“Be extremely careful!!...”
1 Star Review
Apr 09,2021
By:
'James'
Apr 09,2021
Branch: London, 326 High Road,
Services: Sales (Prospective customer)
Sold price: £250000
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: CW1
Branch: London, 326 High Road,
Sales (Prospective customer)
Sold price: £250000
Postcode: CW1
23
people found
this helpful
Be extremely careful!!
Hi all, I was considering investing in one of the Liverpool deals Rob Dix was aggresively up-selling but wanted to get some independent advice before going further. I'm fortunate to know an institutional property investor who works at a major asset manager with 21 years property investment experience. As a courtesy he made some calls to some surveyors and investors in the areas PropertyHub invest (Liverpool Baltic, Manchester Docklands, Crewe etc.) to get the low-down on the two Robs.
I hate to break the bubble as I know their podcast has a lot of devoted followers and the general advice they dispense is reasonably sound, but I do feel it's my duty to warn others of the risks:
RED FLAG 1: The company does not employ chartered surveyors to value the properties. Valuations is conducted by in-house interns with limited experience and who are not RICS qualified. Treat the "discounts" you can achieve with a pinch of salt.
RED FLAG 2: Neither of the Robs has a professional background, degree or nationally recognized advanced qualification in economics, finance, property investment etc. Neither has experience working at a reputable property investment firm either.
RED FLAG 3: the bulk of their time is spend building the marketing funnel - podcasts, website, PR, interviews. Ask yourself this - if they are such gifted investors - why are they not spending all their time investing in property as opposed to dispending advice. Take heed of the old adage by George Bernard Shaw - he that can does, and he that can't teaches i.e. he who a person with real ability will perform themselves rather than teaching others to do so.
RED FLAG 4: I heard from good authority that there are kick-back or commission-sharing agreements provided by the builders on every unit sold but are not disclosed to investors. If this is true, it presents a MAJOR conflict of interest.
RED FLAG 5: A lot of the schemes are in good cities but in areas MASSIVELY over-supplied and have been severely impacted by Covid-19 pandemic with rents dropping as much as 40%. The analysis conducted just focuses on transport links and inward investment but unfortunately misses a lot of other key variables. Again, these are classic newbie mistakes that experienced, institutional investors would avoid.
Also be careful with build quality - the Crewe development was a disaster - delays / cost-over-runs, corner-cutting and this won't be the last.
23
people found
this helpful
Was this helpful?
Yes
To make the story short- we were dealing with Viveca Baguandas, the worst agent you can ever deal with! We viewed the flat, then openly explained our situation as we needed to move asap, left holding deposit of 450£ and all requested documents on 9th of March and asked to consider our application.And that was it. For nearly 3 weeks, calling to Property Hub LTD daily, we always heard the same- do not worry, Viveca will get back to you by the end of the day. Finally she dropped us an email, very arogant and dry- she clearly did not care to go through the documents, totally neglected our application and to get rid of us, she asked for guarantor, who earns 70k, mind you, the flat we were looking at, was less than 2k a month.
Instead of consider us positive or negative in 3 working days (thats what their policy says), they dragged all the process for 3 weeks, wasted our money, energy and time. The deposit was never refunded until 27th of March. After endless calls, we got our deposit back...on 50£ less!!!!
AVOID AVOID AVOID! THE WORST AGENCY TO DEAL WITH! ALWAYS READ COMMENTS FIRST, AND SEE THE PICTURES ATTACHED.