Agree totally Gary, no reflection on the integrity of a propeprty investment company.
You have to remember that these people will take their cut and its the consumer that has to pay.
That’s fine if you are not able/willing to do the ground work yourself.
unfortunately no one will hand you the perfect property/share/investment on a platter and you have the great benefits.
Its your money and you need to do your own due diligence, it really doesn’t matter what you choose to invest in.
I have lost count of the countless hours and sometimes money I have spent looking at investments etc etc.
Fortunately, I thoroughly enjoy the process, if you didn’t, it would be easy to give upHi all,
I just got back from an evening at Crown Casino.
For once (okay maybe not once [
]) I was speachless about how much money some punters put on the tables. I wondered if they even set limits?
I watched one lady, lather the table with chips (not the edible types), I was tempted to ask her 2 things,
1) Where does she make that type of money that she can afford to loose it and
2) why not ask the croupy to leave the roulette wheel to her and walk away, after all she’d basically hedged every bet so that if she won she’d just break even…
Okay, so you might ask what this has to do with PI companies.
Well, if I had money to lose, punting with these property investment salesmen, wouldn’t even cause my eyebrows to wiggle. You pay for the entertainment so to speak, i.e cheese and buiscuits, free trip to QLD, personal driver to the property etc etc…Someone has to pay for those overheads and obviously they do make money otherwise there would be no such thing as PI companies.
Which means they need a consumer….Enter The Sucker…(Let’s hope it’s not YOU)…spiel, cheese, crackers, business trips expenses paid or subsidised…bottom line, as Gary mentioned 4% commission (plus the rest) trailing comission on loans…etc
If you have money to spend, why not get someone to do the groundwork for you and I guess you are paying for that service (top dollar). It’s more flamboyant and ego flattering, to be wined and dined and chauffered around having someone listen to your dreams of the future, rather than hitting the pavement looking for properties, speaking to agents, negotiating deals etc etc.
Make no mistake, why would anyone in business give you the time of day if they weren’t going to profit from it. Your a punter.
If you want to be wise with the money, do what I did at the casino…(apart from not going at all [:0)]) go in with some money (not very wise, but I wanted some entertainment…[]) okay, set a limit. Mine was $50. {Which ever way you play, the odds are against you, unless you’re a professional black jack player…} Have fun, but know that your chances of winning are less than that of loosing. Don’t go in with more money than you can afford to lose. {I always take my initial outlay of $X and put it back in my pocket}. With your leftover money, your choice, play or keep.
With regards to the property, okay, test the waters with a set amount your willing to spend, if you get burnt, okay, learn from it and walk away. If you make money, well you’ve found a good PI company and go for your life. What are YOU punting on when going with a PI company? Capital Growth, secure tenancy, tax minimisation? You’re also punting on the quality and integrity of the salesman, financier, developer…
These companies make it so easy for you to part with your money. They search for you (cold calling), tell you how you can afford their product and how it will help you secure your future and then they close the deal with a free something or other.
One company, came to our house with the realator, solicitor and financier and the documents for us to sign then and there.
Cooling off period…no way, he put the pressure on us like you wouldn’t believe. We nearly fell for it, but I couldn’t ignore that weird sensation that something wasn’t right. The property in Park ST QLD was very nice complex next to the water, but there was just something nagging….Another company, did the finance calculation, gave it to the realator who punched in numbers, came out with a housing estate in QLD and said, we can book cheaper tickets for you to go visit it, but ONLY if you travel in the morning and come back in the afternoon. When I mentioned that that would be a tiresome trip with a baby, she said it would be okay, because she’d organize someone from her QLD office to pick us up and drop us back at the airport after viewing the property and signing the papers at the office.
I agree with Regina, if you must buy property this way, then do your due diligence.
I admit I’m taking a very negative view, but we lost money and we are still smarting from that. We are not like that lady lathering chips on the table, we can’t afford to loose big dollars. If I’m coming on to strong and giving out very negative vibes, maybe that’s because there’s a warning there for would be swimmers in shark infested waters.
Stay within the red flags [:0)]
Sooshie []There are no problems, only solutions
I’m sticking to my guns!
There are good companies out there! I completely agree that most are shonks. I don’t think anyone can disagree with that!
Its hard to find good ones. Usually the bad ones have an extencive network where everyone is in on the scam. All you need to do is get an independant valuation and all is revealed! The people in this industry that are trustworthy don’t give free trips to queensland. I know of some good ones where the independant valuation comes back $30,000 above the sale price. Remember I work as a Home Loan manager so I have to do a valuation on everything my customers buy.
These companies are great for people who don’t know much about property and don’t want to know much on the condition that they get an independant valuation! Its a pity that since the people who use them aren’t experts they usually don’t get an independant valuation, which mwans they can get burnt.
All the good comapnies I have seen do not advertise, they work by personal referral. They don’t give referral fees either, their margins are too low. I have great respect for these companies as their ethics are well above that of the rest of the market. If a product or service isn’t good it will only rarely work with personal referral. This website is a good example in that I have told many of my customers and friends about it and they in turn have told theirs. If it wasn’t good then I wouldn’t have told anyone about it.
Otto Dargan
Home Loan Manager
Mortgage House Five DockThe last time I thought about this I concluded the main benefit of these companies was in actually finding the right property due to their “superior market knowledge” (take that with a grain of salt) – all the other benefits are really conveniences that you will pay for.
BTW, I still like going to seminars because it fuels my thinking and you get to really question these guys. They will love trying to win you over to their way of thinking, especially in front of the audience, so it’s truly a free learning experience
Hello All ; Every time ive gon to borrow money the bank has insisted on a valuation being done by a valuer on there approved list .Is this not the case with all lenders? Regards Andy
Hi All,
I just want to clarify to everyone here, that I don’t know every company on the market, but I have had dealings with more than a dozen. Still, this does not qualify me as a maven on PI companies [
].
I did however meet with a financial planner who was a lovely lady [:X] who’d went from rags to riches in the last 10 years using negative gearing (remember the property climate of the last 5-10 years, anyone who’d bought in the right area, could have made money). She told us up front her comission on the property would be $1500 (I think) and she took us around to her list of developers (we walked to them in St Kilda Rd – Kings Way) and that’s when we got the tour.
Her way of doing things was open, but I know that she takes her cut, then the developer takes their cut, then she has another cut from rubbing shoulders with the developer. As the song goes..“here-we-go-loop-de-loop”.
At the same time, we (okay I was) were looking for a new accountant, she suggested one, so I called him and he wanted to meet with us at the grand sum of ($**** []****), so I went on to look for someone else. When I came back to her and told her my accountant doesn’t like property investments… she was gobsmacked. She promptly rang her accountant from the other room to ask why he’d charged to see us on our first meeting. I wasn’t evesdropping, the walls were paper thin. She was not happy….JAN… [] with her accountant, who’d lost her potential customers.Nevertheless, she is still a lovely lady and I like her very much. I still see her (she’s my neighbours sister-in-law) and talk to her, but I politely tell her each time we talk that it is not the right time for us. Perplexed, but also understanding it’s a gentle brushoff, she tells me she’ll just check with me now and then to see if we are still interested. I’m okay with that, at least it’s honest work chasing up your client base.
If you find a good company with low profit margin, no or little comission and has honest salesman, properties that give positive cash flow (and are not overpriced) and that are good quality workmanship, not shoddy renos. Could you please let me know? I’m serious by the way. If you can find one for me, I’d be very interested to hear what they have to offer.
Pretty much, I recount these experiences with the intention to educate rather than chastise PI companies. However, since we have lost money in these schemes, I cannot say that I’m entirely impartial to the subject. It abhorrs me that so many of them prey on the desperation of people who work good jobs but are struggling to make ends meet.
My offer still stands, find me the company and I’ll show you the money! [
]Cheers
Sooshie []There are no problems, only solutions
Re Cameron Bird:
I used to work with them as their marketing manager 1994-6. They sell a number of different packaged proeprty investments. Used to do a fair few commercial buildings and resorts, now more residential developments I believe. David Bird is the proprietor and has a strong background in the industry and was a head honcho of sorts within PRD years ago, I think. They’ve been around for some time and they market just as much internally through their own database as they do outside and so it’s in their interests to make sure the projects are reasonably kosher… repeat buyers were common in the mid 90’s for them. G’luck.[/quote]
I went to this investing and property show at darling harbour and it was wall-to-wall investment companies. They were some that seemed legit, offering deals such as fixed 10.5 % returns for a minimum investment of $30K for 8 years. Secured etc, some medical centre leasing premises in Queensland. it’s like they wrap a deal to an investor, and they making some on top. using your money. Fair enough i suppose, if it’s better than a term deposit in the bank, and has little or no risk. it seemed like it was aimed at people who knew nothing about property, had money to invest, had full-time jobs and no time or inclination to educate themselves, and were satisfied with 10 percent. I mean, you could do worse – but I wouldn’t do it. I love learning about it and doing it myself as much or more as I like the profits themselves.
cheers-
MiniYea I agree with the call your own shots take your own risks approach, but read widely and do research for a least 4 months. I think I spend 2 hours per night for 4 months 6 days a week, just researching the web for info on Aust property investment. This included anything related to property, tax, quantity surveyors, property valuers, banks, interest rates, conveyancors, government bodies for the building insustry, market research, bureau of stats, gearing calculators, practising by calculating hand, forums, other property related sites articles, market hype,
I ended up making a checklist of items that form my ideal investment property.
Hi, Has any one had experience with
National Investment Institute?
Thank you
Hi, Has any one had experience with
National Investment Institute?
Thank youHave a look at the website http://www.jenman.com they have an array of information on Henry Kaye who is the founder of the National Investment Institute.
Look under the News section
Hi, Has any one had experience with
National Investment Institute?
Thank youHave a look at the website http://www.jenman.com they have an array of information on Henry Kaye who is the founder of the National Investment Institute.
Look under the News section
Hi, Has any one had experience with
National Investment Institute?
Thank youHave a look at the website http://www.jenman.com they have an array of information on Henry Kaye who is the founder of the National Investment Institute.
Look under the News section
]) I was speachless about how much money some punters put on the tables. I wondered if they even set limits?
]) okay, set a limit. Mine was $50. {Which ever way you play, the odds are against you, unless you’re a professional black jack player…} Have fun, but know that your chances of winning are less than that of loosing. Don’t go in with more money than you can afford to lose. {I always take my initial outlay of $X and put it back in my pocket}. With your leftover money, your choice, play or keep.
]
].
]****), so I went on to look for someone else. When I came back to her and told her my accountant doesn’t like property investments… she was gobsmacked. She promptly rang her accountant from the other room to ask why he’d charged to see us on our first meeting. I wasn’t evesdropping, the walls were paper thin. She was not happy….JAN… [
]
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