Hey friends,

I've only got one main piece to write about this week so first I'll re-hash a few past topics first based on your feedback.

Timber Shortages

Reader John has a brother who operates Unique Bespoke, a supplier of timber gates and fencing who has put out a circular on the reasons behind the timber shortages, and subsequent price hikes they've had to make, summed up here:

• Insufficient log availability across all supplying regions globally into the sawmills.
• Seriously low sawn stocks at the sawmills.
• Following the Covid Pandemic - Global demand for all species and grades at their highest levels ever.
• Home & Garden renovations at the highest ever levels.
• Demand for home offices dramatically increasing in light of the Covid situation
• Burgeoning demand for construction - above all in private housing, commercial and infrastructure.
• Very mild & wet weather conditions across Scandinavia hampering log harvesting and extraction.
• Environmental push for sustainable products to be used as much as possible, timber is the biggest environmental asset the planet has to offer to use in a multitude of constructional areas. • Shipping restraints and delays and escalating costs.
• Haulage delays – lack of drivers (100,000 drivers short).
• Most stocks are already pre-sold before they arrive into the UK.
• Customs clearance documents following Brexit slowing import and associated costs escalating. 

Looks like we're partly to blame! I suspect that we may see more metal framed garden rooms in future if timber prices remain high and I'm open to going that route for my next one, though that would ruin the nail-gun fun.

Stock Market Investing

I had a really nice email from Dave on the stock market investing newsletter:

'Ali, I have worked in Financial Services all my life and have an MBA, this is perhaps the best explanation of stock market investing I’ve ever read.  

I opened it with trepidation, wondering what system you were going to propose to pick stocks and was relieved you didn’t. I have always invested in trackers, unless you know something the market doesn’t (which is illegal) you cannot outperform it in the long run, the efficient market theory. Saving fees is how you outperform. You nailed that. Keep up the good work.'

I share this not to show off (well, maybe a bit!) but if anyone was on the fence, maybe this might give you the necessary nudge. Overall, I heard from more people who had started than those yet to start, which, while expected, is a bit of a shame as it was the latter group I wrote it for.

Someone else asked jokingly if I work for Vanguard which upon a re-read it does sound rather like that, but no, and nor were there any affiliate links in there, I'm just a Vanguard fan.

On a separate note, Dave has also built himself a brilliant garden room pub:

As my next one will be designed to minimise cost and hassle I'm planning on going for the same style open joist roof.

Home-working/Property Market

As a group I reckon we're of a particular mindset and the replies are no doubt a bit of an echo chamber as only those who strongly agree will bother replying BUT it seems the majority of you are with me on remote working (where possible) being altogether better than office working. Whether that spills over to the general population, I don't know. I have read some anecdotes about people quitting as they are being made to return to the office. If enough people do this, then businesses will have to follow suit. There are benefits for businesses too though, no or less office space to rent and talent can be hired from anywhere and can probably be paid less than a London worker for instance. I doubt this will extend to outsourcing to, say, India though. Many businesses have tried that and failed. Interesting times ahead regardless.

This leads me on to three odd things about the property market:

1. It's been labelled the race for space by the media as people, enjoying their new found remote working, are moving away from centres of employment to get more green space. Is it just me or is this not jumping the gun a bit? There's definitely a possibility we revert to office working. Though perhaps if employees can't now reach the office this will force the hands of employers to stick with remote working.
2. It's more money than you'll ever spend in your life and something which will keep you rooted to one location for 10+ years and yet we make the decision to buy a home on a quick 15 minute walk-around. No more so than now where if you don't put in a same-day offer, the house will have likely sold by time you've thoroughly weighed up the pros and cons. If only there were a way to test-drive a house by renting it for a few days. Alas, it's too complicated to work in most instances.
3. I can't think of any other product where people prefer used rather than new (excluding antiques). There's definitely a survivorship bias here though as we only see the surviving older houses, not those that have been demolished due to problems. I have no doubt that builders have been cutting corners for as long as houses have been built, but the surviving houses have stood the test of time so it's not that surprising that we favour them even if they don't have the U-values and supposedly better building practices and materials of new-builds. The thing that really put us off a new build though was the postage stamp plots they have in order that the developer can squeeze as much profit out of a site as possible. Perhaps more houses = good but given we already have the smallest homes in Europe, why exacerbate it with tiny gardens?

📷 How To Take Good Property Photos

I'm always a bit amazed that many estate agents are still getting away with taking shoddy photos. They've gotten a lot better over the last few years but I still shake my head when perusing Rightmove as taking a decent shot is pretty simple and anyone can do it without having to mess with complicated settings.

The first thing you need is a wide angle lens to take in as much of the room as you can. You can get these for DSLR or mirrorless cameras or now they're found right on your phone. When downscaled for Rightmove or this email you probably can't tell the difference...

A £2,100 full frame camera and wide angle lens set up:

Snapped on an iPhone 12 (not cheap but it's also a phone, torch, map etc):

Somewhere around 15-18mm or equivalent tends to be best. Much lower and the lines between the walls and ceilings can start to look distorted and fish eyed. This level is about right:

Generally you'll want to shoot from one corner to the other, usually situating yourself in the doorway and shooting across from there. The absolute key to a good photo is to crouch down. Compare this standing shot (eye level) below with the first photo, it just doesn't look right but you see it all the time:

Try to keep just two walls visible. In the below shot I catch the left hand wall which immediately gives away how big the room is. The first shot allows a little speculation!

Under exposure is better than over because it can be corrected more easily in edit. To do this in mac/iOS hit the Auto Enhance, then boost Light and Brightness. For bedrooms and living rooms boost the Colour towards warmer hues and for bathrooms, a little cooler often looks best. Raise the Saturation between 10- 30%. Below is the unedited image for comparison:

Unless you're a whizz with Photoshop you can send images away to be altered such as removing wheelie bins or adding in a blue sky. I've used Elements Property in the past with great results. Here's the before and after of a photo I took for a friend of mine:

Some other tips:

• Turn on all lights, even in daylight (I haven't above and it shows). Turn OFF your flash.
• Remove or move anything that looks unsightly. Often it's only obvious once you've taken the photo so check on your camera even if you think you've got everything.
• Sometimes the angle you choose just doesn't work so try a couple out per room.
• If a door is in view, leave it open if you can to give a sense of flow.
• Steady the camera to avoid blur- elbows on knees works well.
• For rentals and selling don’t give it all away by photographing every room from every angle - you want some mystery to get people to view. If they feel they’ve seen it all then they might not view your property based on something like the road it’s on but if they come for a viewing and like it they are more likely to look past any downsides.
• However, for holiday lets, Air BnB etc - show everything! People can’t do viewings first. They want to see it all and how it fits together.
• Go the extra mile and add some little touches - flowers, bed spreads, books - if nothing else it makes the viewer feel either like the house is cared for or effort was put into the photos:

These are couple I took of a house in London:

Remember people will return to a listing of the property they’re buying again and again and show it off to friends and family so good photos will keep them engaged in the buying process which can be protracted.

Whether or not you use an agent to sell a property, I reckon taking your own photos is a winner and also writing the description, especially if you’ve done work that isn’t obvious to the naked eye - sound proofing, insulation or re-wiring.

Anyway, you've probably guessed these pics are of our bedroom. Here's the other side with the wardrobes:

👋

I have to leave this one on a bit of a sad note as our cat Arlo has been missing since Sunday night. Perhaps that's not long for a cat to go roaming about but it's unusual for him. I've just come in from searching in the woods - two cats and a muntjac deer but no Arlo. How did the bargaining chip for moving out to the countryside become so ingrained in my heart?!*

Hit "reply" if you've got any comments on this week's newsletter – otherwise I'll see you next time. Have an epic week :)

P.s. If you think a friend will enjoy this newsletter, feel free to send them this link where they can sign up.

*We've put up posts on local facebook forums and Nextdoor, put up posters, knocked on doors asking people to check their sheds and put out clothing for him to smell his way home but no luck. Any other ideas let me know! 🤞