Avella Taylor (On leave)

Formal Qualifications

• Registered Valuer in New Zealand (Member No. NZIV 3780)
• Member of the Property Institute New Zealand
• Property Institute of New Zealand Branch Committee Chair – Auckland
• Bachelor of Commerce (Property Valuation) - Curtin University of Technology Western Australia 2014 

Industry Experience

Avella has several years’ experience as a valuer and has been employed by Opteon since 2013. She is the Regional Director of Government Services for New Zealand and leads the Government Department which undertakes valuations throughout New Zealand.

Areas of Expertise

• Valuations for mortgage purposes
• Residential valuations
• Asset valuations for financial reporting and insurance purposes
• Project management and delivery

Ashton Gibbard

Formal Qualifications

• Registered Property Valuer
• Bachelor of Business Studies (Valuation and Property Management)

Industry Experience

Ashton has been valuing since 2011 and has a wide knowledge base with experience across valuation sectors including rating valuations (roll maintenance and revaluations), financial reporting valuations, project managing national portfolio valuations, along with private market and insurance valuations. Ashton has worked on rating contracts throughout the lower and central North Island and across the Northland Region.

Areas of Expertise

• Multi-unit residential investment property valuation
• Valuations of development and block land
• Valuation of specialist property under depreciated replacement cost methodology
• Mass Appraisal Valuation techniques for revaluations
• Financial Reporting and Asset Valuations and Reporting
• Legislation, requirements and procedures for rating valuations
• Procedural and reporting for Land Valuation Tribunal

Chloe Woollard

Clinton Jarman

Joe Holmes

Formal Qualifications

• Certified Practising Valuer
• Associate Member of the Australian Property Institute (API Member No. 82770)
• Registered Valuer (NZIV, MPINZ) (Registration Certificate No. 3942)
• Land Valuers Licence (Western Australia) (Licence No. LV45100)
• Bachelor of Applied Science (Property and Valuation) (1st Class Honours)

Industry Experience

Joe is an experienced rating and taxing valuer having commenced his career in Melbourne undertaking a range of valuations for municipalities including Manningham City Council, Kingston City Council, Glen Eira City Council, Frankston City Council, Yarra City Council, Moreland City Council, Mornington Shire and more. He has vast experience returning annual general revaluations, objections, supplementary valuations, public open space contribution valuations, asset valuations, rental determinations and insurance valuations covering a range of property types such as commercial, industrial, residential, and specialist. In 2020 he migrated home to Auckland (New Zealand) and in 2021 joined Opteon as an Associate Director in their Government and Advisory team. He is a Registered Valuer in New Zealand, Certified Practising Valuer in Victoria, and holds a Land Valuers Licence in Western Australia.

Areas of Expertise

• Valuations for property taxation, legislation and policy purposes
• Mass valuation modelling
• Rating and taxing valuations
• Rating and Land Tax objections
• Asset valuations for financial reporting purposes
• Public open space contribution valuations

Anna Watson

Ben Rowsell

Ben Williams

Formal Qualifications

• BProp (UoA)  

Industry Experience

Ben has been with Opteon for eight months after completing his Bachelor of Property with the University of Auckland in 2022. He has assisted in the successful completion of roll maintenance deadlines having gained experience in residential, rural and lifestyle valuations.

Areas of Expertise

Throughout Ben’s time with Opteon, he has been building his expertise in residential and lifestyle valuations.

Chris Hamann

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor of Commerce Managerial Accounting and Finance
• Project Management Professional
• Executive Diploma General Management
• Property Tutors  

Industry Experience

Having spent nearly 10 years running personal companies as a full-time property investor, Chris has accumulated a vast knowledge of the residential property market and firm grasp of the property valuation process. He has in depth knowledge of many areas including investment portfolio building, property trading, project management, and the building industry. 

Chris is considered a residential property expert and provides large volume valuations of residential property within New Zealand’s central North Island, specifically focused on the government sector. Chris regularly provides valuations to Council’s for rating purposes amongst others. He also specialises in residential valuations for multi-unit residential developments.

Areas of Expertise

• Residential property valuations 
• Mass valuation modelling 
• Rating and taxing valuations 
• Rating and land tax objections
• Valuations for mortgage purposes

Ewen Lilburn

Formal Qualifications

• New Zealand Certificate in Engineering
• Bachelor of Business Studies (Massey University - ongoing) 

Industry Experience

Ewen has over 15 years’ experience in the property valuation industry, primarily with Government services throughout the Northland region. He is proficient in residential, lifestyle and rural valuation techniques required in the maintenance of the District Valuation Roll and has an in depth knowledge of legislation that impacts rating valuation methodology.

Ewen provides specialist expertise in index creation and statistical interpretation of mass appraised data gleaned from the successful implementation of fourteen district revaluation projects. Ewen’s engineering background brings to Opteon added knowledge of data integrity techniques and the ability to streamline workflow processes for accurate outcomes.

Areas of Expertise

• Residential and lifestyle property valuations
• District Revaluations
• Mass valuation modelling
• Territorial Authority account management
• Asset valuation for private and government clients

James Tolich

Kate Campbell

Kathy Zhu

Lionel Musson

Formal Qualifications

• Member of Property Institute of New Zealand (Membership No. 7371)
• Registered Valuer in New Zealand NZIV No. 4001; Practising Certificate No. 885
• BBS Property Certificate of proficiency - Massey University New Zealand 
• National Diploma Real Estate – University of South Africa
• National Diploma Architecture – Tshwane University of Technology SA
• B.Com Risk Management Certificate - University of South Africa     

Industry Experience

Lionel has been working at Opteon for 6 months in the Government Services sector and prior, had worked for a prominent Auckland based Engineering firm for five years as a specialist assets valuer. He is considered to be proficient in the New Zealand financial reporting and insurance valuation field across the North and South Islands with experience in managing larger asset portfolio valuation for local authorities, government institutions, Crown entities and a wide spectrum of private and public organisations.

Lionel is also experienced in condition assessments, asset lifecycle costings, maintenance, and renewal forecasting through reactive and preventative maintenance of assets. Lionel was part of the winning team for the RICS Valuation team for 2020 and 2021.  

Areas of Expertise

• Commercial property valuations
• Specialist residential valuations
• Valuation for financial reporting and insurance valuations (PBE IPSAS 16 and PBE IPSAS 17) 
• Job management of large-scale asset valuation portfolios
• Property market analysis and reporting.
• Liaise with clients and Auditors

Mario Tvrdeich

Mark Grinlinton

Formal Qualifications

• B Com Ag (Valuation & Farm Management), 1984.
• Registered Valuer, 1987.
• Associate status of the New Zealand Institute of Valuers, 1989.
• Senior member of the Property Institute of New Zealand, 2005.

Industry Experience

Mark has been responsible for the delivery of over 30 revaluations since 1999 and held leading valuation positions with Valuation NZ, QV, Landmass and Opteon. He began his valuation career in 1984 in the Gisborne office of Valuation NZ. In 1989 he moved to Tauranga and held the position of Rating Valuation Manager for Quotable Value from 1999 to 2004. From 2004 to 2015 he was a director and shareholder of Landmass Technology, until its purchase by Opteon where he held the positions of General Manager Government Services and Rural Director until early 2019. Following a brief absence, he has returned to add his significant experience and assist Opteon in his role as Registered Property Valuer.

Mark has been a Registered Valuer specialising in the delivery of rating valuations for most of his 36-year career. This experience has led to a strong understanding and long involvement in the Rating Valuation industry.

Areas of Expertise

• Specialist in all aspects of rural valuations.
• Management roles extending two decades in the successful delivery of Rating Valuation Service Provider contracts.
• Strong understanding of the Rating Valuations Act 1988, associated Rules, the Te Ture Whenua Act 1993 and relevant case law.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the Land Information New Zealand audit requirements.
• Expert witness for Councils on many Land valuation Tribunal hearings, including cases of national importance involving Maori land and forestry.
• Member of the expert committee that reviewed the 2008 Rating Valuation Rules.

Martyn Oostveen

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) Majoring in Rural Valuation and Farm Management from Lincoln University.
• Full Member of Property Institute (MPINZ)

Industry Experience

Martyn is an experienced rating valuer and has been with Opteon for over 8 years and during this time has participated and managed several revaluations. His experience extends to dairy, pastoral, lifestyle and residential valuations. Martyn prides himself in his knowledge in rating valuation legislation and the quality assurance of valuations and data. Martyn is working towards becoming a Registered Valuer.

Before entering the property valuation industry, Martyn worked on a dairy farm employed as a manager.

Areas of Expertise

• Rural valuation
• Mass Ad hoc modelling within Valor database
• Mass indexing
• Rating legislation
• Management of valuers and rating staff
• Revaluation and maintenance audits
• General technology
• District valuation roll computer systems

Mate Finlay

Formal Qualifications

•    Bachelor of Property (University of Auckland) 2016 - 2019

Industry Experience

Mate graduated from University of Auckland in March 2020, where he completed a Bachelor of Property. On completion of his degree, Mate joined the Auckland Council as a Graduate Valuer where he conducted Rating Valuations across the Auckland property market. Mate joined Opteon in October 2020 where he has since moved his existing experience to conducting Rating Valuations in Hamilton’s property market. Mate has undertaken variations of valuations including building consents, subdivisions, amalgamations of titles and owner objections. 

Areas of Expertise

•    Preparing valuations for rating purposes (Including in both the Auckland and Hamilton market)

Shelley Manson

Formal Qualification

• Bachelor of Business Studies (Valuation and Property Management)
• Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand, 1995
• Member of the Property Institute of New Zealand and Friend of the Property Foundation Massey University

Industry Experience

Shelley joined Opteon NZ in early 2021 after returning to New Zealand with her family.  She is undertaking residential and rural rating valuations within Western Bay of Plenty, Tauranga City, South Waikato, Rotorua and Taupo District Councils.  

Hailing from rural Bay of Plenty and having gained early valuation experience with a provincial firm in Rotorua, Shelley looks to combine her subsequent experience in administration, finance and customer service roles to develop her career and work towards registration.

Areas of Expertise

• Valuations for ratings purposes
• Valuations for Mortgage purposes 
• Client relations
• Rural and hospitality sectors

Tahlee Lane

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor of Property
• Certificate III Business Administration
• Entry certification in Business Analysis (ECBA) (In progress)

Industry Experience

Tahlee has been working with Opteon for over 9 years across a number of different departments in both Australia (VIC & NSW) and New Zealand. Previously a Business Analyst in the Cubetec team, she is considered a subject matter expert for the valuation management system Valor, working closely with clients and stakeholders to understand and define product positioning, functional specifications and user requirements and processes.

Tahlee provides broad knowledge on rating and taxing valuation processes and is skilled in effective and supportive client management. She specialises in mass valuation modelling and process improvement by leveraging the use of technology.

Areas of Expertise

• Client & Stakeholder Management
• Mass Valuation Modelling
• Rating and Taxing Valuations
• Valuation Management Systems Expert
• Process Review and Change Management

Tom Mabbott

Formal Qualifications

• Registered Valuer in NZ (Member No. NZIV 4017)
• Member of the Property Institute New Zealand
• Bachelor of Property (BProp) - University of Auckland (2018)

Industry Experience

Tom has been with Opteon for two-years after completing his Bachelor of Property with the University of Auckland in 2018. He has assisted in the successful completion of revaluations and roll maintenance deadlines having gained experience in residential, rural and lifestyle valuations.

Areas of Expertise

The majority of Tom’s expertise is in residential valuations. He has also been exposed to all forms of valuations throughout his career.

Angus Walkinshaw

Cameron Dixon

Connor Lyons

Grace Hing

Hayden Loughnan

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor of Property - University of Auckland
• Bachelor of Commerce - University of Auckland  

Industry Experience

Hayden has been working with Opteon since 2017 where he began working in data entry, updating and managing the commercial valuation database for Auckland, including sales and leases.  

In his current role as Graduate Valuer, Hayden has gained experience in ratings valuations, inspecting properties via desktop and full internal, and updating the regional database. Hayden has undertaken Residential Valuations within the Auckland North Shore, specifically the North-West East Coast Bays location. 

Hayden now completes ratings valuations for multiple regions, including processing subdivisions and building consents. He has also been teaching processes to new graduates.

Areas of Expertise

• Residential Property Valuation
• Valuations for mortgage security purposes
• Valuations for pre-purchase / pre-sale advice
• Ratings Valuation
• Market research 

Nikki Calvert

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor of Business (Property) - Massey University
• Graduate Member of Property Institute of NZ 

Industry Experience

Nichole joined Opteon in July 2022 as a Graduate Valuer undertaking ratings valuations in our government services team. 

Having lived and worked in many areas across Auckland for 17 years, Nichole applies previous experience in analytics, finance, planning and customer service roles to her career as a valuer as she works towards obtaining her Valuers Registration.

Nichole has a particular interest in macro and microeconomic factors that influence property values.

Areas of Expertise

• Residential and rural rating valuations
• Residential subdivisions for rating valuations 

Shannon Aislabie