Arjun Paliwal walked away from a comfortable corporate job in 2018 to start what has become a groundbreaking buyer’s agency which has seen clients outperform the national property market by a whopping 49 per cent. Within six years, InvestorKit has processed 1,300 property deals for time-poor business owners and professionals of corporations that have exceeded $1 billion in total value.
An investment advisory firm, says Paliwal, InvestorKit navigates clients through the maze of property investing. “We use comprehensive research across Australia to determine the best markets, which enables them to create strategic portfolio plans that dictate what to buy and when,” he explains. This data-driven strategy has given InvestorKit a competitive advantage, as it recently gained the top position of Buyer’s Agency of the Year in REB for the first consecutive wins in REB Awards history in 2023 and 2024.
It began, though, in 2010, when Paliwal was working at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ASX: CBA; he had successfully invested personally and soon found colleagues asking for his investment advice. That was a wake-up call which brought home to him that having an excellent result with finances does not necessarily translate into investment acumen. As was equally frustrated by the lack of data-driven insights from his own buyer’s agent, he decided on using data-driven insights to inform his investment strategies.
Since starting the InvestorKit, Paliwal has expanded his staff to 40 professionals who collectively own around 60 properties. The agency assesses some 30 indicators to rank the best location for investment among 330 SA3 statistical areas in Australia. According to Paliwal, “one must not rely on macroeconomic indicators; otherwise, one would miss out on the finer nuances of local markets.”.
He points to the deceitful nature of general market histories and draws on his own experience between 2012 and 2017, whereby many claimed to have experienced a nascent real estate property market that was mainly confined within Sydney and Melbourne. “You need to understand the local dynamics,” Paliwal asserts.
In terms of InvestorKit’s strategy, it has mostly concentrated on places such as Brisbane and Adelaide, particularly during the past two years, 2018 and 2019, anticipating growth even while Sydney and Melbourne continue to be in a slump. Of all transactions accomplished by the agency, more than 60 percent have been off-market and attributed to strong sector relationships.
Targeting busy, time-constrained business owners, Paliwal viewed InvestorKit as an important service offering similar to an accountant or lawyer that can help build wealth, allowing clients to run their businesses while InvestorKit provides the gains. Having weathered ups and downs in the markets and increasing property value along the way, he thought opportunities abounded in various local markets to be tapped for expansion.
Property growth is about 7% a year, he says, and leveraging up on the same property can bring in significant returns. He believes the system at InvestorKit allows its clients to filter down investment opportunities which are in line with clients’ financial capacity as well as their goals and, thus, easily spot promising markets.
