All Topics / Help Needed! / Anyone knows or member of “Cashflow Capital Pty Ltd”?
I signed up with Cashflow Capital in October 2016. Their pricing structure was $1,000 to find a property, which amount would be deducted from the initial deposit.
I have to say they were up front with their pricing structure, and that they were being paid by the developer (I made sure I asked this).
Everything they showed me was in QLD, mostly in Ipswich area, but I ended up purchasing one in Hervey Bay. One thing that they do is set you up with their recommended lawyer, broker, accountant, etc. That is where the problems started:
Lawyer – gave a one page advice on the contract, and when I asked questions they refused to answer unless they got paid more. I eventually had to go with a NSW lawyer to complete the purchase. Never paid their lawyer
Broker – useless, useless, and did I mention useless. Still trying to fix the refinance they did to my PPOR, and never got a loan for the Hervey Bay property (luckily I had cash overseas which I am using to complete the purchase)
Accountant – the only one I can say did an ok job, but nothing specialSo after paying the $1,000 in October 2016 the land deposit was paid in March 17, and settled in April 17. Then took 2 months before the building started. At this stage it looks like completion will be Nov/Dec 2017, more than 12 months, for something that was suppose to take 4-6 months.
I did all the research on the area (NOT a mining town), and research into the cashflow positive numbers, which look ok (talked to plenty of agents in the area re rent, etc.). Time will tell.
One thing to be very careful of is some of the “standard” numbers they use in their reports. For example, my report has an estimated yearly capital growth number of 5%. A couple of weeks ago (yes, 9 months after signing up – I know) I queried how they came up with that number. I was told that the national capital growth over the last 15 years averages to 5.3%, so they were conservative and used 5%. Let me say that again – the NATIONAL average is 5.3%. Not state, or region, or town, but national.
So I have paid the building deposit and have just been hit up for the first progress payment. One thing I have heard (but not been able to substantiate) is that their builder has not built some properties they were paid for. I’m signing up a real estate agent (NOT the one they recommend) this week, and will ask them to drive past and check that the work is progressing, before paying.
All in all it’s been an up-and-down ride with them, not sure I would use again or recommend, whilst still being hopefully that this cashflow positive property come off.
My thoughts for the future (as I am currently based on an overseas assignment) is to locate the property myself, then use a buyers agent (not Cashflow Capital) to negotiate, inspect, organise pest & building inspections, etc. For this they will typically charge me 1%
Oh Phil, pity you had not read the previous comments from all of us who to have all had bad experiences with CFC. Yet to hear of any good reports from CFC recipients. Everyone seems to get shafted AFTER they have your money. How they are still in business is anyone’s guess. Just another example of another CFC customer who has been burnt by CFC.
As you found out, they get paid from you and the developers. Also, once you are signed up you will find it is everyone else’s problem and not theirs. Notwithstanding they refer you to their “network” and points of contacts. They will drop you like a stone and resolve nothing. For the work they do their prices are inflated and you could do the job yourself without the issues they present for a cheaper price. Good luck with it being cashflow positive too!
- This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Majoma.
wow so much hate. I can only say I have had nothing but a great experience with them. Surprised to hear about a couple of your bad experiences. I purchased using their services in USA and have done really well over there. Have 5 properties all cash+. Just sold one of them for a $50K USD profit that I am putting into the crypto currency market but that is another story :). Also did a development deal with them in Newcastle which I am really happy with. Was doing some homework on them and saw this I am ready to go again with them this time a development deal in Melbourne. I am meeting my mentor again down there shortly to discuss. From my experience very professional and nice people the ones I have met.
I don’t know, but by reading the posts here as well as speaking to them myself (I speak to both sides so I can hear both sides of the story), I get the impression that they may not be THAT much different to a “standard” agent.
I mean, come to think about it, the complains here are mostly categories into the following a few:
1. Complains about they charge buyers — The person I spoke to admitted that it used to be the case a few years ago, but not any more. Basically I was told you pay $1000 to sign up, but when you buy a property they recommend, that $1000 gets refunded to you. They also write they a strategy for those who sign up and that’s without any additional charges. Likewise, when you do buy any properties they recommend, there is no charge from them to you. I was told they are in touch with developers directly and refer those properties from developers to buyers and they charge a commission towards the developer, but they won’t charge buyers. To me, that’s almost like what a “standard agent” do in real estate. (except for the $1000 being charged and then subsequently being refunded upon buying back part). The person I speak to admitted they used to charge buyer something like 2% as well, but has since abandoned this practice. So unless that’ a flat out lie, otherwise anybody who still claims them to “charge buyers” can be considered as spreading mis-information.
2. Once they have something from developers, they sell it without going to market first. To me, this can be both a plus and a minus, depending on which perspective you come from.
If you really think about it, it is like applying for a job. Once a job gets advertised on SEEK, you see it, I see it, everybody sees it and as a result competition becomes fierce and chances are your CV ends up in the rubbish bin without being read properly. A lot of jobs are fulfilled without ever going onto SEEK via referrals.
I would think same goes with properties. To me, any properties that end up in realestate.com.au will end up being sold above market price. So being able to have an agent that gets properties directly from developers can have its pluses.
At the other hand, the reason why I say it can be a minus is you need to do your own due diligence check and not everybody has the time and effort to do that (especially those with full time jobs), so if you do decide to go with CFC, then do due diligence check on THEM first. If you don’t think you can trust them, then don’t go with them.
3. Complains about the lawyers/financial advisor referred by them are useless — well, if the property itself is good, but the service offered by the lawyers / finance advisors are bad…. then you don’t have to use those they referred if you don’t think they are good. You can always use the lawyers / finance guys that you trust. I would imagine you would have to pay for the services offered by lawyers or finance guys that you trust. So to me, if those services referred by CFC don’t cost me anything, that’s OK… if they do cost me money, then to me it is more like comparing services networked by CFC against the same services that I find on my own, which choose the better one out of two.
4. Complains about CFC tries to avoid responsibilities once a property has been purchased — Again, I don’t see how that’s any different to any “standard” agent is doing. I mean imagine this, I want to sell my house and I get Ray White involved, and someone buys the property from me. Once the contract is signed, unless the contract clearly stats that Ray White is obligated or responsible for any disputes between me and the buyer, otherwise isn’t this a contract between me and the buyer? If there are any issues, shouldn’t it be resolved between me and the buyer (or rather, my conveyance and the buyer’s conveyance?). Especially considering in a standard contract, both me and the buyer would write down our conveyance’s contact details, so if there are any problems such as water service is broken or settlement date needs to be pushed out etc…. shouldn’t it be resolved between us rather than demanding Ray White to resolve this matter for us (even though Ray White may have made a referral to the conveyance)?
So at the day, to me, it looks more like CFC is just another “Standard” agent who speaks with developers directly and refer those properties to buyers (primarily investors) rather than letting them go onto market.
Hey.
Since you have been voicing very strong opinions against them, are you able to share exactly what your bad experience is?
Instead of just saying a one liner such as “I made a deal with them and I would avoid them at all cost”, can you please specify exactly where things went wrong? Perhaps some details such as:
1. Where was the property
2. What year did you buy it
3. What price did you buy at the time of the purchase
4. Was the property vacant most of the time or was it occupied? If occupied, what rental were you promised but in reality what rental did you end up collecting?
5. Where else were there trouble?
6. Did you get bad legal advise from lawyers they referred to you?
7. Did you run into finance issues with their financial advisor service?
8. Was there a particular mentor who you strongly detest?
9. Was the properties in bad condition? delayed? etc…?A bit of details will help rest of the community understand your issue and learn from the mistakes, and it would certainly be easier to convince them to listen to you instead of just make a generic claim such as “stay away from them” without any details for people to understand the situation.
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