The Property Podcast

It’s girl power on Ask Rob & Rob this week.  Our first question comes from Amelia.  Amelia would like some advice on how to find a decent deal in the property boom we’re now in.   Her current strategy is buy, refurbish, refinance (BRR) so she can try and recycle some of her cash.   To be successful with this strategy, Amelia would need to buy below market value, but she’s finding that most properties are selling for the value of them refurbished, so there’s no money in it.   So, Ameila wants to know if there’s a useful way to secure properties off-market by leafleting or sending out postcards.   Next up is Nancy.   She lives in Merseyside and has a question on freeports.   Now that Chancellor Rishi has outlined the areas that’ll benefit from freeports, Nancy wants to know if there’s any tax breaks or benefits for investing in these areas.   So, do Rob & Rob think there are any tax relief benefits to investing in freeport areas?  Tune in to find out.    Do you have a buy to let or property investme

This week on The Property Podcast we’re putting the limelight on Liverpool  Generally on The Property Podcast you hear The Robs talking about property hotspots and where to invest. But you’ve never heard them go into much detail about certain areas.   Until now.  This week The Robs are heading back to Rob B’s roots of Liverpool and bringing you the areas you should definitely consider, the areas you should avoid and Rob B’s wildcard.  Where will Rob B peg as his up-and-coming area and ‘one to watch’?  Tune in to find out.    News  Last week the new session of Parliament opened with the Queen’s Speech and there were tonnes of legislations mentioned that are due to be brought forward.   This is probably down to the fact that not much other than Covid-19 got done last year.   But there were mentions of plans to end ground rents, renters reform and planning reform. There’s plenty more to cover on this but we’re going to save it for the next market update episode.     Hub Extra  This week’s Hub Extra 

Rob & Rob are back again this week answering questions on when’s the best time to buy, and what happens to a mortgage if the property value falls.  First up is Eleanor.   With the stamp duty holiday due to finish at the end of June, Eleanor is keen to explore the top end of her budget.  She doesn’t want to make a rushed investment and doesn’t want to consider stamp duty, but she’s keen to know how the stamp duty holiday will have affected the market when it comes to an end.  Should Eleanor take advantage of the stamp duty holiday whilse she still can, or could she save more money by holding out for a dip in property prices?  Our second caller this week is Owen.  Owen wants to know what would happen if your buy-to-let property fell into negative equity at the end of your mortgage term when you came to re-mortgage.  Will you then be locked into higher rates, or would you have to put in more cash to bring yourself back up to 25% loan to value?  Tune in to find out.    Do you have a buy to let or proper

This week on The Property Podcast we’re discussing the property boom and why no-one's noticed it The Robs have been saying this for weeks now – we're in a property boom!   And now it’s no longer just their opinion, it’s a fact.  Now you need to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening and what you should be doing right now.   And that’s exactly what Rob & Rob are talking about today.  Here’s what they’re covering in this episode:  The towns and cities that have seen the biggest price growth in a year.   The boss of Barclays predicting the biggest economic boom since 1948.  The regions that are outperforming the UK average growth.   Why is this growth happening?  How long will it last for?  And what should you do?  Tune in to find out.    Hub Extra  This week’s Hub Extra resource is all about protecting your online security.   We’ve talked about online security before and this time we’re recommending that you get an authenticator app installed.   They’re free to use and could save you

It’s Tuesday and Rob & Rob are on hand to answer two more property related questions. Kicking things off this week is Mike from Southampton, who’s relocated to Merseyside. Over the past year during lockdown, Mike has been taking advantage of the extra time he’s had and devoured all of Property Hub’s resources. He’s now 100% sure that wants to get into investing in property. He knows that he needs to build up a pot of cash before he can get started and he wants to know what The Robs think he should do. Mike is currently overpaying his mortgage payments, he’s got a savings account which he keeps topped up, and he’s started investing in stocks. So, should he focus on one more than the others or should he keep doing what he’s doing? Our second caller this week is Elisa. Elisa and her boyfriend bought a property in Nottingham a few years ago in cash, and it’s now increased in value over the years. They’re looking to release equity from the house to be able to buy a second property. Now, the most obvious so

It’s the May Market Update This month’s May market update is jam-packed with news stories for you to sink your teeth into. And naturally Rob & Rob have picked the best ones to discuss on today’s May market update. Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode Since the last market update, the media has still been in a frenzy over the property market. And it doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. But we’ll leave it to The Robs to talk you through this month’s latest headlines. House prices and activity: Prices surge 8.6% in year to February: ONS UK property sales at 16-year high as house prices soar UK House Price Index – February 2021 Northern property market continues to outpace the south London: Prime London flats rentals still in doldrums – but for how long? Khan’s call for rent controls would leave London tenants worse off London commuter belt rental market still performing strongly Renting: Renters Reform Bill: timetable may be clearer next month Right to Rent

It’s Tuesday and we’ve got another two great questions to answer on today’s episode of Ask Rob & Rob. The first question this week Is from Shipla. Shipla wants to know everything there is to know about the Liverpool property market. What areas are good to invest in? Which ones to avoid? What’s the forecast for Liverpool in 2021? Shipla wants to know anything and everything The Robs can give her. She’s an investor based in London so naturally doesn’t have the local knowledge. Move over Rob D – This is Rob B’s time to shine! Our next caller has a question on city centre apartments and whether you should furnish them or not. There’s a load of conflicting information on this debate. Some reckon you can leave an apartment unfurnished for tenants to put their own stamp on the place. Others think furnished will let quicker and be less hassle for tenants. Is there a right or wrong answer when it comes to letting out city centre apartments? Tune in to find out.   Do you have a buy to let or property investme

This week we’re turning our focus to city centres The death of city centres has been widely publicised, but is it correct?  On this weeks episode of The Property Podcast, Rob & Rob have a different point of view that might open up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for property investors.   So make sure you tune into today’s episode to find out what it is.  Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode A common theme amongst headlines over recent months has been how city centres are dying out, rural locations are thriving and how London is struggling.   Apparently... what buyers and renters are looking for has changed.   So does this mean doom and gloom for people who already own properties in the city centre?  Or is this just a blip and if so, does it create any kind of opportunity for investors?   That’s what we’re looking at today.     In the news  This week's news story comes from Estate Agent Today and the headline reads ‘stamp duty receipts soar despite the holiday’.   In Marc

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Ask Rob & Rob. The guys are here to answer all your property questions and they’ve got another two to answer today. So let’s get stuck in. First up we’ve got Stephen who, after listening to the podcast, has decided he wants to invest up north or in the Midlands. He knows The Robs reckon Derby is going to be a good bet for 2021. But after Rolls Royce announced they’d be making redundancies and have had a change of strategy, he wants to know how The Robs think this is going to affect Derby? Stephen also wants to know whether it’s worth him looking at doing the work to invest in buy-to-let property himself or if he should get on board with a company like Property Hub Invest? Our second question this week is from Ayesha. She’s previously done an inventory on her property and used a professional that charged her £60 +VAT. Now Ayesha wants to know how often would she have to do this inventory? Does she need to get a new one after each tenant leaves or can she ju

This week we’re talking all things tax When it comes to tax, property investors are obsessed with learning and understanding it.   And we don’t blame them because the difference between getting it right and wrong could be thousands of pounds.   So this episode is a must listen!  Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode It’s been a while since we talked about tax so we thought it was about time we changed that.   We’re always inundated with questions about buying in a limited company. And we even did a video on whether ‘should you buy property through a limited company’.  But because tax is complex, it’s always been better to leave the tax advice to the specialists.  To give you a brief overview, back in 2015 new rules were introduced which meant individuals could no longer claim mortgage interest as an expense, but limited companies still could.   So overnight, owning property in a company became a lot more attractive because those investing personally were left paying tax on pro

Rob & Rob are back again this week to answer two more listener questions.   Our first caller this week is Philippa.   She’s purchased a property in Liverpool that she needs some advice on.  The property was originally listed for £110,000 which Philippa thought was a decent price for the location and size of the build.   After submitting her offer, she was told she’d been significantly outbid.   It got to the point where Philippa’s offer of £126,000 was accepted and although she was still happy with the end ROI, she couldn’t help but think that the estate agent had invented this other buyer.   So Philippa wants to know if there’s any way of finding out if there was legitimately another interested party or if the estate agent was playing foul.  Our second caller this week is Noel from London who’s got a question about releasing equity.   He purchased two derelict properties and renovated them in 2013-2015. Now he rents them out.   The loan-to-value on the properties is around 50% each and he wants to r

This week we’re taking a look at how to win with a HMO strategy Ususally when you choose a HMO strategy you need to invest pretty close to home as it can be quite a hands on strategy.   But that’s not a problem for today’s guest, Tim.  Tim invests in student HMO properties 300 miles away from his hometown. And, he does absolutely everything himself.  Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode HMO strategies are becoming more popular and we often get questions on the best way to execute them.   If you’re not familiar with what a HMO is, it stands for House in Multiple Occupancy. So basically where you rent the rooms out individually and have shared communal areas like the living room and kitchen.   The reason they’re so popular is that they’re on the high end of the cash spectrum and the yields can be very attractive. But they’re also on the high end of the effort spectrum.   So, today we’re talking to Tim who’s been investing in property since 2017 and his portfolio consists of five

Welcome back to another week of Ask Rob & Rob.  To get us started this week we’ve got Luke.   He’s only 22 and already looking into investing his money into property.   Luke knows that he wants to invest in buy-to-let properties through a limited company but he’s unsure on where to actually buy.   He’s been looking into the Northern Powerhouse locations but already knows that he’s priced out of Manchester and Liverpool city centre so has been looking at surrounding towns.   This issus is that Luke is struggling to find the confidence to invest in these locations and is wondering if Rob & Rob have any advice on whether he should just go for it.   Second up we’ve got Paul calling from Dubai.   Thanks to all the free content from Propety Hub, Paul and his wife gained the confidence to invest and are about to complete on their third property in 12 months.   Pretty good going!   Paul is wondering if The Robs think that there’s potential for the government to scrap stamp duty altogether and try to claw bac

This week we’re talking about Grand Junction You might remember Rob & Rob talking about their development, Grand Junction, in episode 315. This week that story has been shared on our other podcast, Any Other Business - because it’s important to share when things go wrong and the lessons that can be learnt.  And after episode 315 aired, things actually got a whole lot worse! Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode Grand Junction is a bitter pill to swallow.  To give you a recap, Grand Junction is a site that Property Hub Homes built in Crewe and it was the first ever development. By the end of the project, the business had actually lost £1 million! Rather than bury this experience and put it behind them. Rob & Rob have decided to treat this episode as more of a therapy session to chat through where things went wrong and what they’ve taken away from such a bad experience - and a pretty epic loss!  So this week we’re sharing with you the raw, emotional episode of Any Other Business

This week on Ask Rob & Rob, we’re answering two questions on investing in property away from home. First up this week we’ve got Ben.  Ben purchased his first property around four years ago before he got the property investment bug and found Property Hub.  He never had any intentions of building a portfolio but now he wants to try and get as many properties under his belt as he can.  He’s already decided that he wants to go down the BRRR (buy, refurb, rent, refinance) route and he’s aware that this strategy is more hands-on than most.  Ben lives in the South East of England and knows that he’s priced out of his local area so he’s turning his attention to the north to find himself a project.  But how cost effective is it trying to refurbish a property remotely?  Will Ben’s margins be squeezed too much as he’ll have to outsource the work? So will it even be worth it in the end? Our second caller is Hayley from Devon.  She’s been listening to the podcast for a couple of years whilst saving up. She’s prev

Here’s what the April Market Update has in store for you In this month’s April market update, Rob & Rob are taking a look at which area of the country is growing by over 16% right now, and where £192 million is being spent every day.  Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode There’s been a load going on in the media and in the property market, so today Rob & Rob are taking a look at the bigger picture. And they’re kicking off with Rightmove’s claim of us having the strongest sellers market in a decade! Not to mention the House Price Index that’s revealed the best performing cities to be Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Nottingham with 5% year-on-year growth. That’s been a cracking start to our 2021 hotspot predictions.  It’s a big update today as The Robs are covering:  Controversial city is UK’s property hotspot Boomin warned - Rightmove hits record number of visits in a day Households repay record £17.6bn mortgage debt Yorkshire Building Society first to bring back 95% mortga

Welcome back to another episode of Ask Rob & Rob. Kicking things off this week is Lily.  She’s recently put in an offer on a leasehold apartment in a Grade II listed building and had it accepted. However, after having the structural report done, the results were shocking. Even though the property looked incredible on the outside, it clearly hadn’t been looked after on the inside. So what do Rob & Rob think Lily should do?  Should she walk away from the purchase or use the structural report to her advantage to try and negotiate a better price on the property? Next up we’ve got Tomas.  He currently owns a couple of buy-to-let properties and at the moment the income he gets from them he just sits in the bank. Tomas wants to save this money to buy another buy-to-let property but he’s wondering if he should leave the money in the bank, or if he should invest it elsewhere, like into shares.  He’s previously looked at an app called MoneyBox but wants to know if that’s a good idea.  So what’s the better opt

This week we’re taking a look at the future of London Since the Coronavirus pandemic hit last year, the future of London and its property market has been a hard one to predict.  As it stands, the London market is all over the place.  Rents are falling, house prices are falling and thousands of people are leaving the capital.  So what does all this mean for the future?  We’re dedicating a whole episode to just that. Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode The media love the property market. And they love London.  But journalists tend to look at what’s happening in the capital and presume this is the same across the country.  That’s why it’s important to not be swayed by headlines.  Normally we steer clear of discussing London on The Property Podcast but after the past 12 months and the effects Coronavirus has had on the whole country, we felt the need to address the future of London.  It’s common knowledge that people are moving out of the capital and clearly tourism has taken

It’s another week of your property questions on Ask Rob & Rob.  The first question this week is from Noel. He’s recently purchased a property at auction that was up for £150,000, but after getting into a bidding war, he ended up paying £175,000 for the property.  Noel is happy to pay that price, however he’s just a bit cautious that the surveyors might not value it at £175,000 and if that’s the case, what are his options?  He’s planning to convert the terrace property into a 3-bed but there isn’t anything comparable in the local area.  Terrace properties of smaller square footage have sold for £175,000 but if there’s nothing comparable to his property, what are his options? Next up is Max who has a question about yields. He’s currently running the numbers on a potential deal before he purchases it to see what his ROI would be.  One fee he’s included is landlord insurance which he knows is optional but he’s keen to know how much Rob & Rob think landlords should be spending on it.  Is landlord insuranc

We’ve got an interesting success story for you this week This success story is a little different to most success stories we share on a weekly basis.  You’ve heard of the term ‘buy two get the third one free’, but have you ever heard it in the property market before?  Chances are, probably not.  But one lady’s success story benefits from this kind of deal... Here’s what to expect on this week’s property podcast episode Today Rob & Rob are talking to Elly and she’s got a unique success story that we think you’ll be pretty impressed by. Elly’s full story will be appearing in the next issue of the Property Hub Magazine so if today’s episode grabs your attention, make sure you’re subscribed to receive the next issue.  She lives in West Sussex and a few years ago decided that she was going to invest in property 350 miles away in the North East. Going into 2020 she had one property under her belt that she’d done up and rented out and was planning on using the buy, refurbish, refinance strategy.  But that’