I consider myself fortunate to have started working in the city back in the mid-90s. Despite experiencing several stock market crashes, the 9/11 tragedy, a few wars, and a financial collapse, I managed to save and invest some money along the way. Over a span of 20 years in my twenties and thirties, I took on high-risk investments in ventures such as movies, leveraged REITs, commodities, land banks, and secondary life assurance policies.Unfortunately, most of these investments didn't turn out well, resulting insignificant losses.
However, I also maintained a balanced portfolio during that time, dividing my investments roughly equally between the stock market and property. I've had my fair share of experiences as both a landlord and a tenant, engaging in numerous property transactions and signing almost a hundred leases. Throughout these dealings, I've encountered various situations, such as developers returning deposits in rising markets, being gazumped, estate agents falsely claiming my property was vacant while renting it out on the side, tenants running illegal businesses, and entering leaseback agreements where the lessor had full control over the property.
While I wouldn't consider myself a property guru, I believeI've dealt with enough estate agents, lawyers, developers, surveyors, tradesmen, and tenants to last a lifetime. Despite the challenges, I still possess a deep passion for all aspects of property, relishing the journey, the process, and managing transactions. I can't resist exploring new developments from their initial groundwork to the finished product and envisioning the potential of fixer-uppers. However, I must acknowledge that the entire property system, from start to finish, is inefficient, opaque, and, in some respects, rigged.
In my view, it is crucial for everyone to have some exposure to property in their investment portfolio over the long run. Nevertheless, I understand that most individuals aren't particularly enthusiastic about dealing with estate agents, lawyers, banks, surveyors, and tenants due to the associated time-consuming nature and potential intimidation.
That's why I co-founded Cahootz. I firmly believe that participating in property investments should be simpler and more transparent for individuals. Just imagine being able to own a fraction of a property in iconic locations like Mayfair, Shoreditch or Canary Wharf. With a user-friendly product, you could easily monitor the status of each property and buy or sell with just a few clicks, eliminating the hassles of finding tenants, fixing appliances, or dealing with estate agents.
At Cahootz, while we recognise that we can't address all thechallenges overnight, we want to share our vision, principles, and goals. Ourcommitment lies in supporting property owners and making property transactionssimple, easy, and transparent, fostering 100% trust along the way.
