How to read a projected yield figure properly

Every offering on this platform publishes a projected yield. A projection is not a promise, and the honest way to use one is to interrogate the assumptions behind it.

First: is it gross or net? Net yield accounts for management, maintenance, insurance and void periods. Gross yield does not, and can flatter a return by two percentage points or more.

Second: what occupancy is assumed? A projection built on one hundred per cent occupancy is a projection built on a market that does not exist.

Third: how is the exit modelled? A yield that depends on capital appreciation at sale is a different risk profile from one funded entirely by rent.

Fourth: what currency is the income in, and what currency are you? Cross-border ownership introduces exchange exposure that no property model can hedge away for you.