What has 2020 taught you?

[Megan Farrow 7]

We want to know what lessons you've learned from 2020. What positive things has this crazy year taught you?

Have you learned how to adapt and be more resilient? Have you found new, better ways of doing things?

And how will these new lessons shape the way you invest in the future?

Let us know in the comments below and you could be a case study or feature in the next issue of the Property Hub Magazine 

[propertyguru-uk 1]

43 minutes ago, Megan Farrow said:

We want to know what lessons you've learned from 2020. What positive things has this crazy year taught you?

Have you learned how to adapt and be more resilient? Have you found new, better ways of doing things?

And how will these new lessons shape the way you invest in the future?

Let us know in the comments below and you could be a case study or feature in the next issue of the Property Hub Magazine 

To diversify and not have all my eggs in one basket

[alastairkennedy 25]

Not learnt, but it has certainly reinforced the principal that there is always an alternative approach, and that many simply don’t wish to respond to change. 

[julia urquhart 173]

That everyone should keep savings of at least 3 months living costs for the unexpected.

[dino v 145]

That offices are an outdated concept for much work and for many of the workforce. Things that we didn't know could be done online have been undertaken online for several months with no impact on productivity.

Will mean that smaller offices, particularly in city centres, will be likely, so what does that mean for city centre living?

[holly lezza 2]

I've learnt that you have to adapt. When things don't go your way you have to look at everything logically, find a positive and go for it. I mean it, really go for it. You can't think about what could have been because it detracts from what will be. 

Breathe, logic, do it (my motto).

 

[robert gollings 4]

On 8/20/2020 at 1:21 PM, propertyguru-uk said:

To diversify and not have all my eggs in one basket

That was exactly what i was going to say when i read the title of the thread.

I would go further, don't stretch yourself too far on any investment and have a plan for the worse case scenario. Don't survive on one income check to the next and try to keep a comfortable buffer between yourself and the receiver 

[robert gollings 4]

On 8/21/2020 at 6:55 PM, dino v said:

That offices are an outdated concept for much work and for many of the workforce. Things that we didn't know could be done online have been undertaken online for several months with no impact on productivity.

Will mean that smaller offices, particularly in city centres, will be likely, so what does that mean for city centre living?

...in my opinion i think this talk of the demise of the office is overplayed. Companies have had to outsource their office staff due to Covid and while many will be able to remain there, many are going to return as restrictions are lifted and people get more confident to venture outdoors. Also, when the economy and productivity return i think there will be a drive to get many back to the office...What will happen when the novelty of working from home has worn off and people begin to miss their colleagues and office social life? I'm not sure that in 12 months or so being cooped up at home all day will look like such a good idea ;-)

[dino v 145]

6 hours ago, robert gollings said:

...in my opinion i think this talk of the demise of the office is overplayed. Companies have had to outsource their office staff due to Covid and while many will be able to remain there, many are going to return as restrictions are lifted and people get more confident to venture outdoors. Also, when the economy and productivity return i think there will be a drive to get many back to the office...What will happen when the novelty of working from home has worn off and people begin to miss their colleagues and office social life? I'm not sure that in 12 months or so being cooped up at home all day will look like such a good idea ;-)

One counter argument to working from home I keep seeing is that if you can do you're job from home, it can be done abroad or by AI, as if somehow getting back in the office will prevent that. A huge number of the current office jobs won't exist in the UK in a few years anyway, including many you might not expect. 

I'm yet to see many convincing arguments about the benefits to companies of filling large city centre offices with staff and they're the ones who'll pay the bills. If one can be 10% cheaper or 10% more profitable than its competitors by minimising office space, the others will have to follow. 

[alastairkennedy 25]

7 hours ago, robert gollings said:

...in my opinion i think this talk of the demise of the office is overplayed. Companies have had to outsource their office staff due to Covid and while many will be able to remain there, many are going to return as restrictions are lifted and people get more confident to venture outdoors. Also, when the economy and productivity return i think there will be a drive to get many back to the office...What will happen when the novelty of working from home has worn off and people begin to miss their colleagues and office social life? I'm not sure that in 12 months or so being cooped up at home all day will look like such a good idea ;-)

The firm I work for have pushed home working for years; we simply don’t have enough desks for all staff.  
 

A major factor holding back a more aggressive move away from centralised offices was client perception.  That obstacle has now been overcome, and larger firms associated with prestige offices will reduce their occupation.  This will ripple through all office accommodation. 

[Guest]

.

[picky 0]

The year 2020 taught me that you can never really be sure and that until now, everything has always gone more or less well. This year has also shown me how wonderful it is when you can move freely in the world. In any case, I feel like a cosmopolitan and I am looking forward to travelling the world again without restrictions and fear. All in all, however, I have to say that the pandemic was quite an exciting time as well. Who could have ever imagined that something like this could happen all over the world! You only know this from movies or series. And now we are part of history as well! But hopefully next year is gonna be “normal” again… ;-)

[zacchmimran 0]

Hi, I was checking this forum out as i just signed up(and this looks AWESOME, really!!) and in similar work. Wasn't planning on writing anything but the well thought questions and eye opening answers, I thought why not..

The value of something is what I've learned this year.

 Throughout this year, there has been many acute turns..

Value has been the essential center-point of my gratitude lately. As it all downsides come with a better understanding of anything.  This time made me realise the importance of somewhat simple and some might call basic, values of life. In these times, most people forget, forget what really matters. Being able to feed ourselves, having a roof over our head, being in good health, having relationships. These basic things is what makes us live, so this year, one of my big focuses was and still is, is not to acquire(apart in real estate ) but to reinforce relationships, mindset, values, health and others along those lines that I have been built upon and grateful. 

[matthew_hill 5]

Hi Everybody, 

New to the forum but really happy to be involved. 2020 has forced me to be brave, after redundancy I have finally been pushed into starting the business that I have been thinking about doing for years. 

Good luck to everyone and here's to a brighter tomorrow! 

Matthew. 

[daniel-john 14]

At the end of January I was at an auction looking to buy a property that included a convenience store on the GF and two two bedroom flats on the FF. For the price we were looking to get it we would have been on about 18% rental ROI and would have been our most profitable property for cash flow three times over.

It would have left our bank account empty to get all the deposit together and pay the bridging loan for two or three months, so a stretch, but I was excited about it. I was tempted to bid 20k higher than we'd planned, which would have probably won us the lot on the day and taken a lot out of our personal savings as well, but my dad talked me out of it and we missed out. I was very disappointed.

About six weeks later we were in lockdown, mortgages weren't being completed and shops were closed. We could have had an empty bank account, empty personal bank accounts, not working so no income, stuck on a bridging loan with no idea when our mortgage could be completed, the shop closed and possibly less rent coming in. 

Long story short, I learnt however good the deal looks it's not worth the risk to stretch yourself to the limit, you really don't know what could happen in the meantime.

And also, your parents know better however old you get. 

[daniel-john 14]

On 8/27/2020 at 9:42 PM, dino v said:

One counter argument to working from home I keep seeing is that if you can do you're job from home, it can be done abroad or by AI, as if somehow getting back in the office will prevent that. A huge number of the current office jobs won't exist in the UK in a few years anyway, including many you might not expect. 

I'm yet to see many convincing arguments about the benefits to companies of filling large city centre offices with staff and they're the ones who'll pay the bills. If one can be 10% cheaper or 10% more profitable than its competitors by minimising office space, the others will have to follow. 

Can you go deeper into what you mean by this line please?

"A huge number of the current office jobs won't exist in the UK in a few years anyway, including many you might not expect."

[dino v 145]

10 hours ago, daniel-john said:

Can you go deeper into what you mean by this line please?

"A huge number of the current office jobs won't exist in the UK in a few years anyway, including many you might not expect."

When people talk about jobs moving abroad or to AI, it's usually things like customer service - the telesales type jobs that have been moving for years. Don't want to belittle those jobs, but ones that generally do not require years of professional training are the ones that can easily be moved to cheaper labour markets. 

What I've been seeing for the last 10 years at least is things like civil engineering design jobs moving to the same labour markets, so work by chartered engineers being done by similarly qualified (& often better qualified) engineers abroad. That means things like HS2, motorways, airports etc being designed abroad. Not completely, but the percentage is increasing and now 25%+ of that work is the norm. What we're now seeing is that that simplest parts of those jobs are starting to move to AI. That's a small percentage for now, but will obviously increase. AI will initially take the work that's gone to cheaper labour markets, but I'd expect it'll take work from UK based staff as well. I would expect similar is happening in other industries, particularly for any job that's office based. If you're not hands on e.g. a dentist or a bricklayer, why can't your job be done elsewhere or by AI? 

As ever, as one type of job disappears, other jobs will appear. Maybe they'll be city centre office based as well, but for companies setting up now, will they find other ways to work - mainly remotely, but with a weekly meet in a shared office space, or even a reimagined coffee shop.

[darren mcneill 242]

That when everyone else is sat there worrying about what might happen a lot of money can be made.

I have made more money through Covid and pushed my businesses further than I did before.  Opportunities present themselves to people who can be bothered to find them.

Darren

 

      BTS -- BTL -- Lettings -- Sourcing

          www.fmp-investments.com   

                 

[drearsha 0]

nothing useful

[itsme01975 0]

I've learnt that it's important to keep money aside for rainy days and not to invest every single penny of it. 

I've learnt that you can never be too old to start learning (and that you will never know everything).

I've learnt that not even a global pandemic can break the property industry.

[philip_green 0]

learned from 2020 

 Nothing is permanent,  covid, some time we may be fly like birds but other we can be poisoner.  

[jkamran 0]

That it is frustrating, not being able to decide where to invest securely! That we in this forum are a privileged lot, and should thank God- or if nonbeliever, just be thankful- that we are still in a position to be looking for investment opportunity. That we should help the less fortunate.