The Property Geek Podcast

Over the last few episodes we've covered various ways of funding property projects, in addition to the familiar options of cash and mortgages. In this episode, I round off the series by summarising my main takeaways and suggesting how to choose the most appropriate form of funding. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/funding-property-project/

Joint ventures (JVs) get talked about a lot in property, with good reason: after all, if you don't have the cash to do all the deals you want to do, a JV is a way of solving that problem without going cap-in-hand to the bank. But where do you even start with finding someone who might want to lend you money? How do you structure the agreement? And what happens if something goes wrong? In this episode I'm delighted to welcome Jay Booth back to the podcast, to talk about how he's made JVs work for him – and his friends and family. Jay was on the show earlier in the year talking about how he bought and refurbished nine properties in a year, and in this follow-up chat we get into how joint ventures fuelled some of that rapid expansion. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://www.propertygeek.net/joint-ventures

If you own your own home or have buy-to-let properties, you might find yourself with equity you can't access – due to redemption penalties or too-good-to-lose mortgage rates, for example. By unlocking that equity, you could grow your portfolio faster – and in this week's episode, I speak to mortgage advisor Dave Cookson about a relatively little-known way to do exactly that. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/second-charges

You've probably heard of peer-to-peer (or P2P) finance, and you might be aware of the bigger platforms like Zopa and Funding Circle. But you might not have thought to turn to peer-to-peer for your property project – or be aware of how many different options there are. In this episode I speak to James Wallis from Aben Financial – a commercial finance advisor with a particularly deep knowledge of the peer-to-peer sector. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/peer-to-peer

We're going to spend the next few episodes exploring ways you can finance property projects other than using a mortgage. In this first episode, I set out to demystify bridging finance: a powerful tool, but one that investors often find confusing and intimidating. And it's true – if you don't know what you're doing, bridging can be expensive and even dangerous. But there are certain situations where – with the right knowledge – it will give you access to profitable deals that otherwise would have passed you by. View this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/bridging-finance

In this series on lettings and management I've been lucky enough to be joined by some fantastic guests – both experts at the top of their field, and everyday landlords with great stories and lessons to share. To wrap up the series, in this episode I share my main takeaways from those conversations – and tell you what to expect in the next run of episodes that's starting next week. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/lettings-and-management

Adrian Thompson from the Guild of Residential Landlords spends much of his time talking to landlords in distress – so who better to tell us what we can do differently to avoid ending up in that position. In this interview we cover a wide range of topics that landlords should be aware of – and speculate about what the next few years might hold... See this episode on the Property Geek site - https://propertygeek.net/podcast/landlords

Petra Romero only moved to the UK a year and a half ago, and she's already built up a thriving rent-to-rent business. That's already seriously impressive – but even more interesting is how she's intentionally designed her business to be run by overseas assistants, freeing her up to do what she's best at. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/rent-to-rent-systems

Richard and Susie Trow have property management down to a fine art. Thanks to some effective systems and a commitment to quality from the very start, their portfolio of 21 properties in Wrexham takes up less than 2 hours per week – freeing up their time to do what really matters to them. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/self-management

As a landlord, your social status is somewhere between "bankers" and "solicitors" – and you can't open a newspaper without being told how greedy and unfair you are. A lot of this is due to the prevalence of bad landlords. But bad landlords aren't necessarily bad people: it's just that they have no idea what the job of being a landlord is all about, and are flouting laws they didn't know existed. My guest, Tessa Shepperson, has seen it all when it comes to landlords getting themselves into very hot legal water – and as she explains, the consequences for not doing the job properly are getting more severe... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/landlord-law-tessa-shepperson

For years, landlords have been telling me that there's nowhere they can go to find the information they need about letting and managing property – no accessible source with all the facts clearly laid out in a logical way. Well, I've put that right: my book, How To Be A Landlord, is out today! See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/landlord-special-launch-episode

Sam Jones had a terrifying experience very early in her self-managing career – but she didn't let it put her off, and she's spent 17 years managing a geographically distributed collection of properties. Now though, she's started using an agent for new acquisitions – but she's not losing the unique ability that made her such a self-managing success. For Sam, property really is all about the people – and she uses her people skills to straddle the worlds of self-managing landlord and hands-off investors. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/personal-touch

My guest this week, Tom Charrier, didn't intend to have anything to do with managing his properties when he started out – but after one awful experience, he decided to take matters back into his own hands. Now, he and his wife manage their small portfolio of HMOs themselves – and consider their ability to pick the right tenants and build strong relationships to be the biggest strength in their business. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/hmo-landlord

Self-managing can be tough. Self-managing HMOs can be really tough. So, self-managing HMOs from abroad...surely that's not a good idea? Well, my guest this week Richard Dyke makes it work – managing his portfolio (including a couple of small multi-lets) from Bergen in Norway. Richard visits several times a year for inspections and maintenance, and has all sorts of little hacks in place to make sure the distance isn't too much of a challenge. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/self-manage-from-overseas

This episode kicks off a new series about lettings and management: not the glamorous part of property that it's easy to pack out seminars about, but the very important bit that makes sure your investment runs profitably, smoothly and legally. To get the series started I'm joined by Joanne Dron – a landlady of 13 years and a letting agent too – to run through some of the recent and upcoming changes that should be on your radar. Many of them have been poorly publicised – so it's well worth taking half an hour to make sure you're up to speed on everything that could land you in hot water if you're not paying attention... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/new-lettings-legislation

In this series of the podcast we've been looking at "turning pro" – how to embrace the mindset of a professional investor, so you can continue to thrive despite the more challenging conditions for property investors. During this quick series wrap-up episode I revisit the major themes we've covered, draw some lessons we can take from what we've heard, and look ahead to what's coming up in the next series. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/turning-pro

The theme of this series has been "turning pro" – so what better way to wrap it up than to speak to someone who's been a professional trader and investor for over 30 years? Jonathan Schuman holds around 300 commercial and residential properties, and has his own private "agency" to manage them. When the credit crunch hit, Jonathan was perfectly positioned with his contacts and knowledge to profit while everyone else was panicking – and he took bold action to seize the opportunity and rapidly scale his portfolio. Our conversation touches on the property cycle, what constitutes a "deal", and where the opportunities are in today's market. Prepare to feel in equal parts inspired and inadequate... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/amateur-vs-professional

In this series so far we've been talking about all the changes affecting our sector, and what investors should be thinking about as a result. In today's episode, I catch up with three Property Geek listeners who have all rethought their strategy recently – to find out what they were doing before, what they're doing now, and what factors played into their decision. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/changing-strategies

Buying in an area you're unfamiliar with is scary enough – but David Barker bought his first without seeing it, and his next was a complicated five-unit site in a town he'd never been to. Both had happy endings, but were very different experiences along the way. I spoke to David to learn how he got the courage and confidence to take calculated risks, and learn the often-glossed-over truth of how complicated an investment can be... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/away-from-home

All the signs are pointing towards London's incredible price growth of the last few years coming to an end – and the gap that's emerged between the South East and elsewhere starting to narrow. It's one thing to see those signs, it takes a lot of courage to act on them – and that's what my guest, Phil Whitehouse, has done. Phil has spent the last couple of years selling the small portfolio he'd built up in London, to take his profits and reinvest elsewhere in the UK. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/selling-london-portfolio

If somebody told me they were busy running a business in London, and planned to buy and refurbish 9 properties in Stoke-on-Trent within a year...to be honest, I'd gently suggest they scale their aspirations back a bit. But after speaking to Jay Booth, I'll be a bit more careful before declaring something "impossible" – because that's exactly what he did. I found this conversation inspiring, because Jay had every factor that you'd be tempted to use as an excuse – limited experience, a busy job, a young family – and still achieved more in a year than most people will in a lifetime. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/nine-in-a-year

One of our themes for this series is taking a professional approach by investing in areas where there's the strongest business case, not where it's most convenient. For many investors (especially those in the South East), that will mean investing in properties away from where they live – possibly without even seeing them first. And that's why I was keen to talk to Stuart Ball – who's managed to build his portfolio of 6 properties 6,000 miles away from his home in Hong Kong, and has another 5 going through right now... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/expat-property-investment

On last week's episode, we talked about the cause for incorporation. This week, I'm joined by mortgage broker Stuart Bailey to talk about what's often seen as a barrier to buying as a limited company: mortgages. In common with most other brokers I've spoken to, Stuart has seen a huge increase in the number of limited company mortgages he's arranged – and the news he's bringing back from the coalface is broadly positive for investors who might have seen company finance as a challenge... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/mortgage-options-limited-companies

It's been a huge switch: many mortgage brokers are reporting that while only a year ago it was a small minority of people who bought property in a limited company, the majority of investors now do. I don't find it hard to believe, because my inbox has been filling up over the last year with one question more than any other: "should I buy property within a limited company?" Unfortunately, I can't tell you the answer because I'm not a tax advisor and I don't know enough about your situation. But I can lay out the most common scenarios, and help you understand the reasoning behind those scenarios so you can confidently speak to an accountant about what's best for you. This episode sets the scene for several to come, where we'll be looking at the case for incorporation from several different angles. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/buy-property-limited-company

The property cycle is a powerful concept: one that can give you the confidence to act when others are fearful, and avoid making moves (like most investors do) at exactly the wrong time. I'm joined this week by the UK's leading expert on the property cycle – Akhil Patel – to talk about what the cycle can tell us about where we are right now, and how you can tell what's going to happen next. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/property-cycle

For many investors, finance is a critical part of the property growth plan – and it can also be one of the more painful constraints if you can't find your way through the mortgage minefield. So it's always important to keep on top of what's happening in the mortgage market, and never more so than now – with lenders grappling to come to terms with a whole new set of restrictions that have just come into effect, and more to come later this year. In this episode I'm joined by mortgage advisor Simon Allen, who's spoken to most of the main lenders and is here to report back with everything you need to know. See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/pra-mortgage-affordability-rules

We're back! In this first episode, I run through what to expect in this new series of the Property Geek Podcast. It's a reboot not just for the podcast, but also a time for property investors to be reconsidering how they operate in general. So in this series, we'll be talking about everything that's changing: lending restrictions, legislation, incorporation, and ticking over into a new phase of the property cycle... See this episode on the Property Geek website: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/rethink-investment

Anyone can pick a property off Rightmove and negotiate 5% off the asking price. You know that the real profits are made when you can reliably track down those elusive "below market value" or lease option opportunities...but where do you even start? My guest, Mark Dunsmore, used to be an estate agent (don't hold it against him) before he learnt to apply the same skills to sourcing properties for investors. Having built up a nationwide sourcing business, he's now teaching other investors how to find their own deals – either to build their portfolio, or make a profit by selling them on to others. I speak to Mark about how to work with a property sourcer to access better opportunities than you could find on your own – and, if you've got the time and the dedication, how to source directly yourself. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/source-property-deals

They say that you make your money when you buy, not when you sell – but there's no doubt that how you approach selling a property can make a huge difference to the result you achieve. My guest this week, Anna Hart, specialises in helping her clients to sell at the best price within their desired timescale – and avoiding the nightmare scenario of having a property languish on the market. Even if selling couldn't be further from your mind, our discussion around presenting a property and doing viewings will give you a valuable insight into a vendor's mindset. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/how-to-sell-a-property

Another way to (indirectly) make money from property is to lend money to others who need financing for development projects. Alternatively, you might be looking to borrow from private individuals in order to do more deals without relying on expensive bridging finance. In this episode, I talk about my recent experience of lending money out. If you've got spare cash on the sidelines, I cover how to lend safely and reduce your risk as far as possible. On the other side, if you want to raise private finance, it will give you an insight into how to structure the arrangement and allow the lender to be confident that their interest is protected. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/private-finance

Rupert Chapman is relatively new to the property game but is a veteran of business – and as such, he's got a broader perspective than most on the changes the property industry is going through. If you're concerned by what lies ahead, you should find this conversation reassuring and inspiring – encouraging you to appreciate the increasingly rare value of your knowledge and skills, and to take practical steps to respond to our current challenges. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/how-to-adapt-landlord-government-changes  

Adding properties to your collection is fun, but for all of us there's some deeper reason why we're investing in the first place – whether that's to leave your job, provide a pension or just to give yourself a second income. That's why I like to look at property in the context of financial planning more broadly, and I'm joined this week by Stuart Bailey from Wealth Help to do exactly that. We get into setting plans, allocating assets, and – importantly – knowing when to stop! See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/financial-planning

Jethro East dived head-first from a successful music career into property development – and it wasn't long before he made his first six-figure profit from a single buy-to-sell project. If that sounds easy, it's because I missed out the builders walking out in the middle a project, the months spent living in a half-finished house with no heating, the routine three hours of sleep and the rats drowning in the toilet. He's made extraordinarily rapid progress and has huge plans for the future, but Jethro is open about the fact that there were moments along the way that nearly broke him. This interview is inspirational, but also includes plenty of actionable nuts-and-bolts tips for getting great results with buy-to-sell projects. It's a must-listen for anyone with an interest in flipping properties – just don't expect it to sound easy... See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/profit-from-buy-to-sell

When people start out in property, it's a common long-term goal to replace their income and become financially independent. My guest this week, Mark Coates, has accomplished exactly that – in only 4 years, while holding down a full-time job! He didn't start with a huge amount of money, or any experience: he just put together a solid plan, and worked hard at developing the skills and knowledge he needed to execute upon it. The question is: how did he manage to achieve his goals in such a short space of time, when others never get there at all? I get him to reveal the model he used to pull off this life-changing feat... See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/financial-independence-full-time-job

It's the start of a new series and a new year! As a prelude to the fantastic interviews that are lined up for future weeks, I wanted to start with a summary of where we are as investors following the many shocks of 2015. We've had plenty of nasty surprises, but there's plenty of potential upside too – if you approach investing in the right way... (As you might be able to hear, I had a very sore throat when recording this – a less painful-sounding voice will resume next week!) See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/2016-perspective

Do you associate your local council with costing you money or making you money? Yes, me too - but my guest this week, Mark Morris, has found three ways of turning his local authority into an important ally. He secures excellent yields from accommodating Housing Benefit tenants, has properties where the council pays a guaranteed stress-free rent even if they're empty...and has even scored free improvements worth thousands of pounds. In our conversation, Mark shares how he makes it all work - and ends up with a high-yielding portfolio which he can manage around his full-time job. It won't fit in with everyone's strategy, but it might make you think again about things you'd taken for granted... See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/council-leasing-profit-schemes  

You can buy a property for as little as £20,000 (probably less) in some parts of the country. So if you're tight for funds to get started with...should you? Even if you've got more cash to spread around, should you take the view that when prices are so low and yields are so high, you should just go out and buy a load of them? There are a couple of obvious reasons why that's not the right move for everyone, and also a couple of less obvious ones - and it's those that I talk about in this week's show. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/hidden-cost-cheap-properties  

You may have bought a property in the past hoping that there will be regeneration to the local area...but chances are you're not secretly hoping that regeneration will involve demolishing your property! Well, that notion might seem less ridiculous than it first appears when you've finished listening to this week's podcast. My guest is Dan Knowles, a Chartered Surveyor who specialises in the field of Compulsory Purchase. Dan's company helps people whose homes are the subject of a Compulsory Purchase Order, advising them on their rights and helping them to get the best deal. And at the same time, this has given him an insight into a very niche property strategy... See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/compulsory-purchase

Property investment pays off in terms of capital growth and rental income - but the proportion in which you'll benefit from each is determined to a large extent by exactly what you buy. In this episode I share a personal case study to make this point - which demonstrates why it's so important to have thought-through goals in mind before you get started. Plus there's a listener question that takes us into deeply geeky economic territory, and tips on dealing with estate agents from a hostage negotiator! See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/income-vs-growth

I give this whole episode over to an in-depth case study of a listener's project - which serves as equal parts inspiration and warning. Ryan Slater spotted an excellent opportunity which, on paper, would create a big monthly profit without leaving any of his own money in the deal…but he nearly lost his entire deposit when his mortgage was unexpectedly refused. When the project is finished Ryan will have achieved a fantastic result - but the end result alone masks the grit, resilience and hard work that was needed to make it happen. There are lessons galore as Ryan talks me through the entire project in detail - this isn't one you'll want to miss! See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/case-study-property-disaster

The ROI of investing in property is clearly better than leaving cash in the bank - but as investors we clearly need to keep some cash on hand to cover any voids or unexpected spending. The question is…how much? In this episode, I talk about 4 different models you can use to determine the size of your “emergency fund” - as well as answering a listener question about where we are in the property cycle, and announcing a new audio book! See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/save-rainy-day

Insuring your property portfolio is a necessary evil. It's nobody's idea of fun, but as we've got to do it anyway we might as well know how to do it quickly, cheaply, and in a way that won't cause any problems if we need to make a claim. That's why I invited Jason McClean from The Property Insurer onto the podcast. Jason is a portfolio landlord as well as running an insurance company, so he's perfectly placed to tell us what we should be thinking about when insurance renewal time rolls around again. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/landlords-property-insurance

How many people do you know whose first investment property had 8 bedrooms? What about people who bought that huge house while still at university, having actually chosen where to study based on the prospects for the local property market? Unless you know Johann Rowan, I'm pretty sure the answer will be “none”. In this episode I talk to Johann about his amazing journey from foreign student to a full-time student landlord with 10 properties, and find out how he's still managing his whole portfolio himself from hundreds of miles away. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/student-landlord

Repairs and maintenance are part and parcel of being a landlord - they're not anyone's favourite part of the job, but it makes financial (and ethical) sense to keep the property in good repair and the tenant happy. Now, a change to the law means that it's more important than ever: if a repair request isn't adequately dealt with, it might be impossible to take back possession of the property for six months. My guest, Rajeev Nayyar from property software company Fixflo, explains all - including the systems that self-managing landlords should be putting in place. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/property-maintenance-repairs

To most residential property investors (me included), commercial property seems like another world. But mixed-use developments bridge those worlds, providing a useful stepping stone for residential developers to stretch themselves - and can be highly profitable in their own right. To find out more, I'm joined by Phil Stewardson - one of the most popular guests we've had on the show - to share over a decade of experience with these kinds of projects, and give you pointers on how to get started. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/mixed-use-developments

Do you have oceans of time, and you don't know how to fill it all? Thumbs starting to ache from twiddling them so much? Thought not: that's why this episode is designed to help you free up more time, and get more results out of the time you've already got. Time is the #1 barrier that gets brought up by investors I speak to, and it's the only thing you can't get more of. So invest 20 minutes with me on this episode, and I'll offer some suggestions which I hope will free up a lot more for you in return… See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/no-time-to-invest

My experience is in simple buy-to-let and buy-to-sell projects, but I know there are plenty of listeners out there who are doing - or aspire to do - far more ambitious projects! Those projects need to be financed, of course - so in this episode I grabbed development finance broker Adrian Cormican to find out how lending works in the development market. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/finance-development-projects

I wanted to take 5 minutes out to let you know about a huge new project we're working on over at The Property Hub. That project is…a quarterly magazine for property investors! Sounds crazy? Old fashioned? Expensive? In this episode I explain why it actually makes total sense - and why you might want to become a subscriber… See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/new-property-magazine

According to a recent MoneyWeek interview, global demographics mean that we're heading for an inevitable financial contraction - and our “over-inflated” house prices could be heading for a 50% drop as a result. In this episode, I get deep into an analysis of whether this is true. While I don't think that UK house prices as a whole are likely to see anything like these kinds of falls, the theory of “the great unwinding” does have some interesting takeaways that we as investors can put to good use… See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/house-price-decline

My guest this week isn't hanging around: he's just bought his first 3 investment properties in the space of 12 months - while working full-time in a totally different part of the country. Oh, and did I mention that he's only 24 years old? When Fraser Bricknell emailed me to tell me his story I wasn't about to let him get away without interviewing him for the podcast to share his inspiring story. My favourite part is that he hasn't done anything particularly revolutionary: he's just saved up, taken action, bought sensibly, and as a result is in a position that someone double his age would consider enviable. See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://propertygeek.net/podcast/investing-property-full-time-job  

How much easier would it be to invest in property if you knew exactly when the peak of the market was coming - so you could make sure you didn't overstretch yourself, and were ready to pounce when prices hit rock bottom? According to devotees of the 18 year property cycle, hundreds of years of history prove that this is absolutely possible: it just involves disregarding almost everything you hear and doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing! My guest on this episode is Akhil Patel - one of the world's leading experts on the property cycle - who will help us to understand how to read the cycle, how to act based on it, and where in the cycle we are right now… See this episode on the Property Geek site: https://www.propertygeek.net/podcast/property-cycle-akhil-patel