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Four out of Five Stars for our Property Services

John Hopkins Property and Lantern Property Partners have been awarded four out of five stars by SQM Research Pty Ltd.

Excellent; we are thrilled for our property team.

SQM Research is led by Louis Christopher. It would be fair to say his organisation could reasonably lay claim to being Australia’s preeminent property industries rating house.

SQM researches everything from the economy, the property market around Australia, individual properties, general investment vehicles through to organisations in the investment world, including property organisations.

In order to assure the various individuals and organisations (both large and not so large) that accept our advice with property recommendations and due diligence processes, we undertook this lengthy, arduous and intrusive process. We put ourselves, our past and our present out there to be exposed and to be judged by the best.

This meant the collation of a mountain of documents, thorough inspection of everything from our financials and our balance sheet to our staff and our leaders, contracts and relationships with external organisations and individuals, lists of properties purchased by our clients over thirty five years, our philosophies and values and systems. Ten months later, we have been rewarded with a brilliant result.

Now our aim is to improve even further. Although Louis rang me prior to the formal disclosure of our rating score to explain that his organisation had never delivered a four out of five star rating for an organisation first time up, and he was very pleased to tell me in person.

I really hope you don’t think I am skiting too much, it is just that we are so thrilled and so proud.

We have been involved in property for a long time and to have an independent house with the credentials of SQM recognise our commitments to our clients, associates and the property industry at large is really heartening.

General Advice Warning: This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.

SQM Research Star Rating:

Investment products are awarded a star rating our of a possible five stars and are placed on www.sqmratings.com.au

Following are descriptions for each of the star ratings, which have been developed as a guide for dealer group research teams and investment committees:

– 4.5+ stars – Outstanding. Highly suitable for inclusion on APLs.

– 4 stars to 4.25 stars – Superior. Suitable for inclusion on most APLs.

– 3.75 stars – Favourable. Consider for APL inclusion.

– 3.5 stars – Acceptable. Consider for APL inclusion, subject to advice restrictions.

– 3.25 stars – Caution required. Not suitable for most APLs.

– 3 stars – Strong caution required. Not suitable for most APLs.

– Below 3 stars – Avoid or redeem. Not suitable for APL inclusion.

SQM Research has no involvement with Lantern Property Partners, The Hopkins Group, or any of the organisations contained in their product disclosure statement. This assessment does not constitute an investment recommendation. It is designed to provide investment advisers with a third party view of the quality of this fund, as an investment option. SQM Research charges a standard and fixed fee for the third party review. This fee has been paid under the normal commercial terms of SQM Research.

NRAS – What is it and how does it work?

The National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) was introduced by the Federal Government in 2008 as a way of creating affordable housing and stimulating the building industry. The incentive was to supply new properties in Australia that would be leased at 20% under the market rate to-low to moderate income earners.

As an owner of a NRAS dwelling, the property must be brand new or not have been lived in before in order to qualify for the NRAS dwelling ID.

To qualify as an NRAS tenant, the household must meet a gross income limit. For 2015/16, a single tenant would have to earn $47,904 or less to be able to participate in the scheme.

The investor, although receiving 20% less market rent for their property, receives a healthy annual tax free incentive (indexed annually) from the government for being involved in the initiative. The incentive for 2015/16 is made up of $8,187.78 (Federal Government contribution) and $2,729.26 (State Government contribution). Although NRAS property management costs are slightly higher, the investor is not charged re-leasing or advertising charges over the term of the NRAS agreement.

The incentive is paid for 10 years whilst the property is still operating under NRAS, unless at any stage the investor decides to owner occupy the property or remove the NRAS dwelling ID attached to the property at any time.

As a property manager at The Hopkins Group, it has been interesting to see the calibre of tenants who apply for properties within the scheme. Open for inspections are conducted as normal and there is a general pre-screening of the applicant done in the office whilst income declaring documents are completed and reviewed by the housing provider.

Having leased over 60 NRAS properties, the application process for NRAS tenants can be quite lengthy, given there is a large amount of accompanying paperwork that is required, including obtaining tenant bank statements, NOA’s, payslips etc. Given the work involved from both the property manager and the tenant, I’ve found that tenants who have successfully applied for an NRAS property are very appreciative of securing a tenancy and generally become good tenants, given the incentives in place for them to remain in the property and work involved to get approved.

If you are a landlord or tenant interested in NRAS, or would like to speak with someone with relation to any NRAS enquiry, please feel free to call our office on 1300 726 082 and ask to speak with a property investment adviser or property manager who will be able to assist.

Source: www.dss.gov.au

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The Hopkins Group

Street Address

Level 23, 500 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3001

Postal Address

GPO Box 4347, Melbourne, VIC 3001

Office Hours

8:30am - 5:00pmMonday - Friday (after hours by appointment)
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