In a market full of chatter about buying opportunities and picking up bargains, Mark Honeybone is cutting through the noise with a message that’s refreshingly grounded: you don’t win at property by being fast, you win by being focused.
In a standout webinar now streaming on APIA TV, How to Leverage Your Buying Power in This Market, Mark, a long-time investor and director at Harcourts Property Ventures, shares practical strategies for navigating a slower market. Not hypotheticals. Not social media spin. Real tactics for real investors who are still in the game, and still building.
Here’s the game-changing mindset shift you need right now: you don’t just buy when the market is down. You buy when you’ve found the right seller.
In this kind of market, investors have an edge, but only if they know where to look. And that edge doesn’t come from trying to time the rebound perfectly. It comes from understanding the motivation of the person on the other side of the table. Mark encourages investors to focus less on waiting for the “bottom” and more on identifying vendors who are ready to move. Sellers who are tired, over-leveraged, or already looking to downsize are far more likely to create opportunities than trying to out-guess the OCR.
The best deals in this market don’t come from being lucky. They come from being prepared, having your numbers sorted, your team ready, and your eyes wide open to where genuine motivation lies. That’s how you leverage your buying power.
→ Want to see how that plays out in practice? Watch Mark’s full webinar, How to Leverage Your Buying Power in This Market, now on APIA TV.
Mark also urges investors to stop fixating on “hot suburbs” and instead pay close attention to infrastructure announcements, zoning changes, and long-term regional plans. It’s a sharp reminder that you don’t build generational wealth on yesterday’s trends. Areas that are primed for change, not just popularity, are where uplift potential quietly builds.
“If you’re still buying based on suburb heat maps from 12 months ago, you’re already behind. Good investors follow demographics. Great investors front-run council policy,” says Sarina Gibbon, General Manager of the Auckland Property Investors Association.
This kind of insight is increasingly rare in the content-saturated property space. While some are chasing likes with glossy reno reels or repurposed headlines, APIA content, and speakers like Mark, stay firmly rooted in actionable strategy. No fluff. No silver bullets. Just smart thinking sharpened by market realities.
For investors who want to grow their portfolio while others are sitting still, the message is clear: patience and preparation trump panic and speed. Get your team of advisors sorted. Understand your numbers. Stay close to reliable networks. And most importantly, stay active — not in a reckless way, but in a ready way.
There’s a reason thousands of property investors choose to stay close to APIA. We don’t just publish content, we deliver clarity. Whether it’s webinars like this, insights from the field, or behind-the-scenes advocacy, we’re here to help investors build well. Because let’s be honest, build fast is overrated.
If that’s what you’re after, join APIA. Memberships start from $85 and you can sign up at apia.org.nz/join.
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