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| Thursday 26 August 2010 |
London Property Investment News - Issue 101
In this issue of our bi-weekly roundup of the news and opinion relating to the London property market we take a look the future of UK interest rates, why London landlords are still bullish regarding t... |
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| Saturday 21 August 2010 |
International buyer snaps up £140m London Apartment
Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
21 Aug 2010
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| Thursday 29 July 2010 |
UK Interest Rates 'Will Stay At 0.5% until 2014'
It seems that UK property investors can look forward to many more months of good returns as the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, which bases its forecasts on the Treasury's own model of the economy, predi... |
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| Thursday 10 June 2010 |
Be a world class player…
After all the hard work and years of anticipation the spectacle that is the Soccer World Cup is only hours away. Finally!
As a proudly South African company, Smuts & Taylor Ltd would like to wish... |
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| Thursday 20 May 2010 |
Out with the old, in with the new…
So, the UK has a new coalition Government in Number 10 Downing Street - and the clock has started ticking on its plans to revitalise the nation's finances.
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, George... |
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| Thursday 06 May 2010 |
UK house prices will jump 5.3% in 2010
Predictions are never easy or for that matter consistent. Economist pour over data, interpret what they see, draw conclusions and make assumptions.
So while I put as much faith in economist as I do i... |
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| Thursday 22 April 2010 |
London Property Market update
UK house prices bounced back in March, rising by 1.1%, after having fallen in February, according to the Halifax – one of Britain’s largest mortgage lenders. The latest increase is the eig... |
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| Thursday 08 April 2010 |
Bricks and mortar still number one for worlds wealthy
As the Bulls and Bears continue to argue over the state of the property market at home and abroad, the 2010 edition of The Global Wealth Report by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank, shows that Proper... |
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| Thursday 25 March 2010 |
Budget 2010: Stamp Duty move no remedy for UK property market.
Yesterday, in his last Budget speech before the General Election, Alistair Darling announced that the Stamp Duty threshold on house sales would double from £125,000 to £250,000 - a measure... |
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| Thursday 11 March 2010 |
Understanding the key drivers behind UK house price inflation
In my last article we looked at how, even when taking into account the so called housing “crash” of recent years, average house price inflation has far outstripped average wage increases o... |
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| Thursday 25 February 2010 |
UK Buy to Let - Looking back to look forward
The last 10 years was undoubtedly the buy-to-let decade for the UK property market. Now as we start a new decade with a UK general election on the horizon, some investors are still reeling from the af... |
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| Thursday 11 February 2010 |
New record high for London property prices
Property prices in the worlds financial capital is rapidly returning to, and in some cases exceeding peak prices, as the shortage of property and strong demand from foreign buyers lead to bidding wars... |
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| Thursday 28 January 2010 |
Britain fast becoming a nation of tenants
Where once the Englishman’s home was his castle, Britain is fast becoming a nation of tenants. Mortgages are hard to come by and property prices have far outstripped the average wage increase. H... |
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| Thursday 14 January 2010 |
How will you make 2010 count?
Happy New Year! I hope you've had a fabulous holiday break, are well rested and ready to make 2010 the best year yet!
I’ve decided to give the UK snowstorms a miss and to kick-start this year... |
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| Thursday 17 December 2009 |
A very Merry Christmas from Smuts & Taylor Ltd
As 2009 draws to a close, Smuts & Taylor would like to wish all our past, present and future clients a very merry Christmas and a happy & healthy New Year.
Thank you for your support, positiv... |
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| Monday 02 November 2009 |
Great news for South African property investors – foreign allowance increased to R4-million.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) that exchange control measures would be relaxed.
In what is called the biggest forex control relaxation i... |
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| Tuesday 20 October 2009 |
London property prices heating up fast
Rewind to a year ago. London was supposed to be where the housing price crash would hit hardest thanks to the collapse of the capitals’ financial institutions and the death of big banking bonuse... |
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| Tuesday 06 October 2009 |
The second best time to buy property...
We had an overwhelming response from my last email and I want to thank everyone who took the time to get in touch with their feedback and in particular those who emailed me with their self stated &ldq... |
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| Tuesday 22 September 2009 |
Where will your personal finances be on December 15?
December 15.... a nondescript Tuesday in the middle of December. The schools have closed for the Christmas. The business world is starting to take a breather for the holidays and there's the flurry of... |
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| Tuesday 11 August 2009 |
"Fortes fortuna adiuvat” – (fortune favours the brave)
For a painful 18 months amid falling property values and share prices, the UK economy has been desperately looking for a turn in its fortunes. Now it seems every new week brings with it fresh evidence... |
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| Tuesday 28 July 2009 |
Window for bargain buys is closing fast.
Property prices bottomed out last winter and buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines have already missed the best property bargains, according to the UK’s largest property listing website ... |
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| Wednesday 15 July 2009 |
Sorry – I had auction fever…
As all my regular readers will know I normally update you every other Tuesday on the UK property market - which technically means you should have heard from me yes... |
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| Tuesday 30 June 2009 |
UK house prices keep climbing
House prices rose by 0.9 per cent in June, the Nationwide Building Society said today, fuelling hopes the property market is beginning to stabilise.
This is the third time in the last four months hou... |
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| Tuesday 02 June 2009 |
Housing Market Recovery Special - The final chapter
With the populous focused on MP’s claiming for Kit Kats and who would win yet another Simon Cowell talent show it hardly registered on the current affairs radar. Prices rose agai... |
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| Tuesday 02 June 2009 |
Newspaper interview with Mike Smuts
Liezl Maclean of The South African chats to Mike Smuts. Full article here...
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| Tuesday 19 May 2009 |
Housing Market Recovery Special – Part 3
The more information becomes available, the more it becomes evident that this housing recession is proving very different from its predecessors. The expected flood of properties onto the market has ... |
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| Friday 01 May 2009 |
Housing Market Recovery Special – Part 2
What a few weeks we’ve had! Elections, budget speeches, flu pandemics and of course for all those in SA - the frustration of working 3 day weeks!
In the latest... |
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| Tuesday 21 April 2009 |
Housing Market Recovery Special – Part 1
It’s often said that no news is good news, but sometimes I think it’s rather a case of good news being no news – as far as the media is concerned anyway. There have been a few drips ... |
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| Monday 06 April 2009 |
What’s the punch-line?
As I scan the newspaper in front of me a cheeky smile start to spread across my face and before long I’m rolling on the floor in laughter. And this happens at least a few times a... |
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| Tuesday 24 March 2009 |
2009 - the year of the property deal
South Africans have always had a love hate relationship with London with an estimated 1 million working and living in the city. Many have emigrated permanently while others have called i... |
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| Tuesday 03 March 2009 |
Act quickly to avoid weaker Rand
Have you ever missed out on doing something because you took too long to act? I have – in fact as recent as this weekend. Let me explain – every year tens ... |
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| Monday 24 November 2008 |
It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine…) - R.E.M
I woke up this morning feeling strangely happy for a Monday. Not that I’m a grumpy old sod or anything. But it was quite cold and dark outside, it was Monday and then of course w... |
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| Thursday 06 November 2008 |
Dramatic 1.5% interest rate cut by Bank of England
The Bank of England (BOE) today offered the UK an early Christmas present by dramatically slashing interest rates by a whopping 1.5%, making it 3.0% - the lowest level since 1954. The European central... |
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| Wednesday 29 October 2008 |
Be one of the first to read & review my forthcoming eBook
How would you like to be one of the first to read and review my forthcoming eBook?
Please take just 3 minutes to tell us about your challenges and questions and we will send you a copy of "An In... |
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| Thursday 16 October 2008 |
Outrunning the Bear…
One of my granddads favourite stories was about two men walking along a path in the forest. Suddenly they turn a corner and come face to face with a huge, hungry bear. Both men stand frozen for a few ... |
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| Wednesday 08 October 2008 |
Unprecedented Rescue Plan Announced
Is this the beginning of the end of the world's economic woes? Well it definitely seems like the cavalry has arrived.
London markets awoke this morning with the news that the government has agreed a... |
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| Tuesday 07 October 2008 |
Global Credit Crisis - Who's to blame?
Like most people in the western world I have my breakfast with a hot cup of news every morning. This morning the particular brand happened to be Sky News who's running a campaign where the public em... |
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| Tuesday 02 September 2008 |
South African client visits 5-19 Sep 2008
I will be conducting client visits in Cape Town from the 5-14 September and Johannesburg from the 15-19 September.
If you have not done so already, why don't you get in touch? I will be happy to sit... |
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| Monday 01 September 2008 |
Complimentary tickets to The Property Show 2008
The show will be hosted from 5-7 September 2008 in the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Following on this success, the 2008 Property Show has doubled in size. With PR editorials and other... |
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| Friday 11 July 2008 |
The green grass of home
A business associate of mine recently returned from a visit to South Africa raving about the country, the people and the investment potential. He forwarded me an article written by leading economist J... |
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| Wednesday 18 June 2008 |
Smuts & Taylor in the SA press
This article is from the property section in the South African newspaper "Die Burger".
On the 3 June 08, Smuts & Taylor conducted a investment seminar along with ABSA International and ... |
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| Monday 16 June 2008 |
And the Golden Gong goes too…
It has been a while since my last post. As many of you know I have just got back to London after an extended business trip to SA. The idea was to spend just under 2 weeks visiting various clients an... |
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| Wednesday 11 June 2008 |
Buy when there's blood in the streets
Its time for a little rant. I tried my best not to, really I did. When all the "oh so wise" I-told-you-so merchants first showed up last August I promised myself not to take the bait. Not to... |
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| Tuesday 06 May 2008 |
I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!
No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" (The White Rabbit - Alice in Wonderland.)
Have you ever wondered why you never have enough time? Or are always working and never se... |
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| Wednesday 30 April 2008 |
Dolf de Roos - Live and in person in South Africa
Dolf de Roos will be live and in person in South Africa to share with you the same knowledge that helped thousands of people around the world become financially free and achieve property riches.
Smut... |
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| Tuesday 29 April 2008 |
Earn £259m in interest today…
Sounds far fetched but that's how much the UK's lenders will collect in interest payments today. And tomorrow? Well tomorrow they will get their grubby little hands on a bit more thanks to the UK cons... |
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| Wednesday 23 April 2008 |
Meet Joe,
Joe can't help but smile. His 65th birthday is fast approaching and after working hard for 40something years he's looking forward to his hard earned freedom. Retirement here we come! No more suits for... |
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| Thursday 17 April 2008 |
“Buy land, they're not making it anymore”, Mark Twain
One of my favourite authors on the subject of property is Dolf de Roos. I think I've read his bestselling book Real Estate Riches around a dozen times and constantly draw on his principles both for my... |
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| Monday 14 April 2008 |
Statistics are just a bunch of numbers looking for a fight…
On Saturday night at a friend birthday party I found myself discussing the fundamentals of the property market with Cleopatra and Captain Hook. Before I continue it may help to add that it was indeed ... |
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| Friday 11 April 2008 |
Times are changing fast…
Remember when phones where used for well, phoning someone. Not any more. You can now send and receive emails and faxes, listen to music, take and store photos, get directions and surf the World Wide W... |
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