The Crowdlords phenomenon
Thanks to companies like Seedrs, Equity Crowdsourcing for investments is proving safe and easy to take part in.
And while gimmicks like ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) have given bank savings accounts a liquidity boost, most people still shy away from the stock market.
What else would you really do with your cash? You know as well as I do: if it’s sitting in your account, you’re going to spend it.
Better to invest. And what better place than property. Everybody (retrospectively conducted a survey of 3 people, who all said yes) wants to be a landlord. The easy money is just too tempting.
But buy-to-let loans require you to put money up-front. Yes, the cheeky banks want you to contribute some cash if you want their funny money to buy a rental property.
So that rules out most people. For those who could save, there just isn’t the incentive. That ISA savings account that pays a whopping 1% interest pa just doesn’t cut the mustard.
Step in Crowdlords and Property Partner.
The latter of the two, founded by Daniel Gandesha, have the best part of £20m in the bank to give their venture some wellie. And while that money has been put toward a rather pretty website, Crowdlords’ Bethan Jenkins wins hands down for picking the name everyone will use to describe this sector with (since this was written, Crowdlords ain’t doing so well).
Both aim to do the same thing though: allow anyone to become a landlord for less than £100.
Seriously, my wife could buy all of Primark with that kind of cash. But if you want a different sort of return on your hands, clubbing together with other wannabe landlords seems the way to go.
Let’s pause for a moment and reflect:
1. New services allow anyone to become a minority shareholder in a property investment.
2. More people invest their cash, resulting in more homes being buy-to-let.
3. Fewer properties are available for owner-occupiers to purchase.
4. More private rental supply is available on the market.
I’m no Mystic REP, but I think this might cause some tension.
So, being a half glass full type of person, I have some solutions:
A. These crowdfunding sites take a ethical and long-term view.
B. They invest in build-to-rent.
C. Increasing housing supply and also creating capital value for crowd-investors.
D. They borrow against/leverage these now rented out properties.
E. And rinse/repeat — giving investors a great return on capital.
It’s probably too much to hope for the words landlord and ethical to be in the same sentence, but one can nudge people in a better direction.
Alternatively: replace the role of the mortgage, and rescue people from the rent trap by allowing them to buy a home without a loan.
Read more Commentary from the Real Estate Pundit
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Apr 26, 2016
Apr 26, 2016
href=”/home/2016/private-help-to-buy”
class=”summary-title-link”>Why isn’t there a Private Help to Buy
Apr 26, 2016
Apr 26, 2016
I know of at least three start-ups and two corporates trying to launch a ‘Private Help to Buy’.
IMO all of them will fail.
Apr 26, 2016
Apr 26, 2016
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Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
href=”/home/build-a-box-to-rent-is-wrong”
class=”summary-title-link”>Build-a-box-to-rent is wrong — Why The Real Estate Pundit doesn’t support Build-to-rent, and you shouldn’t too
Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
Why are developers so convinced that build-to-rent is ‘needed’?
Is it because expensive consultants see it as a quick way to ‘sell’ them into the Private Rented Sector?
Or is it the lazy asset managers who need the ‘one deal’ route into private rented property?
Regardless of who and why, building dorm rooms for adults is just wrong.
Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
Mar 30, 2016
build to rent, build a box to rent, qatari diar, createstreets, propertyshe, susan freeman, PRS, private rented sector, pension funds
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Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
href=”/home/2014/who-is-the-best-online-letting-agent”
class=”summary-title-link”>Who is the best online lettings agent?
Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
Lettings agency is not a difficult job, and landlords certainly don’t have the same fears as they would when selling, so the motivations that force them into using an agent are different.
So for DIY landlords to access Rightmove and Zoopla via online agency makes rational sense.
We dive into who is the biggest and best of the UK’s online lettings agents.
Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
Feb 3, 2016
openrent, UK, rentify, online agents, Upad
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Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
href=”/home/2014/airbnb-for-student-accommodation”
class=”summary-title-link”>Airbnb for student accommodation
Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
It seems to be that everyone is building an ‘Airbnb for student accommodation’.
But have they missed the point of providing ‘trust’ and ‘value’ for students and landlords?
Yup.
Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
Nov 10, 2015
Cherrybird, Nestpick, Uniplaces, Bedcount, Flat Club, StudentPad, Accommodation for Students, ACUHO, ASRA, AACUHO
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Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015
href=”/home/rip-easyproperty”
class=”summary-title-link”>RIP Easyproperty
Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015
Easyproperty, the late to the market online estate agent, pulled a marketing stunt mourning the death of high street agents.
The irony, as a start-up, is that Easyproperty is more likely to be placed on the scrap heap than those ‘over-charging’ high street agents. Why?
They’re low service, late to the party and their low fees basically tell homeowners they’ll sell their property for less.
Congratulations on launching, Easyproperty, it was nice knowing you.
Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015
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Sep 1, 2015
Sep 1, 2015
href=”/home/2015/hear-emoov-buy-rightmove”
class=”summary-title-link”>When online estate agents raise capital, buy Rightmove shares
Sep 1, 2015
Sep 1, 2015
If you have spare cash to invest, and would like a stellar return, I’d recommend buying Rightmove shares every time an online agent raises capital.
It is Rightmove after all that makes all the profit, while Emoov takes on all the costs.
Sep 1, 2015
Sep 1, 2015
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Aug 14, 2015
Aug 14, 2015
href=”/home/2015/5000-uk-agents-have-a-springett-in-their-next-step”
class=”summary-title-link”>Are 5,000 UK Agents Losing the Springett In Their Step
Aug 14, 2015
Aug 14, 2015
OnTheMarket.com (OTM) set out to split the memberships of the Rightmove and Zoopla duopoly. While the jury is still out on its chances of success, the start-up has definitely succeeded in splitting opinion.
But what is the next step for OnTheMarket? Here’s my thesis.
Aug 14, 2015
Aug 14, 2015
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Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
href=”/home/2015/the-property-tech-i-would-invest-in”
class=”summary-title-link”>The Property Tech I would invest in
Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
I’m about to invest in a property tech company.
Before making this decision, I thought carefully about who else I would want to invest in.
Those companies are detailed below. I thought it important to include how much I would invest, and why.
Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
Aug 6, 2015
Commentary, Popular, UK PropTech Start-ups
Knocker, PropertyPartner, Radpad, Opendoor, Splittable, Crowdlords, Realla, FixFlo, Locatable, OpenDoor, LandInsight
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Aug 5, 2015
Aug 5, 2015
href=”/home/2015/crowdfunding-to-buy-a-home”
class=”summary-title-link”>Don’t get a mortgage, get a crowd
Aug 5, 2015
Aug 5, 2015
No one need ever worry about renting ever again. Find a house to buy, put it on a platform like Crowdlords with the rent you’ll pay to your co-owners and (if you get funded) you’re now free of landlords forever.
Goodbye nasty landlord. Hello Crowdlord.
Aug 5, 2015
Aug 5, 2015
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Jul 2, 2015
Jul 2, 2015
href=”/home/open-data”
class=”summary-title-link”>How important is Open Data in Real Estate?
Jul 2, 2015
Jul 2, 2015
Data can show what humans cannot articulate clearly, or have not spotted.
Should large sets of property data be available for analysis, would real estate agents, let alone consumers, really gain in a meaningful way?
Jul 2, 2015
Jul 2, 2015
