Category Archives for "property investment"

Southall Waterside – 21st century lifestyle with Crossrail on the doorstep

London property development that delivers everything a property investor desires

Developer Berkeley Group is creating something exceptional in Southall. Just a few minutes from Southall station and the Elizabeth line (Crossrail), Southall Waterside is an ambitious project that will deliver almost 4,000 modern homes, new parks and public spaces, and a revitalised canal side that includes cycle paths and walking trails. It is the ideal location for families and young professionals.

Here’s what you need to know about Southall Waterside.

Significant investment started early

The area in Southall that is being regenerated was once a gasworks and has been used as a car park for travellers flying from Heathrow Airport. As a brownfield site, it has already received a huge amount of investment to prepare it for development. In doing this work, Berkeley has ensured that it protects the environment, residents and visitors.

Southall Waterside is already an award winner

Southall Waterside has already started winning awards. At the 2018 Planning & Placemaking Awards, the development scooped the Excellence in Placemaking at High Densities award and the Best Use of Brownfield Land in Placemaking.

Creating community at Southall Waterside

The result of the 25-year regeneration project will be the delivery of 3,750 new homes across the 45-hectare site, in phases that ensure the community is created and sustained along the journey. This is Berkeley’s overriding focus – to deliver an integrated, self-sustaining community that is successful from day one.

The innovative ‘staged placemaking’ approach that Berkeley is using should ensure its vision is delivered. Infrastructure and public realm will be sequenced throughout, creating distinctive residential neighbourhoods.

Almost six hectares of public squares and parks will be delivered. This includes a 40-acre new park. In addition, new restaurants, bars, shops, a new primary school and a new cinema will help to create a fully functioning new waterside ‘village’, connected to Southall station and the Elizabeth line by a central park that runs through the development. Anyone who has ever visited Valencia will understand the potential of this linear park to deliver an eclectic place where people meet, relax and play.

Residents who commute to London will benefit from a journey time of just 17 minutes to Bond Street, 24 minutes to Liverpool Street, and 31 minutes to Canary Wharf. Heathrow Airport will be just eight minutes away.

Not just for commuters

Of course, when examining the potential of a location you shouldn’t focus only on its potential as a place for commuters. The local economy matters. Southall doesn’t disappoint.

Average weekly wages here are higher than the national average, benefitting from a vibrant and thriving local economy. Many people work at nearby Heathrow, but the 3,500 small businesses here are evidence of an entrepreneurial and outward-looking community.

The biggest sector of the local economy is human health and social work, but other major sectors include wholesale and retail, manufacturing, education, administrative and support, accommodation and food, and construction. More jobs are coming, thanks to Southall Waterside. Berkeley expects to create 21,000 new jobs during construction.

Summing up

Southall Waterside is a fantastic location for investment potential. It is close to the motorway network, close to Heathrow Airport, and, when Crossrail arrives, close to the West End, the City, and Canary Wharf. It is great for commuters who work in London, and those who wish to work locally benefit from a thriving and diverse local economy.

The development integrates open space, public realm, leisure, and recreational space with piazzas, courtyards, commercial, retail and residential. It is a place that is being created to provide the very best homes for modern lifestyles.

With waterside trails along the Grand Union Canal and new pedestrian routes connecting to Minet Country Park, this is a location for outdoor living that you’ll find hard to match elsewhere in London. The design is incredible, too; with a network of cycle paths, no home will be further than a five-minute cycle ride to a station.

New restaurants, cafés and bars will help to give Southall Waterside a real continental feel, and the new cinema and other facilities will ensure that people have plenty to do here. (Why not hop over to our article “10 best things to do for families in Southall” to discover more?)

Southall Waterside – an affordable property with fantastic potential

According to home.co.uk, the average asking price in Southall is £431,834 (April 2019). This makes Southall property more affordable than the average London home, which is priced at £459,800 (UK HPI data, February 2019). With rents averaging £1,403 per month, the average yield in Southall is around 3.9%.

Investors have been spooked by the ongoing saga of Brexit, and Savills has recently predicted that house prices in London will stagnate until 2023. However, Savills also forecasts that locations near to Crossrail stations and planned infrastructure improvements will see property prices rise most. So, this is a big tick for Southall Waterside.

The Office for National Statistics recently released research that examines the impact of nature on property prices and concluded that developments that benefit from being next to woodland, parks and green spaces should expect their properties to outperform other properties by 2%. Another big tick for Southall Waterside.

This development delivers everything a property investor could wish for. A great location, benefitting from proximity to Crossrail, the Grand Union canal, and green spaces and parkland. Property investing at its very best. For more information about Southall Waterside property, contact the team at Gladfish today.

Live with passion

Brett Alegre-Wood

10 best things to do for families in Southall

Indoor and outdoor activities for children of all ages in Southall

If there is one thing that families need, it’s something to keep the kids amused. Parents in Southall never need to ask what to do with kids at the weekend. In and around Southall, there is plenty of family entertainment. You could visit a different attraction or park every weekend for a year, and still not have seen half of what this area of London has to offer to families.

In no particular order, here is our pick of the 10 best things to do for families within 30 minutes of Southall.

1.    Hanwell Zoo

This is a great day out for children from toddlers to twelve years old.

A day packed with wildlife fun, animal ‘meet and greets’, and plenty of educational programmes to help the kids learn about rare species, conservation, and more.

Marmosets, meerkats, and mara are just a few of the creatures that kids will marvel at. Children can run around freely at the zoo’s playground facilities. At Hanwell, youngsters arrive as kids and leave as mini zookeepers!

Where: Hanwell, only 16 minutes from Southall

2.    Airport Bowl

A firm favourite with Southall families on wet weekends, Airport Bowl in Harlington is home to an incredible 36 lanes of 10-pin bowls. There are also eight pool tables, a video arcade and a food court.

It’s a big winner with children for birthday parties, with medals for all, food, unlimited squash, photos and balloon modelling all available to add extra sparkle to the party fun.

Where: Harlington, only 22 minutes from Southall

3.    Dinosaur Escape

A mini golf adventure. Instead of windmills, near life-size moving dinosaurs try to stop you making a hole-in-one. This is crazy golf taken to another level, with 18 holes meandering through a Jurassic jungle. It’s like taking a step back in time, with the air filled with the noise of the prehistoric past. You’ll be wondering what lurks around the next corner.

It’s not all about hitting a ball with a club, though. There is plenty of dinosaur history and information to collect as you make your way around the course, ensuring that you and your children leave a little more enlightened. Another venue that is great for birthday parties, and exceptional fun for children of all ages – right up to 99!

Where: Northolt, only 10 minutes from Southall

4.    Ceramics Café

The Ceramics Café is the place to visit for a fun activity that will build great memories as the children create wonderful keepsakes. Simply select the piece you wish to paint, choose you colours, and paint your design on the item chosen. Return in a few days, and pick up your keepsake. They make perfect gifts for grandparents!

You aren’t left alone to hope your work comes out the way you planned. Experienced staff are on hand to offer all the help needed. A fun activity with a beautiful end result.

Where: Ealing, only 17 minutes from Southall

5.    Northala Fields Park

The award-winning Northala Fields Park has something for everyone, and for children of all ages.

With six fishing lakes, three wildlife ponds, a model boating lake, and two well-equipped playgrounds, it’s a fantastic place to spend many hours. Take the family for a ramble through the woods, and see if the kids can find the mosaic in the middle of the park.

Bring the bikes to make exploring a little easier, or, better still, a kite for a bit of flying on the fields – a very popular pastime here.

A visitor centre includes a café, toilets, a fishing office and classrooms.

Where: Northolt, only eight minutes from Southall

6.    Jungle Versatile Indoor Play

A fantastic indoor play centre for children up to the age of 12, with rope swings, crawl tunnels, ball pits and more. Fully air-conditioned, it’s the perfect place to bring children when you want them to have the kind of fun that ensures they are worn out by bedtime.

A five-star café sells a range of hot and cold food and drinks, but you don’t need to sit out the fun – parents can join in during the interactive parent and child sessions.

Birthday parties can also be booked here, and there is also a range of seasonal events throughout the year.

Where: Hounslow, only 21 minutes from Southall

7.    Oxygen Freejumping Acton

A trampoline park with 150 wall-to-wall trampolines that will get your kids bouncing. There’s a giant obstacle course to tackle, games of dodgeball to win, and basketball hoops to slam dunk from a bouncing start. As if this were not enough, there are fancy dress sessions with prizes for under-fives, and if your bounce isn’t quite up to the mark you can take trampoline lessons with a British gymnastics qualified instructor.

Where: Acton, only 22 minutes from Southall

8.    Brentford Leisure Centre

Brentford Leisure Centre is all you would expect it to be, and then some.

A multi-purpose centre, it includes a gym with more than 100 fitness stations, swimming pools for serious swimmers and waves and flumes for the funster, a children’s soft play area, squash courts, and a sports hall for racket sports and five-a-side football.

Activities here include swimming lessons, holiday activities and birthday parties. If you don’t fancy a high-energy afternoon, enjoy a drink and a bite to eat at the centre’s café while the children are learning to swim or with their team on the five-a-side pitch.

Where: Brentford, only 19 minutes from Southall

9.    Hounslow Urban Farm

Hounslow Urban Farm is a city jewel, and a fantastic day out for children who wouldn’t normally see farm animals. It is one of London’s largest urban farms, covering a huge 29 acres.

There is a farm café for lunch or tea, a bouncy castle and a souvenir shop. But, of course, these aren’t the main attractions.

The kids will love the animal encounters, which give them interactive time with the animals through the day. Parent the pigs, greet the goats, shake hands with the sheep. Wonder at the majesty of the owl. The fun doesn’t stop. The farm has a small group of Shetland ponies that give a fantastic introduction to pony riding.

Where: Hounslow, only 23 minutes from Southall

10. The Secret Railway

The Secret Railway – or, to give it the correct name, Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway – is the only operational narrow-gauge railway inside the M25. Once used to supply London with drinking water, it is now a visitor attraction that holds events throughout the year. These events include:

• Superheroes Day
• Dinosaur Day
• Ghost Train
• Santa Specials
• And more

There are special museum days that include model railway exhibitions, stationary engines and model boats, classic car and bike shows, and a Christmas Fair.

Wow! So much to do here, and this is before you have even taken a ride on the little steam train.

Where: Hounslow, only 29 minutes from Southall

Southall – a great place for families to live

Southall is a great location for families. There is plenty to do here, so the kids should never get bored. The Taxi of Mum and Dad may get a little exhausted, though, with the weekends the perfect time for kids to let off steam from a hard week at school.

Now we’ve mentioned education, it’s worth noting that 13 of the 18 primary schools in Southall are rated as good by Ofsted. At the secondary school level, the most highly-rated schools are Dormers Wells High School, Villiers High School, and the outstanding-rated Featherstone High School.

Southall is a great place for families to live, and it’s getting even better. Berkeley Group is developing Southall Waterside. This development is ideal for families. Parks, trees, water and gardens. Shops, restaurants, cafés, art and entertainment. With Crossrail on its way here, Southall Waterside will be only 17 minutes from Bond Street. And, of course, within a few minutes of some of the best family entertainment and activities in London.

With the population here forecast to grow by 13% by 2030, the potential for profitable property investment is huge. For more information about Southall Waterside property, contact the team at Gladfish today.

Live with passion

Brett Alegre-Wood

5 Strategic questions to consider in choosing a property model

One of the exciting parts of property investing is that there are lots of different property models out there for making money from property.

Be it second-hand refurbs, being a developer yourself, new build and off plan, HMO, rent to rent, serviced apartments, lease options and all forms of alternative property investments like student lets, hotel investments, holiday rentals etc.

With so many models out there it is important to have a strategy in place, your strategy will give you focus in helping you determine what you should concentrate on to implement, and what model that is just not right for you, as it does not match with your situation and goals.

I come across so many people who attend property seminars and are full of enthusiasm following on from the theory they have just picked up from seminars without necessarily becoming grounded on what it really takes on a practical level to create the level of success they short term believe they will achieve after such seminars.

You’ll find that most property models being preached about at seminars are suitable for people who want to do property full time and get their income from property full time which is great if that is you, but not practical for a lot of people’s lifestyle, desires or stage in life. 

The main model you’ll get from a property seminar is either buy high yield lower priced properties or buy the worse property in a really good area/street and do it up. 

With buy high yield low priced properties, the challenge is in the areas where this happens in the UK you do not get the growth, hence why they stay cheap and usually you do not get the best quality tenants. 

The real challenge is since the growth in these areas are not there (regardless on marketing claims ), it requires more of your own funds to grow the portfolio or even worse borrowing money from friends and family and giving away the yield. 

You scale the above up and you end up creating problems for yourself with more cheap properties not growing in value, with potentially not the best quality of tenants, hence why It’s important to have a real proper assessment of your situation and goals first, as it could be best for you to focus on quality over quantity of properties.

With buy the worse second-hand properties in a really good area/street and do it up, you’ll need to be full time and effectively become a developer (There are models in place though were as opposed to being the developer, you can leverage off a great developer like off-plan when done well).

What you’ll find is, seminar students who succeed are the ones who make the sacrifice to give up their jobs and end up doing property full time, then start selling educational course, seminars or some form of mentorship which is where the real money is made from the seminar business model (Selling theory – education), not necessarily property. 

Here is a small list of factors to consider in determining what is the best strategy and property model for you based on what stage in life you are at, your goals from property and the property market cycle.

1 – What is your predominant goal from a property? 

Property is just a vehicle we use to achieve specific goals we have for ourselves. Be it as part of a retirement plan, replacing a full-time job, a hobby you enjoy, or you see It as a store of wealth to have something to pass on to your kids.

Your reason for using the vehicle will determine exactly what property model you should be buying.

2 – What return do you predominantly want from the property?

Once you have clarity on your reason for the vehicle, then the next thought should be does my reason require me to have an immediate return now to live on (income – short term) or is my focus more on getting a return in the future (capital growth – mid to long term).

This is critical to get clear on because this will determine what model you choose to go ahead with, the area you choose to buy in and the property you choose to buy.

Each property you purchase will either predominantly be an income-producing property (Generator – high yield and low capital growth) or will either predominantly be a capital appreciating property (Accelerator – high capital growth and low yield).

Whilst you can balance out your portfolio with a combination of income-producing properties and capital appreciating properties, there is, unfortunately, no perfect property that will give you both high yield (over 8%) and high capital growth (Over 8% yearly), it just doesn’t exist so stop looking for it….to achieve this you’ll need to combine several strategies.

3 – What is your current situation now – Your current Income, the current level of capital to invest and do you need the extra income now to maintain your lifestyle?

Do you currently earn enough income to maintain your lifestyle? Do you enjoy your full -time job/business and are happy to carry it on for the foreseeable future?

These are some strategic questions you want to consider because if you want to maximise the use of leverage and benefit from compounded growth using a capital appreciation strategy, then whilst the properties you purchase may be sufficient to look after themselves cash flow wise, do not expect to be able to live on the cash flow from the properties. 

You will have to have a secure and reliable source of income other than from the properties whilst you allow time for these properties to truly appreciate in value over the years.

If you do need an income stream straight away, then perhaps an income producing model may be best for you, however, if you want a significantly high-income stream, you may need to be hand on.

So the next question is: do you have the time, effort and knowledge required to follow a strategy that will produce a high-income stream for you right now?.

4 – How much time can you put into a property (Hands on vs hands off)?

Most people nowadays no longer work from 9 am to 5 pm. Most full-time jobs are now realistically 6 am from when you get up to 7-8pm when you arrive back at home.

Property investment, to do it properly using second-hand models is a full-time commitment and it’s very competitive.

If you have the time and passion for property then the second-hand route whether via refurbs, being a developer, rent to rent, service apartment or HMOs might be the way for you, but expect some competition and be prepared to work hard to see some results. 

You also want to put a value on your return on time invested. Is your time best rewarded working on something else other than property?

Alternatively, if you haven’t got enough free time or realise that you can get a greater return on your time from something else other than working on property, then new build and off plan model could be right for you as it requires less of your time, and produce a higher return for your time invested.

5- What is your current age (Life Stage)?

Finally, your age is an important factor. You speak to any expert out there and they’ll say get into the property as early as possible why? Well, one reason is one of the greatest assets we have whilst we are young and earning a good income is our ability to leverage and benefit from compounded growth.

Your ability to leverage diminishes as you get older as most banks’ lending on Buy to lets will lend to you right up to the age of 65 to 75 (In some case 85). But let’s be honest do you really want to be worrying about debts by the age of 65? So, assuming you are 60 years old, then you’ll only be able to get a 15-year loan term maximum with most banks.

It’s best to use good debt to your advantage when you are young to create wealth that you can live on when you are older.

If you are already in your 60s then an income-focused strategy could be best for you, unless you do not need further income and just want to invest for something down the line for the kids.

No doubt there are a few things to consider when determining the best strategy and thus property model to meet each person’s individual situation and goals.

Once you have considered all these factors mentioned above, the most important next step is to gain the knowledge surrounding your strategy and the knowledge surrounding the property model you’ll use to meet your strategic objectives.

You need to invest the time to learn everything you can about that strategy. You want to know the good, the bad and the damn right ugly. You obviously want to learn how to avoid the bad and the ugly.

One of the best ways to developing knowledge is by spending time with people who have implemented that strategy and are willing to share their knowledge with you. Contact the team at Gladfish today.

Cheers,

Manny Esezobor

Investment in the UK has reached tsunami proportions, ‘despite Brexit’

Savvy investors eliminate emotions and invest for fundamentals

I’ve been getting more frustrated by the ‘despite Brexit’ lobbyists. They are so pessimistic of the UK’s future. ‘Despite Brexit’ is the term that market commentators and economic ‘experts’ put on any item of good news released in the UK. ‘Because of Brexit’ is slapped on any bad news.

Read the newspapers, listen to LBC, or watch the evening news on the BBC, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the whole world has lost confidence in the UK. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Inward investment in the UK is booming. About the only ones who aren’t confident of Britain’s future are the Brits!

Don’t believe me? The good news has been flooding in all year.

Buffett seeks UK investment despite Brexit

5^th May 2019

Warren Buffett, probably the best-known investor in the world, is targeting the UK for investment. And when he invests, he tends to invest big. He invests for value and the long term. One of his investment mantras is ‘Buy and hold. Never sell.’

How big is Buffett? His investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, is valued at around £390 billion. He may “have a feeling” that the UK vote to leave the EU was a mistake, but he has said, “It doesn’t destroy my appetite in the least for making a very large acquisition in the UK.” (Read more at BBC)

Indian investment in the UK rising despite Brexit

25^th April 2019

The annual ‘India meets Britain Tracker’ has found that the number of Indian companies doing business in the UK has increased by more than 5% between 2018 and 2019.

842 Indian companies are now operating in Britain, with a combined turnover of £48 billion. The corporation tax that they paid last year almost doubled, to £684 million. The UK Minister for Investment Graham Stuart expects another leap next year, as a greater inward investment is spurred by a further reduction in corporation tax rates. (Read more at The Economic Times)

The UK tops the global ranking as the best investment destination despite Brexit uncertainty

19^th April 2019

Despite ‘continued uncertainty stemming from its intention to leave the European Union’, the UK snatched the top spot in the annual EY survey. This is the first time it has been placed top in the 10-year history of the survey. The UK accounted for 10% of global M&A activity. That’s huge. (Read more at City A.M.)

Norway wealth fund shrugs off Brexit plans rise in UK investments

27^th February 2019

You think Buffett’s fund is big? Then look at Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. It is the world’s largest, with assets valued at more than £750 billion. And it is planning to increase its investments in the UK, which currently include being a co-owner of Regent Street, and large shareholdings in companies that include HSBC and BP. And it says it will invest more, even if the UK leaves the EU with ‘no deal’. It has 250 employees in London and has said that Brexit will not affect this. (Read more at Reuters)

Technology investment cash continues to flood into the UK despite Brexit

5^th February 2019

UK’s tech sector attracted more venture capital investment than any other European hub in 2018. Way more. This has got to hurt London Mayor Sadiq Khan. He’s been banging on about how damaging Brexit is to London since the referendum in 2016.

It’s especially humiliating for Mayor Khan because the report uses data published by London & Partners (his promotional agency) and PitchBook. According to their figures, Britain’s tech firms raised almost £2.5 billion in 2018. £1.8 billion was raised by companies in the capital.

In 2018, London’s tech companies raised twice that of Berlin’s, almost 2.5 times that of Paris’s, and eight times that of Stockholm’s – the three European cities that raised closest to London’s tech sector. (Read more at Data Economy)

European investment into UK tech reaches an all-time high

9^th May 2019

Here’s one to put in your scrapbook. European funds are flooding into the UK, especially in the UK’s tech ecosystem. In this sector, European funds invested more than they have ever done in 2018 – a whopping £1.89 billion. Up from £1.66 billion in 2017.

The Penningtons Manches ‘Golden Triangle: Golden Opportunities’ report found that investment from EU countries is particularly strong. Overall, deals into the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge made up 70% of all overseas-backed deals. (Read more at UKTech News)

London overtakes Hong Kong in Schroders Global Cities Investment Index

14^th May 2019

The second-best city for investment in the world. The highest-ranked city in Europe, with Paris its closest competitor at number 17. Munich is in 28^th spot. Only Los Angeles ranks higher. This is London, despite ‘the economic and political uncertainty in the UK, especially surrounding Brexit.’ (Read more at  IR Magazine)

The UK economy is strong, despite Brexit

There is something compelling about these news stories. They all have something in common: foreign investment. Why are foreigners so confident in the UK, and Brits so pessimistic? Could it be because Brits are so close to the situation that they can’t see the wood for the trees? Could it be that foreign investors are more inclined to look at the evidence than react to emotive headlines?

Look at what is really happening in the UK since the EU referendum in 2016:

• The UK economy is around 4.8% larger
• Employment is at record highs
• The unemployment rate is at a 45-year low
• The number of job vacancies is at a record high
• Inflation is below the 2% target
• Wages are rising at 3.4%

I could go on.

The IMF now forecasts that the UK economy will grow almost three times faster than Germany, and faster than France and Italy. Not one of the doom-and-gloom forecasts made before the referendum has come true. My message is this:

Forget what the economic experts say. Ignore the newspaper headlines. Take less notice of the CBI, the Treasury, and others. Focus on what is really happening. Businesses in the UK have created more than 1.1 million new jobs since June 2016. Despite Brexit. Business investment in the UK increased by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter in 2018. Despite Brexit.

Businesses don’t hire new people and invest in new machinery if they think the future is black. The truth is that the UK economy is robust and resilient. It is fundamentally strong.

Brexit uncertainty has created an opportunity that the world’s biggest investors, largest sovereign funds, most dynamic venture funds, and fastest-growing businesses from around the globe are exploiting. It’s a tsunami of investment.

Follow Buffett

For me, the most interesting of all the above headlines to me is the declaration from Warren Buffett.

The 88-year-old veteran investor has said he’s actively looking to make a large investment into both the UK and the European economies, despite all the uncertainty currently surrounding the future relationship. Over the years, Buffett has built a reputation for being an extremely well-measured investor, not least because of the vast amount of information that he gathers on a company/sector before investing in it.

His announcement at this year’s Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders event should be a positive sign for investor confidence, especially amongst the negative headlines we have grown used to seeing day in, day out.

My advice is to act like Warren Buffett’s example. Take the emotions out of your decision-making and invest with the fundamentals. To learn how to do this, contact the team at Gladfish today.

Cheers,

Manny Esezobor

Lets talk about London

Video Transcription:

Hey guys, so welcome to Brett’s Property Rants. So, I want to talk about London today. London’s really actually starting to impress me, I have to say. Most people are talking it down. Most people are actually still saying… It never ceases to amaze me how people can be so two or three years behind

I’m in Singapore now, right now on the beach so you can see this lovely view of all the shipping, and I’ll tell you what, Singapore is not slowing down, that’s for sure. The number of boats that are out there.

So London. So it’s amazing, I find consistently how people quote what was two to three to four to five years ago, the market. So people are saying, oh yeah, house prices are dropping a lot in London, it’s like, no, they’re not, actually. They were, and it’s amazing, when they were dropping, people were telling me, oh, I want to get into London, house prices, growing. It’s like, no, they’ve gone down. But that’s the reality here, is that most people are behind the market by about two or three years. And the problem is when there is a massive change in the market, all of a sudden they’re shocked by it. Now, look, for the last sort of six months, probably even longer than that, nine months.

I’ve been talking about that there will be a downturn. Make no mistake, there’s going to be a downturn. America with what it’s doing, China with what it’s doing, the world with what it’s doing, and whether it be Brexit triggers it, whether it be Trump triggers it, whether it be Trump invading who knows where to keep the war machine going, who knows what the trigger is going to be.

Go into YouTube, and have a look at all the videos that predict prices going down in 2013. And in 2014. And in 2016. 17, 18, 19. Every single year there’s, house prices are dropping. People are quite happy to try and predict the moment that it’s going to happen. But you know what? Most the time, they’re wrong.

And it’s ridiculous. So, what do I see with London? London is going to do well. Make no mistake, it is still a world city, I don’t care what happens with Brexit, at the end of the day, Brexit hasn’t been the downfall of London. If anything, the business has been moving from London up to Manchester and Birmingham. So actually, they’re being the real beneficiaries. But nobody’s really talking about that, are they? Understand, London is still growing.

London is still expanding. So you’re not gonna get rid of London any time soon. But what I will say is this. Right now there’s roughly one million… There are seven million people in the world, okay… One million people live in North America, one million people live in Europe. Sorry, what am I saying? There are seven billion people. One billion in America, one billion in Europe, one billion in Africa, and then there’s effectively four billion in Asia. So, those four billion in Asia, that is starting now to really show, and we’re talking India, and Asia, and China, effectively, and southeast Asia and that. So that’s where the population is.

So what you’re starting to find are historical things where… The UK used to rule the world. And then it lost its place to the US. And the US is losing its place to China. Now, is it China, or is it Asia? That’s interesting, that’s a topic for another discussion. But the reality is what we’re finding is the population now, is going to continue rising, it is going to level out because not as many babies are being born now. So what does that mean? Well, what that means is in about two generations, we’re actually gonna see a lot of our towns, our suburbs, places outside the fundamentals, are gonna start to drop off. In other words, people aren’t gonna live there anymore. They’re gonna become the ghost towns. Look in some of the American… I can’t think of the route name. In the deserts of like, Nevada and California and that sort of stuff. You know, when you get out and there’s an old place and there’s like one petrol station, and there’s no one for kilometres. That sort of thing. The Hollywood movie type scene. That, potentially, is what’s gonna happen with a lot of the suburbs far out, because people are moving to the cities.

Because they move to the cities, what’s one of the best cities in the world, still to this day, what’s still seen as a safe haven is London. And that’s not going to change any time soon. London is a fantastic place. If you can’t afford London, okay fine, Manchester, Birmingham, long term, fantastic. Now that’s not to mean that they’re not gonna still go up and down. With the market, that is gonna happen. But if you buy for the long term, which my suggestion is you are and you should be, and you should be buying to hold, as opposed to trading, then this is a great way and a great place to buy. The thing I like about London right now is that we’ve got developers that are having problems selling. In fact, no stock is moving. So they’re willing to do deals.

So actually, London is the cheapest it’s ever been. Two years ago, house prices were dropping. They’d stopped dropping and they were sort of evening out, but what was happening is a steady rate of sales. So what actually happened, developers and agents that, they weren’t negotiating. But now what’s happened, things have dropped off. Now, prices aren’t really moving that much. They’re still staying. Actually, in fact, they went up this month, and down last month, and the reality is what happens now is vendors and developers and that are willing to do even more deals. So you’re getting that extra push, but the fundamentals are still there. I mean, Brexit isn’t that much of a drum as people are making out. A lot of the damage is already been done. It’s been slow, ripping off the Band-Aid rather than the quick get rid of it and date it done.

So look, London is back. Make no mistake. We’re looking at stuff that… Now, I’m not talking central London now, we’re not really looking central London, but some places like Southwell, which you may not have heard, out of Eling, that sort of places. Moving out of the centre now places that… We were very much in the southeast, southwest, that sort of area, the last boom if you like, but now we might be moving east. Sorry. West. But further west. So what you’re finding now is rather than being in the centre, you’re sort of moving that out and following that ripple effect out where the fundamentals are changing. So there are some major, major things happening.

Communal towns. They’re all doing really well. As long as you get the fundamentals. Even with things like Airbnb, if you get within five minutes of a train station in London, and potentially, if you get an Airbnb through your lease, then that’s another option as well. So there are more options now to make more money on some of our properties. We’re starting to get into the service apartment side of things, which is really exciting. It’s hard because on one hand you’ve got the developers that are saying no to it, and so they’re prohibiting it in the leases, but then, on the other hand, it’s actually where the market is heading. London is back.

Make no mistake. Research it, look at it, and you will start to see things starting to move in the right direction. It may be a year or two before, even three years, four years before you see booming growth again. But it is worthwhile and now I think is the cheapest time that you’re ever gonna find. I don’t see it going down further, because developers are willing to do that extra development, that extra discounting, that extra bargaining, because they need to get the volume of sales. It’s as simple as that. And people are starting to realize if they need to get rid of it, they need to get rid of it now. They don’t wanna be waiting til the Brexit happens or doesn’t happen, or referendum second who knows with Brexit. It’s all up in the air. Anyone that says they know, they don’t know.

I’ve been actually predicting it quite accurately so far, but really, it’s a, if you wanna, it’s just an amazing thing to view. I mean, I don’t think we’ll ever have this happen again in our life. But maybe it will, maybe this is a sign of all politics to come. You know, in the future. Anyway guys, have a great day. Live with passion. And make sure you subscribe, comment, anything you wanna say. If you wanna argue with me, you wanna prove me wrong, do it. I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to a healthy discussion.

All right guys have a great day. Live with passion. See ya.

Look who’s actively looking for more UK Investments

A recent article from BBC News Business caught my attention.

It is very interesting that Warren Buffett, an 88-year-old Veteran Investor has said that he’s actively looking to make large investments into both the UK and the European economies, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future relationship.

Buffett has built up a reputation over the years for being an extremely well-measured investor, not least because of the vast amount of information that he gathers on a company/ sector before actually investing in it.

His announcement at this years Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Event could, therefore, be seen as a positive sign for investor confidence, especially amongst the negative headlines we have grown used to seeing day-in-day-out.

Regards,

Manny Esezobor