I hope this is not off topic, so I apologise if it is.
I am in discussions with a so called property investment manager and financial planner, who is not licensed with anyone other than having an ABN number.
If a guy is offering a property in QLD for sale, with so-and-so returns and a financial plan to go with it, then isn’t he meant to be registered with at least the financial planners association? He is not even registered with ASIC!
Should I be worried? Shouldn’t people that sell real-estate at least be registered with ASIC and/or some other property group?
Your comments/ideas will be appreciated.
I am looking at investing in Gladstone with this guy but he seems reluctant for me to invest here in Melbourne. Why QLD? Why not Melbourne? I know Melbourne is still red-hot, but prices in QLD are not that much different (for a good house and not a shack)!
Thanks in advance for your opinions…
PS: Does anyone here recommend a good property manager in Melbourne?
Nano
Nano,
If he calls himself a Financial Planner he MUST be registered.
If he isn’t you need to report him NOW. There’s no telling how many people he has or will defraud.
People who sell Real Estae alone do NOT need to be registered with ASIC, however if they are selling property that they do not own or is not owned by a company they are representing (so-called marketeers) they MUST be a licensed Real Estate Agent.
If you believe that the Melbourne market is red hot I suggest you STOP all your investing activities right now.
Right now you sound like you are very close to making a very bad decision. You need to do much more research on the different markets to understand where they are now and what you should be looking for.
Don’t rush blindly in – make sure you know what you are doing & understand the risks.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
I am not too sure on financial planners. Beleive there are CFPs = Certified Financial Planners who must be members of the FPA (financial planners association of Australia) and then there are just Financial Planners who are not necessarily a member of the FPA, but have done a course to meet ASIC requirements (PS 146?), they may be to be licenced by ASIC (AFS – Australian Financial Services Licence).
Real Estate Licencing is regulated by the states – contact the Fair Trading Department in your state.
Terryw
Discover Home Loans
North Sydney
[email protected]Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
Check out his ABN on the ASIC site to see how long they/he has been in business.
Is he licienced in any way.
Tell them you have been in contact with the ACCC and ASIC and REI and cannot get any information on them.
They must provide a disclosure statement (27b) on how much commission they will be getting, get everything in writing and ask them/he /her to sign it, if they flinch give me a call you can trust me I’m a developer!! he he [biggrin]
Hi Nandos,
It seems to me you need to listen to your alarm bells or take extra steps to ascertain they are bona fide. Based on your comments to date this is difficult to imagine.
If you are this wary it is highly likely you will continue to be dubious for some time. As property should be considered a long term investment then you may well have many years of ‘have I do the right thing?’ questions floating around in your mind. This has the potential to make you extremely uncomfortable.
My impressioon from reading what you have said is that the two are somehow in a ‘relationship’ and they will each only earn a fee on a property you purchase in Gladstone.
PS In terms of your property manager in Melbourne issue – you will need to provide an area to refine things a little. You are better off with a good property manager in the neighbourhood in which you own property. Vacancies are likely to be shorter if the PM has a presence in the local area and can pick up passing traffic.
Derek
[email protected]Property Investment Support Available. Ongoing and never stopping. PM welcome.
I live in Keilor Downs, Melbourne, and I’d prefer to invest locally really. Somewhere like Caroline Springs (most delfin estates) or Point Cook way. Who can I start talking to?
I earn over 70k, my wife also works and we have one child. We live in a new home built 2 years ago and recently valued at over 400k. Our debt is around 260k, so surely we should have enough equity to get another house and rent it, but where and with whom?
I simply don’t have the time to look around too much or to do it myself – not now anyway.
My plans are to invest to a point where I can take a day off work or two and spend more time with my son and family.
That’s all I want! Is that too hard to ask?
Surely there must be a good property manager (real estate, whatever!) that can take us there.
I need someone who is licensed and registered to sit down with us, work out a financial plan, an investment projection over 10 years and give us the know-how on how to achieve our plans. We don’t want to be rich – not yet, but we do know what we want.
The only thing stopping me is the mistrust factor.
I don’t know who to trust or to believe.
It seems that all the scamsters and defrauders work on this side of town because they know they can con people in the West more easily than those in the East. Maybe people here are generally less educated or well-off, but we are not all stupid! LOL
There must be someone….Nandos,
Of course you are entitled to trust people- they ashould do the right thing by you and be honest- we are all entitled to be treated with dignity…
Having said that… you said:
“My plans are to invest to a point where I can take a day off work or two and spend more time with my son and family.”
If you are planning on investing to the point of reducing working hours, then you really (and I say this with intended gentleness) need to savvy up.
You then said:
“The only thing stopping me is the mistrust factor.
I don’t know who to trust or to believe.
It seems that all the scamsters and defrauders work on this side of town because they know they can con people in the West more easily than those in the East. Maybe people here are generally less educated or well-off, but we are not all stupid! LOL. There must be someone….”Investing is real estate is not rocket science. We ALL need to educate outrselves abour what we’re going to do with our money (or the banks money which we pretend is ours). You don’t need to have attended University or some other institution to develop financial savviness. You probably DO need to read some books and ask lots and lots of questions if you feel so scared. But wanting that “someone” to do it all for oyu, is a mistake, in my opinion. The more you learn about the RE game, he more you will develop independence and feel safer.
It is not only “scamsters and defrauders” you need to be worried about (I would suggest these are in the minority). You need to be making good financial decisions. You can deal with the most honest people in the world, and still lose your money- because you’ve not made the right investment decisions.
The more you educate YOU about RE, the less any other person (advisor, RE agent, bank, solicitor, valuer, buyer’s agent) can impact on you. It’s not so much about trusting THEM- it’s about trusting yourself.
Best of luck.
kay henry
Hi Nandos,
Based on your comments it would seem that it is your apparent (or real) lack of knowledge is what is really holding you up.
Sounds daunting but an increased knowledge level will provide you with capacity to detect bullshit so that you can see and hear the wolf in sheep’s clothing. As such this will help you to identify those who you can provide the service you want while also helping to address the lack of trust issues.
I would strongly encourage you to do spend some time identifying what you actually want – in one instance you indicated a couple of days of a week was the aim and then later on you are seeking a financial advisor to develop a 10 year plan that suits your needs.
Just remember also, half the fun is in the chase.
Derek
[email protected]Property Investment Support Available. Ongoing and never stopping. PM welcome.
Yeah…Queensland better than melbourne cause of population growth. Do some research on google and don’t quote me but I’m sure I read that melbourne – 0 percent growth and q’land 4 percent. growth equals demand equals rising prices.
re financial planner, I’m so not one, but I could work out the numbers for you and show you. meaning, anyone could!
Re; check them out due diligence, of COURSE an ANZ financial planner is going to seem more legit even if they are really just salesmen on commission trying to get you to park your money in a 3 percent yielding *whatever* super-fund so they get their commission, and giving some free advice along with it like ‘stick to a budget’ so it seems like you are getting good ‘financial advice’. Sure it’s easier for a person with a trusted ‘brand name’ behind them to be taken seriously than a single bird-dog, but the bird-dog might find you a much better deal, and you’ll be on your way and retiring a whole lot quicker than the ‘anz guy’ or whatever
NZ Bird Dogs. SOLD OUT! More deals coming…
Guys, I like Minimogul am not qualified, have no training and do not report to either. But I usuall can work a calculator and see if there is room to the “vanilla’ 80% lend most banks will go to. Trust is two way so yeah Im researching the PS146 compliant courses, (which Ill travel interstate to do in a months time) but I dont want to miss several great opportunities in the mean time. Look at the growth in each capital city and the percentage difference in growth in a summary form between states, somewhere like quartile.com.au which is free and dont stick your head in the sand regarding investing. Go to where the bargains are wherever that is.
Basically its your choice and as the old saying says “you can lead a horse to water…”.
Get the picture and goodluck.
DD
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