SamenInGeld is a Dutch platform built specifically with the goal to crowdfund buildings and homes using actual mortgages. As with most crowdfunding platforms, the focal group of projects are those that cannot find funding at the traditional places like banks and other traditional mortgage lending businesses. Among the projects funded on this SamenInGeld are entrepreneurs that cannot get a mortgage through a bank due to inconsistent income and small time project owners that want to buy and renovate a building so they can use the building as a source of income through rent payments.

The advantage of this platform is that they managed to secure a AFM license which is legally required to officially offer mortgages in The Netherlands.

Business Model

SamenInGeld charges 0.5% of the total investment when the projects start and 0.25% every year the project is active to the money borrower. This is their primary source of income to support the platform. This means that for an investment of €100.000, they will receive €500 + €250 for 14 years = €4000.

The platform charges no fees to investors over their received interest, except for a small fee of €0.25 for every withdrawal from their account. This won’t make the platform owners rich though, since money lent cannot be withdrawn for 5-15 years.

 

To manage the risk of their investors, SamenInGeld allow loan seekers to split up the investment in different layers of risk and return. Some investors seeking higher profits might choose to take a higher potential reward by investing in a phase that will be paid later in the event of payment failure by the loan takers.

 

Legal requirements

Your author for this blog post is not in the slightest an expert on AFM regulation regarding private investment in mortgages, but I will do my best to use the sources available to assess the legal requirements of the platform and whether they conform to regulations.

Among the requirements to be met is the investor test. Companies operating under an AFM license that want to receive investments from private crowdfunders for investments higher than €500 need to test their potential investors on some their knowledge on the “risks of the project, crowdfunding in general and the specific platform” (https://www.afm.nl/nl-nl/professionals/doelgroepen/crowdfundingplatformen/toezicht/vereisten)

SamenInGeld matches this requirement. The funny thing is that the AFM makes the platform responsible for the review of the test and keep the requirements of passing rather vague. There are other requirements listed by the AFM like an €80.000 cap of total investment and a warning for investors to spread their risk. SamenInGeld meets those and other requirements by listing them clearly.

Conclusion

The running costs for the platform are quite low, and the business model allows for a steady flow of income for a long period of time (5-15 years). SamenInGeld smartly does not charge the investors a lot for investing in the platform, making the investment interesting for potential investors. The platform adequately counters legal repercussions by following the AFM guidelines.

 

Sources

https://www.afm.nl/nl-nl/professionals/onderwerpen/crowdfunding-overig

https://www.sameningeld.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Investeerderstoets_SamenInGeld.pdf

https://investeren.sameningeld.nl/page/how-it-works

https://www.afm.nl/nl-nl/professionals/doelgroepen/crowdfundingplatformen/toezicht/vereisten