Ok- is this a good idea?.......

tabskitten

smartpropertyinvestment.co.uk

have been in touch with the above company who basically offer to put tenants in your property and garuentee your martgage covered on the condition that when the property market rises enough for you to sell at a price that gets you out of negative equity you sell to them.....

So - good move if i want the stress taken away.......

Bad move if I want to make lots of money on my property.......

At the moment it is attractive to me as i find being a landlord stressful, but what do others think- am I being impatient and silly as if i just wait for the market to redeem i could make lots more?

Or am i playing safe?

Oh- flat is a 2 bed in Bristol, currently approx £20 neg eq......and my tenants moving out soon:eek:

Cannon_Fodder

Nothing on that website to give any confidence they have ever found a tenant for someone.

Its not even clear what service(s) they offer. And if they don't promote that service on their own website, how shady is it going to be?

The totally amateur video section is cringe-worthy.

Not even brave enough to put an address on their website.

Steer well clear.

princeofpounds

Even if they find you a tenant, you will still be the landlord with all the responsibilities that entails. They aren't doing anything for you a normal estate agent wouldn't.

I could think of all sorts of ways I could trip people up with clauses based on such a non-standard business arrangement.

tabskitten

princeofpounds wrote: »

Even if they find you a tenant, you will still be the landlord with all the responsibilities that entails. They aren't doing anything for you a normal estate agent wouldn't.

I could think of all sorts of ways I could trip people up with clauses based on such a non-standard business arrangement.

They gaurentee me rent whether the flat is empty or full from what the person i spoke to said, and we have a solicitor involved to protect us.....

G_M

One man and his dog.
No address.
Not affiliated to any professional bodies.
If they guarantee your rent (dubious - read the smallprint!) they put in the 1st (nightmare) tenant who applies - not their house. They don't care!
So they'll buy it at the value of your mortgage when exactly? I bet it's not till the property is worth considerably more than the mortage - smallprint again!

I wouldn't trust them with a dolls-house.

Catblue

tabskitten wrote: »

smartpropertyinvestment.co.uk

have been in touch with the above company who basically offer to put tenants in your property and garuentee your martgage covered on the condition that when the property market rises enough for you to sell at a price that gets you out of negative equity you sell to them.....

At what price? Who decides a fair price?

Personally, I would steer clear of any business headed by a bloke called Baz.

I also noticed that they don't have a registered company number or address on their website. Doesn't seem to mention any tenant finding service on the website either.

Dodgy all round, I'd say.

tabskitten

ok guys thanks ....and any other comments welcomed....
i am going to look into it further but will take heed!!

Gwhiz

Remember... if it looks too good.....

G_M

PLEEeeease don't come back on this forum in 6 months time with a thread headed "help: ripped off by company supposedly helping me - what can I do?".

princeofpounds

They gaurentee me rent whether the flat is empty or full from what the person i spoke to said, and we have a solicitor involved to protect us.....

I didn't say anything about rent. I stated that you are still the landlord no matter who they put in your house... if they bring in animals, trash the place, prevent your access, you have to deal with it all. You cannot contract away your legal responsibilities.

A promise to pay rent isn't worth all that much if it comes from a shady company. Something goes wrong, fold the company, all you are left holding is a piece of paper with a guarantee written on it (and that's if you can ever find them again!).

Just think about it for a minute - if they put someone in who covers the rent, and then that person starts to damage the house, what happens? You want them out. But you can't get them out because this firm wants them in, so their rent obligation is still covered. How does that get resolved? This is only one of a host of potential problems.

And if it's a tenant find service you need, a local letting agent will do it for a one-off fee and no complicated contracts, lawyers fees or charge over your property. Some will even operate a rent guarantee to secure business.

princeofpounds

Oh, and looking at the WHOIS information whoever registered that website has claimed to be a non-trading UK individual. Conveniently excluding their address, and demonstrating that they are already liars.