I'm a sucker for going to those property expo's where there are many agents ,whom operate along the same wavelengths as ps,by offering discounted deals on off plan or key ready properties in the uk. I have yet to dip my toes into the uk market,as i'm not convinced of the genuiness of these deals. Thanks to the internet,we can reserach till the cows come home on market values and sold house prices,but what concerns me is the possibilty of these properties being overvalued by a valuer just so they stack up as a gifted deposit scheme,therefore not requiring any money down for the deposit,and occurring costs only in the form of fees and stamp duty.I am by no means a wizz at property finance,and remember reading in some ps books about the importance of a good valuer,but are these kinds of deals the kind of deals that work out as they portray them ,or is there oppourtunity for it all to go wrong? I realize that peolples circumstances could affect the finance side of things,but what else is there potentially to go wrong? It all looks too good on paper,15% gifted deposit,85% ltv for the loan,18mths offplan in a regeneration area etc,exchange bonds accepted by the developer,30k instant equity,only the finders fees and legals to pay! I would love to hear some thoughts on this from some more investors on this forum.cheers

There is no such thing as a free discount! Developers in the UK merely raise the price on off plan properties to allow for the discount. The only exception being the very early phases of a development where the developer may need to secure a certain number of sold units to allow him to raise the finance from his bank. Here you may get a genuine discount but for the rest, no way. It was in the press late last year that everyone is in on it, the developer, surveyor, mortgage banks, all wanting your business and unconcerned with the developer overpricing the properties. It is only some 2-3 years later that those purchasing UK offplan find out what the 'true resale value' is. This is often far less than they paid as the market sets the real value of the units. UK buy to let is one to avoid IMO.

Hi Tom Spot on! This problem is endemic when ever you have an agent who earns his money via commissions (which are never or rarely stated). If a commission agent approaches a developer before launch, the developer will very rarely (ie only when he perceives the market to be weak - in which case why are you investing?) agree a commission on his launch prices. Solution? Put up the price by the value of the commission required! Simple! My advice would be to assume that this will always happen unless proven otherwise. Cheers Neil

so i take it that these 'property investing' companies that attend these expo's that I love so much,are all basically agents ? I guess the only real way to check the deal out ,in terms of market value, is to check the sold prices in the area. I thought they looked too good on paper,you buy in,everything stacks up on paper,you try to exit and you may end up selling for less!