All Topics / Help Needed! / New Investors – Yale Property Solutions

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 32 total)
  • Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    Hi All,
    New to the forum and new/dipping the toes into the investment property world.
    My wife and I have been having some meetings with Yale Property Solutions and the discussions have been driving towards refinancing our current home to consolidate personal debts and then to move forward with an investment property.
    The first bit is all good in our eyes….with the property bit the obviously more scary thing for first timers. Last night we had a meeting where a couple of properties were discussed and we decided on a house and land package in Geelong/Whittington (330k townhouse in a larger block development.) All the figures look good on paper etc and then overnight the doubts slowly start to creep in. Any words on whether Geelong is a good option. The data presented to us has Geelong with a Capital Growth Rate of 6.6% which we were told was good.

    I guess one of the main things is whether Yale Property Solutions have a good or a bad name around town. Google didn’t give me any massive negative feedback, but that isn’t to say I’m looking in the right places either. Has anyone dealt with them before. All of the people we have dealt with so far have been nice. Not super pushy, but at the end of the day they are selling a service, so I get that. It does seem to have moved very quickly and my wife is especially hesitant as a first time investor. I like their theory of having affiliate companies that handle the IP process from start to finish, as we are not looking to be managing this ourselves. Any feedback or advice would be appreciated.

    Cheers, Brett

    Profile photo of BuyersAgentBuyersAgent
    Participant
    @knightm
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 338

    Brett,

    Firstly well done for starting your research BEFORE you have signed on the dotted line. This forum and somersoft the other big property forum are two of the best places to get current info from a range of sources. Keep reading and your level of education will rise. This knowledge is what will help you avoid a dud decision.

    I have no knowledge of Yale solutions so I am not trying to promote or disparage them, but you have to ask yourself whether a new H/L package is the best investment for you. Often they are in areas of oversupply and have lower than average capital growth for at least 3-5 years. It may or may not be an ok deal, but you need to understand why its good, or why not.

    I posted the below paragraph previously….in the “property spruikers thread”

    “The main thing everyone needs to ask themselves (and the person in front of them!) when taking advice about property:
    How does this person get paid?

    If you can answer that you will have a better understanding of whether they are a “spruiker” or not, or whether they are there working to help you or the vendor. Remember real estate transactions are 2 sided affairs.”

    So what I am saying is that if you are an investor – and Yale gets paid by the developer (which if I was a betting man I would put $2 on) then they work for the developer. Their goal is to get rid of stock. Not to find you the best property FOR YOU.

    Any indépendant Buyers Agent would be highly likely to get you a better result. If you don’t want a BA but are patient, then invest some time in your education and read like crazy for a few months, find some successful investors (with more than 3 properties) and buy them lunch. Ask them to tell you the secret to their success.

    If its not a good deal then an overpriced H/L package as a first investment can ruin your progress and slow down your wealth building. Worse still it might be worth less than you paid in a year or 2.

    BuyersAgent | Precium
    http://www.precium.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    South Coast NSW Independent Buyers Agent - Wollongong to Batemans Bay and Regional NSW. DOWNLOAD OUR FREE 14 POINT PROPERTY BUYER'S CHEATSHEET to avoid painful mistakes at precium.com.au

    Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    Hi knightm, thanks for the reply.

    What you have said basically captures the way my wife and I are thinking. The Yale Property Coach has told us that he gets paid on the # of properties they sell, not the value. So it does sound like a “working for the developer” situation. Not to say that it ins’t a good deal, but like you say, without our own research and thoughts it is hard to know one way or the other.

    Talking today we believe it best to put the brakes on for now. We haven’t been railroaded into anything at this stage, but we do feel that we need more time to look into things on our own, form opinions etc rather than just believing what the Yale guy is telling us.
    We are still keen on the refinancing and shuffling funds around that way for now….then use the Yale services possibly for financial planning, investor seminars (which might enlighten us more to their real philosophies), read up on the “investing game” and then make an educated decision.

    Cheers

    Profile photo of BennyBenny
    Moderator
    @benny
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,416

    Hi Brett,
    When working out if a H&L sales outfit is “good or bad”, the main thing to know is the values in the area in which they are selling.

    So many of the “bad dude marketeers” will be selling in an area foreign to YOU (e.g. they would fly interstate people up to the Gold Coast FOR FREE). Without knowing the “local values”, you could be swayed into thinking “Wow, how cheap is this?” when the REALITY is that the area they are selling is even MORE cheap than they are selling.

    It is like going to a smaller city away from where you live – it is LIKELY that homes in (say) Orange will be WAY cheaper than Sydney. Your job is to find out HOW MUCH CHEAPER, and is the H&L group trying to sell for $40k MORE than a similar dwelling in that area sells from a builder. Many of the bad dudes will also offer a rental guarantee just to counter any reservations on your part (but YOU will be paying for that guarantee).

    The group you are using may well be one of the many “good guys” – I don’t know, but with careful consideration, YOU will be able to tell.

    Benny

    Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    Thanks Benny,

    I think one of the things that has thrown us a bit is that the timeline to start pushing things along is a lot shorter than we probably wanted or expected. That is why the brakes will go on and we can think more about what is best long term.

    Cheers
    Brett

    Profile photo of BuyersAgentBuyersAgent
    Participant
    @knightm
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 338

    You are in control of your financial future. You can engage professional help but if they are hard selling or rushing you then I am hearing alarm bells.

    Thanks Benny,

    I think one of the things that has thrown us a bit is that the timeline to start pushing things along is a lot shorter than we probably wanted or expected. That is why the brakes will go on and we can think more about what is best long term.

    Cheers
    Brett

    BuyersAgent | Precium
    http://www.precium.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    South Coast NSW Independent Buyers Agent - Wollongong to Batemans Bay and Regional NSW. DOWNLOAD OUR FREE 14 POINT PROPERTY BUYER'S CHEATSHEET to avoid painful mistakes at precium.com.au

    Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    You are in control of your financial future. You can engage professional help but if they are hard selling or rushing you then I am hearing alarm bells.

    Not sure I would have called it a hard sell, ie. this is the one thing to set you up for life, but you NEED to sign now etc!! Not sure I can put into words without sounding negative, what it seems their strategy with new clients is.

    I want to give them a chance because I think/feel they seem to be legit, but I also want the time like you have said to look into things, come to them with options etc and see how they deal with that.

    Time will tell.

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by Profile photo of Brett Brett.
    Profile photo of Richard TaylorRichard Taylor
    Participant
    @qlds007
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 12,024

    Hi Brett

    Jacqui (JacM) from the forum is my business partner and covers the Buyer Agency side of our business.

    She is a Geelong expert and can certainly tell you whether the property you are buying is overpriced and also give you some information on the suburb.

    Shoot her an email or PM and I sure she will give you some independent advice.

    Cheers

    Yours in Finance

    Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender

    Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    Thanks Richard, fired off a PM last night.

    Profile photo of RupertRupert
    Participant
    @rjnstef
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 1

    Hi Brett,

    You can do the following free checks for that suburb:
    1) Check the prices for all the properties sold in that suburb using http://www.onthehouse.com.au (need to register first).
    2) Check the prices of all the leased properties in that suburb using http://www.homehound.com.au.

    From there you can get some solid numbers which should help your decision.

    Good luck!

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by Profile photo of Rupert Rupert.
    Profile photo of Adrian CahillAdrian Cahill
    Participant
    @adriannqld
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 128

    Great post. Thanks for sharing this. this,something a lot of us can learn from.

    Adrian Cahill | AdrianCahill.com Personal Development Expert
    http://adriancahill.com/from-investor-to-coach/
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Here since 2002, however things have evolved over the years.

    Profile photo of DeanDean
    Participant
    @deano1972
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 3

    Glad to see that I am not the only one having a hard time trying to get hold of reviews relating to Yale Property Solutions.

    I am in Perth and just finished having a presentation from Yale and whilst I didn’t get any initial bad ‘gut feelings’ about the meeting, I don’t fully understand how my outlaying $60 a week could get me an IP. I spent 3 months researching for solar panels so I won’t be jumping into anything head on without reaching out to the experts for advice/knowledge.

    To be honest, I had not thought much about IP’s before tonight as I always viewed them as too expensive and too big a risk should it stay vacant for extended periods. What are realistic costs associated with buying an IP? To me, if $60 a week is all it took to buy a $350k IP, everyone would be doing it.

    Thanks in advance for any assistance or advice you can provide.

    Deano

    Profile photo of BennyBenny
    Moderator
    @benny
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,416

    Hi Dean,
    And a big welcome to you into our community. I hope joining up proves to be a life-changing event for you. :)

    I can’t comment on Yale specifically as I don’t know them. But this comment of yours had me smile – it reminded me of me about 25 years ago:-

    To be honest, I had not thought much about IP’s before tonight as I always viewed them as too expensive and too big a risk should it stay vacant for extended periods. What are realistic costs associated with buying an IP? To me, if $60 a week is all it took to buy a $350k IP, everyone would be doing it.

    You will very quickly learn here that there are ways to have IP’s put money IN your pocket each week. And yes, $60 a week is not much to be controlling a $350k property, for sure.

    First off, let me recommend that you go to the Home page, look on the right side (under Private Messages) and look for the “Strategies Explained” area. The first strategies are “Positive Gearing” and “Negative Gearing“. Have a read of both of those.

    The way Yale and many others promote is Negative Gearing. It is a viable and valid choice, especially in Australia, but watch out, as not all companies have your interests at heart when promoting their product.

    Then compare the Positive Gearing option. And then, to help you get up to speed on some “early learnings”, check out this thread:-
    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/topic/4410491-the-big-picture-for-new-readers-especially/

    That is all for today – we will have a test tomorrow morning….. :p Just kidding – but this can be like a good book – hard to put down…. Enjoy,

    Benny

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by Profile photo of Benny Benny.
    Profile photo of DeanDean
    Participant
    @deano1972
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 3

    Thanks for the welcome and the information. Got my cup of coffee ready and will start reading your recommendations. Yale is all about negative gearing which is where the $60 a week to own an IP came from, being on a military pension if that’s all it cost, I’m all for it but I know that won’t be the case and there are more $’s required. My brother has two IP’s, one house and one apartment and his situation is what has me nervous. The house is going great but the apartment is ending up costing them $17k a year because the developer they brought it off overvalued by a couple of hundred $k.I dare say I will have more questions but will wait until I have read your recommendations.

    Cheers for now

    Dean.

    Profile photo of BuyersAgentBuyersAgent
    Participant
    @knightm
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 338

    the apartment is ending up costing them $17k a year because the developer they brought it off overvalued by a couple of hundred $k.I dare say I will have more questions but will wait until I have read your recommendations.

    This is the fundamental problem with marketing firms that flog new stock for developers, they are not working for you but the seller. Either learn how to recognise a good deal yourself or engage someone to help with that (who you are paying solely) and then you will avoid those gross overvaluations.

    BuyersAgent | Precium
    http://www.precium.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    South Coast NSW Independent Buyers Agent - Wollongong to Batemans Bay and Regional NSW. DOWNLOAD OUR FREE 14 POINT PROPERTY BUYER'S CHEATSHEET to avoid painful mistakes at precium.com.au

    Profile photo of BrettBrett
    Participant
    @brettmc23
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 7

    Hi Dean,

    First off, let me recommend that you go to the Home page, look on the right side (under Private Messages) and look for the “Strategies Explained” area. The first strategies are “Positive Gearing” and “Negative Gearing”. Have a read of both of those.

    The way Yale and many others promote is Negative Gearing. It is a viable and valid choice, especially in Australia, but watch out, as not all companies have your interests at heart when promoting their product.

    Then compare the Positive Gearing option. And then, to help you get up to speed on some “early learnings”, check out this thread:-

    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/topic/4410491-the-big-picture-for-new-readers-especially/

    Benny

    Benny, I think this is what I am really looking for….information about the various ways that investing in IP’s can be done and the relative merits of them, which then allows educated decisions with firms like Yale.

    In the end I feel good about putting the brakes on pushing forward what was initially presented to us by Yale. With further research, discussions with people who are already investing etc. my plan of attack will be to go to them with my idea of how we would like to do something and see how open they are to that. If it is shot down in flames as “not the way you want to go, you should do this instead”, it might be alarm bells ringing.

    Cheers to all who have responded to this thread too, it is greatly appreciated.

    Profile photo of BennyBenny
    Moderator
    @benny
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,416

    Hi all,

    First off, let me recommend that you go to the Home page, look on the right side (under Private Messages) and look for the “Strategies Explained” area. The first strategies are “Positive Gearing” and “Negative Gearing”. Have a read of both of those.

    Just today, the forum underwent another transformation – what used to say “Strategies” is now titled “Training Centre”. Open that up, look under “Buying”, and the Negative Gearing articles are right there.

    In case you have trouble though, here is the direct link :-
    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/negative-gearing/

    And, in case it is of interest, here’s the other side of the coin :-
    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/positivecashflow/

    I really like the “new look” and it appears to me that the articles are a bit easier to find. In the Training Centre, some articles appear under several headings (e.g. the Negative Gearing article can be found under “Buying” and/or “Analysing” – a nice touch).

    Benny

    Profile photo of ChrisA1ChrisA1
    Participant
    @chrisa1
    Join Date: 2011
    Post Count: 172

    Great comments by everyone above.

    The only additional comments I would make is that it is best to separate the financials and the house hunting/buying processes. There are many great brokers on this forum who will step you through the refinance process, then when you are ready you can step through the buying process. There are also many great buyers agents on the forum who are experts in the areas they cover. The good thing about refinancing is that you keep the refinanced money against your PPOR mortgage until you need it, so it isn’t costing you anything until you need it.

    Take it at your own pace, you need to be on top of your game to run with companies that take you through the whole refinance and buying process all at once (as Yale appears to be doing) (it is exciting yet draining each time you go through the process!).

    I found this article (https://www.propertyinvesting.com/investing-rental-property/) a good little summary for rentals.

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by Profile photo of ChrisA1 ChrisA1. Reason: Added website link

    ChrisA1

    Persistence is 'to keep on keeping on, no matter how hard the going may be'

    Profile photo of DeanDean
    Participant
    @deano1972
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 3

    As with Brett, thank you everyone for the information you have given, the threads to research etc.

    I have parted ways with Yale prior to the end of the cooling off period as they would not give me sufficient time to research the company itself, and any financial impacts it would have on my military pensions. Needless to say, their customer service once I had signed was non existent, they didn’t reply to e-mails and fobbed me off when I phoned their head office with I will get back to you and didn’t I email you that information BS.

    I know there are three major things I need to do before investing in property, be it negative or positive. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH.

    I will continue to follow these forums over the next 6 months until I fully know what I am getting myself into, the pros and cons of each system and how it will affect me financially (my pensions) before and after I sign. Another major bit of information I overlooked while dealing with Yale is to ensure I have sufficient savings available, should any IP be unoccupied for 6 months (may seem a lot, but I think it’s better to be safe than sorry) or there is major damage done by a tenant that is not covered by insurance.

    Again, big thank you to everyone, your the reason why most people are successful in IP’s

    Regards

    Dean.

    Profile photo of PHPPHP
    Participant
    @php
    Join Date: 2014
    Post Count: 111

    Those are some pretty solid advices there. Also the links provided as well is really good for other people with the same questions in mind.

    PHP | Mortgage Station Pty Ltd
    http://www.mortgagestation.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Give us a call or send us an email for a free residex report.

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