Hi Steven,
I’ve been doing some research myself to see if anyone else is talking about the DG Institute (formerly Real Estate Rescue) and came across your post. I thought it relevant to share my own comments about DGI as they are current and relevant to anyone looking at being a part of the DGI community.
My comments though are in the form of a consumer warning to the thousands of DGI graduates who remain blissfully ignorant that there is a major flaw with the product, which could cost you everything you’ve invested in your takeover project. This is very real and current. This is not a joke. I’m writing this because I don’t want anyone else to suffer as we are.
We bought the Real Estate Rescue (now the DG Institute- DGI) product in Feb 2015. We became elite mentoring graduates in 2016. The product uses 3 methods to do business with distressed property. The first two are easy to understand. They are the ‘wholesale’ method and the ‘short sale’ method. The wholesale method works on the principle of finding and buying a property ‘off market’ for 10%-40% cheaper than retail. The title changes hands – all good. The short sale is similar in that the house is bought by the graduate off market. The sale is termed ‘short’ because there’s no equity in the property. To build equity the DG Institute graduate has to convince the bank that it’s worth their while to sell to the graduate at a loss. The graduate is trained to make a deal with the vendor that might include a cash incentive, that the lender can’t know about.
The takeover method is the most attractive for graduates because there’s no need to get a bank loan and profits go up because there’s no need to pay stamp duty. The property stays in the name of the vendor while the deal runs its course. Now this might seem pretty scary to the average punter as you don’t actually ‘own’ the property – you’ve merely ‘taken it over’ and are standing in the legal shoes of the vendor. The graduate is supposed to be protected through the DG institute’s legal tools, the most important of which is the ‘irrevocable power of attorney’ (POA). This is supposed to protect the graduate from the vendor changing their mind and seeking to take back the property after you’ve spent a lot of time, effort and money fixing it up for sale.
How do I know this?
I am currently living a nightmare caused by the failure of the supposedly irrevocable power of attorney (POA), which CAN easily be revoked. Our takeover project was going well until the vendor decided to take back the property. She simply broke into the house (2 weeks out from the auction to sell it), and changed the locks. She then visited the DNRM (land titles office) and filled out the form to revoke the POA. It was that easy. She’s still there today. The vendor has no legal training and didn’t have the help of a solicitor. She simply revoked the POA and we lost our right to sell the property and recover our investment.
This all happened back in October 2016. On the 27th February 2017 the QLD State Minister for the DNRM, Dr Anthony Lynham, weighed in and supported the revocation of the POA. He made a written decree that the DGI POA is not valid at law. Any vendor that knows this can undo your takeover project with ease. You have NO PROTECTION at law. I wish this was a joke, but it’s not. We’ve lost $1m because of the failure of the product.
Our principle investor is also a DGI graduate. She’s 80 years old and has lost the majority of her life savings after being assured that her investment was safe.
How could this happen? It’s very simple. DGI haven’t actually tested their POA prior to selling it. What’s worse, DGI have continued to sell the product (with sales topping $25m in the last year alone) ‘SINCE’ they found out the product is flawed and should be withdrawn. NO DISCLOSURE has been made to the thousands of DGI graduates relying on the product to work. Subsequently the ACCC have now been contacted.
We have pleaded with DGI to be compensated but have been met with threats if we disclose this information. Please share this information. If you don’t believe me then visit the facebook page DG Institute Graduates Independent. All of the evidence is there.
Andrew. Reason: More info to share
