I don't care about your pretty pictures on Instagram!

There, I've said it, I literally do not care. One iota. Well maybe just one, it's a pretty picture so it will look great on your instagram right??

Wrong. (Prefer video? -->https://youtu.be/iuGnugWB4FY)

What looks good to a property person is numbers. Cold hard cash is what gets me going. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement of a new project. I love seeing it all come together. And yes I have a loving relationship with interior design trends which I like to incorporate just like the next person.


In this day and age sex sells, and sexy pictures get likes. Attractive pictures of amazing co-living spaces are very nice to look at and do well on ye old facebook, linkedin and instagram feeds for sure! But does that make a good developer? Maybe you shouldn't be looking to JV with those that are posting great pictures on social media sites without having a good look at their spreadsheets first.

You see, spreadsheets and numbers, that's what it all comes down to in property investing. 90% of it at least. Will the deal work? Will it be profitable? Are there multiple exit strategies? What if things overrun? What if the costs are higher? How is the downside protected?

I mean, I love a pretty picture, but what I'd love to know is "did the project actually make money?"

What do you think? Will you be grilling posters of pretty projects in more depth in the future? Let's see past the pretty pictures and dig deep in to how well they can present the numbers. Like in Dragon's Den, most great "businesspeople" (ahem) fall to pieces when quizzed on the numbers. The same is true in property. I don't see enough grilling, but hey, let's stay positive, if they've got to the stage of pretty pictures they must have done well, right?

Food for thought...