Our 4 Property Guarantees: taking away the risk in working with us!
Brett Alegre-WoodChairman, YPC Group
We've been offering these guarantees since 2006 and they are still going strong.
I learnt early on in business that people respond better if they don't have to take a lot of risk.
It was a principle that was drummed into me as I studied marketing and advertising. In those circles it's called risk reversal and I've decided to apply it to my own business. This means that rather than having you begin your relationship with us by taking all the risks yourself, we take them from you by giving you a guarantee that certain things will and won't happen.
So what are these guarantees I'm talking about?
Mortgage Guarantee. If we cannot get you a mortgage Decision in Principle you'll get your finders fees back.
Rent Received Guarantee. If the rent you receive is not within £50 per calendar month for properties below £200,000 or £100 per calendar month for properties above £200,000 of what our research says, we will pay you the difference for 2 years.
Two Year Rent Guarantee. If your property is void for more than 6 weeks at a time at any stage during the first two years from completion we will pay the realistic market rent until it is.
24 Hour Property Sleep Test. Once you have decided to go ahead we'll give you a full 24 hours to sleep on your decision. If you don't have a restful night's sleep, tell us and you'll have lost nothing.
This gives you peace of mind and importantly, makes the entire process predictable. You'll have certainty that things will happen the way we said they will. But if for some reason they don't, you'll be suitably compensated.
Every investor has fears when starting out, but this process has been designed to minimise them as much as possible. The other thing it does is take away some of the emotional hurdles you will encounter as you build your portfolio.
As you can imagine we are taking on considerable risk here, but I really believe that our team can perform on each one of these property guarantees. They are trained in my fundamental principles and I believe the quality of our property and the research in the areas we invest is so good that only a very small portion of clients will need to exercise any of these guarantees.
Seems too good to be true?
I know it might seem too good to be true but in the spirit of my 1, 2 STOP strategy, I think this will get our relationship off to a fantastic start. After all, you are guaranteed to let the property and receive a rent in the region that you expected. The bottom line is that if we don't offer you properties that meet these strict criteria we don't deserve to be paid.
Let's get this relationship started!
Please have a read of the conditions below and if you have any questions please call the team, they will be happy to clarify anything.
Live with passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood
PS: Our guarantees are offered in the spirit of building a strong and long-term relationship and in creating a massive point of difference between YourPropertyClub and many of the other companies that offer all sorts of properties out there, but yes, as with everything in life there are conditions.
It's such a shame that life these days is so complicated, but I feel I should spell out exactly what I mean by each guarantee. These conditions are listed below in the large print. (I have nothing to hide). I reserve the right to withdraw this at any stage if I feel that people are abusing the offer.
The Small Print in Large Type (Terms and Conditions)
1. 'YPC' refers to 'YourPropertyClub Ltd', 'YPC Group Ltd', 'YPC Lettings Ltd', 'YourPropertyPlatform Ltd' and other companies as part of the YPC Group of companies.
2. These guarantees are not applicable on Off Plan properties. Off Plan property is generally a property where exchange of contracts and legal completion are not simultaneous.
Reservation and finders fees:
3. You must be paid on time as indicated on the invoice and normally within 7 days of reservation. This is taken to be receipt into our bank account. YPC does not accept cheques.
Mortgage Guarantee:
4. The idea of this guarantee is to give you assurance that you will not lose your finders fees if you are unable to get a decision in principle from a recognised mortgage company.
5. Must use a Mortgage Broker from our designated panel and a lender that they advise. Please note that these brokers are totally independent and will represent your interests not ours, they will choose an appropriate lender for you.
6. This guarantee is only applicable to the finders fees paid to YPC. It does not cover other costs incurred in buying the process nor the Reservation fees that you may pay either directly to the developer/seller or that you pay indirectly through YPC to the developer/seller.
7. This guarantee expires 14 days after original reservation date therefore the onus is on you to ensure you return all details to the broker in an appropriate time scale.
8. Should you choose to continue with the purchase of the property you will be required to pay full fees as normal.
Rent Received Guarantee
9. The idea behind this guarantee is to give you certainty that we have undertaken our due diligence and to the best of our knowledge you will receive an amount within ?50/?100 of the Realistic Market Rent taken from the Cash flow worksheet as published on our website at the time of reservation of your property.
10. For properties valued above the £200,000 valuation the rent will be within £100 per calendar month and for properties valued below the £200,000 valuation the rent will be within £50 per calendar month.
An illustration is given below.
11. If the difference between the rent we said you would receive and the gross rent agreed with the tenant is greater than £50 per calendar month we will pay the difference between gross rent received and ?50 for a period of 2 years. So if we said £500 per calendar month and you actually receive £400 you would receive £1200. (£50 per calendar month x 24 months) So you would receive £1200.
12. This guarantee is only applicable to the first time that the property is let out.
13. In the event you reject a suitable tenant this guarantee will be void. A suitable tenant is considered to be any applicant who passes tenant referencing.
14. This guarantee is only applicable if you are using YPC Lettings Ltd for the management of the property.
Two Year Rent Guarantee
15. The idea of this guarantee is that our due diligence into the location of the property and the specific development will mean your property has a fantastic chance of being let out within 6 weeks of the completion date or within 6 weeks of the subsequent move out date within the first two years.
16. In the event flooring is required the guaranteed is that the property is let out within 8 weeks of the completion date.
17. 'Let out' as referred to above means a tenant expresses interest and the agent says that they have confirmed they are taking the property. This will normally mean the date the potential tenant lodges an application and not when they actually move in. This may mean that they move in after the expiry of the 6/8 weeks mentioned above.
18. If a suitable tenant is found and they require furniture you must provide this otherwise this guarantee will become void.
19. In the event you reject a suitable tenant this guarantee will be void. A suitable tenant is considered to be any applicant who passes tenant referencing.
20. If any of the 6 weeks guarantee period coincides with bank holidays and other public holidays the guarantee is extended to 8 weeks from completion or move out date.
21. YPC will not guarantee against a potential tenant who does not pass their referencing checks. Estate agents upon receiving an application may stop marketing the property. Referencing can take up to a week or more therefore YPC cannot guarantee that a tenant will pass referencing. In the event an application is rejected due to referencing coming back unsuitable this guarantee will not apply.
22. This guarantee is only applicable if you are using YPC Lettings Ltd for the management of the property.
General conditions (these apply to all the guarantees where applicable).
23. All guarantee payments will be to a maximum value of the Finders Fee Amount that you have paid.
24. If at any point along the process between Reservation and your first let or from notification of move out and re-let you become uncontactable for more than 48 hours without prior warning or you do not return calls/emails within 48 hours all guarantees become void.
25. Property investment presents many risks and YPC will not underwrite the 'market risk' of property. This means that we cannot predict what will happen with the property's value and market rent within the market over a long period of time. The guarantee is not valid on all developments especially those that are off plan, you will be told prior to reservation if the guarantee applies to this development.
26. We will not guarantee against the 'market risk' and therefore in the case where a development benefiting from the guarantees takes more than three months to complete after the initial YPC launch date to let out we reserve the right to cancel all guarantees or adjust the realistic Market Rent stated on the cash flow worksheet. The YPC launch date shall be deemed to be the date of the initial email launch or when the property is made live on our website whichever is the earlier.
27. The property must be in a tenantable condition for the guarantees to be valid, this can mean that if major snagging issues arise that affect the ability of the property to be let out this may void the guarantees. Obviously we would work hard at correcting these issues before they affect the lettings but YPC cannot guarantee the overall build quality of each development and plot. This will be at the sole discretion of the team at YPC.
28. Should you choose not to use our chosen Snagging Company to deal with snagging items on your property all guarantees will be void. Should Snagging fees be paid late all guarantees will be void.
29. You must use a Solicitor from our designated panel for the conveyance, which is available at the time of reservation.
30. If at any time it is felt that you have compromised the ability of the property to let out the guarantees will be void.
31. All guarantees are void if you choose not to use YPC Lettings as your appointed Letting Agent, this includes using our appointed letting agent to find the tenant. We cannot accept responsibility for the poor performance of agents we are not managing.
32. Guarantees may be withdrawn without notice at any stage. This will not apply to properties that have already been offered the guarantees and which all fees have been paid.
33. These guarantees do not affect your statutory rights.
Error or Omit Error
(Last updated 31 May 2010.)
Reader comments for the article 'Our 4 Property Guarantees: taking away the risk in working with us!'
You're invited to join in the discussion of this article. Do you have advice to share? An opinion or some feedback that adds to the discussion? Feel free to add it below!
Please leave a comment -- we'd love to hear your point of view. Please note though that ALL comments are checked before they're posted.
What every property investor must consider for the next two years
Could your interest rate go to 14% within 2 years?
Careful you aren't talking yourself into a double dip...
How to prepare for tomorrow's property market without affecting your lifestyle today...
What's next for the UK property market? A drop? or rebound? You decide...
Watch the moment Brett Alegre-Wood wins the People's Book Prize award...