Assetz Exchange: The Future of Buy-to-Let

I did take the plunge and start investing in AE- £25k to qualify as a premium investor and thus be able to underwrite new offers (with the associated cash back). Have spread £15k across a variety of investments. So far my experience has been a positive one, site is pretty intuitive, liquidity not great, but have managed to buy what I wanted, and am (so far) showing a healthy (unrealised) gain. The information on the "reports" part of the account is useful.
Issue , of course, will come when I look to realise investments- but so far so good. Property backing is strong, income generation is predictable. Sure something will go wrong as some point, but thumbs up after a couple of months. If any one has any questions about the user experience happy to answer. Best regards

The last couple of loans have been interesting. In the first of the two they cut the "cash-back" to underwriters to 0.4%, and in the on launched yesterday they reduced the cash-back to zero (so no underwriting fee), upped the underwriting block to £10k (so if you were going to underwrite you had to take £10k), and made clear that all underwriters would be committed to selling £5k at no profit. Despite this the loan was fully underwritten within 3.5 minutes. 
Most of the charity leases are now priced at a circa 4.8% return, and the couple of new (and pipelined) loans are prices at 5.0% or just above- so there is a small turn to be made.
I have been really impressed with AE so far, but to me the pricing now looks to be a bit too hot- I think a few institutions have discovered AE hence the jump in pricing. However having had a more than 10% return on my money invested over the past two months I am not crying- but will be limiting future exposure.

I noticed that 137 was released at par, but 138 seems to have been released at a ~4% premium. Any idea what's going on here? Is it just underwriters trying to sell at a quick profit? 

I do find this platform confusing. So many properties seem to trade at such a high premium that it would take many years to recover via the income. I'm generally drawing down my income and any repayments from sales as everything seems to be overpriced. I did take a small bite of 137 since it was at par. 

I believe that the premium is a result of the fact that AE purchase price is at a 4% premium to the RICS valuation. The lots are being sold at par price by the UW but par price is at 4% premium to valuation.

One of the issues with AE is that they dont get the properties revalued regularly (avoid cost) so it is unclear if you are buying on the SM at premium or discount to current MV. 

I would like to introduce myself to the forum, some of you may know me from email exchanges with our Helpdesk.  I am happy to answer any questions forum members may have about Assetz Exchange and aim to be as transparent as possible.

Assetz Exchange is set for a big year of growth in 2022, with as mentioned a strong pipeline in place for the next quarter and other properties/partners under negotiation.  We have just posted a blog post about our current pipeline which can be seen here.  I am happy to set up calls/walkthroughs with any investor/potential investor or please post any questions here.

If people are in favour of opening a new board for Assetz Exchange then that maybe a good idea given the strength of our pipeline and recent growth.

Ben.

In response to jaswells I’d say read the reviews on Trustpilot. They are all pretty positive and having used the platform since last June I’d agree with the comments. As for risks I’d say the main one is liquidity as your primary exit at a time of your choosing is by sale of your holding to other investors who may or may not be there to buy you out depending on what price you try to sell at. Whether a property gets sold at the and of a lease is decided by investor vote. The majority may want to retain the property and renew the lease. I think the investors who will be happiest with the platform will be those whose investment aim is what it is trying to deliver i.e. long term stable monthly income that rises each year with inflation plus maybe some capital growth as a plus depending on what happens to houses prices and how much other investors are willing to pay you on the exchange when you exit. So you can’t rule out a capital loss! The thing I like is the lack of redemption risk due to the way the investment works. No annoying borrower who defaults on repaying your loan when it’s due!


Definitely support the call for a Board for Assetz Exchange. It’s having a real growth spurt at the moment and there is a lot to discuss for new investors. The platform itself seems very well designed to me but there’s a lot there to get familiar with when you start.

Supported housing is the latest seasons fashion, as conventional BTL is full of problems and yields are looking poor, supported housing leaving it up to a housing association to deal with the fuss is hot topic.

Like everything in property, there are waves and trends, supported housing is just the next.