Opportunities afoot for the savvy property investor

Wealth management company HFM Columbus (HFMC) has some long-awaited good news for commercial property investors: there are some outstanding opportunities waiting to be snapped up.

Investors with an eye for a bargain in turbulent times can benefit from a swathe of small but fast moving direct investment opportunities. This is especially true outside of Central London.

HFMC is leading by example, having already invested in some commercial property projects during the turmoil of the equity market in the recent banking collapse.

HFMC director Charlie Walker said: "As institutions are desperate for liquidity it is the quality end of the property spectrum that gets sold first, so there are great deals to be done. We are now looking for more potential property projects and investors to take advantage of some great value returning to the sector.


"HFMC arranged around £1 billion of commercial property investment in the mid 90s through to around 2005, selling most of our client holdings when we felt the market was running too far too fast and we saw such significant profits there for the taking."

According to Walker, the traditional 7 to 10 year commercial property cycles are likely to become more compressed. "As we know, the market is very cyclical, and a sector notorious for its illiquidity", he said. "To meet that pent up demand for redemptions these institutions often have to sell the quality end - the easiest to sell - leaving the lesser quality to the remaining investors, a double whammy for them, but good news for the selective and quick footed buyers."