Is land-banking a sound investment? Or Scam?

Daddy D

Alpha Male
For those who dunno... land-banking is about "investing" in plots of overseas raw lands... where u r promised high returns when the land is sold and developed...

My BIL bought some plot of Canadian lands... through "The Walton International Group" a couple of years back... was promised returns in 5 years time... but with 11.75% investment loan... after 9 years till date... he is still paying... DUH...

:err::err::err::err::err:

Dunno if he should continue paying this monthly loan... 5 years... 10 years?
Or cut his loss and terminate this... and lose all the $$$ invested for the past 9 years? About $40K.

Anyone has experience with this?

Some websites say it's a scam... some say it's not...
To me... it's just like MLM... either u're a firm believer or you're not...
if it's so easy to get rich... all no need to work liaooo
 

Mum2bee

Member
For those who dont know... land-banking is about "investing" in plots of overseas raw lands... where you r promised high returns when the land is sold and developed...

My brother in law bought some plot of Canadian lands... through "The Walton International Group" a couple of years back... was promised returns in 5 years time... but with 11.75% investment loan... after 9 years till date... he is still paying... DUH...

:err::err::err::err::err:

dont know if he should continue paying this monthly loan... 5 years... 10 years?
Or cut his loss and terminate this... and lose all the $$$ invested for the past 9 years? About $40K.

Hi, my friend aunt invest in someting like dat in Australia 14 yrs back.what we heard was a few years later they went for a holiday trip to austRalia and decided to visit dat piece of land they invest which was suppose to build hotel or. Some landed property.tink at the end turn out to be nthing.then they know their cheated.that time tis kind of investment was call timeshare.and timeshare today is alrdy not like dat.
Today timeshare is also askin pple to invest like buying membership.it can be expensive or cheap and is going to kill you cos you still need to pay maintenance every month cost about a few hundred.and you can't sell or terminate the card.
Tis is just a personal feedback regarding the stuff I know.thanks :D
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
Today timeshare is also askin pple to invest like buying membership.it can be expensive or cheap and is going to kill you cos you still need to pay maintenance every month cost about a few hundred.and you can't sell or terminate the card.
Tis is just a personal feedback regarding the stuff I know.thanks :D
I agree... end up u can't sell or terminate... kena leeched dry by them...
wonder if these can be called mis-selling???
But then again... there's still so many such cases around... basically preying on people's greed for high returns.
 

diymummy

Moderator
Canada and Australia are all so big. Is that plot of land in a good location for future development? And when the land was bought, did they tell you how long would you be able to pay off everything and get the title deed to that piece of land?

Investing in property overseas and renting it out would be a better bet than buying raw land I feel. From what I understand abt such raw land investments is that a few people pour money in together to buy it. Then the question is still the same, who gets the title deed and when does the repayment for the loan ends?
 

stonston

Well-Known Member
My friend and aunt are working for investment company that deals with land banking.

However, theirs is not 'monthly payments'. From what I heard from them, is LUMP SUM.
And I know my mum has an account with my aunt and has recieved some bonus payouts already. She paid for her Isreal trip with the bonus.

I'm not very sure about the details but I know the minimum is $10k to invest. My aunt did ask me but I did not have time to sit down with her and listen to the details :)
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
My friend and aunt are working for investment company that deals with land banking.

However, theirs is not 'monthly payments'. From what I heard from them, is LUMP SUM.
And I know my mum has an account with my aunt and has recieved some bonus payouts already. She paid for her Isreal trip with the bonus.

I'm not very sure about the details but I know the minimum is $10k to invest. My aunt did ask me but I did not have time to sit down with her and listen to the details :)
It's typically a lump sum... those cannot pay upfront will opt for the monthly instalments at 11.75% interest rate... read that the finance company is linked to Walton.
My guess is your mum's bonus is from such interest rates that other buyers pay...
May I ask...
- your mum invested for how many years liaoo?
- when is her land targetted to be sold?
- Any early termination clause?

I'm still sceptical on this land-banking thingy... pissed off that my BIL is asking wifey to help pay these monthly loans cos' he has cash-flow problems. To me... it's just throwing good money into a DEEP hole.
Wifey is more EMO... so most likely will agree...
I'm more LOGICAL... so trying to make sense out of these and see if there's a better alternative.
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
Canada and Australia are all so big. Is that plot of land in a good location for future development? And when the land was bought, did they tell you how long would you be able to pay off everything and get the title deed to that piece of land?

Investing in property overseas and renting it out would be a better bet than buying raw land I feel. From what I understand about such raw land investments is that a few people pour money in together to buy it. Then the question is still the same, who gets the title deed and when does the repayment for the loan ends?
I think each buyer should have a title deed to his "little" plot of land... dunno what legal standing it has though.
From what I understand from wifey... it's paying loan till the land is sold... could be 5 years... or 25 years!
Wifey did some research... says the land is somewhere in Calgary, Canada... near Airport. The land beside has been sold and developed... so the agent says my BIL's land has a good chance to be sold soon.
Like REAL.... what if the garmen decides to build a highway across the land instead???
:err::err::err::err::err:

Continue paying and lose $$$ or terminate and lose $$$... LOSE-LOSE situation....
 

stonston

Well-Known Member
It's typically a lump sum... those cannot pay upfront will opt for the monthly instalments at 11.75% interest rate... read that the finance company is linked to Walton.
My guess is your mum's bonus is from such interest rates that other buyers pay...
May I ask...
- your mum invested for how many years liaoo?
- when is her land targetted to be sold?
- Any early termination clause?

I'm still sceptical on this land-banking thingy... pissed off that my brother in law is asking wifey to help pay these monthly loans cos' he has cash-flow problems. To me... it's just throwing good money into a DEEP hole.
Wifey is more EMO... so most likely will agree...
I'm more LOGICAL... so trying to make sense out of these and see if there's a better alternative.
I know this is the 5th year already. There's a 'yearly cash bonus'.
I asked my mum last night and she said that the land is not sold but 'rented' to developers. They give lump sum to buy the land. Then the land is rented out for development. I think she mentioned her plot of land is a farm.

I'm not too sure about early termination clause. But I know my mum is very careful with her money and she checks very carefully before she purchase.

I also know that my aunt & uncle have personally visited the place before they invested (my uncle is a retied banker, loads of cash to invest).

But I don't know the exact details cos I've nvr asked so much. My money already invested and at the moment, don't have that much spare cash to throw in because we intend to have #2 :)
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
I know this is the 5th year already. There's a 'yearly cash bonus'.
I asked my mum last night and she said that the land is not sold but 'rented' to developers. They give lump sum to buy the land. Then the land is rented out for development. I think she mentioned her plot of land is a farm.

I'm not too sure about early termination clause. But I know my mum is very careful with her money and she checks very carefully before she purchase.

I also know that my aunt & uncle have personally visited the place before they invested (my uncle is a retied banker, loads of cash to invest).

But I dont't know the exact details cos I've never asked so much. My money already invested and at the moment, dont't have that much spare cash to throw in because we intend to have #2 :)
Orhh... your mum's investment should be different then.... buy to rent... whereas my BIL is buy to sell...
So effectively her bonuses should be the rental fees right? Or depending how much the investment company gives her.
Left pocket to Right pocket???
So rent indefinitely?? Since your mum already "owns" the farm land.
Or she wants to go there and retire?
Dunno how's the resale value of farm lands... since I don't think developers would build properties with it.

Just my 5 cents worth. :)
 

stonston

Well-Known Member
Orhh... your mum's investment should be different then.... buy to rent... whereas my brother in law is buy to sell...
So effectively her bonuses should be the rental fees right? Or depending how much the investment company gives her.
Left pocket to Right pocket???
So rent indefinitely?? Since your mum already "owns" the farm land.
Or she wants to go there and retire?
dont know how's the resale value of farm lands... since I dont't think developers would build properties with it.

Just my 5 cents worth. :)


Actually I dunno the details but my mum did mention that if she wants to take her money back now, she won't lose out :)
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
my friend is wrkg with walton n seems to be making lots of $$$!!!
Sure a not... ask your fren show u his/her IRA8 then I'll believe :)
Either the staffs are earning lots of $$$...
Or the customers are losing lots of $$$...

:)
 

jean1986

Member
my relative is working in walton too. and earning big bucks.
seriously even though i'm a financial planner myself, i don't believe in land banking.
show me the land, before i invest. haha
 

jojoki

Well-Known Member
Sure a not... ask your friend show you his/her IRA8 then I'll believe :)
Either the staffs are earning lots of $$$...
Or the customers are losing lots of $$$...

:)
haha i duno but from her FB posts apparently so.. she use to be ex SQ stewardess... but left to work in banking n sub Walton. always going on luxurious vacations.. so must b making lots of $$$... if not how to afford tht kind of lifestlye.. ? ;p
 

stonston

Well-Known Member
haha i dont know but from her facebook posts apparently so.. she use to be ex SQ stewardess... but left to work in banking n sub Walton. always going on luxurious vacations.. so must b making lots of $$$... if not how to afford tht kind of lifestlye.. ? ;p
Some ppl will do anything for 'face'. Even if it means breaking the bank. You never know, she might be in debt.

I know of someone who is like that! No savings, alot of credit card debt due to 'face'.
 

dur30cat

New Member
With land-banking, the most important thing is to know what's the earmarked purpose of the the land plot you are investing in.

With regards to the scams, from what I read, it seems that a lot of land are located near city or potential outlying areas -- to investors, they think better grab or invest.

But what they don't know is that the land is marked *green land* or *green belt*, meaning that these are government marked green vegetation areas e.g. something like they are meant as parks or forests. So these land plots can never be converted for commercial development use.

It's just like strata title in Singapore -- some lands you can only use for residential but some can be converted for residential/commercial (so you get SOHO) etc.

So I think best to check out the land status.
 

orisonoracles

New Member
Hi

Just to share my personal experience. I have invested in some Canadian Land with Walton too. I got back my first investment but still stuck with a few. What is the project he bought in?

I think they are real, US and Canada actually allows undivided interest on land investment but not other countries.

However, if your brother took a loan and pay month for this investment, he is in for a mistake. The loan interest is very high. Bank usually give very high interest on such thing as they do not know what to do with a piece of raw land.

Your brother should just find a lump sum and pay off the loan and hold it there .
 

Daddy D

Alpha Male
Hi

Just to share my personal experience. I have invested in some Canadian Land with Walton too. I got back my first investment but still stuck with a few. What is the project he bought in?

I think they are real, US and Canada actually allows undivided interest on land investment but not other countries.

However, if your brother took a loan and pay month for this investment, he is in for a mistake. The loan interest is very high. Bank usually give very high interest on such thing as they do not know what to do with a piece of raw land.

Your brother should just find a lump sum and pay off the loan and hold it there .
Thanks for sharing.
Dunno what project my BIL bought... somewhere in Calgary I think.
He took the loan... that's why he's pretty screwed up... I think even if he managed to cash in... he will still be losing $$...
So he's still servicing the monthly loans.... waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. (If there's one)
 
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