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 a fancy dress ball. Hook was pulling out stats and arguing that the bubble is truly burst and we are all in for a rough ride. He quite smugly referred to another friends portfolio and how that friend is now in a flat panic because house "prices have fallen through the floor". Cleopatra countered by saying she just that week offered a vendor 10k under his asking price and even though she was effectively a cash buyer he bluntly refused. On top of that she also pulled out some stats of her own showing that rents have actually risen over the last few months and argued that this coupled with lower interest rates than last year makes investing in property even more appealing. When Superman joined the conversation I took my leave. I mean who can argue with Superman, right?

A few things struck me the next morning as I was reading the Sunday paper. One was people's absolute obsession with property in the UK. Maybe it stems from the old "an Englishman's home is his castle" mentality or more likely from the bombardment of the national press. Almost every newspaper has a column about it and most do a pull out supplement on certain days, a dozen magazines dedicated to every aspect of the subject and a quick look at the week ahead's TV listings show that I can get a fix of "property porn" every night without fail. One of the major channels has 9 different programs dedicated to the subject and on Wednesday night I can watch 4 hours worth back to back.

The other was that most people actually take what the press says on face value and effectively use the opinion of a journalist as their education. I mean if it's on TV it must be true. Now let's muddy the water a bit more. Just like Cleopatra and Captain Hook all journalists love using statistics to prove their point. But stats are open to interpretation of the individual. If for example I wanted proof of Hook's view of doom and gloom I could quite easily point out that Nationwide's house price index show a drop of -0.5% in Feb and -0.6% in March. So sell up now and put your money in the bank before it's too late.

But let's be fair to Cleopatra and have a quick look at Rightmove.com own house price index that the editor claims represent "90% of the market, the largest and most up-to-date monthly sample of any house price indicator in the UK". Feb shows a steady +3.2% and March +0.8%.

So who's right and who's wrong. Not for me to say, but what I do know for sure is that to succeed in this game you need the ability to see through all the hype, regardless of property prices going through the roof or falling through the floor. You need good quality education and the confidence that comes with being a fundamental investor. Hope for the best, plan for the worst and always remember that property is a marathon, not a sprint.

I'll stick to my 10-15 year plan and when it comes to my financial future I think I'll take what's said in the press with just a little (pot) of salt...

So be sure to educate yourself thoroughly and always keep growing your investor IQ.

Click here to receive our regular educational newsletters. Then, if you have questions or want to talk through how Smuts & Taylor can help you invest with confidence, feel free to call me directly on 0797 1000 667.

I look forward too speaking to you soon.

Mike Smuts
Property investor and Managing Director of Smuts & Taylor.