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Added for You - How To Avoid an Investment Property Scam
How To Choose An Equipment Leasing Company e my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode!Leasing has become a preferred form of equipment financing, accounting for more than 30% of business equipment acquisitions. Each year, thousands of U.S. companies face the challenge of finding attractive financing to acquire business equipment. Many of these companies approach the lease sourcing process seeking the lowest lease rate. While securing a low rate is a worthwhile goal in choosing a leasing arrangement, it alone is usually not a reliable standard for obtaining the best lease transaction or leasing experience.To obtain attractive lease proposals and to avoid lease blunders, make sure you choose the right leasing companies to bid. Ultimately, the wrong lessor choice can result in a slow approval, inability of the lessor to deliver, hidden fees, substandard lease terms, or worse. To secure the best lease arrangement, you must do your homework in pre-qualifying bidding leasing companies. Give this aspect of obtaining an attractive lease arrangement your highest priority.How Leasing Companies DifferLeasing companies can vary in a number of ways. Some specialize in specific industries, some in lease types, some in certain equipment types, and still others in transaction sizes. For example, some leasing companies specialize only in a But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major i Don't Deny Reality To many people, taking the plunge, and investing in property for their future is a major leap of faith. Imagine how they must feel, if their investment turns out to be an investment property Scam?If you want to be a successful trader, you must make sure you do not deny reality in any phase of your trading. You cannot deny losses, price direction, mistakes you make, being undercapitalized, or a whole host of things you would rather not think about.Many traders think the best way to deal with unpleasant ideas, events, or personal character flaws is to shut their eyes and pretend they don’t exist.Let’s face it, trading can be difficult, at times very difficult and it's essential that you focus on reality. Denial takes your focus away from the very thing you need to be concentrating on—the action of prices—regardless of time frame. Your mind must be clear so that you can look at the market and see what is really there.The way I learned to handle denial was to simply write down and confront all possible ideas I had trouble accepting. Some thoughts I could fix and others I just had to accept. But facing the truth of what and who you are is the only way to deal with denial. You have to realize that for the most part the only things you can change are in yourself. Other things you just have to accept. You have to accept the reality of slippage, for example. You have to realize that indicators often give false signals and that there Is there a way out of any Investment Property Scam? The first thing to realise is that if you do feel you have been conned, you are probably not the only one. It may feel like it, and you may feel alone, stupid, cheated, and angry or embarrassed - some of the common emotions felt at this time. But, these are the emotions that developers with crooked minds will encourage you to think. They hope that you will feel 'suckered', and just don't want to tell anybody. In fact, with a clever scam, there may seem to be nothing to tell anyway, apart from your gut instinct, until you start digging. But inertia is just what these criminals (and they usually are criminals) want you to think. In these circumstances, you must not hold it all into yourself. You must try and find if other people have been duped into a similar situation. You never know, you may be one of ten, twenty or hundreds of similar souls, and if you can find, and become identified with such groups you will stand a far greater chance of getting retribution, believe me. I got caught up in such an investment property scam about 18 months ago (I know - gasp - shock - horror - and I sell investment properties!). For some months, I thought I was going crazy, I could not understand why I could not get tenants in at anywhere near the prices I was expecting, or even get tenants at all. This was the first revelation, as I had been promised that the properties would have been fully tenanted on completion. Well, at least, that's what the brochures said, as well as the sales manager at the presentation I attended. And I had bought a number of these 'beauties' each supposedly fully tenanted and making me around ?500 each per month rental surplus. Then I started to investigate the situation more thoroughly, and I soon identified the problem. It's a down and out highly complex investment property Scam! So how did I, an experienced property investor, and a reseller of investment properties - get involved in an investment property scam? I'll tell you how - perhaps Criminal Intent? What I have done is to chronicle the events that actually took place with my investments, of which I have since found out there were well over 100 similar incidents. Before I went into this investment, or even recommended them to others, which consisted of a number of refurbished houses converted into HMO's for students (Houses of Multiple Occupation) I investigated the company thoroughly. (Note the company and location of these houses is not mentioned in this report for legal reasons). I checked out at least 6 of their property conversions, spoke to their rentals people, and spoke with several existing investors. I took my business partner at the time with me to check out my findings. I was also comforted by the fact that these people were spending (and still are spending) a lot of money in the big national newspapers (Sunday Times, Telegraph, and so forth), and had produced a whole range of glossy brochures backing up their claims. Some of their larger off-plan developments were also being featured in a two-page spread in one of the UK's leading property magazines. Not only that, but they had (and still do have) very large exhibition stands at a number of the leading UK Property Shows. Everything seemed to stack up, so I bought a number of them, and encouraged my friends, close family, and business colleagues to buy some also. I paid my reservation fees, and just settled down to wait for these to be completed, and to start generating some surplus cash every month. The first event in the chain of things was that the houses were very late in being completed, so we were in danger of losing the student intake for autumn 2005, but the investment still seemed quite good, and anyway we had all exchanged contracts by then. And, of course, we all thought we had at least an 11% equity holding in each property, plus the usual growth of 4-6 % from last year. Also, when asked if we could inspect them prior to completion, we were told - “Sorry, as you have tenants in them, you have to give 48 hours or more notice”. Then when we did try for appointments nobody could find the keys… Where were my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode! But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major is How to Write B2B Ads That Catch Customers f similar souls, and if you can find, and become identified with such groups you will stand a far greater chance of getting retribution, believe me.Are your business-to-business ads working for you? If they are not making sales, are they at least generating interest in your company? Are they making an impression on your potential customers by making you stand out in a crowd? If not, then you should take a look at this article and get those ads working hard for you.Don’t just fish for customers, catch them!1. ALWAYS include your company name in the first sentence, preferably as the first word. Don’t start out with ‘we’. And briefly state what you do right away. For example: “Solinc designs plastic injection molds.” You want them to know who you are right away. Also, many B2B sites don’t allow visitors to view the total ad without paying or registering. You want everybody to at least be able to search for you on the Internet. This can also help your ad to appear on some search engines.2. You need a ‘hook’ to reel in your readers. There are probably plenty of other ads right next to yours so you need to get them within the first sentence or two. Use some great adjectives. Which is better: “Solinc designs injection molds.” Or “Solinc expertly designs high quality, precision injection molds.” Now they know who you are, what you do, and why you are special.3. Ask a question about wh I got caught up in such an investment property scam about 18 months ago (I know - gasp - shock - horror - and I sell investment properties!). For some months, I thought I was going crazy, I could not understand why I could not get tenants in at anywhere near the prices I was expecting, or even get tenants at all. This was the first revelation, as I had been promised that the properties would have been fully tenanted on completion. Well, at least, that's what the brochures said, as well as the sales manager at the presentation I attended. And I had bought a number of these 'beauties' each supposedly fully tenanted and making me around ?500 each per month rental surplus. Then I started to investigate the situation more thoroughly, and I soon identified the problem. It's a down and out highly complex investment property Scam! So how did I, an experienced property investor, and a reseller of investment properties - get involved in an investment property scam? I'll tell you how - perhaps Criminal Intent? What I have done is to chronicle the events that actually took place with my investments, of which I have since found out there were well over 100 similar incidents. Before I went into this investment, or even recommended them to others, which consisted of a number of refurbished houses converted into HMO's for students (Houses of Multiple Occupation) I investigated the company thoroughly. (Note the company and location of these houses is not mentioned in this report for legal reasons). I checked out at least 6 of their property conversions, spoke to their rentals people, and spoke with several existing investors. I took my business partner at the time with me to check out my findings. I was also comforted by the fact that these people were spending (and still are spending) a lot of money in the big national newspapers (Sunday Times, Telegraph, and so forth), and had produced a whole range of glossy brochures backing up their claims. Some of their larger off-plan developments were also being featured in a two-page spread in one of the UK's leading property magazines. Not only that, but they had (and still do have) very large exhibition stands at a number of the leading UK Property Shows. Everything seemed to stack up, so I bought a number of them, and encouraged my friends, close family, and business colleagues to buy some also. I paid my reservation fees, and just settled down to wait for these to be completed, and to start generating some surplus cash every month. The first event in the chain of things was that the houses were very late in being completed, so we were in danger of losing the student intake for autumn 2005, but the investment still seemed quite good, and anyway we had all exchanged contracts by then. And, of course, we all thought we had at least an 11% equity holding in each property, plus the usual growth of 4-6 % from last year. Also, when asked if we could inspect them prior to completion, we were told - “Sorry, as you have tenants in them, you have to give 48 hours or more notice”. Then when we did try for appointments nobody could find the keys… Where were my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode! But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major i Best Home Based Business Opportunities and Quality of Life investment property scam?Quality of life is a really important issue for many people. Sometimes we get caught up in the rat race of everyday life, we are unsure of why we are not happy and why we are so busy. Everyone needs to step back once and a while to examine their lifestyle and determine what changes they need to make. Developing a home business can be a solution, however it is easy to fall into the same trap.If you have ever worked as an employee for a company, big or small, many people get used to the idea of working regular hours, starting at the same time every day and finishing at the same time. Nice routine, leaving time to pursue other extracurricular activities. Some people will work overtime on a regular basis and get paid for it, however they will sacrifice their personal and family lives. The answer they believe is to develop their own home based business, so they will have the flexibility to work and play on their own schedule.The best home based business opportunities will allow this flexibility, however many entrepreneurs quickly fall into the trap of working far more hours than they ever worked before while they were employed. When you are working for yourself, many people will justify it as an investment in their business. Quality of life begins to I'll tell you how - perhaps Criminal Intent? What I have done is to chronicle the events that actually took place with my investments, of which I have since found out there were well over 100 similar incidents. Before I went into this investment, or even recommended them to others, which consisted of a number of refurbished houses converted into HMO's for students (Houses of Multiple Occupation) I investigated the company thoroughly. (Note the company and location of these houses is not mentioned in this report for legal reasons). I checked out at least 6 of their property conversions, spoke to their rentals people, and spoke with several existing investors. I took my business partner at the time with me to check out my findings. I was also comforted by the fact that these people were spending (and still are spending) a lot of money in the big national newspapers (Sunday Times, Telegraph, and so forth), and had produced a whole range of glossy brochures backing up their claims. Some of their larger off-plan developments were also being featured in a two-page spread in one of the UK's leading property magazines. Not only that, but they had (and still do have) very large exhibition stands at a number of the leading UK Property Shows. Everything seemed to stack up, so I bought a number of them, and encouraged my friends, close family, and business colleagues to buy some also. I paid my reservation fees, and just settled down to wait for these to be completed, and to start generating some surplus cash every month. The first event in the chain of things was that the houses were very late in being completed, so we were in danger of losing the student intake for autumn 2005, but the investment still seemed quite good, and anyway we had all exchanged contracts by then. And, of course, we all thought we had at least an 11% equity holding in each property, plus the usual growth of 4-6 % from last year. Also, when asked if we could inspect them prior to completion, we were told - “Sorry, as you have tenants in them, you have to give 48 hours or more notice”. Then when we did try for appointments nobody could find the keys… Where were my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode! But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major i Managing Your Team (Part 5) - Who's Guilty of Plopping? in a two-page spread in one of the UK's leading property magazines. Not only that, but they had (and still do have) very large exhibition stands at a number of the leading UK Property Shows.In some ways this article is a continuation of Managaging Your Team (Part 4) in that 'influencers from a position of authority or expertise may be guilty (consciously or unconsciously) of ignoring inputs from team members or, just as damaging, putting down / under-valuing the contribution made and the contributor who made it.Unfortunately, all of us may be guilty of this behaviour from time to time and often this attitude and behaviour will be accompanied with..."C'mon, I was only joking! Don't be so sensitive"One of the main root causes of this behaviour, as I have touched on previously is based on our value system.We live, breath, and act our own values - they are who we are and, therefore, are extremely important to each of us whether we are fully aware of them or not.In context, think of some practical examples...Never being late for meetings or appointments. Always prepared to listen and not talk over others. If a commitment is made, it is kept. Mobile 'phones remain switched off in team meetings. Treat others as you would wish them to treat you.You've guessed it, not surprisingly, these are values that are very important to me in both Everything seemed to stack up, so I bought a number of them, and encouraged my friends, close family, and business colleagues to buy some also. I paid my reservation fees, and just settled down to wait for these to be completed, and to start generating some surplus cash every month. The first event in the chain of things was that the houses were very late in being completed, so we were in danger of losing the student intake for autumn 2005, but the investment still seemed quite good, and anyway we had all exchanged contracts by then. And, of course, we all thought we had at least an 11% equity holding in each property, plus the usual growth of 4-6 % from last year. Also, when asked if we could inspect them prior to completion, we were told - “Sorry, as you have tenants in them, you have to give 48 hours or more notice”. Then when we did try for appointments nobody could find the keys… Where were my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode! But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major i Can Reservists Qualify for VA Home Loans? e my alarm bells I hear you ask - Obviously on Silent Mode!VA homes loans are among the various privileges and benefits offered by the department of Veterans Affairs to former and present military personnel who have served their country and their people.Much is expected from people who offer their lives to their country but in return, it is just fair that they should also expect something from their government to help them and their families.While almost all veterans are eligible for VA home loans, there are other military personnel who are also equally eligible like military personnel in active service as well as those who are called reservists. However, like the veterans, they also have to prove they are qualified for the VA home loan.Those who have merely served during World War 1, rendered active training in the Reserves or in the National Guard do not qualify for a VA home loan. Reservists and Guards can only qualify for a VA home loan if they rendered service under the mandate of the United States Code 10.A VA home loan enables veterans, active military personnel and reservists to build or buy their homes and even refinance homes that have been mortgaged in the past without a down payment. Aside form this benefit, the VA home loans does not carry with it ordinary housing loan requ But then the dirt really started to rise to the surface… These houses were all sold under the premise of 'All contacts for services under one roof for the investor - Use our Services for Sales, Recommended Solicitors, In-house Brokers, mortgages, Tenancy Management from our Own Company' - you know, a really good packaged deal for the armchair investor.' Issue 1 was that the houses were not fully tenanted on completion, and in a lot of cases, the tenants seemed to 'melt away' after contracts had been signed. So much for the promises made in the developers' glossies that tenants would be in place before completion, with cross-guarantees so that there would be virtually no void periods, no issues with rent, as if one tenant failed to pay, the cross guarantees meant that the other tenants would be liable. Also, in some cases, (not with mine luckily) no renovation work had been carried out at all, and the developers then had the cheek to ask for ?3,000 per property to fix those that had not been done. Then, major issues with the building work started to surface. Basements would flood, not due to rain, (although this did happen on a number of occasions where the basements had not been 'tanked' correctly), but due to faulty plumbing, But if course we had a 12 month warranty contract - Right? Wrong? Even after constant phone calls and emails, the management company failed to send us proper records, and they did not keep us informed of maintenance issues, tenants leaving, tenants not paying rent on time - all the sort of standard things one was used to expect from a 'proper' management company that charged 10% of the rent as fees. And the hassle I had moving the management agreements to another company is another story for another day when it can be told. Ok, so, this just seemed like rogue building work and an outright total lack of proper management by the department handling the tenancies. Not the sort of service to be expected from a firm carrying out so much nationwide marketing, but of course, being of such a high profile firm, you would have thought they would have fixed the issues. Right? Wrong! So because of all these issues, I had by now started to do some very intensive investigation into this company, and the methods being used to package the sale of these houses. It then transpired that most of these houses had been bought by the developer some three to four months prior to selling them, for about ?90,000 - in the developers words - derelict houses that were totally gutted; 3 bed properties that had basements opened out, and or roof conversions done, so adding as many as 2, 3 or even 4 more bedrooms, and supposedly converted to the highest of standards for HMO purposes, and these were sold to us for around ?249,950 up to ?325,000 and higher. Ding Ding Ding - Alarm Bells… Why were we quite happy to purchase them - because they all came with RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) valuations on the property value and the anticipated rental incomes. All of which matched the developers claims. But when we noticed that several investors from other groups were having some of these similar houses repossessed - as they were not getting the rent, and consequently could not afford the mortgage, and the valuations were all coming in at around ?80,000 to ?100,000 BELOW THE MORTGAGE VALUE! Our own investigations then uncovered that many of these properties had been valued by the same firm, and for comparison, they had used properties by the same developer on the valuation form. We have come across instances where the mortgages that were granted they :- · Were not valid for multiple occupancy homes - so why was a loan granted? · Would not have been granted had the banks known the properties were already tenanted, and not sold as vacant possession. So why was a mortgage granted? · Would not have been granted if the valuation rental assessment was not realistic. So loans were granted on incorrect information. If the investor had put the rental figures in, they would have probably been done for mortgage fraud. · Would not have granted a loan (especially interest only) if the true valuation figure had been known. · Would not have granted 85% of the assumed value had they known a Gifted Deposit was being paid (along with legal and other fees by the developer). The solicitor was aware, as was the broker, so how come the lender was not informed? Now, as I like to think of myself as a 'savvy investor', knowing that gifted deposits, cash backs etc happen and quite often jump start the property market on the move, I had told my solicitor(s) what the side deal was, the broker told me what the deal was, so no problem right? Wrong… I then find out that neither the solicitor(s) nor the broker had informed the lender. Somewhere along the lines, something was wrong here. The question is - Was it the fault of:- · The Developer? · The Solicitor? · The Broker? · The Investor? In a society where regulations covering solicitors, brokers, mortgage loans, and valuers seem quite strict, I must say I think something is awry here, where the hapless individual investor can walk into such an unregulated trap! If you feel you have been involved in such an investment property scam, and would like to see if there are others in the same boat, pleas
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