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Available for EU residents

Fintown Review

Updated | 16. March 2024

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Available for EU residents
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not secured
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Earn on average (Per Year) 12%

4
rating

Chosen 3003 times

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Tested Platform
HIGHLIGHTS
  • Powered by Vihorev Group

  • Invest in rental & development projects

  • Monthly interest payout for rental

  • Invest from €1

RATING
Risk & Returnnumber of stars
Usabilitynumber of stars
Liquiditynumber of stars
Supportnumber of stars
FEATURES
checked iconCashback
closed iconBuyback Guarantee
closed iconAuto Invest
closed iconSecondary Market
closed iconRegulated
DIVERSIFICATION
Min. Investment 1
Loan Originators1
Loan Period in Months1 - 36
Countries1
Loan TypeRental
Interest8% - 15%

News

Statistics

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Year founded:

2023

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Investors' earnings:

€ 75.373

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Outstanding portfolio:

€ 5M

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Loss of investors' money:

€ 0

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Number of investors:

2.418

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Average portfolio size:

€ 1.000

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Funds in recovery:

€ 0

    Table of contents

Table of contents

Fintown Review Summary

Fintown is an attractive small, unique platform offering up to 15% return from rental properties. Our experience with the platform has been satisfactory so far. Given the current market environment, it can be a good alternative for further diversification in the P2P lending industry.

The platform pays interest monthly without any pending payments. Investors' funds are being used to replace equity, which will be reinvested into new rental projects.

Fintown's business model is one of the most sustainable in the P2P lending industry, as investors invest money in already profitable rental units. We have invested over €7,000 with Fintown since March 2023, and so far, our experience with Fintown has been excellent. You can review our current exposure on our portfolio page

Main Takeaways:

  • Good risk and return ratio
  • Investments in already operational rental units
  • High occupancy and high rating of properties
  • Profitable business model

If you are ready to invest on a platform that pays out up to 12% rental yield from short-term rental units in Prague, Fintown is worth considering.

Ready to get €15 investment bonus?

Or continue reading this Fintown review to learn how the platform works.

What is Fintown?

Fintown is a Czech-based crowdfunding platform that started offering investments in rental properties in the city center of Prague in the Czech Republic. The available investments generate between 9% and 14% yearly yield and pay monthly interest.

In this Fintown review, we will dive deeper into the investments to determine whether Fintown is a legitimate platform.

fintown review

Pros

  • Established development company in Prague
  • Flawless track record in repaying investors
  • High yield
  • Low minimum investment amount
  • Monthly interest payments
  • Option to invest as a company

Cons

  • Limited diversification
  • Platform launched only in 2023
  • Fee for an early exit from investments
  • Unsecured loans

Are you wondering how Fintown works? Watch our Fintown review.

Our Opinion Of Fintown

While rental property investments are nothing new, Fintown offers a slightly different product. You can participate indirectly in the short-term rental business with little effort.

The currently available investments are operational rental units with high occupancy in one of the most visited cities in Europe and some of the best guest reviews.

During our research for the Fintown review, Maxim Vihorev sent us the actual list of the current bookings, which presents the occupancy for the listed units. We have also received a new appraisal report for some of the rental units that haven't yet been listed on the platform, confirming the data published about individual projects.

The funding for the currently available loans will enable the company to deploy the equity elsewhere. Vihorev Investments is also developing other highly attractive real estate projects, which you can review in Vihorev's projects overview.

The type of investments offered by Fintown don't fall under specific regulations in the Czech Republic. The regulator also confirms this in a separate statement, which you can find on Fintown's website.

Investing in already operational rental units decreases the risk and increases the return as you aren't exposed to development loans, which come with unique risks connected to the construction of properties.

Based on the information we evaluated, we believe that the currently listed investment opportunities on Fintown are attractive.

Since Fintown has only launched its operation in 2023, the platform will list investments with higher liquidity and return to remain competitive and build its investor base.

You should expect that after the platform has funded its projects, it will lower the interest rates for a new listing or start offering development loans from third-party developers that come with potential additional risks.

This has been the case on all established platforms such as PeerBerry, Esketit, or Robocash.

Fintown offers similar returns by investing in rental properties in Prague, whereas competitors offer investments in unsecured payday loans from Africa, Asia, or South America.

While Fintown is a very young platform that has to build trust with the investors, the company backing Fintown has enough experience to justify a minor exposure to the available rental properties.

We believe the currently listed projects offer a reasonable risk and return ratio. Only time will tell whether this is always going to be the case.

Given the current market environment and lack of availability of loans on established platforms, Fintown offers exciting investment opportunities at attractive terms, which is why we have decided to invest our funds to gain our own experience with Fintown and improve our reporting about this Czech crowdfunding site.

fintown investment

Did we mention that all rental income is paid to your account monthly? As long as you invest in rental units, there is no need to wait until the end of the loan term, like is the case with full bullet loans on EstateGuru, to receive interest from your investment.

Are you ready to test Fintown yourself?

Our readers have the unique opportunity to get a €15 bonus after investing €300.

Fintown Bonus

Readers of P2P Empire have the exclusive chance to earn a bonus of €15 after signing up on Fintown with our partner link and investing at least €300 within the first 30 days.

fintown bonus

Fintown VIP Club

Investors with an investment amount between €10,000 and €29,999 will receive an additional 0.5% bonus on top of their investments. Investments of more than €30,000 will grant investors a 1% bonus. Any VIP bonuses can be reinvested or withdrawn after 12 months. Investors must maintain the investment amount throughout the year to redeem their rewards.

Fintown Requirements

To invest on Fintown, you have to meet the following requirements:

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Send your funds from an EU bank account
  • Verify your identity
  • Deposit your funds in EUR with your unique reference code

It's essential to understand that users should only transfer EUR. The platform might charge you a €20 fee if you transfer a different currency. You might be charged a €10 fee for an incorrectly marked deposit.

The deposit of funds from our Revolut account to Fintown's business account took 24 hours during a workday. Fintown's business account is operated by Ceska Sporitelna, one of the largest and most regulated Czech banks.

Risk & Return

Evaluating the risk and return ratio on newly launched platforms is difficult as we lack performance-orientated data.

Before evaluating the long-term performance of Fintown's investments, we will review the following information:

  • Rental properties in Prague, occupancy and revenue
  • Investment structure
  • Past and future developments

Investment In Rental Properties

Fintown is currently offering only investments in rental properties in the city center of Prague that Vihorev Investments manages.

If you have been to Prague recently, you have probably noticed that short-term rental is costly, and typically, the more affordable options don't look as good.

If you want to stay close to the city center to explore all the city's main highlights, you will pay at least €150 to €250 per night during the high season. The apartments on the Fintown platform are listed on Booking.com and charge similar rates.

fintown booking rating

Here is a snapshot of one of the apartments offered for short-term rental and owned by the founder of Fintown.

The Booking.com rating of 9.0 certainly makes a good impression on potential guests, which increases the occupancy of the listing.

During our research of the Fintown platform, we talked to the founder and requested additional information unavailable on the platform. 

The chart below shows the occupancy of listed apartments in the same building, managed by the founder and his company.

fintown occupancy

In the project overview of available investments, you can also review the occupancy for previous periods.

fintown occupancy 2022

The ADR metric represents the average daily rate charged to guests in 2022.

According to our latest talk with the CEO of Fintown, the average daily rate increased to €100 in 2023.

If you are familiar with the rental industry, you might wonder about the costs of running this type of business. 

Fintown is breaking down the financials for every project so you can better understand the profitability generated by the rental income.

fintown financials

The capital structure in the chart above shows only the structure of one single apartment that is available for investment on Fintown.

As you can see, a senior loan was used to purchase and renovate the building. The rest of the capital was paid with equity.

Fintown and, subsequently, the Vihorev Group aim to exit a portion of the equity to fund new projects. This will be done through refinancing with a mezzanine loan.

Development & Early Rental

Fintown is part of the Vihorev Group, developing multiple properties for rent in and around Prague. Some investments on Fintown are bullet loans with a relatively short loan term and the principal repayment at the end of the loan period. 

The development projects are typically in late stages, which decreases the risk for investors. 

"Early rental" projects on Fintown are investments where investors invest in a development loan for a specified number of months, after which the project becomes a rental unit with monthly interest payouts. That way, investors secure themselves a future rental yield. 

Investment Structure

Fintown will eventually offer two different investment products:

  1. Investment in rental properties in the form of a mezzanine loan
  2. Investment in development projects in the form of participation

What is a mezzanine loan?

A mezzanine loan is essentially an unsecured form of subordinated debt. This means that if the borrower defaults, the borrower's assets will be sold to cover a senior loan (mortgage for example) before covering other obligations such as subordinated debt.

As an investor who invests in rental units on Fintown, you are essentially investing in a mezzanine loan. The platform pays out interest from the yield generated by the rental properties.

The investment amount can be withdrawn after the minimum lock-up period. The platform follows strict liquidity management to ensure that the company always has enough funds on accounts to repay investors after the minimum lock-up period.

What is participation?

Participation is essentially debt towards a borrower where you share the entire income and the losses resulting from the loan contract.

Both forms of investments are riskier than loans backed by a mortgage.

If you decide to earn yield from attractive rental properties on Fintown, you should know that your investment is backed by a corporate guarantee issued by the Vihorev Group. You can read the terms of the group guarantee in the guarantors declaration.

fintown promo

The SPV Rezidence Strakonická s.r.o. and Vihorev Investments SE own all available rental properties.

Both companies are owned by the same owners, who also own the Fintown platform.

This can eventually change as the platform will start offering investments in different real estate p2p lending projects. If you decide to invest in particular loans, always do your own evaluation of individual projects and decide whether this fits your investment strategy.

To objectively review Fintown, we had to research the currently available investments.

fintown project overview

We have looked in particular at one of the first projects, which offers investments for one month. This means you can exit the investment after one month free of charge or continue earning monthly rental yield.

Be informed that those types of PROMO projects are rare on Fintown. The purpose of those deals is to let investors test the platform before committing more funds.

As this loan is a promotion, the platform offers a favorable interest of 12% per year by investing in a property already earning monthly revenue.

The loan is used to refinance a part of the equity, which will be used to finance other projects.

Fintown will always keep at least 20% of its equity in the rental property, which can also be seen as "skin in the game".

As Fintown is a recently launched platform, we have reviewed the appraisal report and additional information about the occupancy, regulative environment, contract, and appraisals.

During our research, we retrieved the appraisal reports for the entire building. You can review it in Czech here:

The appraisals confirm the value of the building and its properties.

Fintown vs Competition

The currently available investments on Fintown enable you to invest in rental properties that are already occupied and generate revenue.

The owner of the properties has been operating the rental business for several years, and it follows all the local laws and regulations.

These investment opportunities differ from some of the rental projects on platforms such as InRento or Reinvest24, where investors have to raise funds either for the entire property or fund the loan that will be used to renovate the property before it can be rented out.

Rental properties on other platforms yield between 5% and 7% rental yield per year, whereas Fintown is aiming to attract investors with higher inflation-adjusted initial interest rates.

You can calculate the future purchasing power with our inflation calculator.

fintown projects

What's worth pointing out is that you may exit the investment after the agreed term for free or before the end of the proposed loan term for an exit fee.

There are two further points which you should be aware of.

  1. The LTV only represents the loan-to-value for the senior debt, a bank loan. It doesn't give you any insights as your investment is structured as an unsecured mezzanine loan used to refinance a portion of the equity.
  2. The chart representing the percentage of funding for a particular project is misleading, as most of the funded amount is the company's equity (skin in the game). The non-funded amount is the available amount that you can fund. Additional information about the funding progress can be found on the project page.

Is Fintown Safe?

Investing on a recently launched platform is connected to various risks. On the other hand, it also creates an opportunity to diversify your portfolio, potentially decrease the risk, and increase the return in the long run.

Let's review the management behind Fintown and the platform's terms and conditions.

Who Leads The Team?

Maxim Vihorev and Vladislav Siganevich co-found Fintown. Mr. Vihorev has been active on the Czech real estate market since 2008, and through his investment fund Vihorev Invest SE, he has completed five real estate projects.

Mr. Siganevich is the managing director for CreamFinance in the Czech Republic. Creamfinance (currently rebranding to AvaFin) is a well-known player in the European consumer lending market.

CreamFinance was founded by the same founders as Esketit, who are known to hire only professionals in every position.

Mr. Siganevich's experience from CreamFinance certainly adds to the credibility of Fintown's management.

As the Fintown crowdfunding platform is owned by Vihorev Group, it's worth pointing out the company's previous experience with crowdfunding.

Here are the funding volumes raised and repaid to investors on other European crowdfunding platforms.

Platform Project Invested, EUR Investors
Upvest Prvniho Pluku 1,6M+ 212
Fundlift Business loan 160K+ 61
Upvest Strakonicka Apartments 300K+ 199
Debitum Business loan 150K+ 52

Having some actual track record in the industry is a good sign and something to consider if you are thinking about investing on Fintown.

Who Owns The Platform?

Fintown s.r.o is owned by the two entities which the founders own.

  1. Stonehill Capital s.r.o owned by Vladislav Siganevich
  2. Vihorev.Investments SE owned by Maxim Vihorev

According to the Czech business registry entry, those two entities own 100% of the Fintown crowdfunding platform.

Are There Any Suspicious Terms And Conditions?

We have reviewed all the legal documentation that you can find on the investment platform. Every user must agree to the participation agreement, which you must read before investing in listed projects.

You will find all the generic platform documents in your profile section.

Unfortunately, the participation agreement for a particular investment won't be sent to your inbox, nor is it available under your investments after you have invested in a project.

Amendments

The terms and conditions may be amended in the future, but the platform will inform you two weeks before the change, and you can decide whether to accept the changes or exit your investment.

Potential Red Flags

Currently, we are not aware of any red flags. We evaluate the information we retrieved as credible.

Usability

Fintown's user interface is fundamental and functional.

You will find a brief overview of your investment account, a section with the currently available open investments, and another section showing you critical data relevant to your investments.

fintown overview

The platform doesn't offer any fancy-looking charts to present your portfolio visually. There is also no 2FA available.

You will, however, be able to find all the required info and the option to deposit and withdraw your funds.

As Fintown is a relatively small and new platform, you shouldn't expect exceptional functionality as you might be used to from other players in the industry. On the other hand, you don't need to deal with "funds in recovery" or "pending payments" as is the case on more established platforms.

Liquidity

Every listed project on Fintown comes with a minimum term representing your funds' lock-up period.

The terms vary from 9 to 36 months. After the end of the period, you can request to withdraw your funds at any time at no extra cost.

If you wish to exit your investment before the end of the loan term, you can request it directly by emailing Fintown at info@fintown.eu.

Be informed, however, that Fintown will charge you an exit fee depending on the length of the remaining period.

  • Exit within 1-12 months: 30% of the principal
  • Exit within 13-24 months: 20% of the principal
  • Exit within 25-36 months: 10% of the principal

Note that when requesting an Early Exit, the following conditions apply:

  1. You will forfeit all unpaid interest to date. (for rental properties, the interest for the past month).
  2. All accrued, pending accrual, and unused bonuses will be canceled.
  3. The principal amount of your investment will be discounted based on the mentioned fees.

Unlike other platforms in the industry, Fintown doesn't offer a secondary market where you could sell your investment to other investors.

If you wish to exit before the end of the investment period, the fees are quite high. We suggest not using this function unless necessary.

Support

Fintown's support is good enough for a small, newly launched platform. During our research, we were in touch with the two co-founders, who answered more complex questions within 24 hours.

As a user, you will likely be in touch with the support team, which is reasonably responsive during business hours. To get in touch with Fintown, email them or use the live chat option after logging in to your account.

As with any small platform, you shouldn't expect an immediate answer. The platform has a dedicated FAQ page where you will find the answers to basic questions.

Fintown Alternatives

Fintown is an excellent small platform suitable for investors looking to diversify their P2P-lending portfolio in a new product type - rental units. Regardless if you are experienced or new to P2P lending, diversification across a few well-performing platforms is the key to maximizing your return while keeping the risk balanced. Let's look at some of the Fintown alternatives to consider. 

Crowdpear

Crowdpear is a Lithuanian-based and regulated crowdlending platform offering investments in development projects in and around Vilnius. The platform was launched simultaneously with Fintown and offers mortgage-backed loans with an interest of 10% - 12%. 

The interest is typically paid out every quarter, and so far, none of the funded projects on Crowdpear are delayed or defaulted. This means that you can expect to earn the promoted yield. The platform is operated by the team behind PeerBerry, one of Europe's best P2P lending sites. Learn more about Crowdpear in our Crowdpear review

InRento

InRento is a regulated crowdfunding platform from Lithuania that offers investments in rental properties. The yield on InRento ranges from 8% to 12%, depending on the project type. Some of the loans on InRento come with a fixed annual capital growth, which can increase your return on investment. 

The platform manages more than €10 M of investors' assets with no delayed or defaulted loans, making it one of Europe's best-regulated P2P lending platforms. Learn more about InRento in our InRento review

PeerBerry

If you want a P2P lending platform with a flawless track record, PeerBerry is the right place. This platform protected investors even during black swan events such as the global pandemic or the war in Ukraine. 

Unlike other platforms, PeerBerry is honoring all buyback and group guarantee agreements, making it the most sustainable platform on the market. While the loan availability is lower than the demand from investors, you can invest manually and earn between 9% and 11% interest per year, with a much lower risk than on some other platforms. Learn more about PeerBerry in our PeerBerry review.

author

Jakub Krejci

Founder

Fact

Checked

Jakub Krejci, the founder of P2P Empire, brings six years of expertise in navigating and investing across diverse P2P lending platforms. Drawing insights from over 50 interviews with industry CEOs and founders, Jakub offers a unique perspective in the peer-to-peer lending realm. Renowned for his high-quality reporting and regular updates, Jakub stands as a trusted authority for individuals navigating the dynamic P2P investment landscape.

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on P2P Empire. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations of products.

FAQ About Fintown

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What is Fintown?

Fintown is a newly launched crowdfunding platform offering attractive rental yield from rental units in the city center of Prague. The platform is powered by Vihorev Investment fund, which funds multiple real estate developments in Prague.

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Is Fintown legit?

Based on our research, we believe that Fintown is a legitimate platform. The investment fund backing the P2P real estate site has successfully repaid all the previous funding from other platforms.

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How can I invest on Fintown?

If you reside in Europe, you can create an account, verify your identity, type in your bank account information, deposit funds and invest in rental properties.

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Does Fintown offer a buyback guarantee?

Investments on Fintown are not backed by a buyback guarantee or a mortgage. The investments in rental units are structured as a mezzanine loan backed by a corporate guarantee.

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Are investments on Fintown less safe than mortgage-backed loans?

It's hard to tell how Fintown's investments will perform over the long term. As experienced investors, we have also seen real-estate-backed loans defaulting on other platforms. We believe that the risk connected to rental deals on Fintown can be lower than funding development loans in Germany.

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Does Fintown withhold taxes?

Fintown doesn't deduct any taxes from investors. You should report your income from Fintown and pay taxes according to the laws that apply to you in your country where you have a tax residency.

COMPANY INFORMATION

  • Company:
  • Fintown s.r.o
  • Legal Address:
  • Prvního pluku 211/5, Karlín, 186 00 Prague 8
  • Office Address:
  • Prvního pluku 211/5, Karlín, 186 00 Prague 8
  • Email:
  • info@fintown.eu