Thoughts on the Real Estate market and beyond.
There was a lot to learn from international property professionals. Some of the lessons about the European market that we took away with us were:
Yields are being driven by occupation rates, rather than cheap money.
We think the trend is similar here, and it’s not just yields…
There is an old adage that says that a Labour government is great for business. But bad for the country.
So we will take what is good for business. And a few years on will have to suck up any damage to the country.
Aside from the obvious commentary on the process (that 7.5% of the…
There is something of an inherent conflict in the motivations of agents and landlords when seeking tenants for vacant buildings. On the surface it would seem that both want the same end result – a tenant signed up. The agent wants the tenant signed up so he (and in our sector it is almost always a…
I recall a childhood story from Aesop’s fables regarding a shepherd boy and his false cries of “wolf”
It goes something like this:
A boy called Peter lived with his parents in a village on the hillside. His parents, like most of the other people in the village, were sheep farmers.…
It only takes a couple of people asking this question to start a thought process. What is LinkedIn, and what purpose does it serve? And why should we use it?
The same question has been asked about Facebook. But I’ve worked out the answer to that one. Facebook is how you wish someone a happy…
Traditionally the period immediately prior to a general election has seen activity in the market stall. That’s not confined to the real estate market. Activity in most commercial markets slows dramatically. Even in the time we were in the food industry, sales more than halved in the weeks leading…
As we purchase older buildings (and that can include as young as 10 years old) and as tenants move on,we embark on a refurbishment process. This not just about making the property more attractive to lease. It's much easier to undertake basic renovations, such as paint and carpet, when the building…
If you are looking for opportunities in business, then often the best places to look are companies and industries that constantly trot out the mantra ”that’s the way we always do it”. Because those are the companies and industries that are likely sleepwalking into the future. They can be easy targets.…
If we listened to some agents we would not ever have to look at a building. Just multiply the floor area by the going rate for the area and we would arrive at the price. Or take the rental and the prevailing accepted yield and we have the value. But the market doesn’t work quite that way because some…
It’s obvious by now that all the banks have reduced their appetite for lending. This is being manifested in different ways – changing loan to value ratios, and being more difficult are just two of these.
Some banks are flat out saying no to new business – irrespective of the quality of the…
They have largely kept under the radar, but changes to the Fire Service Levy (Fire Emergency Levy from 1 July) have the potential to increase OPEX for industrial tenants substantially. As residential Fire Service levies are capped, the increases to residential owners are minimal, but commercial…
