Investing in social Housing - guaranteed 8 - 10 % returns, too good to be true?

[BritishExpat]

Hello all

I have been receiving targeted promo material for a while now and requested a promo pack. The company in question Avora Capital which is an investment arm of Sterling Woodrow. In theory, this would suit me as we have some capital to invest, and we're looking for a decent return. We had initially considered buying a BTL property, putting down a big deposit and mortgaging the remainder, with a view that the rent would cover the mortgage and we would try to overpay and pay it off ASAP and this would provide a nice retirement income for us, I'm 50 and ideally would like to retire at 65.

I keep thinking that a fool and his money are easily parted, and would hate to invest a significant amount of money (min buy in is 50K, we could potentially invest 100K at a stretch) only to loose it.

The reason I'm putting this up on here is to see whether any of you have any experience / knowledge you would like to share. I've always found this forum to be full of really helpful and well informed individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and would appreciate any input.

Alternatively, if any of you can suggest a better use of my money, where it would be safe but generate a reasonable rate of return I'm all ears. I do plan to have a sit down with a financial advisor, but need to find out more first. I've never played the stock market and don't own any shares, IO had thought about investing in a index linked tracker fund but again need to find out more.

Here's the blurb

Avora Capital; a reputable U.K company purchase exclusive property assets across U.K to provide turnkey investments for individual investors. Avora Capital identifies growing and emerging markets. We have a strong proven track record of providing 100% returns to our investors. At Avora Capital we offer you security, diversification, and market leading rental returns from buy to let property, without the day-to-day hassle of being a landlord. The strategy of our portfolio is very simple, investor funds are used to purchase a wide range of income producing property assets in multiple sectors throughout the UK. The income generated from these assets is then distributed amongst investors giving you a minimum return of 8% per year over a 5-year period.

(No off plan projects, all investors receive returns from day one)



Investment Overview



The investment process is very straight forward. As an investor you would normally buy a residential apartment or home and then have to take on all the responsibilities of a landlord. With Avora Capital we truly offer a complete hand off approach investment with no charges incurred. Via our investment process you have no liability or cost:



No Management Fee, No maintenance fee, No estate agent fee, No Landlord Insurance, No Furniture cost, No Mortgage payment, No Void period, No Stamp Duty, No Solicitor Fees


Our investment really is a saving heaven for buy to let landlords who are tired of giving away their returns to additional cost involved with the buy to let market.



Via Avora Capital you can enter the U.K buy to let market with the process of company shares ownership. We sell you Avora Capital shares starting from as little as £50,000 and you are provided with 8% Net Guaranteed returns for 5 years. Payment are made quarterly to the designated bank account of the investor.



The Sale Process



The sale process is very clear and simple when taking ownership of a company shares. No lengthy legal documents and solicitors to deal with; as you would when buying a normal buy to let property in U.K. The sale process follows as:



Investment amount agreed with investor
Complete shares form / booking form alongside with a £1,000 deposit
Provide I.D / Proof of address for AML checks
Remaining balance to be paid to Avora Capital
Upon receipt of final payment and completion – Shares are issued in the value of investment made
Share certificate produced and provided to the client
Investor registered with the security Trustee as 1st Charge


The above 7 steps are a simple breakdown of the procedure to acquire Avora Capital property portfolio. You simple enjoy you returns for the next 5 years and then utilise our secure exit strategy at the end of your investment and collect your capital appreciation.



Security? How secure is your investment?



Avora Capital have a complete transparency approach. We have been widely praised by our sales agents & investors for the security measures we put in place to protect our investors. We currently have a 1st charge against the Avora Capital company assets, which can be viewed on public domains. The 1st charge has been applied by Mandaris Group who are a large security trustee based in Switzerland & Malta, Established since 1933. The 1st charge has been sanctioned independently by the security trustee. This effectively gives clients the highest level of security available in U.K over the property; in essence this is the same method applied by major Banks to secure themselves when providing loans and mortgages.



We are also extremely transparent. All our company information can be viewed on Company House public domain. Investors will be provided with annual accounts to show growth in the company and their investment. We also inform all our investors of every new development we acquire as they are part owner in every development due to their shares ownership.



Transparency



Avora Capital take pride in saying our investment process is one of the most transparent investment opportunity on the market. Everything is recorded on public domain (company House) due to the company shares method we apply for our investors. You can view not only company accounts but also the monthly allocated shares we are putting in to investors names who have invested within Avora Capital. No confusing legal documentation; which always are never completely clear or straight forward. You complete a simple shares form which agrees the number of shares intending to purchase, make payment and receive your share certificate as proof of ownership. Simple, transparent and straight forward.





Exit Strategy



At the end of the 5th year. Avora Capital intend to sell the whole £50m portfolio at market value. We predict a 20% to 25% uplift in the market over the next 5 years. Upon the sale of the whole property portfolio your shares will be purchased back from the company and you will exit the investment with a 20% profitable uplift on your original investment value. There are flexible option as an investor wishing to exit prior to the 5th year; however they would not reap the rewards when the whole portfolio is sold as they would of given up their shares at the time of early exit.



Investment Example at 100k



ROI EXAMPLE

Return of Investment Example

Purchase Price:

£100,000

Share Price:

£1 per share

Minimum Return Per Annum:

8% = £8,000 pa

5-year Rental Term:

£8,000 x 5 years = £40,000

Capital Gains:

Share price has increased to £1.20 in year 5

Exit:

You sell your shares back to Avora capital at £1.20 giving you a £20,000 profit. (20%)

Total return over 5 years:

£172,000 (72% R.O.I)

If you've made it this far many thanks and please share your thoughts.

Thanks all

[KavKav]

Very high risk, in my opinion, and good luck getting hold of your funds after the 5 year period, which if the company is still in existence, is highly unlikely to be a simple procedure as any amount of financial delaying/avoidance strategies could be lawfully employed.

(Not that I am suggesting this will be the case as I am sure that all persons involved in the management/operation of this scheme are upstanding people without a deceitful thought in their heads.)

But, be prepared to lose your entire investment without the normal safety-net avenues of recourse to go to and a well repeated maxim is that ‘If it sounds too good to be true then it is invariably exactly that’, so I can only suggest that you exercise the most extreme caution when considering this and similar investment ‘opportunities’.

Please note, the content of my reply is my personal opinion only and my comments are not in any way to be construed as offering financial advice.

[reggie747]

Have they got any bridges for sale aswell ?

[dandanthewatchman]

2 mins on companies house and Google had raised a number of red flags for me.




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[Onelasttime]

Without reading all the guff, where is the social housing element? They mention multiple sectors?

Shame this is G&D as I'd like to describe what I think about them in my own words. The word 'sharks' springs to mind.

[dandanthewatchman]

One of the directors is a motivational speaker. That’s the first red flag. Dig around the holding company and see Charges to Malta and I’d be running a mile


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[demonloop]

I keep thinking that a fool and his money are easily parted

This x100

BTL is hard work too, even more so if you're not close-by to deal with issues

You can get ~4% in savings products now, if you're willing to tie in for a few years

[Bondurant]

No-one can guarantee investment returns. Scam. Please do not give them your money.

[Scepticalist]

One of the directors is a motivational speaker. That’s the first red flag. Dig around the holding company and see Charges to Malta and I’d be running a mile
TZ-UK mobile app

This. Also:

Social Housing - playing the sympathy card.
A holding company name fairly obviously playing on the more well known name "Taylor Woodrow" (now part of Taylor Wimpey)
A website clearly trying to look bigger than the company actually is.

[glyn696486]

I am no investment expert but it looks like they have very little cash available to deliver there vision. Shylocks would be the best description i could find for them.

Have you looked at serviced apartments, in the right area the returns can be quite strong.

[Halitosis]

Any genuine investment providing a guaranteed 8-10% per annum wouldn’t need to promote itself.

[draftsmann]

The charge to a Malta trustee company will be to a security trustee, which is actually for the protection of investors. I don’t know the trust company or anyone connected with it but they are authorised by the Malta FSA.

Otherwise, I’d agree with previous comments re risk etc. For a property fund one key point to consider is the inherent lack of liquidity. This means that depending on a variety of factors it may well take some time to get your capital back out.

[Jubal]

If you like property investment as a concept another method is private investment into single projects. Usually done within an SPV or such to define the ownership clearly and hence the returns. Naturally, nothing’s guaranteed, especially in these times, but at least if there’s bricks and mortar / plot owned by the group that will be developed it feels like the risk is lowered.

Commercial to residential has been a fave for a while but the current climate makes me not so sure. I also see quite a few suburban builds where a large plot is maximised by dropping the house and building three in its place etc.

I’m sure someone will be along to point out how many of these are bogus with tame builders overcharging to extract profits for the originators or whatever but like everything, buy the seller.

[gunner]

Social housing would involve some sort of registered provider, not that there seems any substance to them mentioning it in the first place.

If you were set on property and wanted less counterparty risk, REITs are still trading a a fairly hefty discount to NAV.

Definitely no guaranteed 8% returns though.

[Maris]

Have a look at Civitas Social Housing shares - 9% dividend, personally I wouldn’t as any share with such a good dividend is not usually a good long term bet.

[noTAGlove]

any share with such a good dividend is not usually a good long term bet.

Found that to my cost with Evraz.

[Barryboy]

My experience in property investment is limited, but having read through this I immediately pictured the cowardly Knights of Ni in Monty Python's movie... "Run away... run away!" I can't apply any scientific or economic reasoning behind that feeling but it seems to be on the borderline of maybe/could be just possible and too good to be true.