The Clapham Property Blog

Well it's been an exciting weekend, what with the fallout of various political parties due to the (to some surprising) results of the UK's referendum. The journalists, as usual, are doing an outstanding job of reporting mass chaos. The dropping pound, crashing house prices (some predicted 20% drops) and all time low consumer confidence. That's all good and well, but personally I think it's a bit soon to make such wild predictions (ahem - assumptions) over one single weekend right after the referendum results. Many a property investor, myself included, have already come out and spoke of the opportunity these times represent. Let's look at what's happening, and my thoughts on the short-medium term. Naturally as with any of these predictions, it's only my view as a property person with nearly 15 years of experience in the South London property market. I don't have a crystal ball, but here is my 2p worth: The pound has dropped in value.

You will have remembered my blog post about my recent purchases ( http://goo.gl/JEHBjk ). A fellow investor had asked me when the last time was that I did a property deal myself as opposed to advised from the sidelines; I had to admit it had been a while. Fear not, I can assure you that progress has been made and I thought I'd share the progress. Building works have been now completed, changing the layout from a boxy flat to a lovely open-plan living space in order to maximise the light. As a result the flat feels much brighter and bigger and would certainly appeal to a first time buyer or even a rental investor. Here are the before and after pictures, judge for yourself: So there you have it. Marketing has commenced. I had gone against fellow agents' advice and ordered them to price it lower than their expectations (I know that agents can be zealous with pricing to win business) in an attempt to get more people through the door as opposed to less. More buyers