Firms That We Recommend July 2014 Daily we are asked for referrals to businesses that specialise in a specific service, be it the name of a solicitor in Victoria for a conveyancing matter, or a property focused accountant. So we thought we d put together a list for you of businesses that we personally recommend. Many of them have come to us via our clients. We ve seen them do work for clients and we ve been impressed by what they ve done, so in turn we ve referred other clients to them. It has taken us many years [and sometimes costly mistakes] to acquire these names. We hope you find this list of great value and that it helps fast track you to where you want to go. You ll note that we ve given you the person s name with whom you should speak to. Like most businesses it s the person and not the company you deal with, that can really make a difference, so be sure to ask for that individual. SIDE NOTE: Trilogy DOES NOT receive any fees or kickbacks for recommending these businesses. We recommend them because they re good at what they do and every single person on this list has been transacted with many times over. We deal with these people daily, they did not bribe their way onto this list. That said if you contact any of these people and they let you down, could you please email me. I ll investigate and if necessary remove them from this list. ed.nixon@trilogyfunding.com.au 1
Accountants Hadrill Accounting Based in Canberra, they are very passionate about residential property investing. They specialise in clients that have multiple properties and some of the Trilogy team use Hadrill accounting for their personal returns. PoC Jane Hadrill (02) 6257 1311 RSM Accounting Good for personal and small business tax advice. Again some of the Trilogy Team use RSM for their personal returns. PoC - Rhys Kyburz (02) 6217 0300 RSM Accounting RSM is a big national firm and they also offer higher level business and tax advice. Trilogy has used RSM for this and we found the advice to be solid. If you need higher level business advice they could be for you? PoC Andrew Sykes (02) 6217 0300 or 0439 943 138 Strategic Wealth Management Very good with complex trust structures and business accounting. If you re pondering whether to use a Hybrid or a Discretionary trust or any other trust structure for that matter and you re having trouble getting unbiased advice, perhaps talk to these guys; for a small fee they ll help you decide. We have used and recommended Strategic Wealth Management since 2004. PoC Nick Moustacas (02) 9580 3353 Hardwickes Andrew has helped many clients to reduce their personal tax through property investing. He loves to see your hard earned cash stay in your pocket and not the tax mans! Some of the Trilogy team also use Hardwickes to help maximise their own property deductions. PoC Andrew Snaidero (02) 6282 5999 2
Builders R.E.P Building Services Based here in Canberra they did the fit out of the Trilogy office, on time and on budget. PoC - Robert Paragalli 0411 119 195 Today s Homes Fantastic second generation Canberra builder, if there is an award they have not won it s not worth winning, we have known Brendan for over 15 years. PoC Brendan McCoullough 0413 616 514 New South Wales Buyers Agents Metropole Property Sydney Since 2005 we ve been involved with a number of transactions where Metropole have been the buyers Advocate. The common thread to many of those transactions has been George Raptis. He s a good agent and we have many clients that have been extremely happy with his work. PoC - George Raptis 0411 389 996 Your Empire Their focus seems to be on the eastern suburbs and lower North Shore. We ve had a few clients use Chris services over the years, and they ve all had excellent outcomes. You ll need a budget of >$700,000 to get the best from them though. They are very good at buying, project managing a renovation and selecting a managing agent for you. Full turnkey solutions for busy or interstate investors. You may have seen Chris on Sky Business where he hosts his weekly show called Your Money Your Call. PoC - Chris Gray (02) 9994 8944 3
New South Wales and Qld PMC Property Consultants We ve had a number of clients recently use PMC and they ve been very happy with the outcomes. Biggest benefit we find with PMC is we can give them a brief of what you want and they will purchase to that brief. For example, you may be restricted in your amount of deposit to purchase a property but would like to buy another relatively quickly. So the brief may be to buy under market value, do a small renovation and extract the equity to purchase again in the near future. Will s focus is mainly the Sydney / Newcastle area and James focus is mainly the Brisbane / Toowoomba area. PoC - Will Hosking 0411 860 407 or James Freudigmann 0435 807 759 Queensland Property Searchers Based in Brisbane, and probably the longest running buyers advocacy there! We ve used and recommended Scott since 2001. Scott is a brilliant negotiator and has done an exceptional job for many of our clients over many years. PoC - Scott McGeever (07) 3368 1604 Victoria Property Sourcing We ve dealt with Richard since 2005, both personally and through clients. He was with a big Melbourne development / buyers advocacy company, left and went out on his own. Very personable and very experienced. The go to person if you d like to do a small development project like purchase, knock down and build two or more townhouses. PoC - Richard Wright 0418 344 288 4
Financial Planners Bravien Financial - Canberra We have found Bravien good for business advice on buy/sell agreements in a business partnership arrangement. Also good with exit strategies from full time employment into retirement. Logical, practical advice. PoC - Jeremy Gillman Wells (02) 6215 8000 Dragonfly Financial Services - Canberra Great boutique financial planning firm that specializes in Self Managed Super Funds and Risk Insurance. PoC Luke Smith (02) 6273 3118 Money Mechanics - Canberra Canberra based financial planner with great knowledge in using SMSFs to purchase direct property. PoC Scott Malcolm 1300 772 643 PSK Financial Services - Sydney PSK have been looking after our clients since January 2013, and we have found their service to be fantastic. They re based in Sydney, but like us are very happy to work with people from all over Australia. They specialise in Self Managed Superannuation Funds, structuring insurance policies and gearing strategies. Their advice has been useful, not only to Trilogy clients, but also by some of the team here at Trilogy, so we speak from personal experience of their service. If you have any questions about insurance, superannuation, investment, estate planning or tax planning, we suggest you give them a call as your initial meeting is a freebie. PoC Michael Molloy (02) 9324 8828 or 0410 632 137 5
Insurance Brokers Capital Insurance Brokers Used by Trilogy since 2004, they do our business insurance and Workers Compensation. PoC Fiona Eccles (02) 6282 7666 Property Development Positive Property Strategies Based in Brisbane, we know them best for the joint ventures they have set up for budding developers. If you re interested in partnering with some others for something bigger, then these guys have created some good outcomes for our clients over the past couple of years. PoC - Bob Andersen 0407 757 493 or Ben Smith 0423 255 461 Property Bloom If you want to put a granny flat on the back of your property in Sydney or in the Hunter region then these guys can assist. We have had a few clients use them over the past few years with great outcomes. PoC - Jo Chivers 0418 293 575 6
Real Estate Agents Because we re in the ACT we only have Canberra Estate Agents listed. If you are looking to sell one of your properties interstate, don t forget that a Buyers Agent can work on your behalf and interview a few selling agents for you. They know the good ones in their area. Elders Belconnen, ACT Troy is probably one of the nicest guys you ll ever meet which is probably why he s one of the highest selling Agents in this country under the Elders banner. Troy has been selling Real Estate in Canberra since 1999. Not only is he a very personable person, he also has a shed load of experience which is what you re looking for when you re selling your home. He knows how to connect with the buyer and then guide them to the close. Andrew works with Troy and is equally as good. PoC - Troy Reddick 0407 808 717 or Andrew Lonsdale 0428 486 692 Independent Property Group Woden, ACT Jonathan s enthusiasm, focus and commitment to his clients, together with a proven sales record ensure his clients get the best possible result. He is extremely focused and highly enthusiastic in a career he believes in. His belief that each property is unique and needs individual attention has led him to become one of the most successful agents in Canberra. He is genuinely respected among his peers. PoC - Jonathan Charles 0413 909 158 Bertram Ellis Real Estate, ACT Tom has a natural ability to work well with buyers and sellers alike and works hard to achieve the very best results for his clients - not just a top price but a stress free experience. People choose Tom because he is enthusiastic, focused and really knows his stuff; he s been a registered agent since 1998. A property investor himself, you will have Tom s full attention wherever your property is located and whether it is part of your investment portfolio or a much loved family home. PoC Tom Ellis 0412 622 006 or (02) 6288 6277 7
Property Managers These guys have a tough job, dealing with peoples complaints every day, be it the tenant or the landlord and are usually paid on the lower side of what they re worth. We get asked regularly for a good property manager as so many Landlords are unhappy with theirs. As mentioned earlier, it s the individual that you deal with and not the company and hence why we have given you the point of contact here. PRD Inner North, ACT This business was originally Livein Real estate and the property management department is fantastic. PoC Tegan Smith (02) 6162 1144 Solicitors With conveyancing, you need to use a solicitor who is experienced in the law of the state where you re buying the property. So if you re buying a property in Victoria you ll typically need to use a solicitor that practices in that state. Some solicitors are experienced in more than one state, most are not. New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory Lexmerca Local Canberra Firm who we regularly refer residential conveyancing work to. They re good communicators, which many law firms fail to be. PoC John Chamberlain (02) 6181 2902 8
Legitimate Solutions Legal Local Canberra Solicitor, Trilogy have referred to James office since ~ 2004, we find him very good with residential conveyancing matters also. PoC - James King (02) 6162 3003 McSpedden Harvey Local Solicitor more suited to commercial transactions like negotiating a commercial lease arrangement. PoC Christine Harvey (02) 6281 0655 Bradley Allen Love Victoria Though they do all types of legal work, we ve found them to be very experienced when it comes to conveyancing for your SMSF. Settling on a property using a SMSF needs an experienced lawyer, as it is way more complex than standard conveyancing. To date we only recommend BAL for our SMSF settlements. They can do your property settlements in NSW, the ACT or QLD. Again a few of the Trilogy team have used Liam for their own SMSF purchases. PoC Liam Early (02) 6274 0999 White & Mason Based in the centre of Melbourne, we ve dealt with Androula since ~ 2005. Very experienced in residential conveyancing matters. PoC - Androula Ectoros (03) 9088 0488 Queensland McDonald Balanda & Associates Based in Surfers Paradise QLD. We ve used Rob personally, along with a number of our clients and found him to be excellent. PoC Rob Balanda (07) 5539 9688 9