Make your offer, and make it NOW!

There'll never be sales like these ones! This is what many people in the consumer industry are saying. The Financial Times ran a story at the beginning of the year about the Harrods Sales. The current downturn overtook many businesses so fast that they were just unprepared for it.

Sale of the Century

Companies like Harrods had their usual full stock of products yet hadn't sold much of this stock. This means that going into the sales Harrods had more products than ever on sale.

This year Harrods simply won't buy in so much stock. They'll work through 2009 with a product more in keeping with the economic climate. This means that the sales next year will be a pale shadow of what they were this year.

This is the same in property. NOW is the time to find the best bargains. Why? Because the builders overseas need to improve their cashflow NOW. If they sell a few units now this will give them the cash flow they need to get through the coming months and years. This will mean they can relax and start being more commercial again.

Even British builders like Taylor Woodrow are having to adopt this approach. The Sunday Times told exactly this story in their article "Bargain Hunters return to the Costa del Sol".

This is not to say that you can go mad and make offer after offer. It is important to actually want to buy the property you're pitching for. "You have to be careful what you wish for!" Says Tim Landseer-Brooks from Amazing Resorts. "Developers will deal, but only with serious buyers."

It goes back to our expression from the last Blog: You want to buy a good property at a great price. It's a bit like being at an auction, if you see a property and you have made an offer that gets you a dramatic discount, go for it!