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

A Wealth Creation Dream Come True

This week a long time wealth creation dream of mine came true….but before I tell you about that, I’ll tell you about my mad exciting week first!

Last Tuesday it was my boy Nelson’s 12th birthday so he, Phoebe and I went to Brighton to their favourite restaurant, Yo! Sushi, where they got through frightening amounts of….you guessed it, sushi, then we all went to see “Fame – The Movie”

This was great not only because I love all that singing and dancing “luvvie” stuff, but because the graduation ceremony gave me the best quotes on success I’ve come across for a while, but how to get hold of it?

I scoured YouTube but the film is too new for it to be up there yet, so I sent out a few tweets and an email to our Money Gym Google groups. It took a couple of days but Carrie Eddins emailed the speech back for me to use in my presentation on success on the “Really Useful Internet Day”

When I thanked her, thinking she must have had it downloaded or something, she said”I walked past the cinema, and thought..if  it ’s screened when I walk past then I will watch it again.. and it was. I watched it missed a bit and then it was immediately screened again!! It was fun in the end!!”

Wow, thanks again Carrie, that’s helpfulness above and beyond the call of duty!  Our google group and the people in it, is amazing.  Just think, if that’s the Silver level group support, imagine what the Money Gym Boardroom google group will be able to do for YOUR business!
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This Weeks Good News From Judith

This week I slowed down and stopped chasing international tax exiles and busy multi-tasking property entrepreneurs, trying to badger them into finding 30 minutes in which their diary might coincide with Nicola’s and mine so we could interview them.

Do you remember that advert for Cadbury’s Caramel, where a seductive bunny tried to persuade some other (fast) animal to slow down?   Well this week I surrendered to that same caramel seduction and stopped chasing.   Go with the flow, I reminded myself.   So I just sat back and allowed some good ideas to sally forth, about which more later.

I spent all of Tuesday on logistics.   Cor Blimey, team!   Remind me next time before I do this exactly what’s involved in running a Big Gig.   The venue, the AV tech, the laptops, the presenters, the timetables, the presentations, the film cameraman, the photographer, the speakers and their entourages, their lunch requirements, making sure they have their presentations on memory sticks with back up, the volunteer team, the stationery shopping list of sticky labels and pens, the systems for registration and the dispensing of badges and goody bags and how to process 200 people in 30 minutes.

The prizes, the prizes, the prizes – that’s my favourite bit.   The abundance of the speakers and their donations, all so we can raise £4,500 for The Big Issue.   Wow, is all I can say.   In my current totalling of their combined values, I am up to well over £42,500.   And with only 200 delegates, the chances of bagging a big one are excellent, especially if you are visualising it coming your way and the speaker of your choice shaking your hand/kissing you and congratulating you on your big win.

I persuaded Nicola and Steve to let me give away 90 days free in the Silver membership of the Money Gym to anyone who had already booked a ticket and then persuaded a friend to come too.   That’s 90 days each by the way!

You should have seen me and Steve trying to understand the process for THAT one!   At the time of writing, there’s still time for you to cash in on that promo.

Then Marion and I walked through the event, decided what we wanted each volunteer to do on the day, decided who was going to take money for books on sale, who was going to be the Speaker Fairies, and who in charge of logging who won what so I could follow through and make sure each speaker delivered.   Marion and Steve are in charge on the day because I shall be on the stage for a change.   Fabulous to have such support from folks as passionate as I am about this project and all the good we can do with it.   Good for the delegates, good for The Big Issue, good for us.

At the time of writing I am still trying to work out how to use viral marketing to sell the remainder of the tickets – if you can Twitter it, or blog it, or somehow pass the message along, do please do that.   If someone mentions your name on their booking form, 90 Silver days will be winging themselves in your direction too.

The Big Issue have us appearing in their magazine dated 16th March, apparently most copies are sold on Mondays and Tuesdays – they have been so helpful it’s not true – and on Tuesday a small select bunch of us are going to scope out what they do at closer quarters at their Real Lives Real Achievements evening at the Proud Gallery in Camden.

I’ve written up most of my 37 reasons to attend and circulated them to our list:

Wriggling the Knobs (8 inspirational reasons)
10 Year’s Holidays for The Price of One (7 financial reasons)
Is that YOUR Raffle Ticket in my Champagne Bucket (5 incentive reasons)
A Hungry Mosquito in a Nudist Camp (10 opportunity reasons)
Stop the Rot, Get a SIPP (three educational reasons)

Total so far 33 reasons, just four more to go early next week.   I shall make it my business to be The Killer Reasons!

It’s been another fabulous week.   I am learning so much about how to put on a big event, marketing, planning, delivery.   Ironic that the last ten years, when I was b****ing about getting out the day job, I was an FD for an events company.   Perhaps that explains my love of the live event, I’m so looking forward to the day.   I’ve even collected The Big Cheque from the bank, now all that remains is to fill it in.   How many more tickets will I sell, how much money will I be able to write in there?

Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported and volunteered so far, especially the enormously patient Mr Steve Watson who himself has made a donation of his time worth £1200 for the prize fund.

And finally, I am cooking up something extra special for those new Silver Members which I may be able to roll out to all Silver members and perhaps even to create something ongoing for them.   Silver membership is all about self-study.   Its uber affordable access to all or most of what the Money Gym offers, without the 1-2-1 coaching.   So I am thinking of setting up a little pilot scheme to get the new ones through their first 90 days so that they derive maximum value from it and will want to continue their relationship with us.   I can’t think about this much before the 21st, but I will announce it before 1st April – another exciting creative project coming your way.   Left alone to study, how many are successful?   In all my years with the Money Gym, I can think of only one shining example.

It’s all go.   This is my last Good News piece for the ezine before the Property Extravaganza.

Have I done enough to get you there?

Wealth Coach Diaries: Nicola’s Week

My new sewing machine has arrived today (£32 from eBay – why pay more?) and it’s beautiful!

Well, it’s a bit old and cream coloured, but it’s in really good nick and it’s got everything I need (forward, back, ziz zag) to make lovely linen garments and it’s even got a “quick unpick” which you slide along seams to unpick them quickly.

Also arrived today was the www.WrapOnline.co.uk catalogue and my word, they have a vast quantity of beautiful clothes, but luckily I was saved from spending a fortune by the fact they don’t do black, white or navy. Lots of lovely sludgy colours that I probably should be wearing but just can’t bring myself to buy.

Indigo, prune and kingfisher, I ask you. Bitter Chocolate, Poppy, Aubergine…..What kind of colours are they?

I have emailed them with my suggestions on how to triple their profits – stock black, white and navy in addition to those sludgy colours.

Don’t make the same mistake as Marks & Spencers for heaven’s sake.

OK, retail rant over.

Why am I sewing? Can I be that much of a skinflint you may ask yourself?

Because I’m looking for a hobby, used to be designer and can pattern-cut and sew standing on my head, and I have a much loved long linen shirt that I want to copy in many colours. Starting with black, white, navy and pink (the new black don’tcha know?). Also I want to teach Phoebe – it’s something we can do together and it’s a useful and fun skill, a bit like good cooking.

Talking of hobbies, the gardening has taken a bit of a back seat but the live Monday night Apple League poker games are coming along nicely and are great fun. I came 2nd out of 27 the other night, in the first game, and just missed being on the final table in the second game. I am getting to know the other players a bit now, still very friendly, and the landlord from the Thursday night game in The Montague pub, Worthing, came over to the Crown & Anchor pub to play this week, so I now feel that I could go there on my own if I wanted to.

Sean, a young salesman who seems to have taken a shine to me, says I’m getting a bit of a reputation for being an aggressive player who can bluff well. Bit scary apparently! I did learn from the knee of the master, Mr Watson, so that’s no surprise.

I gave Giles, the new owner of the Crown & Anchor, the book “How To Make Your First Million” by Martin Webb which I read last week and thought brilliant. I know Martin (presenter of “Risking It All” on Channel 4), from my clubbing days in Brighton. My penchant for drinking in loud nightclubs helped him make his first millions LOLOLOL and it was a fascinating read to find out what went on behind the scenes while Martin and Simon – now an aspiring counsellor for Kemptown – built their chain of pubs, clubs and restaurants. Watch a video of Martin talking about the book here
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I Love You!

I’m a big fan of The Secret, the film about the Principles of Attraction.   It had it’s limitations and I don’t feel it went far enough on the practicalities of “how to” but I did get the one tip on the second or third watching, about feeling grateful when you are feeling down, which certainly works although it usually breaks our shower when I use it (don’t ask!)

Joe Vitale, while featured heavily in The Secret, obviously feels the same, because since The Secret was filmed, he has written not one but three books elaborating on the “how to” of The Secret’s Secret.

I have read and enjoyed “The Attractor Factor”, haven’t yet read “Zero Limits” but am totally immersed in “The Key (The Missing Secret For Attracting Anything You Want)” which I got for Christmas.  I was reading it last night as I was unable to sleep for various reasons.

I’ve got a lot of time for Joe Vitale (left) – not only because he is a great and prolific writer, but because he has been there, totally on his uppers, but also perhaps because he looks a lot like one of my favourite DJ’s in the world, Danny Tenaglia (right). 

They both have this tough but cuddly Italian American look about them which I find very appealing – lucky I didn’t live in New York or Las Vegas in the Thirties eh?

Before I tell you about this amazing practical tool I have discovered in “The Key” let me tell you that I am the least woo-woo person you are ever likely to meet, beaten only in the down to earth stakes by Steve Watson and Greg Ballard. 

However, I had a very interesting conversation with Greg last week on the early morning train from Worthing to Victoria last week about the developments in the Money Gym and all the events Greg has mentored us through, since the sale of The Acacia (my ex-hotel in Worthing).

I can’t remember even what I said but it must have been vaguely limiting or even negative (quelle horror!) because Greg picked me up on it and said 

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Wealth Creation Rip Offs

Sometimes I’m almost ashamed to be a “wealth creation expert!”  So many scams going on around me, so many people being ripped off, so many dodgy blokes in suits selling unscrupulous products and services.  I’m sick to the stomach when I hear about some of the things some companies do.

Why did I, in 1999, become obsessed with creating wealth for myself and then have this great idea about sharing what I learned – it’s a bit like deciding on purpose, voluntarily, without having my arm twisted, to become a double glazing or timeshare salesman.

Why didn’t I just do it for myself and keep schtum?

The problem is that there wasn’t a Money Gym around when I was struggling financially, when we couldn’t pay the rent and we had to move to my sister’s tiny cottage and cram ourselves in with our kids, her kids, my husband, then her husband (who was supposed to be away at sea but who broke his leg and came home on sick leave).

There was nowhere to go, to get the very basics of wealth creation in one place.

O yes, you could learn about investing in shares, or building a business, or investing in property (real estate) but there wasn’t anywhere to get all the basics and you certainly couldn’t learn about making money online without wading through piles and piles of emails.  So I could see the need and because I was only a few steps away from feeling the pain myself – how could I NOT share what I was learning.

And that grew into The Money Gym – in those days just me and the telephone, coaching clients myself.  It was only with the arrival of ….. Read more..