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Beware of spruikers, masquerading as property experts!
The One Stop Shop, Spruikers acting as Property Experts selling overpriced properties.
You can see them coming if you know what you’re looking for. Be aware, they are smooth talkers.
Their aim is to create a trusting relationship, then they will pounce like a wild cat.
Once you like them and trust them, they will sometimes charge ongoing or upfront service or membership fees as part of a “Holistic Wealth Creation program” – I’ve seen amounts as much as up to $35,000 and even $50000 a year ongoing. They then get paid for each and every service that they provide to you. Some of these companies set up all manner of creative ways to get paid. The payments may come directly from your pay via your employer or via your super fund.
Be very careful – they sign you up on a yearly contract with a break cost if you try and get out.
They’ll always promise to help you through the entire process… the finance, the land, the builder, insurances, financial planning, shares, stocks – they will even ask you for access to your accounts so they can keep you accountable to their plan! You name it, they can do everything and more.. they can help you out and make you a millionaire . How convenient!.We all should jump on board! NOT
This represents a huge conflict of interest. Don’t be fooled!
Whether or not they charge an upfront or an ongoing fee, they all have a common goal and that is to get a sale, and You are going to pay for it. They’re running a business that gets paid for every service that they provide to you.
Usually there’s a director or directors, and below them are multiple business units providing all of the different services. The directors set up companies that allow them to hide under Government compliance so they can get paid big commissions and look squeaky clean.
They even join credible associations that are seen to endorse good practice and ethics.
Each department refers the client to each other under one umbrella via different licensed companies. Each unit gets paid a rebate internally and in most cases the client or buyer has no idea of how much or big the commissions are. The commissions can be as high as 20% – that’s up to $100000 in top-end developments or 10% for small options. This is not only in property but it can also be for many other in house products that the ONE STOP SHOP might offer you.
Disclosure and transparency are avoided because of company structures.
The Royal Commission tried but failed to expose this correctly.
We Recommend External Independence from experts who are walking the talk and practice what they preach. Full transparency and honest disclosure
We would prefer you to have several independent expert advisors in your team that have your best interests at heart. As a team they’ll have a round table discussion talk about the pros & cons sharing ideas and options with you. The alternative is to be systematically passed to business units, regardless of what’s actually in your best interests… but in the best interest of the one-stop-shop bank balance. Every team member in the one-stop-shop is on KPI’s and paid to get sales for directors. In many cases the representatives will lack experience and will only offer the product that the directors tell them to. (normally because it has the highest commission rebates)
Like going directly to a bank, they won’t offer any products except theirs.
Sleep at night stress-free
There’s nothing better than being able to sleep at night because you know that your property accountant, your financial advisor, your mortgage broker, and your property strategists are independent, and working in your best interests from the perspective of their expertise.
See here to download the questions to ask your advisors