Читать книгу The Female Investor - Kate Hill - Страница 19

A qualified property investment adviser (QPIA) performs a different role from that of a buyer's agent. Ideally, you want both of these skill sets rolled into one person.

Property is not an asset class recognised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, so, remarkably, the property investment industry remains unregulated in Australia. This means that anyone who feels like it can dish out property investment ‘advice' with pretty much zero qualifications or repercussions if that advice is, ahem, ‘dodgy'.

This sorry state of affairs has meant that the property investment space in Australia is riddled with spruikers who sell inferior property in underwhelming locations, with their only motivation being to line their own pockets, rather than work in the best interests of the people they're selling to.

All is not lost, though — you can seek out professionals who have gone to the trouble of getting themselves qualified, because they care about the financial outcomes and the financial futures of their clients, not just selling you a property on their books.

Go to the PIPA website and you'll find a growing list of QPIAs who have done just that. An ethical QPIA should take the time to:

 understand your situation

 conduct risk profiling on you

 recommend a strategy that suits you.

A growing number of mortgage brokers, accountants and even conveyancers are QPIAs, too.