To the Property Investor Show at the NEC

Anne and I went to the Property Investor show at the NEC today. It was very informative and although there were plenty of people there it wasn't packed. It was free to get in although the associated costs where a bit steep. I thought that parking at £7.00 per day was a bit extortionate and likewise the sarnies at £3.00 for 2. I guess its not too bad if your used to London prices but this is Birmingham!

I had thought that it would be primarily a UK based property show but it turned out that probably 75% of the stalls were for overseas stuff. It was still interesting but it was sort of running the gauntlet at times charging down the aisles trying to avoid the barrages of leaflets and invitations to chat about opportunities that you knew you just weren't interested in.

We had a long chat with a company called Smarthouse that were building/renovating purpose built accommodation for students around Leeds University. The guaranteed positive cashflow for a year sounded good especially after we are losing money on Park Central but I can't help thinking this might be just another form of discount. If we are interested the I probably need to follow up and see exactly how long it lasts and talk to other investors as to how easy the property is to let after the initial guaranteed period.

We went to a seminar given by Jonty Crossick from Ready2Invest, got to say it was one of the best free seminars that I have been to, mainly because he was trying to give actual advice rather than explicitly trying to sell us something. The seminar was basically about buying the sort of property that was right for you and he covered financial goal setting and doing your own risk profiling. We had a long chat with him afterwards when he gave his thoughts on the UK property market (not as buoyant as it has been, still lots of life in it but be careful to pick your location) and some of overseas areas that he was looking at. He came across as down to earth decent bloke who had made good with some intelligent strategies.

All in all a good day even though it was a bit rushed and we couldn't find the car in the car park!