Platinum Property Group

[Investment]

Hello All,



Has any one heard about Platinum Property Group ? Maybe dealing with them at the moment ...

I am now considering using their service and I would appreciate any comment you may have.



Thanks & regards,

Danniel

 

[housingrental]

I think I have seen ads for them in Canada real estate magazine regularly

I trust that helps

 

[brightdreams]

I have used them to buy properties and i don't recommend this group to anyone. If you need more info please pm me.

 

[Kennyk171]

Hi, i was interested in investing with platinum, until i saw your post. Can i ask for more information of your experience with them? Thank you.

 

[brightdreams]

All i can say is i am not happy with their projects. Please PM me if you want specific advice. I will not recommend this group to anyone.



If you decide to invest i advice you to do thorough due diligence on the projects and DO NOT believe what they tell you to sell their properties.



Thanks

 

[MaximeValmont]

@HousingRental,


And what does it have to do with if they are good or not...??

 

[Rickson9]

Your humour is lost on him.

 

[housingrental]

Hi Maxime

You are right, as you are implying it does not have anything to do with if they are good or not



[quote user=MaximeValmont]

@HousingRental,


And what does it have to do with if they are good or not...??

 

[housingrental]

Very true. I do not know why.



[quote user=Rickson9]Your humour is lost on him.

 

[JanBowler]

We have a few of their properties in our portfolio, (ie. we have more individually-owned places than with PPG) and have been happy thus far. They buy a less than perfect building or complex, and make significant improvements then sell individual units at fair market value. Management fees are low and they use a rental pool arrangement. Now, I"m sure some of their projects do better than others, and we have yet to sell one of these properties so can't comment on this aspect. You won't necessarily get a "bargain" but you can't get more hands off than this. It is probably suited to people who have limited time for real estate but who want to have real estate in their investments. Their staff/owners of the company often invest in their projects which seems to suggest they have confidence in their product. You still have to do your due diligence.

 

[PeterM]

I've bought properties from Platinum Properties, 20/20 Properties,
Generation Properties and have looked at a few others. In my opinion
the advantages are:

- super low level of work

- company looks after whole package - acquisition, renos, putting management in place, etc.

- benefits of a rental pool, ie. very hands-off

- can get you into a good market that might otherwise be a lot of work for you to do on your own

- often the people selling you the units also invest in the same
building which provides some assurance of caring for the longer term



Some potential disadvantages are:

- You end up owning in a building that is essentially all rentals, which
can hurt in terms of ongoing maintenance and exit strategy

- Some of the towns they choose don't have the strongest economies

- Sometimes the buildings are in crappy areas (and unless you know the city, you may not realize this)

- Although they tend to do a decent job of the short term renos, the
reserve fund plan is rarely sufficient to keep the building maintained
without special assessments 3-6 years down the road.

- Often have the issue that most older condo buildings have: relatively high condo fees.



I started out with these and still look at these out of interest, but I've moved on to prefer buying independently.



Peter



PS. Note that Platinum Equities of Calgary is a totally different company (and should definitely be avoided).

 

[Johanne]

I bought 3 properties with them in ON and I would not recommend the group to anyone. They are the one making the money.

 

[brightdreams]

Platinum Properties Group put very little money in projects to start with. As a result you will see special assessments and condo fee increase in few years. The projections they present to investors doesn't make any sense in few years as PM will keep on asking for more money to keep the required reserve fund level.



In my opinion they do lipstic work to sell their units and thus passing on major work to innocent investors.



All educated investors should avoid this group.

 

[JanBowler]

It is interesting to see the replies about PPG. They do have a capital expense fund that they tell you in advance needs to be added to every few years so that no one owner has to cover reno/repair costs on their own - it is part of being in a co-op. When we look at repair/improvement expenses on our individually owned properties, they do take a bite out of income and you have to have money set aside of this too - it really isn't much different. The upside is their complete package of looking after everything, and no phone calls about anything to do with the property. I don't think they are to be avoided - only to be aware of their model and how they run things. They seem to have more projects in Alberta of late. We are currently selling one of our Ontario places and we may have a different opinion after we go through that process, but their management seems to be on good working terms with our realtor.

 

[JamesHenry]

I heard about this company is very quick time. This is the best dealing company in my opinion. It is very faithfully company. so keep it up dear.

 

[housingrental]

Hi JamesHenry

I would like to hear more about your dealings with the company.

Thank you

 

[reinvan]

I agree with Brightdreams and Johann.. have had losses over 50K due to their broken 'renovation promises'.



I would advise to steer clear, unless you like litigation with unpredictable endings.



Yes, they have a model.

Yes, it's hands-off. - It works to their advantage that you never check up on them.



When you go to sell the property(s) - and I've owned 4 now, and the story is the same every time, you find out the property has never had the promised renovations, and/or it is in poor condition and you can't get what you paid for it, despite an increase in real estate market since you bought it two-three years ago. You end up paying for the renos yourself, and our losses have climbed to over 50K with just the last one we sold.



If you don't sell within the first few years, you'll never find out these issues. You will assume the wear and tear is normal.

You won't discover the renovations weren't done, and the unit shows poorly, therefore the tenants they put in are poor, and the unit rapidly declines from poor to worse. I have horror stories, backed up by reports, pictures, and contradictions in writing, from the company, management, president, you name it. Saying they did renos. Saying they weren't supposed to. Saying they couldn't do them because of tenants. And on and on.



If you have had similar nightmares with one or more PPG property, let's discuss. We may want to move to class action law suit.



Take that as a cautionary tale- if you are considering PPG, I advise to stay away; and I wish someone had told me the same years ago.

 

[brightdreams]

Hi



I heard similar stories and personally experienced with my properties bought from them. They promised renovated units. But when I send my realtor to get me appraisal the story is different. Its filthy and in a very poor condition. Nothing done at all inside-everything original compared to what I was told. I talked to their president and same answer as you mentioned.



We wont be able to sell as value is down in spite of good market in Alberta. Its very disappointing that they cheat innocent investors by showing them nice pictures of the project.



I will not be surprised if class action is launched against this company.