Dodgy Investment?

[Marty Funkhouser]

Or a sound one?

Anyone here know how these schemes work?

http://www.caribbean-investment-property.com/

[matsmith]

DonkeyApple on the spread betting as a full time occupation thread said:

Or these spectacular returns from special investments such as land overseas, or wine.

Only last week an office near me which had been full of salesmen selling plots in the Carrib, shut up shop over night and legged it with the deposit money.

I'd be wary...

[marky1]

Just look at it, what does it make you think? There is not even an address for the agent on the website, does that not say it all?
People need to realise that a "rental guarantee" is only as good as the company that underwrites it, i.e in most cases pretty worthless.

The Merricks, they have been trying to sell that $hite for at least 4 years.

[flyingjase]

marky1 said:

People need to realise that a "rental guarantee" is only as good as the company that underwrites it, i.e in most cases pretty worthless.
.

This

Just look at Imagine Homes

I get sent these deals quite often and often thought about it but unless it's underwritten by a large blue chip I'd be wary.

[DonkeyApple]

Marty Funkhouser said:

Or a sound one?

Anyone here know how these schemes work?

http://www.caribbean-investment-property.com/

Step one, check their website for contact details and Google the address. This is to see what kind of address it is and also to see if other businesses are linked to this address.

You can often find a raft of similar 'cash raising' enterprises linked together.

In this instance, the website has no address details. This for me kills it instantly.

Next you would Google the local rate number. These are not used to spare clients' money but to mask the geographic location of the entity in many cases.

However, if you wish to continue the next step is to look at the company at Companies House.

What you are looking for are two things. The first is whether there is a raft of dissolved companies of a very similar name. Some types of people just love re-suing the same name.

Have a look here for yourself: http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/dd6c27e114d9c73e...

Finally, pay to download the accounts for this company. How long has it been trading? Who are the directors?

With the directors if they are based in offshore jurisdictions then they are almost certainly nominees and you have to infer they are being used to hide the person behind this. If they are UK, they may still be nominees but you can Google to find this out or if there are any articles about such a person being involved in other businesses.

I would also download the accounts of the dissolved but similarly names businesses to see what pattern they followed.

The final thing to check is just how they contacted you or where you found out about them. Again this will actually give you a very good indication as to their intentions. Cold calls, spam mail or adverts on certain types of websites are a classic sign.

You could also check out Midas Investment Property.

For me a one minute check of their website and Companies House has lead me to the personal opinion that I would not be dealing with them.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Friday 12th November 13:13

[Marty Funkhouser]

DonkeyApple said:

Marty Funkhouser said:

Or a sound one?

Anyone here know how these schemes work?

http://www.caribbean-investment-property.com/

Step one, check their website for contact details and Google the address. This is to see what kind of address it is and also to see if other businesses are linked to this address.

You can often find a raft of similar 'cash raising' enterprises linked together.

In this instance, the website has no address details. This for me kills it instantly.

Next you would Google the local rate number. These are not used to spare clients' money but to mask the geographic location of the entity in many cases.

However, if you wish to continue the next step is to look at the company at Companies House.

What you are looking for are two things. The first is whether there is a raft of dissolved companies of a very similar name. Some types of people just love re-suing the same name.

Have a look here for yourself: http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/dd6c27e114d9c73e...

Finally, pay to download the accounts for this company. How long has it been trading? Who are the directors?

With the directors if they are based in offshore jurisdictions then they are almost certainly nominees and you have to infer they are being used to hide the person behind this. If they are UK, they may still be nominees but you can Google to find this out or if there are any articles about such a person being involved in other businesses.

I would also download the accounts of the dissolved but similarly names businesses to see what pattern they followed.

The final thing to check is just how they contacted you or where you found out about them. Again this will actually give you a very good indication as to their intentions. Cold calls, spam mail or adverts on certain types of websites are a classic sign.

You could also check out Midas Investment Property.

For me a one minute check of their website and Companies House has lead me to the personal opinion that I would not be dealing with them.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Friday 12th November 13:13

Cheers for that detailed reply - why the negative response in this case?

Edited by Marty Funkhouser on Friday 12th November 16:21

[Galileo1]

one of many, this ones dissolved!

http://openinvest.co.uk/index.php

[DonkeyApple]

Galileo1 said:

one of many, this ones dissolved!

http://openinvest.co.uk/index.php

http://www.stevenjinnes.co.uk/index.php

Beginning to look a little bit like one of those grim 'franchise' deals where you pay money to sell stuff your mates.