The Property Podcast

This week on Ask Rob & Rob, the guys are giving advice on mortgage stress tests and discussing if it’s beneficial to have a commercial valuation on a HMO property. Our first caller this week is Tom who has a question on mortgage stress tests.  He’s got two mortgaged properties already and he’s done a pretty good job on running the numbers to try and work out his stress test figures. But now he’s wanting to release equity from the two properties and thinks this might now affect him meeting the stress test criteria.  So what does Rob B suggest? The second question this week comes in from Matt.  Matt’s question is around HMO finance, after looking at buying a property with his partner.  They’ve heard somewhere that they can get more of their money back out of the property, post renovation, if they have a commercial valuation done.  Is this something that they should be having done on a HMO? Tune in to find out.    Do you have a buy to let or property investment related question for Rob & Rob? You could feature on the next episode by giving us a call on 013 808 00035 and leaving a message with your name and question (normal UK call rates apply).    Or if you prefer, click here to leave a recording via your computer instead. The next question on Ask Rob & Rob could be yours.  Have you joined us over on the Property Hub Forum yet? Our online community is friendly, informative, and the members are waiting to welcome you with open arms. So get yourself over and introduce yourself.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob & Rob are back again with another Friday market update for you.  There’s a bit of positivity in the air with Boris announcing that we are past the peak of COVID-19. And he’s even hinting at the possibility of easing lockdown restrictions - hurrah! We’re sure more will be revealed over the next few weeks but these nuggets of information have certainly perked us up.  Not only would lockdown easing be good news for individuals, but it’ll be great news for the economy! This week has also been an exceptionally good week for mortgages. For the second week in a row there have been more mortgage products coming onto the market.  Here’s what else The Robs will be discussing on today’s episode: Product transfers on mortgage holidays  Rent arrears  Addressing a negative review on the market updates There’s also a special announcement regarding Property Hub Live for all those who have bought tickets, so if that’s you, you’ll definitely want to give this a listen. Enjoy - and we’ll be back next week!   We’d love to hear what you think of our new market updates over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a question you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do.   Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Property Podcast, The Robs are joined by our magazine editor Chantelle to discuss how investors are reacting to the Coronavirus.  For the past few weeks Rob & Rob have been giving tips on how investors should be reacting, but they haven’t spoken to any to find out what they’ve actually been doing. Luckily for us, Chantelle has spoken to a number of investors for our cover story of the Property Hub magazine.  So, what did Chantelle find out from investors?  Tune in to find out! And, if you’re not subscribed to the magazine yet, you can join today right here. When you do, you will have access to the whole back catalogue of magazines so there’s plenty for you to sink your teeth into.   This week in the news, Rob & Rob are discussing a rental report that has come out from Zoopla that shows from the 7th March to the end of March, rental demand fell by 57% which probably doesn’t come as a massive shock.  But in the first two weeks of April however, demand rose by 30%. So although it’s still down from what it was originally, it is slowly starting to pick back up. The report also shows that there hasn’t been a fall in the number of properties on the rental market and has even been an increase in supply.    We’d love to hear what you think of this week’s Property Podcast over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a topic you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do. Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Ask Rob & Rob, we’ve got one caller who has a question off the back of another podcast episode, and another who’s questioning how long he should get a fixed mortgage for. First up this week we’ve got Luke from Essex. He listened to a recent podcast episode on pulling out of deals due to the Coronavirus, and out of the number of scenarios that The Robs described, Luke found himself in one of them. He’s at the point of being able to exchange and complete on a property, however the whole chain has agreed to delay it for the time being. But rather than pull out of the deal, he’s been thinking about whether he can renegotiate the asking price.  Is this something that’s commonly done? Our second question comes in from Roosbay. He’s been an avid podcast listener for a few years and today he has a question on remortgaging.  He has a buy-to-let property that’s up for remortgaging and initially he was looking at a 2-year fixed mortgage simply because he wanted to be able to reassess his situation in a couple of years time. Roosbay also has a couple more properties that were put on a 5-year fixed mortgage product just before the Coronavirus kicked in. So now he’s wondering if he should put his new property on a 5-year fixed mortgage as well, instead of a 2 year due to the current pandemic.  So, do Rob & Rob think there will be a significant dip in the market in two years time? What mortgage product should Roosbay be looking at before he is due to complete?  Tune in to find out.    Do you have a buy to let or property investment related question for Rob & Rob? You could feature on the next episode by giving us a call on 013 808 00035 and leaving a message with your name and question (normal UK call rates apply).    Or if you prefer, click here to leave a recording via your computer instead. The next question on Ask Rob & Rob could be yours.  Have you joined us over on the Property Hub Forum yet? Our online community is friendly, informative, and the members are waiting to welcome you with open arms. So get yourself over and introduce yourself.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob & Rob are back again with another Friday market update for you.  It seems this week that along with the rest of the nation, Rob & Rob are starting to look towards the end of lockdown. So much so, that Rob B already knows what he’s going to order from Pizza Express when it reopens.  Although the government hasn't officially said anything about when lockdown will be lifted (there’s still at least another two weeks to go), it’s not stopping people from planning ahead. And one sure sign of that is the fact that rental demand is back up again.  Another sign that things will start to go back to normal post lockdown is recruitment. Most companies have frozen recruitment,but there are many businesses that have kept those recruitment cogs turning, ourselves included.  We’ve been recruiting for one of the most important positions we’ve ever had to recruit for here at Property Hub, and that’s our Chief Operating Officer. So, if you think you’re suitable for the role, go ahead and get your application in.  Today Rob & Rob are also talking about economics. Since 2008 they both made it their mission to understand economics, way more than they originally did. So this week Rob B shared a podcast with Rob D called ‘Pitchforks Economics’ which is about modern monetary theory and it covers a wide range of topics including how much money is going to be spent on recovering from Coronavirus and other important issues like climate change. Rob B also came across an article in the Financial Times this week titled ‘In a crisis we mainly keep calm and are kinder than ever’ and it’s a really nice opinion piece that looks at things differently to how the media portrays it.  This week’s market update is a bit more positive than previous weeks. So give it a listen if you’re needing a bit of a mood-boost for a Friday.  Enjoy - and we’ll be back next week!   We’d love to hear what you think of our new market updates over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a question you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do.   Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob & Rob are back again this week and this time they’ve got one of our favourite podcast guests joining them. Mark Morris.  You’ll probably remember Mark from a few months ago when he was sharing his investor story - the one that got everyone buzzing! Well, he’s back again this week to discuss Universal Credit after making himself somewhat of an expert on the topic.  Most investors are only aware of Universal Credit coming into play a few years ago when the government rolled a number of benefits into a single payment directly to the claimant. The government were aiming to do two things: Combine several benefits into one Ease the transition of claimants back into work Naturally this caused problems for landlords as they were no longer getting paid directly from the government.  It’s now got to the point where, as an investor, it’s something you need to be clear about. And that’s why we’ve invited Mark Morris into the podcast studio to educate us all, including Rob & Rob… And as promised, here are all the links you need which Mark refers to on today’s podcast: LHA rates linked in article DWP Universal Credit Landlord page Information-for-landlords Mark Morris’ Linkedin profile   In the news this week, we’ve got ‘demand for stamp duty holiday to reignite the housing market’. Rob & Rob have had a couple of messages this week from people who have been getting excited about the prospect of a stamp duty holiday.  However, that’s all just hearsay right now, and something that people have been saying should be done. But isn’t necessarily coming into play.  Will it happen? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s certainly something that would benefit the housing market.    This week’s Hub Extra is something that will keep the kids quiet for a bit and do some good at the same time. It’s a service called Goodnight Zoom that matches your child with somebody who’s elderly or isolated and gives them a way to read a story together over Zoom.  How lovely is that?! No, we’re not crying, you’re crying!    We’d love to hear what you think of this week’s Property Podcast over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a topic you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do.   Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Ask Rob & Rob, the guys are answering two caller questions about strategy and the potential changes to Universal Credit. Our first caller this week is Matt. He’s a fairly new listener who joined us earlier this year, however he’s already got a couple of buy-to-let properties under his belt.  He’s currently in the process of purchasing his next buy-to-let which will be his first property in Liverpool. His strategy is to buy properties with good yields to help build his deposits up. His main aim in the next 10 years is to quit his day job.  So, do Rob & Rob think this is a good strategy? What yield figure should Matt be looking at and how much should he be paying for his properties to achieve it?  The second caller is also called Matt! He’s seen an article on Landlord Today about changes to Universal Credit and the possibility of landlords having rent paid directly to them instead of the money going to tenants who then pay their landlord.  He’s wanting to know what The Robs thoughts are on this topic and how they think it will affect the market.  If it affects the market at all. Tune in to find out.    Do you have a buy to let or property investment related question for Rob & Rob? You could feature on the next episode by giving us a call on 013 808 00035 and leaving a message with your name and question (normal UK call rates apply).    Or if you prefer, click here to leave a recording via your computer instead. The next question on Ask Rob & Rob could be yours.  Have you joined us over on the Property Hub Forum yet? Our online community is friendly, informative, and the members are waiting to welcome you with open arms. So get yourself over and introduce yourself.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob & Rob are back again with another Friday market update for you.  This week Rob B is feeling a bit more positive than he has in past weeks. He may have seemed positive on the podcast when laying out what The Robs think might happen, but now we’re starting to see evidence.  One thing that’s been a positive this week is that it’s been a lot easier to get in touch with developers. Simply because they’ve now got more time on their hands.  Some may argue that it’s because they’re getting desperate and whilst some are desperate, there’s some good deals coming to light. Another positive is that it appears that finance is still available and mortgage products are coming back on the market. Hurrah! So although the property market is currently on hold, the fact that lenders are still willing to lend means it’s not a case of if the property market picks back up, it’s a matter of when.  The Robs are also discussing what they think is the best way for us to come out of this with a strong economy. Will you agree with them?  Enjoy - and we’ll be back next week!   We’d love to hear what you think of our new market updates over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a question you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do.   Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob & Rob are back again this week for a slightly different episode of The Property Podcast. Today they’re advising four different investors on how they should spend their money. We’re always asked for advice by aspiring and experienced property investors on how best to invest their money.  And now (possibly more than ever), investors seem a tad confused on where they should be putting their money, if anywhere at all!  All of the investors you’ll hear from today are at the start of their journey with different strategies and different sums of money to start with, but ultimately they want to know how best to invest in the current climate.  So, here are the four different scenarios we’ll be looking at on today’s podcast: James - he has £10,000 in a government Help to Buy ISA and is looking to either move out of his parents house and continue to save for his first buy-to-let, or withdraw the money from his ISA and take the penalty hit to use that money to invest in his first property whilst still living at home. Jay - he’s looking at buy-to-let properties in Salford Crescent and really likes the look of high-rise living in Manchester. Jay has an inheritance that he’s wanting to make the most of by putting it into property and would like Rob & Rob’s advice. Our third caller has a cash pot of £200,000 but is wanting a return of around 40% on his investments per year, but on an income basis. He’s looking at going down the buy-refurb-refinance strategy to try and pull money out after the refurbs. The fourth and final caller is wanting to know how The Robs would invest £3 million and what strategy would they use? He’s not bothered if it’s in the UK or overseas, but in terms of buy-to-let property he’s wondering if Rob & Rob would be more likely to go down the smaller, lower cost property route or go for more mid range and larger properties.  We all know how much Rob & Rob love talking goals and strategies with people and this is a great episode to do just that.  You may be in a similar situation to these four callers, or just be listening for a nosey. So what do The Robs think they should do?  Tune in to find out.   In the news this week, we’ve got not one news story but two! The first is more of a reminder to all property investors that changes to Capital Gains Tax are now in effect. So now if you sell a property and have Capital Gains Tax to pay, you only have 30 days to submit your application.  The second news story comes from an email that Rob D received around mortgage holidays and the rumour that it could potentially affect your ability to get lending if you take a mortgage holiday. At first that’s all it was, a rumour, but now it’s come to light that one mortgage lender in particular is not allowing mortgage holidays and will not accept your application if you have already taken out a mortgage holiday.    This week’s Hub Extra resource is from Money Saving Expert. They’ve put together a list of really useful resources that you normally have to pay for, but the companies that provide them have made them free whilst we’re in lockdown and everyone is looking for something to do.  There’s all kinds of things for you to sink your teeth into; from kids activities to guitar lessons. So maybe take a look and see if you fancy learning something new.   We’d love to hear what you think of this week’s Property Podcast over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You might even have a topic you’d like us to cover in the future - if so, pop us a message on social and we’ll see what we can do.   Make sure you’ve liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel where we upload new content every week!  If that wasn’t enough, you can also join our friendly property community on the Property Hub forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Robs are back again this week answering more Coronavirus related questions - and it’s a bit of a personal one.  How has the coronavirus affected Rob & Robs personal property portfolios? Well, Rob B has a vacant property whilst Rob D has one tenant who hasn’t paid their rent or been in touch with the letting agent to say why, or try and come to some arrangement.  Are Rob & Rob panicking? What do they plan on doing?  The second question we’ve been getting a lot is on buy-to-let mortgage payment holidays. Should you be taking up the government offer of a mortgage payment break?  We’ve discussed mortgage holidays before on the podcast, but this time The Robs are discussing why you should only take a mortgage holiday if you absolutely need to. Why? Tune in to find out.   Do you have a buy to let or property investment related question for Rob & Rob? You could feature on the next episode by giving us a call on 013 808 00035 and leaving a message with your name and question (normal UK call rates apply).    Or if you prefer, click here to leave a recording via your computer instead. The next question on Ask Rob & Rob could be yours.  Have you joined us over on the Property Hub Forum yet? Our online community is friendly, informative, and the members are waiting to welcome you with open arms. So get yourself over and introduce yourself.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.