Cluttons offer advice on selling your property. ‘Listen to your agent about pricing – there have been enough recent transactions for market experts to have a clear understanding of what price is achievable for your property. There is a fine line between what price will generate interest and what won’t, it’s all about footfall, price your property too high and you will not generate the necessary viewings to sell your property.’

‘Look forward to your onward purchase – this is an opportune market for upgrading and your priority should be to focus on your onward purchase, establish what it is going to cost you and then price your current property accordingly. Hopefully, this will mean you can market your property competitively which will speed up the chain.’

‘Treat every viewing as a second viewing – in this market you can’t afford to be complacent, ensure you have done everything to present your property in the best light possible e.g. replace or clean the carpets, touch up the paint work, re-grout the tiling, jet spray the patio. It’s these superficial improvements which can make the difference between selling your property right now and not.’

‘Outside space – lockdown has placed even more importance on outside space, so if you have a garden or roof terrace get a gardener/landscaper in and make a real feature of it. A well landscaped garden, which has been cleverly designed to feel like an extension of your home, can add 10 per cent to a property price in London and in some areas more.’

‘Get your property on the market ASAP and consider renting – if you are thinking of selling then you should do so rather than later since Cluttons predict that going into 2021 there is going to be more supply and sadly, from some, an increased urgency to sell, which is going to have a detrimental effect on capital values. If you are fortunate enough to secure a buyer at a price you are happy with, but have not found somewhere to buy yourself, then consider renting to keep the chain in place.’

‘Have all paperwork ready – instruct a good conveyancing solicitor, it’s often worth taking a referral from your agent. Ask the solicitor to prepare the contract and if there is a managing agent make sure they have the Seller’s Leasehold Information Pack ready, so everything is in place when you find a buyer.’ Food for thought.

The Transparent Fridge

I’m always getting an ear bashing for staring into the fridge several times an evening, looking for something unhealthy to eat. Maybe I’d get less flak if I had the fridge recently created by S home. It has a transparent door so you don’t need to open it, and let the cold out, to see what’s inside. Makes you wonder why nobody thought of it before.

I’m sure you don’t want to go into fridge manufacture, but it raises an interesting question – what other products would benefit from some transparency treatment? I own watches with display backs and I’ve had cars with transparent engine covers. So what else would people like to see working, or alternatively, what else would they like to be able to see the contents of without opening a lid, cover or door? Is there anything in the market or markets you know about?

Today’s National Day

CELEBRATING BONFIRE NIGHT!

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Of all the reasons I hear for people not following through with a business idea, a lack of funds comes right at the top of the list. There are always options though. Here are a few to consider:

Get a business partner with funds to invest. There are plenty of people out there with money but no ideas for investing it.

1. Investigate government initiatives. The government offer numerous financial incentives to entrepreneurs. There could very easily be something in your area, sector or situation.


2. Try Crowdfunding. Very easy to try out online and there have been some major success stories. Yours could be next.


3. Charge Up front. Insist on your customers paying in advance for your product or service. Not always possible, but it will depend on the market.


4. Keep your job. Working part time on your idea while retaining your job is tough, but it can provide funds for that difficult start up period.


5. Strike a deal with suppliers. If you can get your suppliers to give credit, it will help get over the initial cash-flow problem. They will only do this if they expect you to become a significant customer though.


6. Get a loan. Family is probably the best place to start with this.

It’s Been A Good Month For…

Tim Cook – The Apple boss has upped his net worth to $1bn. Although Cook did not found Apple, since 2011 he has helped grow the tech company to a market capitalisation of over $2trn.

MacKenzie Scott – Philanthropist, author, and ex-wife of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott became the wealthiest woman in the world last month. Her net worth rose to $68bn after she received a quarter of Bezos’s Amazon shares as part of their divorce settlement in 2019. Back then, they were worth a mere $35bn.

Diamonds Lovers – Petra Diamonds has unearthed five big high-quality blue diamonds from a South African mine that yielded two Crown Jewel sparklers a century ago. Finds of such top-notch blue diamonds are too rare for even statisticians to value.

IT’S BEEN A BAD MONTH FOR …

Art Forgers – Spanish police seized four fake Modigliani paintings that an auction house was trying to sell for £8m. The fakes disappeared 52 years ago, but resurfaced recently and were passed off as originals. Modigliani is deemed by experts to be among the most forged artists.

Wetherspoons – Brexit-loving pub brand Wetherspoons is ruing the government’s rules, with the Rule of Six and orders to close at ten pm hammering the cut prize boozer. Even before the new measures came into effect, sales were down a hefty 22.5 per cent on last year. Wetherspoons is likely to continue to underperform until the pandemic truly ends.

Novak Djokovic – The tennis player’s meltdown at the US Open — where he was disqualified and handed two fines after thwacking a ball at a line judge — cost him $17,500, plus technically a loss of $250,000 if he had won the game and advanced. Djokovic won’t be rueing his temper too much though, his career earnings top $143m, and he was the highest-paid athlete on Forbes 2020 rich list.

Yusaku Maezawa – The Japanese billionaire lost £32m attempting to day trade stocks. He later admitted that he hadn’t sufficiently familiarised himself with day trading.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL JOB ACTION DAY!

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Global investors are showing greater interest in alternative proteins, such as plant-based substitutes and lab-grown meat, as the climate impact of agriculture and food production comes under the spotlight.

Environmental experts have started to highlight the impact of agriculture, especially the intensive livestock sector, on rising greenhouse gas emissions as well as land and water use and deforestation. The world’s food system, including agriculture and land use, accounted for 25 to 30 per cent of emissions from 2007 to 2016.

The good news is that new food technologies are emerging and becoming profitable. These disruptive technologies are starting to have an impact on the world and on portfolios, from meaty meat-free burgers to sustainable livestock management and organic growing.

The successful flotation of plant-based meat substitute group Beyond Meat earlier this year has also highlighted investment opportunities in alternative proteins as a way for food companies to be part of the solution. Plant-based proteins, including meat and dairy, are also seeing high demand from consumers, partly for health but also because many environmental specialists believe a change in diets can mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Analysts forecast that alternative proteins are not just a fad.

Aquaculture, precision farming, and food-testing technologies are all areas to watch. Urban circular farms are sprouting up everywhere. The fresh-produce outputs of these industrial farms are expensive, but the technology used to produce them is hugely efficient, and valuable. Food flavouring — products mimicking the taste of harmful foodstuffs — is booming. Sustainable packaging is also touted as a growth sector. 

Various exchange traded funds invest in these areas, but angel investing in potentially lucrative start-ups in the sector could also mean big profits.

While investors have long included global agribusinesses or food manufacturers in their portfolios, their interest in the mucky business of farming is increasingly focused on assets that advance two critical global goals: increasing food security and tackling climate change. Last year, for example, the agri-food technology sector — whose innovations often contribute to more efficient and sustainable forms of food production — attracted almost $20bn in venture capital.

Venture capitalists and private equity firms see an opportunity to take a stake in enterprises that are not only increasing food security or tackling climate change but may also become highly profitable — benefitting from green government schemes. Investing in small and medium enterprises, not just big global companies, could mean big bucks in the long term.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAY DAY!

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Gold has been a shining star in a dazzling year for the exchange traded product industry. Record inflows into gold exchange traded funds propelled the price of the precious metal to an all-time high last month in a rally fuelled by concerns about the huge cost of emergency responses to the pandemic. What started as a flight to safety has evolved into the means by which investors are trying to salve their wounds with respect to potential future inflation.

Investors have spent $49.1bn buying gold ETFs so far this year, pushing the value of holdings in these vehicles to $239bn. There has been a 26 per cent rise in the gold price so far this year, as investors jump on the bandwagon in anticipation of further gains. Advocates of gold remind sceptical investors that it outperforms fiat currencies over time.

Warren Buffett always mocked those who invested in gold, calling it a way of going long on fear. This year, however, Buffett joined investors including the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, by buying into the latest gold rush, which helped push prices to a record high this summer.

The pandemic has convinced investors that gold belongs in their portfolios as a hedge against frothy equity markets, rock bottom interest rates, and a fall in economic output. Some large investors want gold as protection against possible deflation caused by an economic slowdown or a converse rise in inflation as governments pump money into the system.

With the extremely messy-looking upcoming US presidential election and no current end in sight for the pandemic, Mr Buffett’s change of mind on gold may not be a bad bet in a world gone mad. Covid cases are on the rise, governments are starting to panic, and economies are facing down the barrel of second lockdowns. All in all, it signals a perfect storm for gold: there is just too much uncertainty in the world to ignore its benefits.   

Gold is always useful as a diversifier for your portfolio. It’s unusual in being an asset that goes up, or at least holds its value when bad things happen (and, if you hadn’t noticed, bad things are happening and more bad things are sharpening their claws just over the horizon), whilst most other assets go down. 

Early last month, a team at Bridgewater (the world’s biggest hedge fund group) put out a short and very bullish report on gold. They point out that we’re in a world where politicians and central bankers are under pressure to print and spend money. When this has happened in the past, gold has enjoyed massive rallies that dwarf its recent run.

Gold’s lack of yield (it pays no income) is less of a problem when financial assets are offering so little. You can’t complain about gold paying 0 per cent when a significant proportion of global bonds actually charge you to own them. It’s clear that there’s a desire to hedge against financial chaos and/or potential runaway inflation out there. And history shows that gold is one of the few assets that does an acceptable job of hedging against those things. At the moment, gold is shining like never before.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL CAT DAY!

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If you want to avoid paying stamp duty on your next property purchase you need to get a move on: there has been a surge in people keen to move. Between 8 July and 8 August, the number of people registering to buy across the country was up by 38 percent on the same period last year, boosted by the stamp duty holiday. Properties are going under offer faster than ever. Currently, one in seven homes are under offer within a week of listing. But things slow down after that. A conveyancing log-jam after lockdown means that even if a sale is agreed quickly, a transaction could take six months to complete, especially if it is in a chain.

People thinking of coming to market need to do so in by early December if they want to have a chance of completing within time to beat the stamp duty deadline. Stamp duty is currently suspended on properties worth up to £500,000, saving buyers as much as £15,000. However, the tax will be reinstated on 31 March 2021. The stamp duty holiday has accelerated the moves of buyers who were looking for larger properties with gardens and space for home offices. But the surge is expected to subside as unemployment rises with the end of the furlough scheme and lenders wind down their forbearance policies this autumn.

With the housing market rising quickly post-lockdown wise buyers may opt not to rush to embrace the stamp-duty holiday. Racing simply to save 1 per cent to 3 per cent on the cost of your next home at a time when house prices are ludicrously high and are up 2 per cent on last month and 3.7 per cent on last year is futile.

Money Statistics

£5.25 was the average discount received by diners from the government Eat Out to Help Out scheme. In the first three weeks of the month-long scheme in August, 64 million discounted meals were served at 84,000 outlets, at a cost to taxpayers of £336m.

$56.14 is how much an American wearing a face mask for a day saves the US in lost GDP by helping obviate the need for more costly lockdown measures. Not bad for something you can buy for about 50 cents.

£7,000 is what it would cost to buy an original 2007 edition of the Star Wars Lego Millennium Falcon, which was available on Amazon this summer. Lego sets — especially Star Wars Lego sets — can become favourites of specialist collectors.

£260,000 is how much a pair of Mahatma Gandhi’s sunglasses sold for at auction last month.

£368,000 is what a sheep has been sold for in Scotland. It is a record sale, beating the previous sheep-record of £230,000 set in 2009. Bidding started at £10,000 for the Double Diamond, a six-month old Texel ram.

$1.1bn is the annual estimated value of seabird droppings worldwide. The unassuming lime can be used as fertiliser and to provide nutrients to coral reefs, to boost fish numbers.

Today’s National Day

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY!

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