rentforless.org.uk

planning303

Has anyone had any dealings / heard any horror stories regarding this company. rentforless org uk (replace spaces with . as i am not allowed to post links being a new user!)

The jist of them is:

you agree a purchase price on the house, you then rent the house for 3 years with 10% of the rent going into a seperate fund.

At the end of the 3 years your initial deposit and the 10% of the monthly rent + the interest occured on this money becomes your deposit (i have worked out some rough figures and suspect you'd need to top up this pot of cash - probably double it to even think of getting a mortgage)

The whole scheme seems pretty reasonable and their website looks as you'd expect with lots of houses up and down the country. But i am a big believer in being suspicious of things looking to good to be true!!!

Anyone got an opinion?

vicshippers

The fact that there website doesn't say anything about putting 10% into a separate fund isn't a great sign. Add to that they have a very limited selection of properties and a domain that was only registered in March this year....personally I wouldn't go near them.

planning303

In a slightly weird turn of events the plot has actually thickened somewhat...!

Basically i have spoke to the chap from the company and he has explained that

"due to this being such a popular scheme all of the properties in my area are already taken. However he does still have one property which is availible. This property is under a slightly different scheme where he will sell me the house for 15% less than what its worth. This worth price will be worked out by an independant surveyor, but the gist of it is that he will sell for 15% less than that."

This in theory means that i can get an 85% mortgage using the 15% equity that he is giving me as a deposit.

Now the catch is that i'll basically get charged 4 grand in fees, but thats not payable untill completion.

I feel like its a scam, and i know to be cautious. But i also don't want to miss the oppotunity to get on the market.

Cannon_Fodder

'call Del' - nuff said.

Running_Horse

Sounds similar to this scheme on a house in Sunderland.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25915370.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E61520&insId=1&sortByPriceDescending=false&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&pageNumber=1&fromSummary=true&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E61520%26insId%3D1%26sortByPriceDescending%3Dfalse%26displayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses
The fact it has been on Rightmove for as long as I can remember suggests most people know a scam when they see one.

planning303

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

'call Del' - nuff said.

Yes i have spoke to Del, he sounds like a very accomplished salesman, with an excellent patter.

I'm not really interested in what speal he's put together,

what i'm more interested in is finding out is whether it is common practise in mortgage sales to be able to get a mortgage in this slightly strange way.

I'm pretty sure that when i tell the mortgage company that i'm buying a house thats worth 100k for 85k they will point out that the house is only worth what i'm paying - in this case 85k regardless of clever wording has been used.

GDB2222

Any gifted deposit is not counted as a deposit at all these days. So, you'd still need a 10% + deposit on whatever the sale price is.

Now, the real question is who is going to sell you a property for 15% less than it is actually worth? Perhaps he can find a tame valuer to overvalue it for him so he can give you a 15% discount, but what is a truly independent valuer going to say?

If it seems too good to be true, well, you know the rest.

theartfullodger

Hmmnnn the website... at...
http://www.rentforless.org.uk/aboutus.aspx
says

About us


is part of Ingenious Consultants, a national property services company

Ingenious Consultants, according to Companies House, are a very new company (1st registered 23/12/2008) - less than 1yr old, never filed any accounts...

Avoid like the plague: Stinks of some sort of con.

Expect to read the truth about them in the tabloids in 2-3 years time...

Cheers!

Lodger

planning303

"Any gifted deposit is not counted as a deposit at all these days. So, you'd still need a 10% + deposit on whatever the sale price is."

Thanks GDB2222 thats what i wanted to find out.

This is all starting to make sense now, I'm going to assume that the reason he stated i would need to pay him for everyones fees is because he is going to state that i use his slightly questionable solicitors / valuers etc who will tell me how much its worth and do all the paperwork "creatively".

Clearly i'm not going to go through with this, but do you think its verging on mortgage fraud if he's found a loophole that is allowing him to use the 15% pretend equity as real equity in the house

GDB2222

It's one of those websites that is distinctly short of information - eg name and address of the owners.

GDB2222

liggins wrote: »

Clearly i'm not going to go through with this, but do you think its verging on mortgage fraud if he's found a loophole that is allowing him to use the 15% pretend equity as real equity in the house

It's possible. It depends on precisely who does what in practice, eg deliberately falsifying a valuation is fraudulent. If he has just tracked down a genuinely optimistic valuer who really believes his figures, it might not be fraudulent.

I wouldn't be surprised to find you being asked to pay valuation fees up-front, and then the sale doesn't materialise.