Belgrave group

lynnit55

1. I'm not a newbie - I just forgot my previous username and password. I dont spend my life on the computer.

2. I'm definitely not an employee. I have my own business nothing remotely related to houses.

3. Here's the update.
House no.1 stopped paying rent and has now been evicted - not great, but now refurbished again and new tenant due to move in. (cost $200 in lawyers fees - a lot cheaper than uk and quicker)

House no.2 - I've just been out to do a closer inspection and Belgrave dont seem to have done such a great job on it as I had thought - so am refurbishing that with tenants present. Luckily labour is cheap, so its no big deal.

House no.3 - Is fabulous, brand new - the current tenant wants to purchase it but I havent made up my mind whether to sell or not because its the best of the lot.
Update:
Tenant has lost her job so that wont be happening.

The only problem with Belgrave is that they just want to make a quick buck, they buy - do a quick refurbish and sell, they dont spend too much money on the refurb - so you really do have got to go out there and look for yourself before you buy. But as it was my first time buying in the US - they made it easy.

I will be buying more, but I will take my time and inspect thoroughly before committing to the next one. I will also be able to purchase it myself now that I have more knowledge.

lynnit55

Hi Alan,

I wondered what had happened in Detroit - I think Belgrave have pulled out of there now? Interesting to note that you had an outstanding water bill - I had one of those on one of my properties ($3k.) I had to pay it otherwise I couldnt let the property. I was a bit stupid really - should have hired my own solicitor at the beginning - because that should all have been checked by the attorney. It all went so well for the first year. Biggest problem seems to be tenants - paying for a few months and then stopping.. then its eviction, refurb and round we go again... I'll let everyone know how long it takes.
Update:
Turns out that the water bill was the fault of my original Agent who hadn't transferred the name of the tenant to the water account. Apparently nothing to do with the solicitor. I'm going to ring Dekalb Council in a minute to find out how this can be avoided in future and more important how I can check.
I'll be back!

mania112

lynnit55 wrote: »

The only problem with Belgrave is that they just want to make a quick buck, they buy - do a quick refurbish and sell, they dont spend too much money on the refurb - so you really do have got to go out there and look for yourself before you buy.

This is the only reason you need not to use this firm then, isn't it?!

mystic_trev

Tens of thousands of empty homes are up for auction in U.S. cities hammered by the property downturn, such as Detroit or Atlanta. House prices are also falling in both cities.

Atlanta suffered an 18 per cent drop last year. In Detroit prices are down 50 per cent over five years. But property companies are snapping up these homes for just a few thousand dollars, then flogging them on to British investors at a profit.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2212155/Investors-warned-risky-rich-quick-property-schemes-U-S.html

lynnit55

Crikey, I dont think its as bad a picture as that...

In all fairness my properties are reasonably respectable - I can't speak for anyone else. Out of three houses, one of them needs a bit more refurb - but it is still inhabited, and I have seen it, been in it and spoke to the tenants.

The problem is not oversupply, but rather no-one wants to lend. I have heard that the Banks have been loosening the purse strings lately and that Americans and property funds are starting to buy them. As a result Belgrave are having trouble sourcing new ones and are probably being outbid because I have noticed that there haven't been many new offerings lately.

If all three of them were let, I would have no hesitation buying another - but until that happens, I'm holding off.

lynnit55

mania112 wrote: »

This is the only reason you need not to use this firm then, isn't it?!

Well, no.... sometimes you have to take a chance, lets face it they are not going to spend more than they have to - And I think that can be said of any Company. That's how they make their money. So the cheaper the do the refurb the more profit they make. I have to expect that, but it's my job as owner to make sure that what they have done is adequate for my needs in letting the property out.

alanls

Property4peanuts have agreed to pay taxes

lynnit55

Alan,
That is really terrible, I can't believe that they can get away with so much. Can't you use trading standards - after all they are still trading in this country.
Have you been out to see your properties yet?

lynnit55

For anyone who has already bought in Atlanta or is thinking of buying, you may find these links extremely useful. Use this one to check out the price/tax etc on your house - it will also list any delinquent amounts. You will need to enter the house number and partial street name of your house. On the bottom left hand side there is a button marked "additional property" - this gives you additional information on the property such as previously sold prices etc. web.co.dekalb.ga.us/TaxCommissioner/TCSearch.asp
This one may be of use if you want to contact the water board but it will be quicker to use the email option ... otherwise its one of those awful "press this, press that ..... " dekalbwatershed.com/contact.html

Another useful one is the Dekalb county recorders court. They are very friendly and helpful. web.co.dekalb.ga.us/dcrc/links.html

This one is a must – Its the site for the IRS at the US Embassy,very useful and very helpful staff, you can download all your forms here. But if you dont pay tax on time you get fined. irs.gov/

Also:

---

Here's how to check your water bills:
Go to this site:
web.co.dekalb.ga.us/cpak/members/login.php

In the address field type in the nbr and first word of the road and then the numbers only of the zip code.
ie:
1234 Raven
30058

You will then see the address registered and a list of bills not paid - also the last payment made.
Dekalb do their bills Bi-monthly so there will be a new bill every two months.
Check that all of your properties have paid and are NOT in arrears. Also check that the bill is in the name of the Tenant.
Bring it to the agents attention if they are in arrears or the name is wrong.

alanls

This is an account of my Detroit house purchase using the Belgrave Group Basepoint Business centre, Premier Way, Romsey SO51 9AQ Although Belgrave group still exists the company now focuses on properties in Atlanta 'Belgrave Atlanta' company number 08218378 ,
same trading address as Belgrave group.


I purchased a property in Detroit from the Belgrave group.
The contract stated that the house would be refurbished within six weeks
sufficient to obtain a certificate of occupancy from the local city council.
The refurbishment took much longer than six weeks, it took six months and was allegedly completed on 31/3/2010. However, the refurbishment was not completed. I have two independent witness statements verifying that conclusion. I also have extensive photographic proof of none completion. Members of the Belgrave group visited the property on a date prior to alleged completion. They did not enter the property as they were unable to obtain entry.
They looked through the windows and could see work in progress. They did not visit the property when it was allegedly completed. They relied upon B&L Properties (Steve Louis) to do the work and provide proof of completion. The alleged proof was photographs of a completed refurbishment. However, the photographs were not of my house, that again has been verified by independent witnesses. The Belgrave group allege that they took Steve Louis to court for misappropriation of funds I understand the amount was $200,000. The fact is that the Belgrave group relied upon Steve Louis to do the work and provide
proof that it was done.
They were negligent as they did not inspect the property themselves. I was told that the property was tenanted on 15th April 2010 by Steve Louis. In fact I have conclusive proof that the property was never tenanted and that is in addition to dozens of photographs showing that it was uninhabitable. I can provide copies of these photographs on request. It seems that the Belgrave group may have been victims of Steve Louis B&L Properties. However, if indeed the Belgrave group took Steve Louis to court for misappropriation of funds then they will have eveidence to prove it. The evidence would consist of the following:
date of court case, Case number, court where hearing held, the verdict.
This information should be in the public domain and can be verified once
the details have been provided. If it transpires that there was a court case as claimed it does not affect my contract with the Belgrave group, they will have been negligent for using him and not being vigilant.

As a consequence of this I ended up with a property that still needed a
complete refurbishment. I have lost a lot of money on this property. It had to be boarded up and refurbished again. The cost of the refurbishment was $16,945, I suffered a loss of income as the property was not available to rent and taxes still had to be paid. Belgrave Group were supposed to pay the first year taxes but they failed to do so, I had to pay $2537.76 to prevent the property from being
forfeited by the city council. There was also a water bill outstanding for
the period prior to my ownership. I had a meeting with the Belgrave group and their Solicitor Mathew Robbins of Viva Law Southampton on 31st July 2012. It was agreed that they would check the diaries of the Belgrave group and get back to me two weeks later. It is
now more than seven weeks since the meeting and I have not had a response only excuses. Since then a repayment plan was agreed but only one payment was made. It seems that they have no intention of making any further payments.

I am not the only victim of this company, in fact some clients have suffered worse consequences than myself.