Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

Montblanc Investments (anyone heard of them?)

M

moneytree

0
Registered
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
18
Has anyone heard of Montblanc Investments. They are apparently selling units in Alberta and a friend of mine asked if I have any info on them. If you have had experience with them I would apprciate your comments.
 
QUOTE (moneytree @ Apr 10 2008, 05:03 AM)
Has anyone heard of Montblanc Investments. They are apparently selling units in Alberta and a friend of mine asked if I have any info on them. If you have had experience with them I would apprciate your comments.




I've never heard of Montblanc Investments, I googled them and found their website. The site lacked detail and wasn't very compelling- but that doesn't say much about the company. I also came across the link below.



http://www.realestatetalks.com/viewtopic.php?p=68621



I would try and look behind the company and see whose running it and check out their track record or better yet stick with some of the more established groups (that have solid history).



Regards,
 
I am a client with Montblanc and they have performed as promised. My investment condominium has been producing regular monthly rental income for me. The net rental income has been paid monthly like clockwork. Compared to the volatility of the stock market, this is the safe and stable way for retirement planning and financial stability.

Their low rent to price ratio investing strategy is simple and yet brilliant. I wish I had started doing this ten years ago as I would have three or four tenants building wealth for me by now.

Bottom line is they have been professional and consistently reliable.
 
QUOTE (pwilkinson @ Nov 25 2008, 09:18 AM)
I am a client with Montblanc and they have performed as promised. My investment condominium has been producing regular monthly rental income for me. The net rental income has been paid monthly like clockwork. Compared to the volatility of the stock market, this is the safe and stable way for retirement planning and financial stability.



Their low rent to price ratio investing strategy is simple and yet brilliant. I wish I had started doing this ten years ago as I would have three or four tenants building wealth for me by now.



Bottom line is they have been professional and consistently reliable.




I don't like to keep dumping on you, but you have 4 posts here, all bragging up Montblanc. I'm not going to accuse you of being a shill, but please tell us a little about yourself to lend some credibility to your claims. There have been several people on this site who have had questionable dealings with Montblanc. How do we know your not a Montblanc employee?



Neil
 
They bought 2 of our properties in Fox Creek, AB .. which they may turn into rental pooled condos ..

They do not allow you to use your own mortgage broker which is a bit strange .. but the idea of buying a rental pooled condo (which we also offer, btw) is a great way for any REIN member to get started .. they are more Ontario focused .. but if you buy low enough with cash-flow you`ll do OK .. they do what 20/20 does .. or us (as a small subset of our strategy) .. check out their condo offering .. and if you like it .. buy it .. why not ?
 
I too have purchased from Montblanc.... and for over two years now have been paid every month as expected. The one difference I recall that differentiaites them from some of the other outfits operating in Ontario is that the arrangement is actually lease back agreement in which the purchasor leases back the unit to Montblanc. So I presume they would be in non compliance with a contract should they miss or short pay. However they are also not required to pass on any rent increase or improved cash flow they achieve between the start of the leaseback agreement and the end. The agreements are three years long. It will be interesting to see how the second extension goes.
 
They do not seem to like investors to use their own independent appraisers either.
 
QUOTE (21krunner @ Nov 25 2008, 05:12 PM)
I too have purchased from Montblanc.... and for over two years now have been paid every month as expected. The one difference I recall that differentiaites them from some of the other outfits operating in Ontario is that the arrangement is actually lease back agreement in which the purchasor leases back the unit to Montblanc. So I presume they would be in non compliance with a contract should they miss or short pay. However they are also not required to pass on any rent increase or improved cash flow they achieve between the start of the leaseback agreement and the end. The agreements are three years long. It will be interesting to see how the second extension goes.


be careful as they really are selling a "guarantee" which is a security under the current interpretation of the securities act .. for that reason we chose to not guarantee anything and have a 3rd party manage our (partially sold) condo project !!!



Also check if they are a licensed property managers, perhaps they are not ..



Write an offer .. fly out and see the property .. or buy with us .. or with 20/20 .. all similar in nature .. a rental pooled condo is how I started 11 years ago as I had no time to manage a single (and later 4) condos .. a true arm-chair investment .. far superior to owning a single house or condo as you share in the vacancies and get a nice statement every month and have no hassles !
 
I have talked with montblanc back in oct, as some people have stated they dont allow your own broker or appraiser, you end up with 2 mortgages on a loan less then a $100k, one being payed back to them at almost 7%. The are the property management and the condo corporation. Their entire system is a full blown monopoly and for those reasons I would stay away.

also, make sure that you do your own calculations and research, they tried to tell me that if I buy property in London I will be seeing 6% increase in value yoy. I don`t think so, not in this current market. They are very text book and dont deal with reality.
 
QUOTE (bigbabba @ Nov 25 2008, 08:19 PM)
I have talked with montblanc back in oct, as some people have stated they dont allow your own broker or appraiser, you end up with 2 mortgages on a loan less then a $100k, one being payed back to them at almost 7%. The are the property management and the condo corporation. Their entire system is a full blown monopoly and for those reasons I would stay away.



also, make sure that you do your own calculations and research, they tried to tell me that if I buy property in London I will be seeing 6% increase in value yoy. I don't think so, not in this current market. They are very text book and dont deal with reality.
 
QUOTE (seeu22 @ Nov 25 2008, 12:29 PM)
I don't like to keep dumping on you, but you have 4 posts here, all bragging up Montblanc. I'm not going to accuse you of being a shill, but please tell us a little about yourself to lend some credibility to your claims. There have been several people on this site who have had questionable dealings with Montblanc. How do we know your not a Montblanc employee?



Neil




Neil,



To answer your question, I am in my early forties, married with three kids. I have worked for a large insurance company for the last twelve years as a financial operations analyst. Like most people I am doing my best to create some financial security for my family.



I find it strange that you feel just because I have had a positive experience with Montblanc and that they have fulfilled their promises and leaseback commitments with me that I am a "shill". If saying something positive about a company you have done business with automatically makes you a "shill" in your eyes Neil, then I guess I am a "shill" . I notice that the other actual customer with them, 21krunner, also says that they have kept their leaseback commitment with him too.



As to the appraiser issue, my brother in law works for one of the big five banks and to get a mortgage you must use an appraiser approved by the bank issuing the mortgage and not all appraisers are approved by all banks. Apparently, not all lawyers are approved by all banks to act on the banks behalf in issuing a mortgage either, which was news to me! In addition, he said that an appraisal is required by all banks before a mortgage is issued, the appraisal must be by a bank approved appraiser and the appraisal goes directly from the appraiser to the bank, not to the purchaser. According to him, this is standard policy at all banks in Canada.



My mortgage on my Montblanc condominium is with Scotiabank, which Montblanc helped arrange as part of their "turnkey" investment. I guess if you want to manage your own property, arrange your own mortgage, which would mean whatever bank you used would then dictate what appraiser you used, you are welcome too. It also means you don't want a turnkey investment, which is what Montblanc does and what I wanted. I don't have the time or expertise to manage a property. I look at it as equivalent to whether you want to buy a package holiday, which includes the airfare, hotel, transfers and food at one package price or organize your own trip where you book the airfare yourself, book the hotel yourself etc. Both are valid methods of arranging a holiday. Just depends which rout is best for you. If I didn't have a more than full time job and three kids I might be able to look at being a more hands on real estate investor like some of the people on this site.



I think we can all agree that in the long run, well located, fairly priced, income producing residential real estate is a good way to build wealth over time. At least I think it is.



Thank God I didn't buy mutual funds like my neighbour did last year!



I wish everyone success for 2009! Happy Holidays!
<




Paul
 
QUOTE (bigbabba @ Nov 25 2008, 07:19 PM)
I have talked with montblanc back in oct, as some people have stated they dont allow your own broker or appraiser, you end up with 2 mortgages on a loan less then a $100k, one being payed back to them at almost 7%. The are the property management and the condo corporation. Their entire system is a full blown monopoly and for those reasons I would stay away.



also, make sure that you do your own calculations and research, they tried to tell me that if I buy property in London I will be seeing 6% increase in value yoy. I don't think so, not in this current market. They are very text book and dont deal with reality.








bigbabba,





bigbabba:



I am the president of Montblanc Investments.



As a preframe, experience wise, I have been in the real estate industry for 28 years and have developed or co-developed over 3,000 condominiums. I also co-founded a property management firm that now manages a residential portfolio in excess of 50,000 units. My experience is that the real estate industry is very large and diverse and there are many different real estate investing strategies that can be followed. Our particular real estate investing strategy/plan is one that I believe has merit for investors who cannot be hands-on property managers.



I would like to answer your concerns:





1) "They don't allow you to use your own broker and 2nd mortgage at almost 7%"



Our residential real estate investments are designed to be turnkey or arm chair for the investor, so as part of our service, we organize first mortgage financing for 75% of the condominium with a major bank and sometimes are able to offer to organize a second mortgage for up to 15% of the condominium, if the investor desires. This allows investors the flexibility of putting anywhere from 10% to 25% of the investment as a downpayment. Some of our investors organize their own mortgage financing with their existing bank or through their own mortgage broker, it just depends whether they want to do the mortgage arranging work themselves or let us do it for them. So yes you can use your own mortgage broker if you wish, although we recommend to most people to let us organize it for them.



If the investor wishes to avail themselves of the second mortgage option, the current interest rates that we have been getting in the second mortgage market are between 6.5 and 6.95% for a fixed two year term. For second mortgages on a non-owner occupied condominium that is a relatively good rate these days. To put this in context, the most common posted rate today for a two year fixed rate first mortgage (not second mortgage) on an owner occupied dwelling (versus non-owner occupied) on www.canadamortgage.com is 6.45%.



All canadian financial institutions and banks have a list of bank approved, licenced appraisers that must be used when arranging a mortgage with that particular bank. Whichever bank is doing the first mortgage dictates the bank approved appraiser that must be used. It is not us or the buyer but the bank who dictates and approves the acceptable licenced appraiser to be used.







2) No one can tell you exactly where real estate values will be in 6 months or even in a year in a specific market, for a specific piece of real estate.



Even in specific markets, value changes can be affected by the specific neighbourhood improving and/or the building being upgraded etc. What one can do, is make estimates of what values will be based on an average, over a long time frame, like ten years. In low rent to price ratio markets that we focus on, my experience is that over a ten year period, these low rent to price ratio markets average between the inflation rate (2%-3% per year, tracking the gross rental income increases, to a high of 10% to 12%, if that low rent to price ratio market gets hot during the ten year time frame we recommend).



Many smart real estate investors believe the absolute best strategy is keep all your income real estate forever and let the rents fully pay off your mortgage so that eventually you own it free and clear as it continues to produce monthly rental income. Then is it goes up 15% one year and down 4% the next, you don't care. I have an older, retired friend who owns over 100 residential condominium units free and clear, who followed this strategy over the last 25 years in accumulating his portfolio (and recommends the "never sell income producing residential real estate strategy" strongly both from a cash flow and tax point of view) and it made him wealthy and financially secure.



I have found that the best strategy for an arm chair investor, who cannot be a hands on property manager, is to invest in low rent to price ratio, individual titled condominiums and then wait for time to increase rents and values, this can mean a wait of five to ten years for appreciation to happen as rents go up yearly and the rent to price ratio increases.







3) We manage the property and the condominium so that we can offer a complete one stop, comprehensive service to an owner. If an investor wants to spend all the time and energy required to self manage their condominium investment, then our plan is probably not the right fit for them.







The bottom line is that our low rent to price ratio condominium investments are designed for the long term investor who does not have time to manage a condominium on their own. It fits for some people and not for others.



I hope this helps clarify things.





Ross



Ross McBride

Montblanc Investments
 
Hummm,
Interesting,..... I thought I had made a post offering some further anecdotal information on Montblanc and some of the other somewhat similar outfits in Ontario. However, I do not see my comments here. Perhaps I forgot to hit submit...or perhaps I was "moderated". Wonder how I can find out?

In any case the previous poster points out that these are long term investments. It seems premature to assess a placement or even an entire company based on the first 2 or 3 years of any one particular deal. Certainly a poor sales and/or support experience is not to be frowned upon but that also is not what most (investors) would consider success criteria. I have no worries so far, but we should be asking if Montblanc or similar have any buildings sold using the "armchair" model that are more than 8 or 10 years old. Then we might be able to research as necessary to get a sense of how well the portfolio seems to have held up / appreciated.
 
I do not have experience with this outfit but did purchase a managed unit through International Investment Properties which became 20/20. This unit is in London Ontario and has performed very poorly. It has lost money on the market since it was purchased in approximately 2000. My personal feeling is that you are better to buy a house on your own even though it is more hassle. A property manager removes some of the headaches.
 
QUOTE (VaughnandTwila @ Dec 9 2008, 07:10 PM)
I do not have experience with this outfit but did purchase a managed unit through International Investment Properties which became 20/20. This unit is in London Ontario and has performed very poorly. It has lost money on the market since it was purchased in approximately 2000. My personal feeling is that you are better to buy a house on your own even though it is more hassle. A property manager removes some of the headaches.






Lost money? Interesting. Would you care to elaborate? Was there a rental pool in place? What wa different from what 20/20 advertised or promised?

Thanks

Elisabet
 
QUOTE (VaughnandTwila @ Dec 9 2008, 07:10 PM)
I do not have experience with this outfit but did purchase a managed unit through International Investment Properties which became 20/20. This unit is in London Ontario and has performed very poorly. It has lost money on the market since it was purchased in approximately 2000. My personal feeling is that you are better to buy a house on your own even though it is more hassle. A property manager removes some of the headaches.






VaughnandTwila,



It is unfortunate that your investment with International Investment Properties-20/20 has not worked out. I have heard of them but have had no dealings with them and never will by the sounds of it.



I would like to say that this is a completely different organization from Montblanc and is run by completly different people than Montblanc and has absolutely nothing to do with Montblanc. I would also like to add that it is a little unfair to associate us to them, if your neighbour is a bad guy - does that make you a bad guy because you live next door? Obviously not, but people can unfairly make an association or generalization.



All real estate markets and cities have a huge variety of real estate opportunities and companies, some good, some not so good. If I went to a particular restaurant and had a bad meal, that does not mean that every single restaurant is bad. I would say no.



Solid, low rent to price ratio residential real estate can be an excellent investment when you have professional and experienced management. On that I think we both agree.



Ross



Ross McBride

montblanc Investments
 
QUOTE (RossMcBride @ Dec 9 2008, 09:44 AM)
bigbabba,





bigbabba:



I am the president of Montblanc Investments.



As a preframe, experience wise, I have been in the real estate industry for 28 years and have developed or co-developed over 3,000 condominiums. I also co-founded a property management firm that now manages a residential portfolio in excess of 50,000 units. My experience is that the real estate industry is very large and diverse and there are many different real estate investing strategies that can be followed. Our particular real estate investing strategy/plan is one that I believe has merit for investors who cannot be hands-on property managers.



I would like to answer your concerns:





1) "They don't allow you to use your own broker and 2nd mortgage at almost 7%"



Our residential real estate investments are designed to be turnkey or arm chair for the investor, so as part of our service, we organize first mortgage financing for 75% of the condominium with a major bank and sometimes are able to offer to organize a second mortgage for up to 15% of the condominium, if the investor desires. This allows investors the flexibility of putting anywhere from 10% to 25% of the investment as a downpayment. Some of our investors organize their own mortgage financing with their existing bank or through their own mortgage broker, it just depends whether they want to do the mortgage arranging work themselves or let us do it for them. So yes you can use your own mortgage broker if you wish, although we recommend to most people to let us organize it for them.



If the investor wishes to avail themselves of the second mortgage option, the current interest rates that we have been getting in the second mortgage market are between 6.5 and 6.95% for a fixed two year term. For second mortgages on a non-owner occupied condominium that is a relatively good rate these days. To put this in context, the most common posted rate today for a two year fixed rate first mortgage (not second mortgage) on an owner occupied dwelling (versus non-owner occupied) on www.canadamortgage.com is 6.45%.



All canadian financial institutions and banks have a list of bank approved, licenced appraisers that must be used when arranging a mortgage with that particular bank. Whichever bank is doing the first mortgage dictates the bank approved appraiser that must be used. It is not us or the buyer but the bank who dictates and approves the acceptable licenced appraiser to be used.







2) No one can tell you exactly where real estate values will be in 6 months or even in a year in a specific market, for a specific piece of real estate.



Even in specific markets, value changes can be affected by the specific neighbourhood improving and/or the building being upgraded etc. What one can do, is make estimates of what values will be based on an average, over a long time frame, like ten years. In low rent to price ratio markets that we focus on, my experience is that over a ten year period, these low rent to price ratio markets average between the inflation rate (2%-3% per year, tracking the gross rental income increases, to a high of 10% to 12%, if that low rent to price ratio market gets hot during the ten year time frame we recommend).



Many smart real estate investors believe the absolute best strategy is keep all your income real estate forever and let the rents fully pay off your mortgage so that eventually you own it free and clear as it continues to produce monthly rental income. Then is it goes up 15% one year and down 4% the next, you don't care. I have an older, retired friend who owns over 100 residential condominium units free and clear, who followed this strategy over the last 25 years in accumulating his portfolio (and recommends the "never sell income producing residential real estate strategy" strongly both from a cash flow and tax point of view) and it made him wealthy and financially secure.



I have found that the best strategy for an arm chair investor, who cannot be a hands on property manager, is to invest in low rent to price ratio, individual titled condominiums and then wait for time to increase rents and values, this can mean a wait of five to ten years for appreciation to happen as rents go up yearly and the rent to price ratio increases.







3) We manage the property and the condominium so that we can offer a complete one stop, comprehensive service to an owner. If an investor wants to spend all the time and energy required to self manage their condominium investment, then our plan is probably not the right fit for them.







The bottom line is that our low rent to price ratio condominium investments are designed for the long term investor who does not have time to manage a condominium on their own. It fits for some people and not for others.



I hope this helps clarify things.





Ross



Ross McBride

Montblanc Investments






Ross,



I had made it clear to your agent that I will be using my own mortgage source, I have excellent credit and so there is no point of me taking out a second mortgage just to pay 7% back to montlblanc..I was told NO..do a search on the site and you will see others had the same experience.



Future values?? I care about the numbers TODAY not 10 years from now, If I'm in the hole every month then what type of investment am I making? Appreciation is great down the road but not when I'm in the negatives every month.



The bottom line is, I have money and was ready to buy, unfortunatelly the investment was misrepresented on many levels. I was being told one thing and your contract was saying another. I'm sharing my experience, people need to make their own choices in life..Montblanc was not the right one for me...
 
"I have been in the real estate industry for 28 years and have developed or co-developed over 3,000 condominiums. I also co-founded a property management firm that now manages a residential portfolio in excess of 50,000 units."

Please mention past companies that you use as referrals. I am interested in investing in a condo that you are the president of the condo corporation. This worries me that you may also have an invested interest in the property management company. It seems like a perfect way to gain controlling interest and to secure greater profits for other interest as the status certificate states to expect increases in condo fees with out stating any specific needs. Please clear up any concerns people may have involving any conflict of interest so that an investor can feel confident that they are your only concern. I already have serious concerns about the property management team for reasons i don't feel is fair to mention here. My main concern is the lack of accountability.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom