achieve next. A property that consumes substantial cash flow may still generate capital growth — but you should understand what it costs to hold, how much cash it requires, what that means for the next investment, and how it affects your broader retirement strategy.
Property #1 should help build the portfolio — not simply become the portfolio.
The End Goal Is Retirement
Investment property is a means to an end. For many investors, the ultimate objective is building sufficient wealth and income to support the retirement lifestyle they want.
Capital Growth
Building wealth and equity
Rental Income
An ongoing income stream
Cash Flow
Making the portfolio sustainable
Liquidity
Meeting the fund’s obligations
Portfolio Strategy
Fitting the broader retirement plan
You can’t eat equity.
Ultimately, the objective is to build an asset base that can provide the income and financial choices you want when you retire. Read more on our Retirement Income page.
What We Don’t Do
- Push a particular property because it’s available
- Promise guaranteed capital growth
- Present projected returns as certainty
- Maximise borrowing simply because a lender will provide it
- Tell every investor to buy the same property
The right investment is different for different investors.
Why properT Network?
With more than 19 years in investment property advisory, following an earlier 15-year career in financial planning, Stephen Lazar founded properT network around a simple philosophy: strategy before property. Read the full story on our About Us page.
Start With Your Strategy
If you’re considering investment property through your SMSF, the process shouldn’t begin with a property brochure. It should begin with a conversation about your objectives, your retirement plans, your available resources, your existing portfolio, and what you ultimately want your investments to achieve. From there, we can assess whether property — and what type of property — may have a role to play.
Let’s start with your strategy, not a property.
properT network — Investment Property Advisory Services
0413 108 125
General information only. SMSF, taxation, lending, legal and property matters are complex and depend on individual circumstances. properT network provides property investment advisory services and does not replace licensed financial, tax, legal or SMSF advice. Obtain appropriate professional advice before making investment decisions.