Top products from r/UKProperty

Firstly. just to say, take note lurkers and searchers of what is being said here. I work in the sector and it is completely evident that dallyopcs knows exactly what he is talking about. They have made far more sense than anyone else on this subreddit.

We are relatively anonymous here on reddit but I feel like I may know you one way or another IRL.

But in reply:

>Sounds like you did well man, congrats, sacrificing now usually pays off in the future! I was 24 myself when I'd managed to save up a 10% deposit.

There was definitely an element of luck, whilst I was at University I secured a deal with a supermarket for a site that paid me £15,000 finders fee that contributed majorly towards my deposit for a home. Some people say this was luck, but to be honest I worked very hard to get this deal. Combine this with scrimping and saving every penny I earned I was then able to buy my own home very early. I completely forebode any temptation of expenditure for years to finally afford a house deposit (including ignoring the peer pressure and temptation to frivolously on materialistic items like; smartphones, designer clothes or holidays). There are many who complain they cannot afford a home at my age, yet simultaneously tell people like me that I "never lived" by avoiding the latter expenses. I guess it is all down to preference and what is more important.

> Another thing we should take in to account is, why would people actually want to buy a property now? A lot of the market is very over valued, especially down south.

This is definitely a local issue. "DAAARN SAFF" has always seemed expensive and overvalued to me. But people from "DEEEEAAARN SUFF" are not restricted to buy in that area. I am based in Manchester and even though it is a rapidly growing market and in some places properties are very much overvalued; there are still many untouched property "Oasis'" that offer many opportunities.

> We live in a time where property in all the nicest areas are owned by the older generation and that wealth doesn't seem to be moving. Millenials have not had any opportunity to buy anything cheap yet like previous generations had.

I can understand many of my fellow Millennials share this view, thinking "them boomers" are buying up all the best property in the area. Leaving us all in the proverbial. But we shouldn't blame them at all...

1. Buying the cheapest property for investment in an area is only what you would do in the same position.
   
2. Supplement to point 1, buying investment properties is the only thing these "boomer" generation have been taught. They were never taught or given any other methods; i.e. forex, shares, ISA's, etc...
   
3. Many property opportunities were offered, under-handily marketed and eventually sold to the "baby boomers" generation as a good investment opportunity. Only after time did these investments pay off (as does anything in property). If boomers had the resources, knowledge and transparency that we have now the majority would have never have invested.
   
4. Confidence in a market drives growth, point 3 above is an example of what happened in the real world with the "boomers" generation. Moreover, why our "baby boomer" population in the 20th century as the large percentile of our well-educated population (for the time), could be conned into buying property as an investment with nothing more than a light touch of verbal diarrhoea from a white collared, gold tie, braces wearing con man. The reason why many didn't lose money was because enough people fell for the con that property market confidence drove exponential growth.
   
5. Us millennial's could never have this sort of "hivemind" between us that would create a growth in a market through sheer confidence... because:
   
6. Firstly we are peppered with negative media reports regarding any economic market making us all a bunch of miserable, cynical and cautious bores.
   
   
7. In our information age, we have access to information that we had never had before like recent sold prices. This simple information we expect nowadays so we can make a decision. However back in the day it was not so accessible, Estate Agents being the sole traders of this information and the reason they became so influential in the property market. I just remember this era, but for those who don't; I suggest reading the book Freakonomics there is an excellently written piece alongside other enjoyable articles, that compares Estate Agents "value" being in their knowledge and why this is like the Professional Sumo Wrestling League.
   
8. It's easy in hindsight to say that it was actually mega risky for boomers to buy property in this way and really they only succeeded because everyone else did the same... but their ignorance was the reason property prices grew. Us millennial's who have all the necessary info and ability to question someones "bullshit" are arguably suffering from being too informed. I.e. Being more aware of the market conditions warns us off buying, leading to less confidence and slower market growth.
   
   
   
9. Having traditionally secret information like local sold prices made easily accessible to all the public this make the general public more astute and informed as to the true values of properties in the area. This is the reason why I believe it would be unlikely we would ever see a crash in values as we saw in 2007-2010, why? well even in busy markets people are unlikely to offer way over the asking price of a property as they are more aware as to the true value, comparing it to others that have sold.
   
   
   So you see the "Baby Boomer" generations growth in property wealth was a big gamble, the risks of they were probably unaware of. The younger generation actually have the hindrance of knowledge, rather than the bliss of ignorance.
   
   This is why nowadays professional investors like myself tend to ignore whether a location has potential "capital growth"... nobody has a crystal ball... instead we concentrate on the rental values/income/yields/rent ROI all of which are must easier to determine. A good rental income from a secure and minimal hassle tenant is the priority... any capital growth in the property value is a bonus. At the end of the day the end value means little to you as an investor if you are producing a consistent income out of the asset, therefore no intention to sell.
   
   That being said there are still many that look for properties in areas where they expect capital growth. They may decide to buy to refurb and sell on a property. This is usually an option preferred by the boomers over the investment/income method above.
   
   These opportunities can make an investor a quick £10k-15k profit, rarely more nowadays, especially if you are buying a property via Auction/Open Market channels. That being said there are some areas where opportunities like this could profit far more...which leads us on to:
   
   > Millenials have not had any opportunity to buy anything cheap yet like previous generations had.
   
   and
   
   > I think our time will come, but all this quantitive easing central banks are doing is delaying it, because its holding off the natural cycle of recessions.
   
   There is definitely not as many opportunities also the market plus legislation at the time was far more forgiving to any mistakes previous generations made. That being said the opportunities that are out there where you have little competition and potential for big gains so long you can identify the location early enough.
   
   
   This is usually an area that has undergone major regeneration, rejuvenation or just a sudden surge in popularity...
   
   Strangely boomers are the last to find these houses as an area that goes through any of the latter is usually considered by a boomer as a "s##tehole location they would never buy in"... Their inability to shake historic prejudices of an area is their downfall and an opportunity for the next generation to take advantage of (maybe creating another confidence led house price growth).
   
   For example: In my area of Manchester there is a Large Ex-Local Authority Estate called "Langley" (close to Middleton if anyone knows it). Now the estate was notorious during the 90's,00's and early 10's for crime and anti-social behaviour.
   
   Langley was that bad that when I worked in the area (circa 2010-2012) we were not allowed to book appointments after 5pm.
   
   In 2013 though, the council partnered with a developer began to regen the area by CPO'ing ex-council properties and replacing them with brand new homes.
   
   This method worked wonders, slowly displacing problem families and replacing them with young professionals. However people of a certain age still have this stigma associated with Langley, even though the regen scheme has resulted in £50k homes increasing to £125k homes in less than 10 years.