Why are you NOT investing here?

I am still concerned about the lack of exit. There is an SM but it is only on one property and as far as I can see it could take months or longer, even to get a small stake (£1k,say) in this property. Similarly, there is only one Easy Exit property and taking into account fees the yield is virtually zero over anything less than several years.

But my main concern is an issue raised by posters in the long thread on this board, namely, the lack of an exit strategy for the other properies where the take-up is very slow. This is a problem not only for investors, but for the long-term sustainability of Uown's business model.The funding on 33 Stanmore St has only increased by ten percentage points in six months. And this is under what I would describe as normal or above average market conditions!

I like Uown's overall funding model but until an exit strategy is defined, it's not for me.

My thoughts on why I don't invest (for what it's worth):
- 100 % concentration in Leeds (I don't have anything against Leeds, but this means incredibly limited diversification)
- Properties take too long to fill, i.e. platform may prove unsustainable and any investment likely to be highly illiquid
- The website bangs on about some sort of people's revolution against 'fat cats' in a trashy tabloidesque manner that I find highly irritating / unprofessional.

For context I have invested with Property Partner (increasing), Property Moose (almost exited) and Brickowner (increasing on rare occasions new opportunities arise).

Really happy to see lots of you posting in this forum. It is really important for us to hear your feedback. We would like to address some of your concerns mentioned here.

Concern: Exit

We offer investors a number of different ways to exit their investments.

1. The first method is the ability to exit using the SM (UOWN’s resale market) – Unlike PP we have set this up to ensure that the price you receive for your shares is as close to the current market value as possible. There is no guarantee that someone will be willing to buy your investment from you. In such a scenario your opportunity to exit is limited to option (3) below. So far on the platform we have seen that resale shares sell quickly and that the average time taken is better than our target of three weeks.

2. Then we have Easy Exit. We are currently testing this feature on a single property. Depending on the success and feedback of this trial we may roll out the Easy Exit feature on all properties in the future - giving people two options to list their shares normally with no fee or to guarantee a quick Easy Exit for a 3% fee.

3. Finally, investors in a property are given control over the strategic decisions made about a property including the decision on whether to sell a property. We are going to formalise this process and make it very clear for customers to understand. Our current thinking is to have a vote on whether to sell every second anniversary of the property’s acquisition.

How it works:
Investors will be contacted via email using the address associated with that investor’s account and will be invited to vote. The question in this case will be whether to sell the property or not.

Investors will be given a reasonable amount of time to respond given the circumstances. If a response is not received by the end of the specified time period, the relevant investors are deemed to vote in favour. UOWN will send reminders at appropriate intervals.

A vote is passed by a 75% majority (by number of shares beneficially held).

Concern: Properties Funding Slowly

We understand people’s apprehension in slowly funding properties but we setup UOWN so that this issue was far less important than it was for our competitors. We pay rental income whilst properties are funding – this is something that no one else in the market does.

Our mission is to help investors access opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to ordinarily. We have been working hard to ensure that our platform meets user needs and that we have a platform and product that works and works well before focussing on growing as fast as possible. We want to give the best possible service to the customers we have already and to grow via word of mouth in the long term.

Concern: Leeds Focus

Our current focus is Leeds for a few reasons.

Firstly, Leeds is undervalued in our eyes. The student market is thriving and compared to the likes of Manchester, Leeds is often overlooked. Our initial properties were picked due to their strong rental history and strong net yields. We don’t think that investing purely to make a return from capital appreciation is the smartest move – especially when it is in areas that are overheated.

Secondly, Leeds is a market that we also know very well and so when it comes to cherry picking the very best properties for investors we have a distinct advantage. We think that this shows – our rental yields are some of the very best available in the equity crowdfunding space.

Leeds is not the only place we are planning to offer properties and the next project you can expect to see on the platform won’t be based in Leeds.


We would love to hear more of your concerns so that we can keep improving and building a product that works for you. It is from feedback that we constantly iterate the platform and hopefully build a product that gives you the investor a truly outstanding product. We think it’s very clear that those who frequent this forum are very positive about UOWN and what we are building. Hopefully through our constant communication and dialogue we can alleviate the small issues and gripes you may have so that you have full faith in us and our offering.

Bugger. I was hoping to get one last slice of it when reinvesting today's rental income.

About 16 months (assuming u mean BMount) Other sites include Property Partner, Brickowner, MercyCrowd, some House Crowd, Crowdlords ... lots of property sites with various models

They're owned by a company that they are partnered with and share the same office until fully funded.

p2pindependentforum.com/post/252741