Hiring a property investment advisor is one of the highest-leverage decisions you’ll make as an investor — get the right one, and you gain years of market experience, structured strategy, and access you wouldn’t have alone. Get the wrong one, and you could end up steered toward whatever’s easiest to sell rather than what’s actually right for you. These are the questions worth asking before you sign anything.
1. Are You Licensed, and Can I See Proof?
This should be the very first question, not an afterthought. Property investment advice in Australia sits under specific regulatory requirements, and a legitimate advisor should be able to confirm their licensing status without hesitation. If the answer is vague, evasive, or delayed, treat that as a serious warning sign rather than a minor gap. We’ve covered this in more depth in our guide on how to vet a property investment company before you sign anything.
2. How Are You Paid?
This is arguably the single most important question, because it reveals potential conflicts of interest. Some advisors earn commissions from developers for selling specific properties — which can quietly bias recommendations toward whatever pays the advisor best, not whatever suits your goals best. Ask directly: are you paid by me, by the developer, or both? A transparent advisor will answer this plainly and explain exactly how their fee structure works.
3. Do You Sell Off-the-Plan Properties Exclusively?
If every property an advisor recommends happens to be a new off-the-plan apartment from a handful of developers, that’s not a coincidence — it’s a sales model. A genuinely independent advisor considers established properties, different property types, and a range of locations based on your goals, not a limited developer panel. This exact concern is common enough that we’ve addressed it directly — it’s a fair question to ask, and a fair one to expect a clear answer to.
4. What’s Your Investment Strategy Process?
A credible advisor should be able to walk you through how they actually build a strategy — how they assess your financial position, your goals, your risk tolerance, and your timeline, before recommending anything specific. If the conversation jumps straight to a property without any of that groundwork, the “strategy” is really just a sales pitch wearing different language.
5. What Ongoing Support Do You Provide After the Purchase?
Buying the property isn’t the end of the relationship — or at least, it shouldn’t be. Ask what happens after settlement: Is there ongoing portfolio review? Support with tenant management or property managers? Help planning the next purchase as your position changes? An advisor focused purely on the transaction, with nothing planned beyond it, is offering something closer to a one-off sale than genuine advisory support.
6. Can I Speak to Existing Clients?
A confident, established advisor should have no issue connecting you with clients who can speak to their actual experience — not just polished testimonials on a website. Genuine references, ideally from investors with a similar goal or situation to yours, tell you far more than marketing copy ever will.
7. What Happens If the Investment Underperforms?
Property investment carries risk, and no advisor can guarantee outcomes — anyone who does should raise immediate concern. But a good advisor will be upfront about how risk is managed, what contingency planning looks like, and how they support clients through a downturn or an underperforming asset, rather than disappearing once the sale is complete.
Why These Questions Matter More Than the Sales Pitch
It’s easy to get caught up in growth projections and rental yield figures during an initial meeting. But the answers to these questions tell you far more about whether an advisor is actually independent, competent, and aligned with your interests — which matters more over a 10-year investment horizon than any single number presented in a first meeting. If you’re still weighing up whether professional advice is worth it at all, our breakdown of DIY property investing versus using an advisor covers that decision in more detail.
Getting Straight Answers From the Start
At Your Property People, our team is built around genuine independence and a tailored strategy for each client, and we’re happy to answer every one of these questions directly, before you commit to anything. If you’re weighing up your options, get in touch with our team for a straightforward, no-pressure conversation about what actually fits your goals.