Property Syndicates

A

aura

Registered User
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From looking at properties from around Europe and beyond, I have been considering the option of a property syndicate. The basics seem to be you put up anything from 50k to 200k into a pre organised syndicate and they purchases a large property on behalf of the group. From looking at the business post on Sunday it recommends to be very careful as the charges and commissions can be very expensive as well as the possibility that you may have a buy in clause!
My question is has anyone joined any of these syndicates? Where did you buy? And could you suggest any companies to investigate? What sort of gain did they suggest?

Many thanks
Aura
 

Normally there is only a once off admin fee and thats all. Thats all i paid. (German Syndicate) If i were to invest in another one i would look into belfry7 which is investing in English commercial property. Minimum 130K investment. The returns from the previous ones are amazing. Think the sbpost did an article on them at the weekend.
 
Syndicates are useful in the German context if you are going into residential (apartment) purchase. Where the entire block can be bought by the syndicate, it gets you around problems with lift maintenance etc., the kinds of issues that your tenants can withhold rent over but you can do nothing about if you are a one-off investor. These issues are not major in markets like Ireland, but in Germany where people may stay for twenty years in an apartment, this kind of thing is problematic. Syndication gets you around this at least. You may wind up paying a little more for the property, but there is safety in numbers!
 
That’s the one that was recommended to me and a friend of mine invested 6yrs ago and has seen fantastic returns! What do you thing of the syndicate they are putting together for Hong Kong?
Cheers for the response
Aura
 
aura said:
That’s the one that was recommended to me and a friend of mine invested 6yrs ago and has seen fantastic returns! What do you thing of the syndicate they are putting together for Hong Kong?
Cheers for the response
Aura
Click to expand...

Your friend is indeed lucky. I heard that returns were over 200%. The guy who owned Kindle is involved in it. Only heard the one they are putting together for Japan. Have not been following the Asian market but heard that the Japanese property is showing increases.
 
There are companies doing them for German commercial property especially hospitals and retirement homes as apparently the German population is on average the oldest in Europe (I have not verified this personally however). Combine this with a huge economy thats is beginning to grow and figures may look pretty good.
 

Interesting, although i think the average age will decrease with the opening of their borders to EU (Poland in mind) residents. Just what they will need aswell to give more fuel to their growing economy. But certainly, Germany is a good bet, investment wise.
 
I have started doing some research into property syndicates and the one main problem that I encounter is that there are so many companies offering deals. On the one hand you have the banks offering syndicate purchases across Europe and Asia. But you also have accountants offering syndicates across the UK and Europe. There are also fees/ hidden fees and commissions and small print to contend with that you sometimes feel like giving it up as a bad job!!!!
Any advice? Can you recommend a company/compainies?

Aura
 
aura said:
Any advice? Can you recommend a company/compainies?

Aura
Click to expand...

Your best strategy is to either find a good syndicate (that you have researched) and follow them or decide what assets class(residential,commercial) ,and what country you would like to invest in ,and then find a syndicate that is currently dealing with that market.

And the minimum amount that the investment requires may also be a factor.

Lastly, whilst your friend got excellent returns with Belfry , that was (to my knowledge) very rare. You should also beware that you may lose money aswell.
 
Aura,

As you are also new to the property syndicate / fund game then you should check whether the syndicate or company running putting the syndicate together is regulated by the financial regulator (IFSRA) as this may give you more peace of mind. Auto is spot or re Germany and the buying power of syndicates can also help you enter sectors that you would have been prohibited to do before because of the funds needs e.g. for a commercial property. But, as ever, research the syndicate and its potential sector well before deciding.

Good luck,

Simon
 
I would go even further, I don't think I would buy a residential apartment in Germany unless I was in a syndicate that bought the entire block, other than buying the block myself. Too many problems down the line if you are a one-off owner in a block with a strong residents associatin, and where there are problems with common areas.
 
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