Why I Have Sent Tudor Equity A Cheque For £2.5k With A Smile On My Face by Clare Hanbury

Money Gym Subscriber Clare Hanbury-Leu says: The relationship with Passive Investments was built on trust. I have trusted them to find the right properties – to renovate them to a high standard – to rent them out as quick as they can – to advise on the best mortgage deal – to re-mortgage and turn things around as soon as they can etc.

Most of us must be happy to accept risk to put so much trust into the hands of people we don’t know well. My friends, my financial adviser, my partner all felt nervous of the arrangement and advised against it but I pursued it – uncharacteristically ignoring their advice. My instinct felt strong on this one.

I have been involved with Passive Investments for 3 years and have two properties. The rental on one of these was a little slow in coming and the turnaround on the first mortgage again a little slow. I had one property fall through and lost a bit of money on legal costs and survey etc. All this said, I have been delighted with the results of the investments to date and delighted with every contact I have had with the company. I have felt totally supported by them. I like having them in my life. Every glitch, every query has been dealt with quickly, politely, humorously.  I have been happy to talk to two potential clients and chat through my experiences with them.

I have had some contact with Greg in the last few months and found him open and straightforward. He is an ideal business partner. Even prior to my contact with him there was no doubt in my mind that these are very tough times for the company with its peculiar business model that clients pay when we have done well and not until then! I am staggered that he has stuck at it as long as he has with no salary. I know he has worked for the future of his own properties (which is good thing) but he has also worked free for me too!

When the letter came though last week, the trust I had placed in them suddenly felt foolish. However after a few minutes indulging in panic…most of what I felt was what a WASTE of the talent and expertise that is this team. I felt upset that I would not complete the portfolio. I felt nervous about having to deal with the properties on my own and I felt frustrated to have to do so when they have a good system in place. I have a property in London too which I manage myself and would much rather it was in Passive’s care! Then I read that Steve wanted to keep things going with the team there and I was keen to know how I could help.

So…..there is this 2.5k (which is a LOAN) to help Tudor Equity capitalise – this is money that the very same advisers, partners friends etc will describe as throwing good money after bad – but I don’t think so. From a numbers point of view…Because the 15K back payment /property has been reduced to 10K this means that by the end of completing the portfolio of 5 properties, there will be a SAVING to me of 25K from the original agreement AND I’ll get the 2.5 loan back.

Hmnnn why is this a difficult one to agree to? I guess that it’s difficult because of trust. Do I trust them again? The way I see it is that they have ALREADY done so much for me re: my properties that they have ‘earned’ this AND if the team don’t think they can make a go of it because there are not enough of us signed up – we’ll get the money back anyway…and if they DO think they can make a go of it – well I am willing to give them an opportunity to do so.

My cheque is on its way to them with a smile on my face. I really want to help keep this business going and I am grateful to them for giving us a chance. I have not yet spoken to anyone outside of Passive and I have not looked on the internet to read what is being said so my words are unaffected by others’ opinions.

I don’t see any point in NOT supporting the team now. I feel the market is not only stabilising but strengthening – I think we all know this and what we also know is that we have a dedicated team and they will be even more so if this can go ahead. I really hope there are enough of us to give them a chance to navigate a path to creating a robust business again. I’m sure they can do it. The banks won’t help but I will.

Clare Hanbury B.Ed (Cambridge) MSc (London) MA (London)
International Development Consultant ClareHanbury.com

Passive Investments In Liquidation | The Money Gym

Read The Latest Money Gym Statement Here>>>>

Nicola says: Following the shocking news that Passive Investments have gone into liquidation, and that Andy Shaw and Greg Ballard are being made bankrupt by one of their larger creditors, many people are asking us to comment, both on the blog and in our private google group.

When I first met Greg and Andy, back in 2004 I think it was, they struck me as two highly intelligent, funny, energetic, successful guys, who had been in traditional business before, who thought very differently to many people and who had created a FANTASTIC model for investing in property. They were also helping their friends and family invest in the same way, on a fairly small scale, as well as building their own portfolios which numbered about 150 properties in those days.

I immediately knew that our Money Gym clients would love to meet them and hear about this method of investing in property, getting your money back out and going again, as the need to leave money in a property was frustrating many of our clients. We organised an Open Day at my hotel, The Acacia, and many of the clients who were there wanted Greg & Andy to do it for them, like they were doing for their nearest and dearest. Greg and Andy put together an offering, and I spread the word into the Money Gym group of clients and subscribers.

I introduced them to Gill Fielding, my first wealth mentor, who immediately invested with them, ditto Maria Davies. Gill then started presenting this opportunity for them. When Gill could no longer present, Maria Davies took over for a while.

Everyone loved the concept, especially busy professionals and people who wanted to invest in property but didn’t have the first clue about how to go about it. Most people really took to Greg and Andy too, as they shared their knowledge freely, helping many, many people make money along the way. I particularly remember one lunch where they helped a Money Gym client to negotiate a purchase, making him an extra £80,000 along the way. They then took him under their wing and mentored him for a while in his own property deals.

Pretty soon, they were so swamped with people wanting them to invest for them, that they had to create a company to handle the demand. Passive Investments was born.

We are also aware that they then developed a “private investor” scheme whereby people with money sitting idle in a low interest bank account lent the money to Greg and Andy personally for bigger property projects, and because I was not one of those people, I didn’t find out any further details and they never sought a public platform for that opportunity though the Money Gym.

My sister Sarah and brother-in-law Nick invested, my sister Heather invested, Steve Watson and I both bought a “place” each too. I would have happily bought more “places” if I could. The company still owe us for some of the second “place” so my family and I are all out of pocket as well as those of our clients who chose to invest alongside us.

One ray of hope is that those of our clients and family who have properties may make up the monies they have lost (by having paid a fee for a service that now won’t be delivered) AND may ultimately end up better off, due to now not having to pay Passive the agreed “back end” fee on the eventual refinancing of their properties.

Judith Morgan, ex-accountant, Money Gym client and now our business partner, invested the entirety of her inheritance from her Mother into her two “places”. This should have meant ten properties in the fullness of time but she only has three. Her portfolio could not be grown once it became impossible to achieve mortgages or re-finance.

I have heard some horrible stories going around about things that Greg and Andy are supposed to have said and done and while I have no personal knowledge of those things, I’m working on the “innocent ‘till proven guilty” theory. I have always liked and respected Andy and Greg, and I feel sure that most of the rumours are unfounded.

Only yesterday Andy’s website was apparently hacked into, allegedly by someone known to the company, and a personal message to members and investors was changed beyond all recognition to cast the worst possible light on Andy. Here is a link to Andy’s correct personal statement.   Remember to click on the Free User button and then the blue Download button.

We have also been re-educating our clients during the credit crunch to take a more active role in managing ALL their investments, including this one which was originally intended to be passive.  You might want to read about one of our clients (who is not alone by any means) who feels that she will go forward with Tudor Equity, the company that some of the management team is putting together to take the portfolios forward.

Feel free to comment on the blog here but be aware that we reserve the right not to publish any comments that are potentially libellous or are simple repeating content from other people’s blogs or emails.

Later Note: James Tickell, director of Portland Business & Financial Solutions, the insolvency practice chosen to disband the Passive Investments empire, says the matrix of firms will formally enter liquidation on 11 December.

Contact:  London Office, 43 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG, Tel: 020 7925 2651 / Fax: 020 7925 2652 / Office email: post@portbfs.co.uk

Strange Old Week (And It’s Only Wednesday!)

It’s been a very strange old week so far, but it really has highlighted the benefits of working for yourself, from home.  The benefits of not only being flexible with your time, but with your money, and getting the best help for whatever job needs doing at the time, in time.

I was SUPPOSED to be writing up the final three BlogTalkRadio live shows, where we showed three more people how to make £10k in 90 Days EXTRA from their new or existing businesses.

On each of those emails I was SUPPOSED to remind you that we have extended the deadline for expressing your interest and joining the Money Gym Boardroom, and securing your launch discount of 30% on the whole year.

More info here: http://www.themoneygym.com/boardroom

And in time to join us for a lovely dinner this Thursday night, and then at the first Boardroom meeting, the next day, this Friday 6th November.

I was SUPPOSED to be reminding you that all you need to do is email Judith by midnight, tonight, to secure that discount and your seat.

However, the best laid plans of mice and men…….and wealth coaches…….”oft gang astray”, in the words of the poet.

Monday was a day of broken hearted, love struck teenagers, living rooms full of handymen, the first visit of new math’s tutors, frantically ironing huge swathes of curtains for said handyman to put up, then in the late afternoon, of emergency doctors appointments and shocks to the system.

Tuesday was a day of more handymen, phone calls to insurance companies and doctors surgeries, contacting specialists offices and friends coming and going with large hugs and cups of tea.

Thank goodness for friends, tea and large hugs eh?

But here we are at Wednesday, and I’ve not had a chance to write a word, and I’ve not yet reminded you about tonights deadline.

Tut tut. Sorry guys.

But, as I say, being your own boss means being flexible. Looking after things including yourself and your family. And we want to help you become your own boss, or if you are already, to be the best boss for YOU, that you can possibly be.

So, here’s your reminder and, between mentoring calls today, I’ll write up the other radio shows and get them out to you and onto the blog.

Well worth a listen.

Just email Judith [at] TheMoneyGym.com before midnight tonight, if you want to secure that 30% discount no matter when you want to start OR if you want to come along to The Boardroom dinner on Thursday and then get stuck into your business on Friday.

I’ve seen the agenda, and it rocks!

It will rock your business, your money and your life.

See you there!

Nicola

£10k In 90 Days Challenge | Day 1 | Champagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:07 — 5.1MB)

The Money Gym has just launched The Boardroom, a way for your business to access a crack business team, 18 of your very own non-executive directors, plus Judith Morgan and Nicola Cairncross.  As well as making a very special launch offer of a third off your first year’s membership, Nicola & Judith are hosting a daily radio show, where they help each caller create an extra £10,000 in just 90 days from their existing business.

Today’s caller on The Money Gym “£10k In 90 Days” Challenge on our BlogTalkRadio show was Yvonne Halling with her champagne related business http://www.MadAboutBubbly.com

Quick bit of background: Yvonne’s husband Jiles is an expert on Champagne and among other parts of the business, like corporate champagne tastings, they own a beautiful house in the Champagne region of France which is available for holidays, sleeps 12 and rents for £1500 a week or £125 pp if you have 12, or £250 for the week if you only have 6 of you.  Very reasonable and it IS lovely, having been Yvonne & Jiles’ home previously.

Their website is currently being overhauled by Marion Ryan, Money Gym coach and blog/web expert so that’s coming along and looks great.  This will give them the flexibility to add / change the site whenever they like and will be very search engined friendly (search engines love blog sites!)

Jiles has written an ebook which is garnering rave reviews, and they are working on a follow up DVD right now.  They already have a number of videos on YouTube which I found by searching “mad about bubbly” although their channel is called http://www.youtube.com/user/jileshalling (see below for my comments on improving their branding).

We established on the 15 minute radio show that their fastest route to making “£10k In 90 Days” was to get let their house in Champagne for 7 weeks out of the 12 of the challenge period, and we came up with the idea of an virally marketed, online competition, using Social Networking via Twitter, a Facebook page and ideally joint venture mailings, where people can win a week in the house as a prize.

I also worked out that, if they sold 5-10 ebooks a day, they would make an extra “£10k In 90 Days” especially if they pre-sold the DVD bundled with the ebook, and that I would be looking at a Google Adwords campaign to drive extra traffic to the ebook sales page…….more on this below.

As time was extremely limited on the radio show, we have decided to take the follow up onto the blog here, where I will outline our suggestions, and my proposed plan of action, Judith can contribute, Yvonnne can add her thoughts, and get coached over the next 90 days to make the challenge actually happen!

What fun!

Read more..

Money Gym Interviews | Jennie Armato

As we prepare for the Money Gym “Really Useful Internet Day”, here’s another in the series of interviews with Internet succeess stories – real people making real money (and big money!) online. I first saw Jennie speaking at the first ever World Internet Summit and we have subsequently become firm friends. Jennie is a mean Texas “No Limits” Hold’em player and won the Internet Marketers Cruise tournament last year (I came in about eighth!).  This interview was recorded the night before Jennie was due to speak at Mark Anastasi’s Traffic Generation Summit in London on 29th June 2009.

You can see Part 2 of Brett’s interview when you put your name and email in the VIP Priority list at http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/internetday and when we launch the bookings at the end of this week, and you confirm your attendance at the day and donate £25 to the Big Issue, you’ll get to enjoy the rest of Brett’s interview, Jennie’s interview and Martin Avis’ too.

Financial Freedom Bootcamp | Have We Pulled A Favour For You!

Nicola here!  You’ve probably heard the old adage in business “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” right?

Well, a while ago I did a favor for one of my good friends Neil Asher.

Read more..

Holiday In Casares | Day Four

In spite of spending hundreds of great european euros at the Estapona Carrefour just two days ago, we are out of juice, kit kats and bread, they don’t like the yoghurts, and we need more tomotoes and avocados.  Oh, and rose wine.

So we decide to combine a trip to Carrefour with a trip to Estapona beach.

There is the main beach, and also a little bay kind of thing, with a carpark, where there are two bar/restaurants and some waves!

Some of the kids get dropped off and those who love to shop (Phoebe and Keturah) come with us.  We buy a coolbox, for future use of those who rent the house, and to keep our dairy cool while we swim, and then go buy the essentials.

Which turn out to include one octopus for dinner tomorrow, some quails eggs (“want to try them!”) two handbags, two sets of sunglasses (more sunglasses!!) and a belly button bar for the girls.  Phoebe’s in the hole now for all of August’s allowance plus 40 euros but the belly button bar is TOTALLY BLING!

Back to the beach, where we all enjoy the waves, even though the water is not nearly as clear as Kologria Beach in Greece.  We are a beach towel down so the sand is a bit annoying and we are too late to get sunbeds, but we manage and Amy is the only one to get a bit pink today (her bum!)

The water is a bit cooler than Greece too, as we are quite near where the Atlantic comes in through the straits of Gibralter (we can see Gib on a clear day) and meets the Med.  I’m swimming happily along and then the thought occurs that it might be cold enough for sharks.  So I stick near the kids, they would make a tastier & easier snack for a large fish than me.

About 7pm we start to head back, but a tricky turning off to Casares catches both of us unaware and Sarah gaily heads off to Malaga.  I hope she’ orientated enough now to find her way back to Casares, and she’s got a full tank of petrol so I’m not too worried.  A working mobile phone in her car might have helped! Then I take the wrong exit on the next roundabout and end up back on the toll road, heading for San Luis de Sabinillas, which is where our kids went to schooll when we lived here.

Our car has the shopping, so as we are going along and we are a carfull of manpower down, I’m thinking about the whole drive up through car part, down little street, park in square mularkey, when I realise that I can just drive in from the top of village to park temporarily in the square and the kids can unload.

What is the point of having the little blighters if it’s not to make things easier with the slave labour?  Not that they are actually doing much apart from unloading shopping occasionally!  Loading the odd dishwasher perhaps….

I get going on tonights meal, which by popular request is chille con carne, with fresh peppers, mushrooms and carrots chopped in.  The mince is great, very lean with hardly any fat coming out of it – must be those free range bulls we keep driving past.

Sarah and co roll in about 9.15 and while regaling us with tales of trying to figure out her way back, we feed the kids (which is like feeding the forty thousand, with all this swimming!) and relax for the evening.

2010 At Money Gym Towers

This week we thought we would share some ideas with you, with which we are playing here at Money Gym Towers.

Both Nicola and I are rampant Creators and need to have new things to be working on all the time and here are just a handful of the best ones which are swirling round our world at the moment.

1. More books. Nicola wants to re-write her current seminal work on Wealth Creation mainly to update it and her publisher wants her to write one about retiring young.  We are clearing the decks for both of those activities to happen across the summer and go on to develop a whole series of books in the next couple of years or so. We want to have that series ready for when we are picked up by a mainstream publisher.
2. I want to write a companion book to the original MG book called”How I Did It” and to tell my own story + that of MG clients who have takenany of the MG teachings and put them into demonstrable action.   What we want is to show quantifiable results but also to give a workplan for those who like to be told specifically what to do.   You don’t have to be financially free yet, but if you have anything you’d like included in this book in order to help and inspire others, do please let me know.   I will be calling for contributors very soon, watch your inbox.
3. A printed newsletter.   By Spring of 2010 we want to be producing a regular paid-for monthly offline newsletter which is mailed to clients who opt-in.   This will be like a magazine with photos, content, columns, contributions, articles, adverts, stories, agony aunt, how to, seasonal content, seminar reports, client showcase, networking updates and more. Stand by as we would love to have a lot of involving client content in this one.   The paid-for newsletter will be free to certain client levels as yet to be decided, probably Silver and above.
4. MoneyGymHolidays - a website which brings together all the second and holiday homes of MG clients which are available to let at special prices within our community or available for swap in return for pet sitting etc.
5. Software – Nicola has long had an idea for a software product, now we are storming ahead to produce this with one of our techier clients.
6. We intend to stage another wealth conference in the second half of June 2010 – working title The Big One.   I’m looking for a suitable venue near Gatwick with residential accommodation for up to 200 delegates, so if you know a nice one, please let me know.
7. We are experimenting with moving from Cashflow evenings to aCashflow day.   We would like to be able to run two games on a Saturday with a networking lunch in the middle.   A date for your diary, the first one is confirmed for Saturday 14th November and we need one more facilitator so we can run 6 games x 6 people and serve 36 clients, 42 including the six facilitators – volunteers so far Matthew Green, Jo & Simon Dodds, Niki Duffy, thank you for stepping up.
8. We need a new URL for the Internet Home Study Course - if you can find a domain name which works and is free incorporating the words internet, marketing, business and tools – or another one which is keyword rich and says the same thing, we will find you a valuable prize.   It’s quite a brain teaser, I’ve been at it for a while and the best I can come up with is WakeUpToTheWeb.com which, you will notice, has none of the keywords in it!
9. We need a guinea pig to volunteer to help us with a specialproject.   I am aware that, for newbies, our web pages can be some what impenetrable, especially if you are new to the site and trying to find out how to join.   If that describes you and you have gone away frustratedunable to work out how to join us, would you volunteer to help us with the customer journey so we can make it even easier for clients to work with us? We need fresh eyes.
10. Coach Annie has taken ownership of the upcoming Let’s Talk Money Day in September with some content she feels very strongly about and we have asked Margaret, Marion and Philly if they would like to do the same in 2010. The coaches work very closely with our clients and know first-hand what they find tricky.   So we want to bring forth their talent and personal content in days which we know have to have an important element of community feel whilst offering something which makes your wealth creation journey ever easier.
11. We are on the lookout for people to help us grow the business someone to help us run our events, someone who can edit raw film, an affiliate manager on a JV basis and an editor for the print magazine.   If anyone of those roles sounds like you or someone you know, do get in touch. Meanwhile we are drawing up job descriptions and profiles.
12. Finally, we are going to create a very exclusive club for our Top 20 clients only.   You will need to have been a Silver Elite, Gold or Platinum client already or be able to demonstrate serious results with your wealth creation journey so far.   If you are ready to step up to the next level for some serious mentoring by Nicola and me, do let me know and we will keep you abreast of developments and perhaps even craft something around what would be useful for you personally.   This will be a closed and exclusive Mastermind Think Tank group, carry a hefty price tag and once in, you will keep your seat until you decide to step down for whatever reason.   We will run a waiting list of those wanting your seat.

But meanwhile, please, any and all thoughts about the above to judith@themoneygym.com.

Internet Marketing | Zero To Hero Online | Matt’s Progress

As the discussions rumble on about whether internet marketing is the “Emperor’s New Clothes” ex-Navy man Matt Jones has taken up the baton, and is quietly working his way through the Money Gym Membership Club Magic tuition videos, with a bit of coaching from me.
Read the first post here >>>	Read the second post here >>>
Read the third post here >>>	Read the fourth post here >>>
He’s agreed to post his progress in becoming a newbie internet zero, to internet marketing here in the comments here – so, over to you Matt!

SoulSista On Blip FM – oh yeah!

Thanks to @Mark_Braunstein for pointing my in this direction on his #partyfriday tweet!

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