I was interested in a recent property hawk news post that described a 20% increase in the last 2 years on property development costs.
My experience of maintenance/ refurbishment jobs on my properties echoes this.
I get an invoice form my letting agents for various spruce ups and replacements and it brings tears to my eyes.
"Sorry , was it a gold plated tap they put on? - because to be honest I'm sure the tenant would of been happy with a plain old chrome one." I ask.
"We did get three quotes and that was the most competitive"they reply.
Then I look around at the local tradesman in the area - in their prestige four wheel drive £50,000 a pop cars, and I realise they've now got a lifestyle to keep up. What with the four foreign holidays and the golf membership, the wifes manicures and probably theirs too ( just because I'm a rough and ready builder doesnt mean I shouldn't look nice).
Seemingly the trades have been making hay as their customers feel the bloat of property price increases, numbing there sensitivity to high building and repair charges .
Maybe with property prices coming down and the downturn in the economy starting to bite we will also see a reduction in building and maintenance costs.
If not as rental profit continues to increase I can see more and more landlords walking down the aisles of B&Q scratching their heads and looking back fondly to the days when they could afford to get a man in.
And do you not like your golf membership, your wife to look good, to drive in a decent (not luxury) vehicle. Property developers are the luckiest investors alive, up until recently is has been the only profession you need zero skill to make money in. The real skillfull developers can make money in any market.
ReplyDeleteTradesmen have skill and it's because of little blogs and forums not trusting and complaining about tradesmen which has meant only those who look good and drive nice vehicles can get any work and as you've found out, those things come at a price.
Exactly how much an hour do you charge for your time or what level of return do you need to see before investing your time in it. It's the same for tradesmen. Why the hell should tradesmen go without the finer things in life, they know much more valuable information and have greater skill than bankers, recruitment agents, computer programmers and definately property developers. This is nothing personal but I'm sick to death of people whingeing about paying an experienced skilled person more than £15-20 (which their costs come out of aswell) an hour when they themselves would never work for less than £50,000 a year, which is a poor salary for a developer. Why is every one in this country so loathed to see others do well just because of some arrogant idea that they aren't as good as themselves. Tats why most of the billionaires are in the US cos they don't bitch at others for having money, they are happy for them and concentrate on getting richer themselves instead of bitching about taps.