Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
Inside Track Goes Bust!!!
Guardian: Champion of buy-to-let boom succumbs to credit crunch
Inside Track, the company that spearheaded the buy-to-let investment boom, is to go into administration early this morning.
Inside Track blames the credit crunch for its collapse as banks tighten up on buy-to-let lending, effectively ending 100% loans. Profits for the group three years ago were as high as £12m, but internal management accounts for the nine months to January 31 this year show income of just £239,000, with a £97,000 loss in January alone.
In early March, Inside Track announced it was ending its workshops as interest in buy-to-let diminished. The last seminar, at Warrington this month, attracted fewer than a dozen people.
Posted by little professor @ 12:40 AM (2430 views) Add Comment
49 Comments
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1. wiltshire said...
Good Riddance!
2. gone-to-colombia said...
Heartbreaking
3. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
4. little professor said...
There really is a glut of bear food these days. I've just been wasting some time looking at the archives for this time 2 years ago, and found these quant headlines from the news blog:
Oil tips beyond $67 per barrel
$700 dollar gold will look cheap in a few years
Housing market boom stuns estate agents
Northern Rock posts record $900m profits
Bank appointee Blanchflower to focus on inflation
5. hpwatcher said...
HA HA BLOODY HA!
Great post!
6. taffee said...
yippee........as predicted!!!!!!!!
7. mark wadsworth said...
Sweet.
8. nubbers said...
I can't help but wonder - is going bust not part of the business model for these scum? Make a killing as long as you can and then hide behind bankruptcy from any lawsuits and remaining debts. Expect to see some new scam from them in years to come.
9. japanese uncle said...
The existence of this particularly firm may have been a large-scale con. It seems too quick to me. Everything may have been designed/engineered from the begining, inclusing the demise of the operation.
10. growler said...
whahahahaaaaa hahahahha
11. taffee said...
they used to make looney claims of wealth yet no-one did anything about it...will be alot of upset people although perhaps some of the obligations for
future purchases will disappear.
12. sosoon said...
I agree JU. These guys would have known just like us where the future housing market was going, they have pulled significant profits out of this company before its structured demise.
13. Verymeanreversion said...
Inside track reminds me of pre-paid funeral plans.
Take the money whilst the clients are alive then leave them to it when they are (financially) dead.
14. it_is_going_with_a_bang said...
I'll drink to that later today. Irritating scum they were.
And yes squeezing cash out of people and then going bust is just 'a day at the office' for these people.
15. renting2 said...
Aaahh - schadenfreude.
16. night said...
Jim Moore, Inside Track's founder and substantial shareholder, first came to prominence in the late 1980s for his role in L'Arome, a pyramid-selling perfume company. After a lawsuit brought by Chanel, L'Arome went bust, owing £6.5m and leaving 180,000 distributors with unsellable scent. He was, he said, "broke, massively in debt". A decade later, he rediscovered his ability to galvanise with promises of quick riches through Inside Track. Moore earned millions from selling the buy-to-let millionaire dream.
17. renting2 said...
Where's Greenbust?
18. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
19. paul said...
But what about Paragon(e)? When are they going bankrupt?
20. Davros said...
Hooray.
That's a wake up call to all those whole thought it was different this time.
21. hpwatcher said...
The problem is that the ''persons'' behind the business will have made their millions and now are sitting pretty....
22. nubbers said...
Re-reading the article, not only have they done similar before, but the profits are almost certainly all off-shore. I feelings of elation have moved to anger. Even if this guy were to go to jail, his nest egg is secure. Having said that, I am also relieved because for the last few years, I have had to do everything possible to prevent my other half from going to their seminars.
23. Rumdiary said...
as much as I hope this it true and the conmen meet their fate the article is dated 9th April and the company still seem to be trading? Why won't they just go down in the most humiliating way possible.
24. taffee said...
tapping into morons public greed is not illegal....they have a great excuse to quit now...case will go nowhere
25. uncle tom said...
They saw some fools with money, and set about parting them - the oldest con in the book.
Have to admit - they were pretty good at it..!
26. Ijjhall said...
Inside Track featured prominently on Tonight with Trevor Mcdonald with Jonathan Maitland on the BTL slump just two weeks ago still talking up the market still a 'great long term investment.' You can review it on the ITV website..and now this.
27. paul said...
nubbers, your better half is having humble pie for dinner.
28. maddison said...
Classic pyramid scheme. ie if you got in there early say 2002 you would actually be sitting pretty well. Unless you bought a dodgy flat in spain or wooden chac in Cleveland...
29. doomwatch said...
In general, is it not the case that if you "wind down" a UK Ltd company, this pre-empts entities chasing you for money or suing you/it ? Not sure ?
Is it not the case that a lot of companies listed at companies house are "wound down" on purpose, especially the scammers ?
30. Sold My Soul To The Never Never Never said...
They took the money and ran! Who can blame them - a fool and their money parts easily.
31. waitingfor hpc said...
to be honest all assets will be 'off shored', and then winding the company up is a very simple process. Seen it done many times before and indeed know how to do it myself. Although I am from the more traditional model of business.
32. nubbers said...
paul, I have been trying to make the point stick, but its seems to wash over her. To be fair, I have not had trouble in the last year, and she is now more bearish after lots of hard work, and links supplied by this most excellent of news blogs.
It is scary though. Very scary. You are working hard to make a living, then your nearest and dearest wants to blow it all away by buying into the biggest housing bubble since about 1950ish. I got stung really big last time round as a FTB, but no one really seems to take heed.
33. dohousescrashinthewoods said...
Fraud, lies and slippery, slimy scum.
I'm glad to see it stopped, but I'd very much like to see the suddenly-awakened OFT throw the book at them.
They were bart of the brickwork of the great property sham that gave us the mirage economy and kept Labour in power regardless of competence.
34. Rumdiary said...
Hi all I am new to HPC. As much as I want to see this bunch go bust the Guardian article is dated a while ago. Inside Tracks website is up and running still and they still seem to be trading happily. Can somone please confirm they are bust? I would love it if they are but suspect the article was premature.
I also take joy in seeing branches of your move close down in Bristol. I hope Foxtons goes bust and the shiester who founded lives a deeply unhappy life.
35. Rumdiary said...
Sorry chaps. They don't seem to be bust. The article is dated a while ago and they are still trading. Their website still promoting their business. More is the pity.
36. harold said...
"The last seminar, at Warrington this month, attracted fewer than a dozen people."
This MONTH, and more than ZERO people turned up? Jeez, can you believe it?!
Yes, I think going bust was part of the business model. Some guys high-up on the inside may have spirited away a fortune over the past 24 months.
37. wiltshire said...
Doubtless the people behind Inside Track will now be looking at another business venture. Probably something involving debt consolidation or similar.
38. taffee said...
where is the hot money going?
39. nubbers said...
Panic not. Just tried their telephone number. They are indeed in administration as from this morning.
40. letthemfall said...
Well, it has been predicted here for some time. As noted, this was more of a con than a business, a parasitic outfit that fed on people's naive belief that all can get rich quick for minimal effort.
41. pelethar said...
Eh? The article seems to be dated today.
As far as I can work out they are going into administration today, and a good thing too. Good riddance to them and all who sail in them.
42. new user 2007 said...
"late 1980s for his role in L'Arome, a pyramid-selling perfume"
that sums up the BTL industry.
As for fraud. I have no doubt that they have planned for a bankruptcy for sometime. All pyramid scheme creators divert funds and prepare for a collapse. Bankruptcy will protect his private assets (how else do you think he will provide alimony to his ex).
They of course blame the credit crunch...not sure how that can happen, what with Mr ASSetz' lack of supply theory and the general fundamentals being the driver of prices arguments.
43. Planning4acrash said...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/buy-to-let/article.html?in_article_id=440950&in_page_id=56&ct=5&in_page_id=56
"Buy-to-let giant Inside Track goes bust"
"Due to the way the string of related companies are set up, the collapse of Inside Track is unlikely to effect the other businesses run under the umbrella of Inside Access. The company has three other arms – mortgage brokers Fuel, property agents Instant Access Properties and a management/support wing AfterCare Solutions."
Who the heck are Inside Access? Sounds like the music stopped playing and they only took away one chair.
44. Ge said...
He has done this on purpose so he does not have to pay his wife. BTL is not a scam, do your homework and you will find out it is an excellent LONGTERM investment, such as now being a great time to buy bargain properties. It’s the simple fact of supply and demand (there is simply not enough supply)! if you do your research and buy the rite property (not a flat) you wont go far wrong. Some companies have exploited this and used it for there own gain. Not all are like that and if any one has any savy they will do their research full stop!
45. new user 2007 said...
Ge
Thanks, your assumptions are as insightful and realistic as those of Mr ASSetz.
GO to the ONS site for population data and the UK Housing Review for Housing stock data. This will show there is no shortage…there is more housing now per person than in 1990 (albeit of a different composition).
The market is just in stagnation mode…there were plenty of people in US who "read the bottom of the market" in early 2007, now look at them. We are only now seeing ASKING prices fall properly, REAL prices are only now following…
any prices above mid-2006 levels (at best) means BTL will be relying on capital appreciation…so your bargains rely on 1) calling the bottom of the market (even Mr ASSetz has shifted from definite 5% rise to IF the govt bails you out) and 2) getting your "bargains" at Jan 2006 levels (highly unlikely YET)
Inside Track Seminars is a Limited Liability company, whereas payments to her would be from his private resources. At the same time, many parts of the company are still going concerns, so even if you want to use the logic of he did it on purpose does not work…
Put simply, the BTL mugs (the majority came in since 2006 and kept the pyramid going) are no longer going to the seminars. Yet we are told BTL are all still eager. Some are, of course, but many are not and no new money. And BTL can still get financing? On what planet is it easier for them now?
I went to Birmingham a few weeks ago. Classic VI interpretation talking about just flats…there were lots of semi-detached and terraced houses with For Sale signs. It cannot happen in England, then it was only those mugs in the North, then it was only those mugs buying flats. The domino continues…
Your pillars are what? High population density or lack of land? Go and look at Japan. Low rates and unemployment? Go and look at the US even now and Japan. Immigration? Go and check the change in regulations regarding Eastern Europe and other rich EU countries now allowing them to work there.
Show me the homeless waiting for shelter. Effective demand relies on ability to pay. Yes, everyone would love to get out of the bedsit, but there are 10mn people here who are unemployed, sick or just low-paid so could never bid (or should not have). Credit is gone so there goes almost everyone else.
46. new user 2007 said...
The BTL people I know don't buy in a falling market. They may have been in for only a decade, but who buys in a falling market when one cannot short? An idiot. Any person with the remotest logic would buy on the upturns in such a market. There is no rush unless really blinded by the "this time it is different" and "get in now before it is too late mind" (both BUBBLE symptoms)
You obviously believe the market has fallen and that is the bottom. But the arrogance or ignorance behind such a belief is mind-boggling. Are you honestly saying that millions of people in Spain, the US, Ireland and lots of other countries were never sold/ told the same rubbish by their own VIs and that they were all just stupid, and your decisions are infallible?
47. Simon said...
There is a GOD!!!
Nothing but a con!! what goes around and all that.
Lets prey they don't come back round................
The only people they made rich were themselves.
48. Simon said...
There is a GOD!!
49. Joe said...
Look what I found
Semms a new company surfaced at the same address as Instant Access Properties.
It is called Pay as you Grow.
Same owners.