I've just got back from the Property Investor Show where I've walked round the world in a day. I'm not joking - my feet are killing me. There's so much at this year's show - I just didn't get to see everything. There is still another day of the show left, Sunday 23rd, so if you can get down to Excel, in London, it is well worth a trip. Click on the link on the home page for more details. If you do go, the best thing is to organise your presentation tickets first. Some presentations, such as the hot topic of tax, are always busy. I went to a tax presentation today and there was standing room only. The presentations have a relaxed style and the speakers always hang around afterwards to answer questions. Simon Tweddle, PS's chief analyst, has an interesting presentation tomorrow, Sunday, - Where in the World Should I invest?....to get rich in the next ten years. He's on at 3.45 in presentation room No. 6. Or you can always pop along to the Property Secrets' stand at no.268 and come and meet the team for a chat. It's good to put names to faces. I've got a lot of reading tonight, with bags of brochures to look through. What I'll be doing is trying to separate the glossy details from the facts. That's what you need to do at the stands, so give yourself plenty of time to sit down and chat. This is a chance to carry out some simple due diligence, such as checking how a capital growth projection has been made, how rental returns have been calculated and check to see if the prices stack up. If anyone else has been to the show, I'd love to hear what you think so drop a line to the forum. Thanks - Andrea, Deputy Editor.

Sorry it was end of a very long day yesterday and I was looking at the wrong schedule - Simon Tweddle actually has two presentations today. Have you missed the boat in Poland is at 11.15am and Undervalued markets - how Romania and Germany compare at 3.15pm. Thanks

Hi Andrea Glad you enjoyed the show. My impression was that the show was quieter than previous years (however, I was there only on Friday morning) but that the companies were were diverse. In particular, the Inside Track stand was smaller than before? Marian D'Or still came - but much smaller? It seems that a few of the old big names had downsized and there a number of small 'new' outfits. There was a significant increase in the selling of new Europe - basically, on the back of the increases we have already seen, but most of these commission agents appear to be following the market, rather than leading it. The big change I noticed from a few years ago is that there is no longer the selling of £5,000 seminars - instead, all firms are actually focusing on property instead. Cheers Neil

Hi Neil, The Property Secrets stand was certainly not quieter! I have lost my voice from talking to so many people but it was definitely worthwhile. At points through the weekend we had people queuing up to speak to us. I think this shows how popular and trusted the Property Secrets name is. Id like to thank all the clients that came along to speak to me and chat about our forthcoming deals and those of you who made suggestions, your comments have been noted. If you would now like to go over the deals we spoke about at the show, drop me an email and I will come back to you (when my voice is working!) Kind regards, Martin Grainger Senior Sales Account Manager purchasesupport@propertysecrets.net

Andrea Don't assume the standing room was due to it being the tax subject... for anyone who would like to find more relevant to investing abroad we look at offshore structures as part of the PS Conference... make sure you book your ticket to get a seat! Colin Davison, who also did not get a seat. :)

My views Friday brought the serious been there before, back for the t-shirt kind of investor. Saturday Lots of new business start ups, clearly some higher volumes present. Sunday - mainly those trying to build something, but mainly enjoying the day out. Lots of Property Tax books sold I hope! The Property Secrets stand was the best ever, well done everyone. Colin

Not surprised the Inside Track stand was quiet....

Reports yesterday suggested the company had gone into administration.

I went to an initial presentation and couldn't believe how simplistic they made everything - no grasp of basic maths/economics and painted the UK property market as a very easy way of making lots of money.



Sanj

I've been reading the reports about this today Sanj....it appears it is true. They're not the only ones either...a number of well-known faces will be disappearing soon!

All the best
H.

Go on Helen, you can't stop there!

I suppose some companies have grown too quickly on the back of the good times but now can't get the credit they need to turn reserves into cashflow.