Fergus Wilson Genius or a Couple of Sandwiches short of a Picnic You Decide

DTDfanBoy

caronoel wrote: »

Rarely have I seen such petty minded jealousy in a post

If he really is a simpleton, why is he wealthy beyond your wildest dreams when you live in a rented one room bedsit?

good to see that you are reading Property Tribes, perhaps you could learn a few things from them on how to make money from property.

Jealousy is deeply unattractive

I take it that comprehension isn't a strong point of yours

As the title suggests I'm simply trying to see how Fergus is viewed by those on here. I thought the property tribe thread provided a bit of insight into the way he ticks, perhaps his wife didn't get a chance to vet his posts.

I've met the man a couple of times and his strange postings on PT actually do reflect the way he behaves in the flesh, I, like many others, suspect that the wife is the brains of the operation.

michaels

Generali wrote: »

Fair point. The fact that you can go a few minutes down the road and get a non-Wilson place means that it's not much of a monopoly IMHO.

Locally prices can vary by several hundred k based on a few hundred yards changing school catxhment areas.

chucknorris wrote: »

That is exactly my take on it, IMO the things that he did 'wrong' were:

1. Limited his property portfolio to one small area, this introduces problems when you want to sell up.

2. He was still buying property when he was so (equity) rich, that he would not be able to spend further profits, why continue to take on risk, when you can't spend what you can make from new investments? I think at this time he wasn't thinking, he was just running on auto pilot. Given his/their age, I think it would have been better to plan a (more than) comfortable stress free life for their remaining years. But of course people are motivated differently, and you can't impose your wants/needs onto other people.

But has pulled it off, but it did look very dodgy for him around 2008/9. If he has got any sense he will have realised that he took on too much risk when he didn't need to, his upside was virtually nothing, but his downside was huge, and it nearly became reality.

Perhaps being a local buyer of last resort he effectively controlled the floor of local prices which of course helped with the valuation of his entire portfolio and thus available equity. Of course the national price falls of 2008/9 demonstrated the fallacy of this approach but I suspect he really did benefit from being 'too big to fail' at that moment, the lender did not want to become the owner of a large portfolio that would have been unsalable because of the market overhang and the govt was terrified that seeing a town in Kent in property price freefall would have spooked the whole national market into a self fufilling crash.

chucknorris

michaels wrote: »

Locally prices can vary by several hundred k based on a few hundred yards changing school catxhment areas.



Perhaps being a local buyer of last resort he effectively controlled the floor of local prices which of course helped with the valuation of his entire portfolio and thus available equity. Of course the national price falls of 2008/9 demonstrated the fallacy of this approach but I suspect he really did benefit from being 'too big to fail' at that moment, the lender did not want to become the owner of a large portfolio that would have been unsalable because of the market overhang and the govt was terrified that seeing a town in Kent in property price freefall would have spooked the whole national market into a self fufilling crash.

Yes being too big to fail was undoubtedly a major factor in their financial survival. But given where they were years prior to 2007, they should have never allowed themselves to be at risk in the first place, you should only take on risk when the reward warrants it, there has to be a balance between risk and reward. But of course no one is perfect, we all make mistakes (me included). But I think that it is always important to keep your feet on the ground, and ask yourself 'what can go wrong' even when (in fact, especially when) you are extremely successful. But it isn't easy though to switch, I am currently 'forcing myself' to move away from risk, sometimes you have to accept that the job is done, and its time to realise that you don't live forever and being rich in the graveyard counts for nothing.

kabayiri

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

...
I've met the man a couple of times and his strange postings on PT actually do reflect the way he behaves in the flesh, I, like many others, suspect that the wife is the brains of the operation.

Fergus is by no means the only interesting character involved in buying property.

I was with my neighbour when a guy drove past and stopped outside the property, attracted by the private For Sale sign.

"How much for poundies?" he said.

My neighbour told him the asking price, and was treated to a torrent of verbal abuse, including not so veiled threats.

This exchange surprised me, but the abusive man is well known in his approach, according to my neighbour.

An aggressive approach to property acquisition probably does work, but it doesn't enamour yourself to others long term.

theblagger

Modern life Rachman

brit1234

He is clearly a simpleton, there is a thread on property tribes where all the landlords are telling him he can't be a elected police commissioner in Kent as he has a criminal conviction for assault, he thinks he can. Well liked Falklands Vet Simon Weston had to pull out because he had one, yet simpleton Fergus just can't get it into his head.

:eek::eek:

Story of his conviction after beating up an estate agent over a boiler.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/fergus-wilson-assault-guilty-15697/

Simon Weston pulling pout because of his conviction
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/02/simon-weston-police-crime-commissioner

Thrugelmir

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

So is this guy a genius that deserves his riches, is he a simpleton who got lucky, or something in between, discuss _party_

Like many people who strike it lucky. Saw the opportunity when others hadn't. Took the risk and it paid off. Just like any business venture. Some fail , some tick over and one or two hit the big time.

Fergus isn't the largest private property owner in the country by a long way. The others just keep a low profile. Running unincorporated entities to maintain the veil of secrecy.

ruggedtoast

Generali wrote: »

I'd say somewhere in between.

He's made a lot of money so he's clearly doing something right. Buying so many very similar properties in a single area is horrible from a risk management point of view though.

I think I read an interview with him lately that its proving difficult to unwind all the properties they have because they cant put more than a couple on the market at once at the same time.

kabayiri

ruggedtoast wrote: »

I think I read an interview with him lately that its proving difficult to unwind all the properties they have because they cant put more than a couple on the market at once at the same time.

Can you imagine it? Fergus would insist on doing the house price negotiations himself.

He is very "hands on".

Is House Price Baiting a proper sport?

the_flying_pig

"Genius or a Couple of Sandwiches short of a Picnic" is quite a tough choice since they're not mutually exclusive. one's more or less a measure of intelligence, the other of, well, sanity.
IMO he's a somewhat intelligent chap who started out with a good idea [buying property in areas where yields are anomalously high] but who then got greedy, did some very daft things [just buying as much property as possible because prices always go up], & was very lucky to avoid losing everything, saved by government intervention & a near-decade of monetary policy that was exceptionally loose to an extent that couldn't possibly have been foreseen at the time when he was investing.