Got a 'Merry Christmas Greeting' today that included a list to great to spare.
It is Remit Consulting in the UK that put together a wish list for the property industry.
10. We would like one standard reference code for every individual property so that all systems can add information to a property accurately – perhaps searchable on Google?
9. We would like completely standard form, web-based leases so that negotiations for new premises can be swift and cheap. And, in the UK, we would like standard 5 year terms.
8. We think “Black-box” property trading (e.g., I want to buy 3 shops at 6%) would reduce the cost of trading property and commoditise a whole class of property investments. An alternative to derivatives?
7. We would like to see Google Earth updated by live satellite images – perhaps even zooming in to see truck or car movements on our managed sites;
6. We want listed companies to agree a standard of reporting on publicly accessible reporting dashboards – online detail which would make investing in property companies more transparent;
5. We would like to see the last of chasing cheques from tenants – let’s enforce the use of direct debits and monthly rentals in advance – an end to collecting rent on horseback, as Bob puts it;
4. Why can’t we have daily property revaluations? Whole swathes of the residential property market relies on automated valuations – surely there is a mid-way point between a full inspection with detailed analysis of scarce comparables and no valuation at all;
3. Wouldn’t indexed rents be a step forward? Our apologies to the UK rent-review surveyors but this would modernise UK property leases at one fell swoop;
2. Longer lunch breaks to give more time for discussing how to make things better – we are working more remotely, and with tighter deadlines; let’s take the time to consider how things could be done;
And, at number 1 position:
1. We want banks to start lending to each other again. ‘Nuff said.
Brilliant!
It also make you understand the differences that exist between countries; like 10, 5 and 3... ;-)
Keep up the great work and Merry Christmas to you Andrew, Mark, Melita and all of the rest.