Dear friends,
The 1987 film “Wall Street” follows the adventures of junior stockbroker Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen) as he rises to financial fame and wealth thanks to his dealings with legendary Wall Street player Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas). In one scene, Gordon Gekko is addressing the shareholders meeting of one of the companies in his portfolio. He blames the company’s management for being lazy and incompetent, thus not doing their best for their shareholders. He says “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good. […] Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.”
So how does that relate to Real Estate investors? Does it mean that it’s good for them to be greedy? Real Estate investors should only be focusing in achieving the best returns for their capital. However, at Artemis Assets we believe that by doing that, investors are contributing to the common good. When they put in their efforts and their capital to buy, refurbish, decorate, and rent out a property, they also (un)knowingly help the environment and society. How? Let’s look at a few statistics.
The average flat in one of the major cities in Spain was built in the 1970s, some 50 years ago. These flats were not built with energy efficiency or environmental impact in mind. Actually, it’s not an exaggeration to say that they were built as if energy will be for free. They score below average on the European Union energy efficiency score (they score E, from A to G with G being less efficient). A typical refurbishment with the help of Artemis can bring that energy efficiency score easily up to B, making them more sustainable for the environment. This raises the property’s value while reducing its CO2 emissions, and it can even pay for itself from the energy cost savings.
Another issue is that in Spain there are approx. 3.4 million empty properties, almost 14% of the total housing stock. A 70%-80% of these are empty because the owner does not have enough money to refurbish them. At the same time, affordability of housing is becoming a major issue, especially for young families. The percentage of housing expenses in the budget of the average Spanish household has gone up from 30.9% to 40.4% in the last 2 years. One solution is to bring back more properties into the market. This is clearly a supply and demand issue, and private investors can help solve it.
Reach out to us with your investment plans and we will show you how they contribute to the common good.
Until the next one!
