KEY POINTS:
Unhappy investors in Auckland residential property specialist Blue Chip Financial Solutions are turning to property author and outspoken apartment critic Olly Newland for advice.
Newland, who gained and lost a fortune at the time of the 1987 sharemarket bubble and bust, said many Blue Chip investors had come to him for advice and assistance.
But he said he could not disclose what they wanted, how many people he was talking to or how much money they had invested with Blue Chip.
"I'm working with several parties at the moment," Newland said yesterday. "Other than that, I can't discuss this."
ASX-listed Blue Chip says issues investors are having are beyond its control. Many investors have complained about not getting apartments after paying initial deposits and about weathertightness issues with units which lack official council approval.
Blue Chip says these problems are being resolved - some via court action - and it is doing all it can to assist its investors.
Newland said apartments had been a particularly poor investment for many people, and he had predicted this some years ago.
"In 2004, I said there's an avalanche coming and people laughed at me. I could see it coming. I've only been 47 years in this game."
Blue Chip's position is also being discussed widely on internet site Property Talk, where investors have complained of paying Blue Chip for apartments which were never developed and of having problems getting refunds.
But Blue Chip has issued assurances. Marisa Rakish, marketing and communications manager, said: "A number of apartments have had construction delayed, but due only to changes by Auckland City Council on minimum apartment sizes and lighting requirements now required for all such dwellings."
