We don’t take property purchases lightly. From family homes and investments to renovations and management, each and every undertaking at Milk Chocolate is carefully scrutinised to ensure it meets the client’s exacting needs. Naturally, a decent number of our clients look to turn property into a comprehensive investment strategy that stretches over multiple years, and potentially several purchases and renovations.
That’s where our Game Plans come in; each one is a tailored property plan that is built over a specified time period based on a client’s long-term requirements and goals. Whether their objective is to purchase a single-family home, generate an income-producing property portfolio or create a diversified suite of investments that appreciates in capital, the Game Plan will propose a range of scenarios that can help realise their ambition.
What’s involved in a Game Plan?
Within each Game Plan, we present between two and five scenarios – but usually the sweet spot of three – to illustrate varying degrees of risk and results. The Game Plan will include one scenario that ticks all of our client’s boxes, one that’s a slight permutation and may result in stronger returns, often one that’s more aggressive, and sometimes one that presents the unexpected – otherwise known as a Wild Card. The Wild Card is generally something they may not have ever envisioned, but one that will truly test their appetite. The Game Plan might propose making new purchases or capitalising on existing assets, or it may suggest undergoing new builds or renovations to enhance an asset’s value. It can involve one or multiple purchases, sales, renovations or builds over a period of years or decades.
As an example, one of our Singapore-based clients came to us with the goal of using property as an investment vehicle. Within their Game Plan, we included residential properties with smart renovations as well as sub-divisions in areas with strong rental yields and stable capital growth. We also modelled a few scenarios with high-yielding commercial assets, with the primary aim of underpinning their portfolio holding costs with strong yields, while also diversifying their asset selection.
How are the Game Plans put together?
The Game Plan offers incredible detail and, given the varying characteristics of each one, combines the expertise of several Milk Chocolate verticals. Compared to other businesses in the space, we’re in a fantastic position because we’re able to create a plan, complete the purchase, facilitate the build and provide ongoing property management. Numerous team members support this end-to-end process, including our Senior Economist/Data Scientist, Dr Kevin Hoang; our Property Economist and Qualified Property Investment Advisor, Mark Korenik; our National Head of Acquisitions, Brad Purcell; our National Construction Manager, Kieran Moore; and me, our Head of Strategy and co-founder.
On top of the client’s circumstances, every Game Plan is developed according to actual market performance that takes into account our assumptions for market trends and cycles. Kevin ensures these assumptions are underpinned by robust data and algorithms that allow for worst-case scenarios. (To give an indication of the scale of our analysis, there are 135 assumptions built into the models.)
Mark puts the actual Game Plan together and assesses various investment scenarios before collating a selection of the best few. He also reviews each Game Plan every quarter to ensure it’s on track to meet its goals and suggests strategy pivots if required. Brad uses his real estate nous to support all stages of the process and subsequently commence the active search for properties that meet the Game Plan’s targets. Depending on the requirements of the client’s brief, Kieran might get involved to advise on the feasibility, timeline and costs of a build or renovation. And lastly, I oversee the entire process and work closely with Mark on the execution for each client.
Fortunately, the hard work we put into our Game Plans is invariably worth it. Michael and I have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our clients on the level of detail and available data, our conservative assumptions that avoid overpromising, and the easy-to-digest way in which our Game Plans are presented. Needless to say, they’ve played a pivotal role in Milk Chocolate’s success – and importantly, that of our clients’ investment aspirations, too.
If you’re looking to invest in property in Australia and would like us to help you explore your options, we’d love to hear from you. Head to our Contact page to get in touch.
