My name is Stephen Lazar, Founder and Director of properT network. My journey into investment property advisory began well before properT network — I spent approximately 15 years as a professional financial planner, helping clients understand their financial position, investment choices, risk and longer-term objectives.

I then made the decision to leave financial planning and dedicate my professional career to investment property advisory and buyers advocacy. For more than 19 years, I’ve specialised in helping investors identify and acquire investment property intended to work within a broader wealth-building strategy. That combination of financial planning experience and extensive property experience has shaped the way I approach investment property today.

I don’t believe property should be purchased first and the strategy worked out afterwards. The strategy should come first.

Why I Left Financial Planning

During my years in financial planning, I came to recognise something important: the investment products available to many clients didn’t always align particularly well with the people I was advising, their circumstances, or the way they wanted to build wealth. Rather than continuing to recommend products simply because they were available, I chose to move into an area where I had a long-standing personal and professional interest — property. I had always owned and invested in property myself, and I believed there was a significant opportunity to help investors approach property in a more structured and informed way. That decision ultimately led to the creation of properT network.

Why properT Network Exists

Property investment is a significant financial decision. For many investors, the money being committed represents years of hard work, savings and sacrifice. When the investment is being made through an SMSF, it may also represent a significant part of their future retirement.

I don’t believe investors should be encouraged to buy a property simply because it’s available, someone says it’s a “hotspot,” it has a high rental yield, it offers a tax deduction, or someone else believes it will increase in value. The property has to make sense for the investor — and that means understanding the investor first.

Strategy Before Property

This is the philosophy at the heart of properT network. We start with:

The property is the vehicle. It is not the destination.

What My Financial Planning Background Brings to Property

My years in financial planning continue to influence how I analyse investment property. Financial planning taught me that a client’s investment decision can’t be viewed in isolation — you need to understand risk, return, cash flow, tax, debt, liquidity, timeframe, diversification, and the client’s ultimate objectives. That way of thinking is just as relevant to property investment. A property can be a good property without necessarily being the right property for a particular investor. That distinction is fundamental to our approach.

Nearly Two Decades in Property

Over more than 19 years in investment property advisory and buyers advocacy, I’ve seen the property market move through very different cycles — booms and slowdowns, changing interest rates, changing lending conditions, shifts in government policy, changing investor sentiment, new property models, and changing approaches to taxation and investment.

I’ve also seen investors make decisions because they were emotionally attracted to a property, a suburb, or a particular forecast. Sometimes those decisions worked. Sometimes they didn’t. The difficulty is that the consequences of a poor property decision may not become obvious until years later — which is why I believe getting the original strategy and property selection right matters so much.

Investment Property Is Not the Same as Buying a Home

One of the biggest differences between buying a home and buying an investment property is the purpose of the purchase. When you buy a home, personal preference can be entirely appropriate — the suburb you love, the kitchen you prefer, the floorplan you want. An investment property is different. The property needs to appeal to the market, not simply to the investor. We ask: who is going to rent it? Why would they choose it? What will compete with it? What are the likely holding costs? What is the potential long-term demand? Who might buy it from you in the future? That’s investment thinking.

Investment-Grade Property

A significant part of what we do is identifying what we believe may qualify as Investment Grade Property. We don’t simply look at the brochure. Depending on the property and strategy, our assessment can include location, population and employment, infrastructure, supply, rental demand, tenant profile, property type, land characteristics, purchase price, comparable sales, rental income, cash flow, depreciation, construction quality, future competition, resale appeal, and the property’s fit within the investor’s overall strategy.

Not every property deserves to be an investment. And even an excellent property may not be the right investment for every investor.

We Don’t Believe in One Property for Everyone

Investors have different budgets, objectives, risk tolerances, timeframes, existing portfolios, income requirements and retirement goals. A property that may be appropriate for one investor may be completely inappropriate for another. That’s why our approach is based on best fit — not “this is the property we have available,” but “this is why we believe this property may fit what you’re trying to achieve.”

Education Before Decision

One of the principles that matters most to me is that investors should understand what they’re buying. We provide information, analysis and our reasons for recommending particular properties. We encourage clients to ask questions, challenge assumptions, undertake their own due diligence, discuss concerns and seek independent professional advice where appropriate.

Our role is not to make the decision for you. Our role is to help you make a more informed decision — whether the answer ultimately becomes yes or no, it should be made with a proper understanding of the investment.

Our Client-First Philosophy

Our business is built around relationships. We want to understand you — your circumstances, objectives, concerns and ambitions. Understand the strategy — what are you actually trying to achieve? Identify the opportunity — what properties may genuinely fit? Explain the numbers — why does the investment potentially make sense? Encourage your due diligence — what questions should you ask? Support the decision — whether you proceed or decide not to. And remain involved, as your investment strategy and portfolio evolve. For me, that’s what being an adviser should mean.

We Don’t Need Every Client to Say Yes

This is an important part of our philosophy. We don’t believe success is measured by how many properties we sell — it’s measured by whether the client makes a decision they understand and are comfortable owning. Sometimes that will mean buy this property. Sometimes, buy a different property. And occasionally, don’t buy yet. There’s nothing wrong with that.

The right advice isn’t always the advice that produces a transaction.

Property Investment Is a Long-Term Journey

Buying an investment property is not the end of the process — it may be the beginning of a much longer wealth-building journey. The first property may eventually lead to Property #2, then Property #3, and ultimately a portfolio designed to support the investor’s broader financial and retirement objectives. That’s why we look at the portfolio effect of each investment. What does Property #1 allow you to do next? That question can be just as important as asking how much Property #1 might be worth in ten years.

For some clients, the horizon we’re planning for isn’t just their own retirement — it’s their children’s, and sometimes their grandchildren’s. An SMSF can genuinely become a multigenerational structure, and how it’s built in the early years shapes how well it serves the family decades later.

Cash Flow Matters

Capital growth matters. But cash flow matters too. A property that requires substantial ongoing cash contributions may still produce capital growth, but those contributions need to come from somewhere — they may otherwise have been available to build the next deposit, reduce debt, maintain liquidity, diversify the portfolio, or pursue another investment opportunity. That’s why we believe investors should consider both how much a property costs to own, and what it allows them to do next.

You Can’t Eat Equity

Capital growth can create substantial wealth and equity. But when retirement arrives, the investor ultimately needs income. A property portfolio can be worth millions of dollars and still produce relatively little income. That’s why we believe the long-term objective should be to build a portfolio that can potentially provide wealth, income and choice — thinking about both capital growth and rental income throughout the investment journey.

Who We Work With

Working With Your Professional Advisers

Property investment rarely exists in isolation. Depending on your circumstances, your strategy may involve financial advisers, accountants, SMSF specialists, mortgage brokers, solicitors, auditors and other professionals. We believe those relationships are complementary — our role is to focus on the property investment component and work alongside your existing professional team where appropriate. For SMSF investors in particular, the fund’s investment strategy, taxation, legal structure, lending and compliance need to be addressed by the appropriately qualified professionals responsible for those areas.

Good advice means knowing where your role begins — and where another specialist’s role begins.

Australia-Wide Property Perspective

properT network operates with an Australia-wide investment property focus. The right investment for an investor doesn’t necessarily exist in the suburb, city or state where they live — that’s why we assess opportunities based on investment fundamentals, market conditions, rental demand, supply, growth drivers and, most importantly, fit with the investor’s strategy.

Our Promise to Clients

We don’t promise that every investment will perform exactly as modelled — no adviser can honestly make that promise. Markets change. Interest rates change. Rents change. Property values change. Governments change policy. Circumstances change. What we can do is research, analyse, compare, question, model, explain, and help you make a more informed decision based on the information available at the time.

Under-promise. Over-deliver. That’s the standard I want properT network to be known for.

What I Want Clients to Say About Us

Not “Stephen sold me a property.” But: “Stephen helped me understand what I was doing, why I was doing it, and why that investment made sense for my strategy.” That’s the relationship I want to build.

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The properT Network Philosophy

Purpose before property.

Strategy before product.

Evidence before emotion.

Education before decision.

Portfolio before individual asset.

Retirement before everything else.

At the end of the day, property is simply one of the tools an investor can use to build wealth. The real objective is much bigger: build wealth, create income, create choices, build the lifestyle you want.

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Start With Your Strategy

If you’re considering investment property, the first conversation shouldn’t be about a particular property. It should be about you — your circumstances, your objectives, your resources, your timeframe, your existing portfolio, and ultimately, what you’re trying to achieve. From there, we can determine whether investment property — and what type of investment property — may have a role to play.

Let’s start with your strategy, not a property.

General information only. Investment, taxation, SMSF, lending and property matters are complex and depend on individual circumstances. properT network provides property investment advisory services and does not replace licensed financial, tax or legal advice. Obtain appropriate professional advice before making investment or SMSF decisions.