Dream Design Do

Jackson Jones · 6th Apr, 2017

bread_boy said: ↑

Would love to hear more about the types of properties DDP has sourced and secured for you if you care to share?

Date, region, purchase price & yield would be a good start
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Jackson Jones · 6th Apr, 2017

bread_boy said: ↑

Would love to hear more about the types of properties DDP has sourced and secured for you if you care to share?

Date, region, purchase price & yield would be a good start
Click to expand...

You're welcome

ps9589 · 17th Apr, 2017

Jackson Jones said: ↑

View attachment 14429
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Seems like these properties were all in 2013 which is 3 years back and all in NSW and not bought interstate.

melbournian · 18th Apr, 2017

Jackson Jones said: ↑

View attachment 14429
Click to expand...

those are decent buys but you playing in Sydney not SEQ.
got a friend who bought an apartment around that time in chatswood and onsold it for nearly 1 million more like couple months ago.

you could throw a dart in just about anywhere in Sydney or Melbourne during that time and made gains.

ps9589 · 23rd Apr, 2017

Sharing my current experience in trying to resolve the matter (which I have posted earlier) with DDP:

Initially DDP indicated that they would like to make contact to resolve the matter promptly. However, when requested to have all communications on email or recorded phone conversations, they have ignored these requests. Instead, DDP have asked me to remove all my reviews from social media and have responded to me with statements like: “If you choose not to do so, I'm afraid we will resort to exercising our right to seek legal counsel and defend the matter in full and claim damages for defamation.” On indicating that my reviews are an honest account of my experiences with DDP, I have now started receiving emails from DDP

with the following: “Did you receive a letter from our lawyers ?” Even though I have responded indicating that I have not received any communication from DDP, I have still received the below email:

“Is their a reason your avoiding this question ?

Did you or did you not receive the email from our solicitors ?

Any claims against us will also be defended and we reserve our right to claim costs and damages “

sash · 23rd Apr, 2017

Counter with that they are harrassing you and refer this matter to Fair Trading.

Thye are bluffing.....this is a form of intimidation....I usual...counter...that I look forward to settle the issue in the courts.

ps9589 said: ↑

Sharing my current experience in trying to resolve the matter (which I have posted earlier) with DDP:

Initially DDP indicated that they would like to make contact to resolve the matter promptly. However, when requested to have all communications on email or recorded phone conversations, they have ignored these requests. Instead, DDP have asked me to remove all my reviews from social media and have responded to me with statements like: “If you choose not to do so, I'm afraid we will resort to exercising our right to seek legal counsel and defend the matter in full and claim damages for defamation.” On indicating that my reviews are an honest account of my experiences with DDP, I have now started receiving emails from DDP

with the following: “Did you receive a letter from our lawyers ?” Even though I have responded indicating that I have not received any communication from DDP, I have still received the below email:

“Is their a reason your avoiding this question ?

Did you or did you not receive the email from our solicitors ?

Any claims against us will also be defended and we reserve our right to claim costs and damages “
Click to expand...

ps9589 · 24th Apr, 2017

Lodged a complaint with NSW fair trading and also informed them about the emails received.

Ramit · 28th Apr, 2017

So this is how #DDP is gagging their customers and not addressing their disputes.

melbournian · 28th Apr, 2017

yeah man - What happens if the person was having depression due to separation or divorce and that additional emails creating tension and anxiety pushes the person over the edge? you never know this kind of things

brandontp · 4th May, 2017

That's absolutely shameful if it's true. They also recently reached out to me via LinkedIn asking if I wanted to join their company as a sales rep. I did a bit of homework on them and have run into multiple websites/pages with similar feedback like in this one.

ps9589 · 8th May, 2017

brandontp said: ↑

That's absolutely shameful if it's true. They also recently reached out to me via LinkedIn asking if I wanted to join their company as a sales rep. I did a bit of homework on them and have run into multiple websites/pages with similar feedback like in this one.
Click to expand...

My post is my honest and true experience with DDP.

MJA Jahid · 17th Jun, 2017

ps9589 said: ↑

Hi Everyone, I have had the most stressful and negative experience with DDP. My honest account of my experience is as below:

I signed up with DDP in 2016 paying a fee of AUD 13,900 for a purchase of a house in the range of AUD 300,000-400,000. As this is well over the industry benchmark, I was brought to believe that DDP’s service would be exceptional and would make the buying experience stress free. However my experience with DDP has been extremely stressful and is provided below:

1) Initial Sales Pitch: I was led to believe that DDP would be able to source positive cash flow properties in growth areas at prices which were well below market rates, thus making up for the high fees DDP were charging. My initial remit to DDP via an email dated 6/28/2016 (even before signing the contract), with Subject Line “Initial Criteria for property selection - to be ratified as feasible by DDP” was

"The property

1) should be a positive cashflow property (before applying tax deductions) Should have a high rental yield and I am open to dual residency houses.

2) should have a large land area

3) Total cost of acquisition including stamp duty and any fees, charges and services requires should be under AUD 400000 - Should be the right property for the area for attracting a family as tenants.

4) should be close to (< 1km) from transport (preferable the train station) and supermarkets and schools

5) Should be bought under value

6) Should be checked thoroughly for any long term issues in terms of legal or structural problems.(also flood, fire areas, cyclone areas should be avoided)

7) Should be in an area with high expected growth and low vacancy rates."

DDP's response via Email on the same date was:

"Yes by all means, I have confirmed with our Property team that we can find something that will tick all these boxes.

Just about all our properties fit this mould, with the exception that sometimes we will pick property up above 400K.

The above criteria is basically the same criteria that we would work off anyway.”

Thus trusting in these words, I went ahead and signed the contract with DDP to be my Buyer’s agent.

2) My Actual Experience:

DDPs calculations to check the gearing of the property often included inflated rent values, did not consider possible periods without rent (which other buyer's agents factor in their calculations) or used lower values for other charges.

The expected buying price proposed was not below market value. In fact when I did my own due diligence, most times I found the property was listed at the price that DDP was proposing to buy it.

None of the properties that I checked met the proximity to transport remit from my email.

The properties proposed were in the general area of south east Queensland. All recommended properties were sent with the positives of buying in that area, which was common knowledge available in the public domain. At no time was a comparison done to indicate why I should buy in one suburb over the other, while other buyer's agents even go down to street level preference for their clients at a far lesser fee. The experience seemed to me as if whatever the customer picks from the stock sent will be sold to the customer as the best buy by DDP.

The criteria provided by me before signing the contract have not been adhered to in my opinion.

The first property that an offer was put on was indicated by DDP as a 2003 build which was a key reason why I picked it, expecting it to be low maintenance than older properties. DDP’s proposed price was $360,000. I was shocked when I received the building and pest report which compared the property with properties of the 1970s. On visiting the property personally, it was evident that the property build year was more 1970-1980s and there was quite a bit of repair and maintenance cost that would be required. On asking DDP to negotiate based on these points, I was told that AUD 360000 is the best price even though the property was 20 to 30 years older.

Also, the DDP estimated rental range for this property was AUD 390-410 per week. On querying the property agents on site, they clearly stated that the range was AUD 350 to 370 per week and they won't be able to get more than that, which made the property severely negatively geared further. This also indicated to me DDP’s lack of area knowledge. Finally we asked for a $5000 discount as a negotiation, which was not accepted by the seller and we had to pull out of the deal. Interesting to note that the property did sell finally at a lower price. On my complaint and strong insistence, only the building and pest inspection report cost, which I had paid to the Inspection company was refunded by DDP.

DDP indicated that the asking price for the 2nd property that I ended up putting an offer on was AUD 430000, although the online advertisement asked for offers over $420000. In this property the lower level was just renovated and it was advised that this was a dual occupancy property with separate metering, again a key reason for my decision to go ahead. Based on my insistence to reduce the offer price, the offer was finalised at AUD 425000. However, when I personally visited the property the selling agent revealed that the lower level ceiling was not of legal height and hence I would not be able to lease it as two separate properties as a dual occupancy. On returning back and literally forcing DDP to ask the selling agent, it was further revealed that no council approvals were obtained for the renovation carried out on the lower level which included a fully functional kitchen. This obviously put me as the buyer at severe risk of litigation in an event of an untoward incident like a fire in or due to sections of the property for which council approval had not been obtained and someone is hurt due to it. Moreover, in the case of damage to property due to these unapproved sections, the building and landlord's insurance would be voided. Despite these risks which were pointed out by me, I was still recommended by DDP to buy the property without any price reduction, although it had potential to put me under serious litigation and financial liability.

I believe that buyer's agents are appointed to protect the buyer against such risks. In this case, a seasoned buyer's agent would have immediately inquired with the selling agent regarding council approvals in case of a renovated property even before recommending the property to the client or would have noticed a lower than regulation height if they had personally visited the property.

3) Lack of proper due Diligence:

My experience has shown a sheer lack of due diligence from DDP on the properties recommended. My opinions are below:

Information provided by DDP on properties was already available on the internet in the public domain.

Moreover, in the cases above, the information provided was proven wrong or basic checks were not done resulting in deals getting cancelled.

As would be expected from a buying agent, who is supposed to act as the eyes of the investor when purchasing interstate and especially when charging an above benchmark premium fee, DDP never viewed the properties before recommending them or even before the initial offer price negotiation or signing of the contract. In my experience, they have relied on the internet and the information provided by the selling agent rather than doing their own visual checks to verify the facts. It was only when I went personally to visit the properties or while doing a building and pest (after the offer price was decided), when a potential property manager was sent to the property. Querying these property managers have revealed that the expected rent values were inflated and that the proposed property would not fetch the rent quoted by DDP.

The amount of effort, time and money that I had to put in to validate information provided by DDP and to carry out my own due diligence completely negated the reason I took a buyer’s agent in the first place.

4) No Service for Buyer Advantage:

In my experience, DDP also seemed to be more interested in closing the deal than negotiating on behalf of me, Whenever a point of negotiation was brought up (always on my initiative), I was told that a lower price cannot be obtained. There was no attempt to try to negotiate with the seller, until I pushed hard and pleaded to do so. At all times it seemed from my experience as if I was being sold the property by my own buyer’s agent !!

5) DDP Mortgage Broker Incompetence:

My experience also showed that the mortgage broker suggested by DDP provided a number of false quotes in terms of rates and provided wrong loan terms while quoting the rates. One instance was where I clearly indicated that I wanted an interest only loan and I was provided with a principle + Interest offer. A number of instances like this finally caused me to find my own mortgage broker.

The above instances indicate to me that DDP never fulfilled the initial remit that was agreed before I even signed up with DDP. Moreover rather than making the process less stressful, the lack of due diligence, checks, buyer- advantage negotiation and service expected from a buyer’s agent has made the experience highly stressful for me and negated the reasons I decided to use a buyer's agent. Apart from the lack of value for a high fee price of AUD 13900, I have also suffered unnecessary financial loss (approx. $1005) in terms of unnecessary trips to Queensland and the 2nd property Building and Pest report for properties which should have not been recommended at all had the proper due diligence been carried out.

The above is my factual experience with DDP and I believe it is important for experiences and reviews to be placed online, for the benefit of other customers who can weigh experiences and take a call.
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------------------

I ALSO HAD THE SAME SORT OF EXPERIENCE FROM DDP. SO I ASKED THEM TO REFUND HALF OF THE FEE I HAVE PAID. THEY SAID THEY HAVE DONE THERE PART AND I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT ZAKI (WHO I HAVE NEVER MEET OR TALKED).

Bobby · 18th Dec, 2017

Hi Everyone, i would like to share our experience with DDP.

My husband and I have used DDP service once, paid $15,000 deposit in advance. Several months after our first purchase, ZAKI AMEER called us and invited us to his office, we had a meeting together with MATT WILSON, to check how we are and cut story short, we ended up signed another agreement with them. We paid deposit $5000 for specific criteria property, they said they able to find it, and if they can't they will refund our deposit. We also signed a letter stating this, signed by MATT WILSON and us.

After several months, they just found out that their property is not approved by our bank.
We demand a refund as they know exactly our financial position and should assess before promise us something. Just like a doctor (in this case DDP) should assess and check before giving advise to their patient (customers).

After A LOT OF emails we sent asking for a refund, their account person called DIBYA CINTURY finally responded to us and agreed to refund us in 10x weekly instalments,which suppose to be paid in full by mid of November. They have paid us $3000 and stopped in Sept. We have been chasing for these payment EVERY SINGLE WEEK, no reply to our email, and each time we call the receptionist always says she's on the line and never return our call.

We are very disappointed and exhausted chasing our own money. We thought these guys are genuinely helping people but they are just after our money.

Just be careful guys don't fall to their trap!!

sash · 1st Apr, 2018

Bobby said: ↑

Hi Everyone, i would like to share our experience with DDP.

My husband and I have used DDP service once, paid $15,000 deposit in advance. Several months after our first purchase, ZAKI AMEER called us and invited us to his office, we had a meeting together with MATT WILSON, to check how we are and cut story short, we ended up signed another agreement with them. We paid deposit $5000 for specific criteria property, they said they able to find it, and if they can't they will refund our deposit. We also signed a letter stating this, signed by MATT WILSON and us.

After several months, they just found out that their property is not approved by our bank.
We demand a refund as they know exactly our financial position and should assess before promise us something. Just like a doctor (in this case DDP) should assess and check before giving advise to their patient (customers).

After A LOT OF emails we sent asking for a refund, their account person called DIBYA CINTURY finally responded to us and agreed to refund us in 10x weekly instalments,which suppose to be paid in full by mid of November. They have paid us $3000 and stopped in Sept. We have been chasing for these payment EVERY SINGLE WEEK, no reply to our email, and each time we call the receptionist always says she's on the line and never return our call.

We are very disappointed and exhausted chasing our own money. We thought these guys are genuinely helping people but they are just after our money.

Just be careful guys don't fall to their trap!!
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Why didn't you just contact the Dept of Fair trading?

MavOne · 13th Mar, 2019

Zaki Ameer said: ↑

Dear Samm90985;

I have sent you a private message so you may meet me directly to resolve your concern.

As mentioned in the message, the DDP consulting services are under an agreement in which terms and conditions are listed on. We of course vary terms depending on the clients situation and circumstances.

For the public record that can also be given under oath, we have refunded $1.48 Million Dollars to date of our consulting fees back to our clients for various reasons which may result in not being able to obtain finance for a property, financial hardhsip on a case by case basis.

Kind Regards,
Zaki Ameer
Founder - Dream Design Property
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What a load of lie...its been 18 months and i'm still waiting for my meagre $5,500 refund desipate an NCAT and NSW court judgment ordering DDP to repay my money...$1.48million? laughable...

gty12 · 18th Mar, 2019

HenryF said: ↑

Just to summarise this thread for anyone missing the plot:
Brendan's (the guy who started the thread) photo, which I have conveniently screengrabbed here in case he changes it, shows himself and a man called Zaki Ameer.

Zaki Ameer runs a buyer's agent company called Dream Design Property.
A man called Brendan James used to work for Zaki and looks suspiciously like the Brendan in the photo.

The 'used to' being the keywords, and there is an insinuation that perhaps Brendan is now working in some capacity to help Sean Summerville by creating this thread (astroturfing if you will to create awareness), or the other insinuation is that perhaps the thread was started specifically to disrepute Sean Summerville.

Zaki Ameer and Brendan James have a long write up in a Whirlpool forum post which descends into users comparing progress on their Sheriff/Fair Trading NSW claims against the company they were a part of (to summarise they supposedly aren't very nice nor honest people).
Dream Design Property - Investing - Finance

As for Sean Summervillle, he copped a lot of flak in the old PropertyChat forums known as Somersoft in this thread:
Sean Summerville The Property King
Although there was much argument over whether it was warranted (Sean was replying back himself to the questions), the key point seemed to be that he was spending too much time advertising in his replies and too little giving substance.

Not all reviews of Sean were negative though.
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This is a good summary from my post on another thread about Zaki Ameer:
Sean Summerville - The property king AKA Fortunes in Forclosures

Key part is this:
'Zaki Ameer and Brendan James have a long write up in a Whirlpool forum post which descends into users comparing progress on their Sheriff/Fair Trading NSW claims against the company they were clients of (to summarise they supposedly aren't very nice nor honest people).
Dream Design Property - Investing - Finance'

There are also multiple claims that they use Dubai based bank accounts to avoid:

Losing money when they get sued (as Australian based funds they have are $0)

Tax

aushousingcrash · 15th Apr, 2019

Tides out..

Zaki "Dont know how you sleep at night" Ameer

Angry clients, staff slam celebrity investor over ‘unpaid’ refunds

TMNT · 24th Apr, 2019

aushousingcrash said: ↑

Tides out..

Zaki "Dont know how you sleep at night" Ameer

Angry clients, staff slam celebrity investor over ‘unpaid’ refunds
Click to expand...

"Mr Ameer has offered to pay them back the money they’re owed on the condition they don’t comment to the media and remove all bad online reviews."

Not sure what removing bad reviews is going to achieve?

He's reputation is toast!

Or is he relying on the fact that people have short memories

DBG · 24th Jul, 2021

Does anyone recommend any law firms to lodge a NCAT application etc. ? I have paid a buyers agent $10k upfront that was supposed to be refundable however they are refusing to refund it.

Dennis

Terry_w · 24th Jul, 2021

You should be able to do it yourself

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