littonowl
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Property Partner
Referral
Sept 5, 2017 14:09:05 GMT
Post by littonowl on Sept 5, 2017 14:09:05 GMT
Just upped the referral terms again, to £250 each, once £10k is invested. Needless to say, if anyone is thinking of dipping a £10k toe, I'll be happy to oblige...
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Post by littonowl on Sept 5, 2017 11:26:26 GMT
It seems with these latest changes Unbolted has become a completely hands off platform, I think this will make it fairer for everyone (I say this as someone who got invested into a number of the smaller loans but I think fairness is important) It will be interesting to see if this is the case. I'm certainly not going to set an autolend level for the business loans so there may still be an element of manual investing in this type of loan if there are enough people like me. If not, my investment total will obviously drop, but that's life. Agree, I think the platform had outgrown itself wrt the small loans, hopefully this move will prove fairer for all. I'll only be setting a very minimal level for the business loans.I'd rather do some DD on them owing to the fact they aren't generally covered by the provision funds. That said, they also tend to be significant larger, so should hopefully still allow for this.
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
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Post by littonowl on Sept 5, 2017 10:22:25 GMT
Also made my first withdrawal last week, think it advised it could take up to 3 days, so was pleasantly surprised to find it sat in my bank account later that same afternoon. Now if they could just come up with one to two new loans...
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littonowl
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Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Octopus Choice (OC)
Cash Drag
Aug 30, 2017 19:05:03 GMT
Post by littonowl on Aug 30, 2017 19:05:03 GMT
Not a problem puddleduck ! And, firstly, the reason we show 20 open loans is because this is the maximum we'll allocate per transaction (we’re already in the process of changes this to make it a bit clearer). However, besides this, the amount of loans you are in will depend on two things:- The amount you invest - for example, if we receive a £50 payment, we'll only ever allocate it to 5 loans (because the minimum loan part size is £10). The time – due to our loan part allocation algorithm, it is possible you’ll get two parts of the same loan when making two separate transactions. When allocating your money to different loans, we always start with the one that, proportionally, has the least money assigned to it. We will then work backwards to the loan that is most well-funded. This occurs on a payment-by-payment basis. I hope that helps explain things a little better? Thanks for your reply. Diversification is very important, and generally I would like to pay in more money when you have new loans. So showing 20 open loans isn't useful on its own as I may (or may not) already be holding some of these loans parts. So it would be very useful if you could show how many of the current open loans I am not invested in - that would allow me to target a payment to fill loans I am not in, while avoiding loans I am already exposed to. Potentially I could be putting in circa 1k a month, but i would prefer to do it when you have new loans that I do not already hold. Showing the number of open loans I feel is just not a useful metric for you to share without context. Great suggestion puddleduck , would be a very useful feature and allow me to top up on my mother's behalf with more confidence that she'd be well diversified.
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littonowl
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Post by littonowl on Aug 29, 2017 15:18:03 GMT
The amount for sale is well under 1%. News of 'an announcement' is enough to scare some people into putting up for sale, even if they have not the faintest inkling whether the news will be +ve or -ve. So I'd suggest accusations are unwarranted. I have followed this loan second by second for about 8 weeks, to try ang get some Investments in. Let me say, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, that I have NEVER SEEN in the 8 weeks I followed it VERY closely such amount abundntly available on this loan. It is about 2% now, but the more is bought the more is put up for sale. This is very very very peculiar and never happened before accounding to my data. Now, it might be that the pre-announcement in itself scares people. But I see no point in announcing it.... Ed should have POSTED the news officialy as soon as he got it, whatever it is.Two posters asked if there was any news earlier today. Ed responded in his usual timely manner, saying they would get an update out later this afternoon. The two recent 'problem' loans have probably led to one or two twitchy fingers, but I honestly don't see it as anything more sinister than that. edit. Post crossed with MoneyThing 's above
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Octopus Choice (OC)
Cash Drag
Aug 24, 2017 11:42:05 GMT
Post by littonowl on Aug 24, 2017 11:42:05 GMT
I think you'll find there is some element of manual processing with OC, and as you sent funds out of hours.... I don't believe this to be the case. To illustrate, here are the lending speed stats of the last 4 deposits I made (all for the exact same amount, and all at times when there were supposedly 20 loans open): Deposit: 7th August @ 19:17 Time To Lend: 9h 47 mins Deposit: 8th August @ 05:20 Time To Lend: 10 mins Deposit: 15th August @ 07:46 Time To Lend: 4 mins Deposit: 18th August @ 08:17 Time to Lend: 2 days, 5h 44 mins As you can see, on a couple of instances I've deposited funds out-of-hours, which were all fully invested within 10 mins! Yep, likewise, I opened an IFISA for my mum on Sunday and to my surprise the full deposit was invested within about 10 mins @ 4.1%.
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littonowl
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Post by littonowl on Aug 24, 2017 10:45:35 GMT
Email says limit is £25, but description on website says £250 ?! Either way, an LTV of 75% is a little rich, considering its not covered by a trust and is paying 0.8%.
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Post by littonowl on Aug 20, 2017 11:06:05 GMT
Hi octopusjoe I've now successfully opened my mother's ISA account. Just a quickie, but as you know she wants the monthly interest paying back into her bank account, I presume all she needs to do is on the Accounts Page, select the 'no' option where you're asked 'Automatically re-invest my earned interest' ? Is that it, is it automatically paid back to the source account, or is there an additional step (I've already added her bank account details on the My Account page)? TIA. Also, re:application process, I would agree with puddleduck that its not entirely obvious when you start where to add the NIC number on the application page (fortunately I had read macq 's comments above) but it may be costing you some potential new customers...?
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littonowl
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Likes: 355
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Post by littonowl on Aug 18, 2017 14:19:11 GMT
charles . Whilst I am pleased that you have reduced the minimum stake, I am struggling to see why this loan has a lower % rate than the Liverpool one had which was arguably a better loan and came out when the competition was broadly 12%. Issues like no affordable housing, contributing to costs on crumbling cliffs etc don't add to the shine on this for me, when I anticipate another 14% on ABL, and can get mezzanine 14% on COL in a project in mid build with a junior tranche as a safety net. ISTM that this is not looking competitive at this time. Agree, with @leopardcat on this one. I joined PC this week in anticipation of investing in this (and the next) upcoming loan, but for all the reasons above I just can't bring myself to commit. Here's hoping the next loan is more attractive in terms of both rate and proposition.
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Post by littonowl on Aug 18, 2017 14:15:12 GMT
Afternoon everyone. So you're aware, our team is still working hard on fixing the problem we had yesterday, meaning all the figures being displayed still won't be correct. This is of course absolutely top priority, and I know it is taking some time. However, once we have everything in working order we will then send out updated statements. I really am sorry this is still ongoing, however if anyone had any questions then by all means do ask, or connect with our customer services team (support@octopuschoice.com) – we'll do all we can to help! has anyone had a new statement or correction yet? Last support reply i had yesterday was that they were still sorting? - just received my new statement & looks ok yeah, also just received email notification, though can't seem to log in to site to confirm, but looks ok. octopusjoe I'm looking to apply for my mother's IFISA this weekend, can you (or anyone else!) confirm that the option to have your monthly payments paid into your bank is still available on the ISA accounts? TIA
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littonowl
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Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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Post by littonowl on Aug 18, 2017 9:44:46 GMT
After observing with interest the slow uptake of the first 24 hours of the 36 hour flash sale promotion, my big fear with Uown is whether the platform has a viable, sustainable business. I presume the intention of this promotion was to complete the funding of their first property (hence the targetting of just E*** G*****), but so far it seems to have taken them from around 64% to just 72%. The 2 other properties that have also been on the site for months and have managed just 29% and 32% ! I'm starting to doubt these will ever fill and then my mind turns to wondering what will happen if they don't? AIUI, the 3 properties are all currently owned and managed by 'a strategic partner' of Uown's (P******e P******?), so they are not being advertised for sale anywhere else. What I would like to know is what are the Strategic partner's intentions if they don't fill? Are they happy for the current relationship to continue (managing the partially owned properties on Uown's behalf, and paying out proportionate monthly rents) or will they eventually say 'enough's enough' and pull the plug ? Do they have a cut-off point or time? And if they do, what happens to our invested cash? I seem to remember Uown saying somewhere on these boards it will simply be returned to Uown investors as cash? This presumes of course that whoever is currently holding the cash (Uown or the strategic partner?) still has it available to pay back? Strikes me that I'm probably not alone in thinking along such lines, which might explain the poor uptake of this latest offer from current investors. Seems to me, what Uown really need is new investors to give some traction and get the properties closer to completing. IMHO the new customer promotion earlier this month didn't ask investors to commit enough (wasn't it £10 for £20 invested or something?) and a more significant referral scheme, similar to ones used in the past by other crowd/P2P platforms (£50 each to referrer & referee for £1K invested), would have had a more significant impact on the properties and potentially be less costly than the 25% deal (10% on £1k v a straight 25% on any amount?). Property Partner have used such a promotion in the past to great success, and Brickowner, a platform arguably at a similar stage in development to Uown, with just 4 offerings too, are currently using it and completing their fund raises successfully as a result. In the case of E***, they would need approximately 50 referrals at £1K to get this over the line at a promotional cost of £5K. I don't know if I'm alone in thinking like this, but some answers on the above from uown would certainly put my mind at ease somewhat and might even make me at least consider adding to my current investment, but until I do get some definitive answers to the above I'm unlikely to do so, however tempting the offer.
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littonowl
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Post by littonowl on Aug 17, 2017 16:10:54 GMT
Disappointingly I'm not catching any of these loans now, even with email alert on and responding as soon as the emails appear in my inbox. Looks like they post the loans up before sending the emails out?
Edit. Also, I note that Loan 2DFDC2D80 (collection of antiques, art & furniture) repaid today (a month early?) which I'd got a fair chunk in, so my cash balance is higher than its been in some time. Could do with another business loan to absorb some of it...
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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uOwn
Uown
Aug 17, 2017 14:43:17 GMT
Post by littonowl on Aug 17, 2017 14:43:17 GMT
I have experience of renting through the Managing Agents 'Parklane properties' and they were reasonably good, and the maintenance teams were pretty responsive, possibly down to the company Hive being part of the same group of companies. Thanks for the inside info, djpix99 As kaya says, always good to have troops on the ground, so to speak...
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littonowl
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Post by littonowl on Aug 16, 2017 15:13:18 GMT
A new property on the site today, 4 new apartments (2x studios and 2x1 bed) in a city centre location in C*****r in the NW.
Still offering the 5% promotion, yield dropping down to 3.54% after 2 years. Particulars:
Bought at 9.4% disc (bulk purchase) £670K v RICS mkt price of £740K
3.8% 5 yr fixed mortgage (so no inflation risk) Leasehold but 999 yrs. Exit strategy: will sell individually in 5 years for exit, to release value.
Rent for 4 flats: £45,600, which works out an average of £11,400 pa, or £950 pcm (a little ambitious perhaps, for C*****r ?).
As it happens, I used to live there and my sister still does, so I've a little local knowledge. The property is close to the City Centre (parking is a rarity in this area, so a big bonus!), and is in an area where several nice restaurants and street cafes have opened up recently, so is likely to be desirable to the young professional type.
On the downside the rent for studios and 1 bed apartments is on the high side for the city, though I note there are some nr the Racecourse being advertised at £2.5K pcm, so still by no means the most expensive, but pricier than most 1 bed offerings in the city (I'd say the average is nearer £500-£650 pcm).
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littonowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 398
Likes: 355
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uOwn
Uown
Aug 16, 2017 14:11:47 GMT
Post by littonowl on Aug 16, 2017 14:11:47 GMT
Evening, valuehunter apologies for the misunderstanding, looking at it the email it was vague, but that wasn't intentional. We sent an email to our whole database with the offer including people like yourself who are already invested. Quite happy to offer a full refund if you like. However, I think that you guys are going to like the flash sale offer coming within the next few weeks. We are thinking of doing a 40% top up (on any amount invested) in a 36 hour window. Flash sale coming tomorrow (17/8). 25% top up on any sum invested in Eden Gardens between £20 - £5000 ending 23:59 18/8/17 Its a shame you mentioned 40% earlier in the month, because now I can't help feeling a little disappointed, even by what would by most standards be a very generous offer...
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