Metropolitan & Crown, Plaistow Review

Overall Rating

Knowledgeable overseas adviser (maybe not part of the company?)

Not so knowledgeable in the office, seemed too persuasive and anxious to take money.

I was interested in Bulgarian properties advertised by Metropolitan & Crown. I contacted the company, and the information I received was sketchy (they were not too sure of what specification of apartments were available and at what price). More worryingly, the woman I spoke to (she said it was her company) quoted a very inaccurate euro conversion rate, and when I called a second time the prices quoted were higher (again that could have been for a different spec apartment. This was unclear).

I felt pressurised to pay a deposit before a certain date as "the prices were going up", though it was not clear why. Things that worried me included the fact the apartments had NO kitchen (apparently nothing, just an empty room. I would assume plumbing, but who knows). Plus, I was told the development was not overlooked, but I later found out there was a new development being constructed right next door, and was also quoted a suspiciously high rental yield of 15-16%. When I queried this with the person on the phone she insisted this was correct, though my own experience of holiday lets in Bulgaria or other European countries is nowhere near this. Maybe in the short term, but this is severely diluted by void periods, such as in Bulgaria's cold winters (and I do mean cold!)

Interestingly, I was called by a contact of theirs who gave financial advice regarding the development, and he seemed to be an extremely knowledgeable person. He obviously had an interest himself as he owned apartments there (he told me). Maybe he was the developer, though he told me he was just an investor. His position with Metropolitan And Crown was not really clear to me, though his acuity was in a different league to the woman at the office, who I felt liked the sound of her own voice too much. He was also rather more polite and I would say honest, perhaps too honest for the good of that company (I don't actually think he was employed by them. Again I was not clear about what his connection was). He actually quoted me rental returns of around 5-6% and told me about (hidden) charges that I was not told about by their office.

I was introduced by friends who had seen the ad, but they also "cut and ran" from this company, as they also had bad feelings about their apparent concern with taking a deposit quickly. I may ask them to post here also.

Members' Comments onsoutherngal1's Review

• southerngal1 on 10th Jun 2006

  I left out the most important bit: We are still waiting for a "holding deposit" back though I suspect it isn't going to happen. After countless calls with no answer and every excuse under the sun when I have actually got through including "it has been sent in the post" (I haven't heard that one before!) there is still no sign of anything. We have really told ourselves to forget about it as it wasn't a whole lot of money (£500) and luckily our suspicions were raised on subsequent calls which avoided paying the rather more substantial 10% required as the first staged payment. Perhaps it is best to think of spending the £500 to learn a lesson. And consequently myself and my partner have not enquired about any overseas properties since, not from any agent!