I am researching options prior to taking the plunge into the property investment market, and have been approached by Harvard Securities/ La Trobe property research to purchase off the plan, negative gear, tax lever, etc.
Has anyone had any experience with these organisations, either good or bad [?] and if so, your comments please.
This si my question too Mr Fixit, this company and any others????
Anyone had any good or bad experiences??Hi Fixit,
Some thoughts for you to consider.
1. How long have Harvard been in business?
2. How many investment properties does your ‘consultant’ own?
3. How long has your consultant been investing?
4. How does your ‘consultant’ earn their money?
5. What will they get out of each and every purchase?
6. What service do they offer?
7. How much does it cost to use each aspect of their operations?
8. Can you use your own mortgage lender? property manager? valuer? If not – why not (it is a free world)?
9. What sort of after sales support do you get?
10. Does their approach fit comfortably with you?
11. How much pressure is bought to bear?
12. Are all decisions made in Harvard’s presence?
13. Are there rent guarantees? (Run away fast if there are!)
14. How does the price compare to similar properties on the open market?
15. ASIC/ Ministry of Fair TRading Issues?
16. Where have HArvard’s past sales been? What were they? How much is the open market paying for them now? What are they rented for now?
17. What are similar properties (to the one being considered) renting for? Check with a couple of REA in tthe area?
18. What is the vacancy rate in the area like?
19. What infrastructure is planned for the area?
20. Are brochures high on ‘gloss’ and ‘glitz’ and low on facts?Just a few to get you started.
Derek
[email protected]Some questions :
You are interested in buying property. Do you have a particular type of property in mind ?
If not then why buy ?
‘Why buy’ because otherwise you will buy what someone wants to sell you rather than you looking for the type of property you are after.
Whoever sells a property isn’t anywhere as important as whether they have the right kind of property for sale.
Until you’ve actually established guidelines it would really be a waste of time to even look.
I suggest you read some posts here to get an idea how to judge a property.
YOU will need to set the perimeters for such things as
1. the size of the town you are willing to buy
2. the type of house you are after
3. Is it capital gains you are after ? If so what is the scope for such in that particular location ?
4. the demand for rental properties
5. the ability of the tenants (is there plenty of work available for the town’s inhabitants)
6. etc etc
If you haven’t addressed these issues you are buying for buying’s sake.
It is a bit like sending someone to the shops to buy you a pair of shoes. Unless that person is told what size and what type of shoes to buy you may finish up with sore feet.
I have been around real estate for many years. Yet I (literally) spent a couple of weeks looking at posts
on a wrap site (not this one), copying the posts which I thought had a good idea in them, then printed them and read them at my leisure.I am assuming that you don’t know a lot about real estate. If that assumption is right then may I suggest that you will benefit from spending a lot of time digesting some real estate books first, then look at a lot of the posts on this site , decide your perimeters and thence go and look for the property that suits your particular circumstances.
If I am mistaken and you have actually done sufficient research and set your perimeters then this post is not for you (though some others may perhaps benefit of what I am saying above).
Cheers,
Pisces
Hi Mr Fixit
I went to a consumer seminar run by Neil Jenman http://www.jenman.com.au the other night and both companies you have mentioned came up as ones to be aware of. [
]I have no experience with either.
This is simply for your own info[]I personally would never buy from a group like these. I prefer to buy direct from real estate agents after I have done my research in knowing what properties are worth in the area I am interested in.
If they offer a rental guarntee – I would run for the hills. You pay for a rental guarntee in the price, which means you are paying more than you should.
I don’t know the company involved, but I’m pretty sure that you’re unlikely to find a good deal from such companies. Good investments are usually found after doing research, they are not often handed over to you on a plate.
Cheers,
Herve.
Harvard are just Barry Plant Doherty dressed up. They are real estate agents ,thats all. They Will do everything for you but the prices were high, projections questionable and fees scary. They tried to talk me into a couple of IPs once and were evasive about a lot of nagging little things. Steve mentions such people in his book as the ones flogging over priced capital gain scenarios. I went there over 4 years ago and walked away. They tried to sell me a unit in Werribee at the time for $175000. A big push to sign sign sign. I rang an agent over there and I could have bought a brand new 4 bedder for less. The unit prices were considerably lower. The rental guarantee is simply landlords insurance you pay for anyway. The commission for rental was 11% at the sme time I was paying 6-7% to my agents in Cranbourne. As I said, if you want someone to do it all for you then ok, but you will pay for it. Do your homework before you sign.
Thanks to all for all the replies and advice.it seems like you all hit the mark, which Siacci’s comments confirmed.Siacci,I appreciate your first hand comments. Sounds like not much has changed in 4 years.
Pisces and Derek, thanks for taking the time to put together so much advice and so many questions that should be asked.
as a “Newbie”, all this info will be well heeded. thanks for the “Heads Up”[^]“As my dear departed dad used to say, “GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH”
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