This answer applies 2 methods from the guide, led by one.
Frame the material question
Start with the decision and the evidence needed to answer it, not with a broad search.
- 1Write the decision in one sentence.
- 2List the claims that could change it.
- 3Name the best available source and date for each claim.
- 4Mark missing or conflicting evidence before drawing a conclusion.
Hold when: Do not turn asking prices into achieved prices. Do not fill a material gap from memory.
Read it in Broker Brain →Give advice the client can inspect
State the conclusion, evidence, uncertainty, alternatives and what would change the view.
Read it in Broker Brain →Frame the decision, then the figures that could change it
The guide's method, Frame the material question, starts with the decision, not a broad search. Write it in one sentence: this property or not, this one or another, now or later. Then note what shapes the answer: how long they plan to hold, cash or finance, income now or a home later.
Next, list the claims that could change that decision and give each the best source you can find, with its date. Those get your effort; everything else is background. Mark anything missing or conflicting before you draw a conclusion, not after it.
The claims to source, under the same headings every time
Use the same headings for every property, so clients can compare cases and you never start from a blank page.
- 01The all-in cost to buy: the price plus every purchase cost, such as government duties or transfer fees, agency and legal fees, finance and registration costs and inspections, each from a published schedule and dated. For off-plan, when each payment falls due.
- 02Rents on comparable homes: achieved or newly agreed rents on the same type and size in the same building or street, at least three, each with its source and date. Asking rents are not achieved rents; if you use them, label them as a ceiling.
- 03The holding costs: service charges or strata levies, council rates, insurance, management, maintenance, an allowance for empty months and the cost of finance.
- 04The net position: rent after those costs, set against the all-in cost. Show the gross figure too, clearly labelled, then test the net at a lower rent and a longer vacancy.
- 05The hold: what the position looks like at the client's horizon, such as 3, 5 and 7 years, including the costs of selling. If you show growth, show labelled scenarios, including none, never a forecast.
- 06The risks, with what the client can do about each: supply coming in the area, a delayed handover, rising running costs, weak tenant demand, and how easily similar homes resell.
- 07The gaps: what you couldn't source, why it matters and how you will find it. Don't fill a gap from memory or with a figure that sounds right.
The headline yield is where the analysis starts
Most marketing quotes a gross yield: a year's asking rent divided by the price. It leaves out the purchase costs, the running costs and the months a home sits empty, and it often treats an asking rent as if someone had already agreed it, which is exactly the slip the method warns against.
The investor will work that out eventually, from their own accountant or from the first year's statements. Showing the net figure first, with what it depends on, makes you the agent whose numbers held up.
What the developer's material leaves out
A developer's deck answers the developer's questions: the payment plan, the amenities, the renders. Your investor asks different ones: what does it really cost, what do finished homes nearby actually rent for, how much similar stock is arriving at the same time, and could I sell if I needed to?
Treat the deck as one source with its own date and purpose. A handover quarter in a brochure is the developer's stated target, not a confirmed date: label it that way, check what the current contract says and ask for written evidence where the two differ. A risk shown beside what the buyer can do about it reads as honest advice, not as a reason to walk away.
Give advice the investor can inspect
The second method, Give advice the client can inspect, shapes how you present it. Lead with the conclusion the evidence supports, then show the most relevant source and its limitation. Label each line as fact, calculation or your judgement, so the investor can see which parts they can check and which are your view.
Then decide whether you can advise now, need to qualify the answer or should hold until a check is done, and name who does that check. Your view of value is an agent's opinion, not an independent valuation, and tax, lending, legal and investment advice belong with a qualified professional; who may give that advice differs by market. If the case, or a piece of it, is shared publicly, it can become an advert under your market's rules, so mark what is for one investor and what needs approval first.
What gets in the way
Leading with the payment plan and the headline yield.
Lead with the all-in cost and a net figure built from achieved rents, and present the payment plan as the timing of that cost.
Forwarding the developer's deck as the analysis.
Use it as one dated source for the project facts, then add what it leaves out: comparable rents, competing supply, running costs and resale evidence.
Filling a gap with a figure that sounds right.
Put a source and a date beside every number. If you can't source one, leave it out and tell the client what is missing and how you'll find it.
Taking days over each case, so the investor decides without you.
Keep one template with the same headings and keep your fee schedules and rent evidence current, so a new case means filling gaps, not starting over.
Questions agents ask next
What is the difference between gross and net yield?
Gross yield is a year's rent divided by the price. Net yield takes the running costs off the rent, such as service charges or levies, management, insurance, maintenance and empty months, and divides by the all-in cost including purchase costs. Net is closer to what the investor keeps before finance and tax.
Where do I find reliable rent figures?
Achieved or newly agreed rents on comparable homes: official rental or bond records where your market publishes them, your agency's own leases and property managers' records. Asking rents on listings are a ceiling, not evidence, so label them if you use them.
Should I include a capital growth forecast?
Not as a forecast. If you show growth, show a few labelled scenarios, including no growth, and let the case stand on the net position. A promise of growth is a claim nobody can back.
How do I analyse an off-plan property?
The same way, plus timing: when each payment falls due, the stated handover target labelled as a target, what the contract says if it slips, what finished comparable homes nearby rent and resell for, and the supply handing over at the same time.
Can I give investment advice as an agent?
Keep to the facts, the calculation and your view as an agent, each clearly labelled. Tax, finance, legal and investment questions go to a qualified professional, and who may advise on investments differs by market.