Shepha Properties Ltd

Last year, 12.6m overnight trips were made to Scotland from UK residents and 4m overseas visits, an increase of 15% on 2019, prior to COVID (Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey/VisitScotland). Tourism remains a key contributor to the Scottish economy (contributing 8% of employment and around 5% of GDP). Hence, very important that the regulatory environment enables sustainable tourism and a favourable operating landscape for those serving the industry. #tourism #scottisheconomy #employment #gdp

Some good news coming through! Thankfully, mortgage rates are starting to fall and hopefully do so much faster 😅.

Inflation is back within the Bank of England's target of 2% and a rate cut is expected towards the end of summer. This is really good news and is already having a positive impact as banks are starting to cut mortgage rates, which will reduce the borrowing cost on mortgages and offer much needed reprieve to the housing market. With over 100,000 people coming to the end of their fixed term every month, and first time buyers unable to access mortgages due to increased and stringent affordability requirements by banks, a lower interest regime will certainly be a very welcomed development.

Princes Street in Edinburgh has a much-anticipated fashion brand opened its first Scottish store. Uniqlo, the Japanese fashion house, arrived in the capital, attracting fans from the early hours, desperate to be the first in the store. Edinburgh continues to attract increased investment and with it, more people who want to live and do business in the city. They'll all need somewhere to stay, and with the demand-supply gap unabated, it's never too late to get into investing in property. Get in touch to find out more. #edinburghcity #investment #uniqlo #princesstreet

First, Lloyds Bank, then John Lewis/Waitrose, now ITV all getting into the property business 😀. Hopefully, this speeds up the supply of much needed housing across the country and helps stabilise prices. Very interesting to note that, average house prices in Scotland increased by nearly 7% in March, according to the Registers of Scotland. Shows the market remains buoyant, in spite of the continued high mortgage rate regime. If you'd like to get into property, do get in touch. #lloydsbank #johnlewis #waitrose #itv #propertybusiness

There's no dull moment in Scotland, be it in politics or the housing market, which continues to be in the news. Property investment - tough as the terrain can be atimes, presents great opportunities for investors, both economically, and making a social impact in tackling the housing shortage in the country. With double digit yields in many areas, coupled with significant value appreciation in places like Edinburgh with its vibrant and well diversified economy, there's no better time to consider opportunities in the Scottish housing market, especially here in the capital city. If you'd like to know more about investing in Scotland, do get in touch. Alternatively, sign up for our learning session coming up on Saturday, the 18th of May at Delta Hotels by Marriott, Edinburgh.

Whilst the general advice is not to get emotional about investments, it can be difficult letting go, when you’ve been involved - heart and soul, in creating something new or adding significant value to an existing asset. The property here was purchased as a derelict 1 bed flat at 30% discount, converted into a 2 bed flat, (by knocking down a wall or two), moving the existing kitchen out to the lounge and creating a 2nd bedroom in its place. It was then transformed into a modern and quality home and rented out to a young family who left in February, after a 2 year stay, to move closer to family and work. Identifying the right deal, negotiating a good discount and finding ways of unlocking the full potential of the property, can help maximise the overall value realised from the investment. We’ll be discussing more about this at our next learning session on Saturday 18th May. Do get in touch if you’d like to sign up. Niyi Oludipe Elizabeth Oludipe #propertyinvestment #deals #tacklinghousingshortage #onefamilyatatime

There are advantages to self managing a project vs employing a main contractor/project manager to doing the job. Self managing gives you control in terms of design, choice of materials, tradesmen and final finishing, but takes more time and effort. Having the right experience and knowledge of securing discounts on materials (which are normally available to tradesmen or investors) is also important. On the other hand, outsourcing a project to a main contractor minimises the opportunity cost of running the project yourself, dealing with one individual/organisation instead of multiple subcontractors, saving time and money. However, the main contractor usually adds a premium to the quote, can sometimes charge you a premium for materials but use dead cheap ones 😅 (unless you ask for samples beforehand). Whichever way you choose, there are benefits and drawbacks for both. Thingams to consider are: ⏳ How much time you have. 🛠️ How comfortable you are with DIY. 🛜 Ability to research and find out opportunities e.g. signing up for trade accounts (some build merchants offer up to 70% discount on retail prices). 😭 Emotional energy in dealing with the disappointments that comes with tradesmen, which can throw your nicely planned schedule into a disarray (if you’ve arranged the carpet fitter to show up on Day 5 on the back of painter finishing on Day 3, but painting doesn’t start until Day 4, then you need to reschedule things). 👷🏽♂️ Experience in knowing what to do. Our first self managed project (in pics), was a disaster 😆. The unscrupulous plasterer went ahead and finished the walls, even though he knew electrics and plumbing were yet to be done 😅. It was very painful to watch the freshly plastered walls ripped apart when the sparky came in. We learnt very quickly how to sequence and schedule the work thereafter - the rough work (electrics, plumbing, general rip out) first, before the second fixes and finishing work. We’ll be looking at this, and other aspects of effective management of property projects at our next learning session on Saturday 18th May, at the Delta (Marriott) Hotel, Edinburgh. Registration link in comments #propertyinvestment #projectmanagement #traininganddevelopment

Some very positive outlook from the housing market this week. And just this morning, the Financial Times reported a 9.2% jump in rentals across the UK. The housing market, like any other market is governed by the market forces of demand and supply. By investing in property, you won't only be enjoying the economical benefits that come from passive income, you'll be contributing to tackling the perennial UK housing shortage. #tacklinghousingshortage #onefamilyatatime #propertyinvestment

Just hot off the press. Very positive signals about the short term trend of mortgage rates. If you've been put off searching for a property because of high cost of borrowing, this should hopefully bring some good cheer.