As the title suggests, this podcast is going to be full of useful tips and information. There's a lot going on in the market at the moment, and we as property investors need to keep abreast of everything that's going on.  In this podcast, I chat about why Commercial Property Investors need to be resilient at the moment and to keep offering on properties- this is what is going to change the market.  I'll also chat through a Commercial property that I'm negotiating on. While my strategy stays the same, I'm always on the lookout on how to position things to my benefit. Listen to my process in the pod! Did you see this article? It's from the Daily Mail (I know!), but it chats about how the Government is creating a tax break on Residential property. I'll discuss some of the options that were mentioned in the article (while they appear to be good options, are they really?!) Finally, I'm going to chat about Changing CIL to IL under the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill- seems hopeful for regeneration purposes- what are your thoughts on this?  Enjoy my podcast this morning!

Before I get into today’s podcast info, I wanted to remind you that on Thursday the 19th of May @8pm BST you have a single-use guest pass to the Members' Club LIVE Deal Analysis Masterclass. *As a non-member, you will be able to attend this event once. It's going to be 90 minutes of deal analysis magic where my whole Team will be looking at the pros and cons of 2 deals; a Commercial and a Mixed-Use. To register for this event, click here. Right, now onto today’s podcast. It's a mix of different points, which are relevant to you as a property investor. I’ll be discussing: Renting Homes in Wales (Fitness for Human Habitation) Regulations 2022 Another NB caution to landlords is to use professionals when drafting leases...... & A quick book review of The Unexpected Joy of The Ordinary by Catherine Gray.

This week I thought I’d bring you with me for the Deal Analysis journey and do a follow-along Commercial Deal Analysis on the podcast. ***This is a two-storey building in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Rent income per annum of £26,400pax, which is on the market for offers in excess of £295,000***. My due diligence: Sales comparables to see comparable yields Lease comparables to see market rent and lease term comparables Space for let comparables, just to see what’s on the market Looking at the current tenants' accounts to see whether they can afford the rent Reading the leases to see what the agreement is between landlord and tenant From this, I estimate what price I’d purchase at and what I think the potential value of the property could be if I implemented a regearing strategy. So, what do you think? Would you go ahead and buy this property?  Now, if you found the podcast valuable (it would be hard not to!), then I would like to invite you to a LIVE Deal Analysis Masterclass on the 19th May @8pm BST. Click here to register >>> https://ncrealestate.co.uk/dealanalysismasterclass

This week’s podcast is jam-packed with A LOT of NB info. First up, I want to celebrate a little (actually a HUGE) win, and that’s that in the last 3 months, I’ve had 99% occupancy on Air BnB… Hell yes!! In the podcast, I’m also going to go through the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill - this is going to be unveiled in the Queen’s Speech next month on Tuesday the 10th May. The aim is to revamp high streets and provide accommodation to those that need it and stop high streets from becoming ghost towns- but this also has effects landlords. I chat about HOW… Something else that has come up recently is around HMO’s - are the Tax Bills really Quadrupuling? I’ve been doing a lot of research around this which you will hear in my podcast, but go and check out the Governments website that explains how HMOs are banded on a page called ‘How domestic properties are assessed for Council Tax Bands’. (Essentially- it makes Commercial Property Investment seem way better!) I’m also going to go through a shocking case of a tenant having to take on the rent for 10 years- the crux is- don’t cut corners in the professionals you hire! I hope you get a lot of great info from this podcast- it’s up to date and current information that could literally be “life-changing”.

In today's podcast, I'm going to be going through some very important Updates in Commercial Property from April 2022.  This is information you need to know as a property investor, and I've laid it out so that you know where you stand and what you need to be doing.  If you have any questions around the topics I've chatted about, you can email [email protected] Enjoy today's podcast, and I hope I've been able to clarify some NB & current updates that are happening in Commercial Property right now.  ALSO... .... in the spirit of showing off our good work and the excellent team we have over at NC Real Estate, I'm inviting you to a Deal Analysis Masterclass on Thursday the 21st April @8pm BST.  It's going to be a 90 - minute session, where the whole Team over at the Members' Club are going over current deals- we'll be discussing the pros and cons and some healthy debate will be happening between our team as to whether this is a deal(s) worth pursuing.  Getting GREAT at Deal Analysis is a cornerstone of becoming a proficient property investor, so come on over and join us on the 21st April >>> Click this link to access to the Deal Analysis Masterclass

Using your SSAS to Invest in Commercial Property. My inbox has been buzzing with this topic and so I thought I’d start addressing it. I’m a surveyor, I get involved at the point a client already has a SSAS and then wants to invest in commercial property. My job is putting together the property investment strategy and executing it. So, if you’re someone who doesn’t yet have a SSAS and wants one please make sure to speak to your financial advisor. Getting started: you need to make the decision to either hold the properties in your SSAS or in a Ltd Company. This informs the strategy. > In your SSAS we need to consider what lending is available. > In a Ltd company we have to consider how much your SSAS can lend, the interest rate at which it's lending, ensuring the SSAS always has the first charge, and then repaying the SSAS at a minimum of 20% of the loan per year, or repaying it all so the investor has enough cash to go again. I’m breaking this down into sections as it's a huge topic to cover. So once you’ve listened to this podcast I want you to ask me any question that comes up as a result and send it to [email protected] (This also helps me to know what content to keep producing).

Today I want to talk about finding investment finance. This is a throwback episode to when I invited Daniel Woods from Momentum Property to chat with me about 25 ways to find money for a deposit. This was such a succinct and successful podcast that I thought I would bring it out again so that you can go through it. It's certainly worth every minute of your time! We chat about creative ways of finding finance too and not just from bridging loans and your regular mortgages. It’s about thinking out of the box when it comes to finding investor finance. Cryptocurrency included! I’m really excited to share this with you all today. P.S. Have you accessed my "Crossing over to Commercial" mini-course? You're going to love it! It's an hour-long and covers all the basics, PLUS I included a Commercial Deal Analysis (you'll receive that in an email once you sign up). Sign up here: https://ncrealestate.co.uk/crossingovertocommercial

Today's podcast is a throwback on the topic of Rest with one of my favorite authors, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.  I’ve been using the wisdom from the podcast over the last few weeks while taking some "off the camera" time off (maternity leave). This doesn't mean I haven't been working! The full story is in my weekly newsletter. If you'd like to sign up for that, you can email Lorenza ([email protected]) and she'll get you signed up.  The content of this podcast helped me to come up with new ideas (watch this space) and just feel good in myself. So I wanted to re-release it for you today, have a listen, see how you too can incorporate a little more rest into your life.

On the 27th of July 2021, I did an awesome webinar on how to search and buy your next investment property. I’m not sure if you were able to attend it, but even if you were there is some *really life-changing* info in it. So what I’ve done is recorded an abridged version of the webinar because I think you need the goodness that is included in these slides. Essentially, these are your key takeaways...Don't skip out on this. I've put in the work, can I expect the same standard from you? I'm pretty sure you have 25 minutes to invest in yourself. I purposely made it short enough for you to be able to listen to...and importantly digest the info. So, notebooks at the ready... Natasha

I guarantee that if you are struggling to find the right property the reason will be one or all of the following: You haven’t set goals and conditions for the right property You aren’t being targeted enough in your search area You’ve not spoken to enough agents You haven’t been to enough viewings You haven’t made enough offers and negotiated hard enough If any of the above is true, then you must circle back and do the work. Today on the podcast I’ve invited Danielle Bell to come and talk to me about how to find the right property… it’s far simpler than you think! We also go through other myths in the industry and why the simplest strategies are the best strategies! This is a throwback pod originally aired in 2020- but I feel that it’s as relevant as ever. I’d love to hear what you think- send me a line or two after you’ve listened to it. Remember, keeping it simple and staying consistent is how you will create the most success. Natasha

In this week’s podcast, I do a throwback to an incredibly popular interview with Adam Vickers. We chat about how he’s built his property portfolio in Reading and his property business across the rest of the UK through using JV’s and investors. This is jam-packed full of tips and tricks, it’s one not to miss! Have you watched my "Crossing over to Commercial" mini-course? You're going to love it! It's an hour-long and covers all the basics, PLUS I included a Commercial Deal Analysis (you'll receive that in an email once you sign up). Sign up here: https://ncrealestate.co.uk/crossingovertocommercial  If you want to continue the conversation, head over to the Property Investment Mastery Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/propertyinvestmentmastery/ Read my blog at: https://ncrealestate.co.ukplus don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter whilst you’re there! If you want to find out more about Adam: www.adamvickers.co.uk

GET ACCESS TO CROSSING OVER TO COMMERCIAL BY CLICKING HERE If you’re not here for Pregnancy content, you can skip this weeks newsletter/pod.But let me tell you it’s been my most requested podcast and so here it is, warts and all. Currently I’m on Maternity leave. Team NCRE have me covered and are still running the ship because I have the best team of Surveyors and  Property experts so service was never going to slip. But I may have got ahead of myself. I originally recorded this pod on the 28th Jan, thinking that I had a planned C Section a few weeks later so was feeling pretty together after just handing everything over to my interim MD and then planning for a 2 week crossover period… well I ended up having a real living baby in my arms 4.5 hours after I finished recording.  One of my good friends and mentors once said to me ‘there’s a reason pregnancy is 9 months… its so you can get everything ready and in your case that means your business too!’ And so I had two choices, stop NCRE during maternity and pick up any pieces after (because I just didn’t have the capacity to keep it running) or spend time putting in place the right team and make it better than its ever been… knowing full well that it would be hard (and it was, I have never been so unwell in my life). But the decisions I’ve made over the last 8 months have allowed me to have some sort of Mat Leave (yes I know whats going on in my business I haven’t disappeared completely, we have targets and deadlines!) which means I get to be Mum to Harry and Get to know him AND I’m not trying to give my best advice whilst my new Mum brain is swirling around because no one wants that (and seriously my team are just as good if not better!) With that, I’ll leave you to listen to this Pod!  Natasha

Have you started my free mini-course Crossing Over to Commercial?  It’s prompting a lot of questions, which I’m more than happy to answer… here’s a biggie: ‘You say only search in one location, but I can’t find any BMV deals there, so can I expand my search?’ No 👏 no 👏 no Mainly because… BMV (below market value)  just isn’t a thing in commercial property (I don’t believe it is in resi, but we just don’t have time to go through that right now). Commercial properties are priced based on risk and its investment value… as well as what the seller wants to sell for. SPOILER ALERT a commercial property that can immediately be increased in value isn’t going to jump out and punch you in the face whilst you’re scrolling RightMove. You have to delve deeper into the deal than that. To increase the value of a commercial property, you either have to decrease the risk of the deal by making sure the rent is secured and will be coming in for a long period of time OR you have to increase the rent. Therefore, you have to analyse a deal and see where you can do that. It can take hours… when we do that for clients it can take days to get a deal right and to see where the value add comes from. It’s not about expanding your location, it’s about looking at every single deal that is going on in that area and exploring the possibilities. Yes it takes time, but yes that’s where you find your deal! In todays podcast I’m going to go through exactly how to do this, find a commercial property that you can add value to.

I’m going to start by celebrating the fact that after 3 valuations I finally got a valuation for my remortgage that is what I wanted it to be… the RIGHT VALUE! I had to get to that figure mainly because I had my second charge mortgage relying on it and quite frankly, anything less and I was going to be out of pocket, which I’m not doing. To keep you in suspense, I’ll give you the names of the lenders and valuers in my pod ;) All I can say is, if you know the Comps state your property should be higher, keep pushing for it! Next Topic… Asset Management 101. When was the last time you ACTUALLY looked at the stats for your property portfolio? I mean really and truly compared them to see what’s working and what’s not. As an Asset Manager that’s the very first thing I do, I look at the figures, as they don’t lie. They give a true picture of how the portfolio is performing. From there I can make changes. If you want details on how to use it and what to measure, you are going to need to follow along with this weeks podcast. I challenge you to get this done! Let me know is there anything that surprised you about your portfolio? Will you be making changes as a result? Also don’t forget you can still pick up my Crossing Over to Commercial mini-course just CLICK HERE

You can sign up to Crossing Over to Commercial HERE First things first, I need to get a public announcement out there to ask… please, commercial agents, stop with the Catfishing! I just can’t… What do I mean?! Pricing property deals way too low so that you get eyeballs or bids and then being shocked when I call up and give you an offer at the market price and you saying ‘No that’s way too low!’. Errm yass… so why bother listing at that price… grrrr! The problem being that I have to look into it because I couldn’t possibly tell my clients I overlooked it, in case it’s actually correct and I’ve found myself a unicorn. **Rant over** Second point I want to cover today is ITZA’s. I’m noticing a lot of commercial property investors ignoring this because they just don’t understand. NOTE: You cannot ignore this if you want to be successful here!! This is about valuing retail rents! I'll explain in the podcast...

It may sound obvious that you MUST be good at decision making in order to be a property investor… But it truly shocks me the number of investors who say to me ‘is this a good deal, would you buy it?’ Because that’s not the question you should be asking. That’s asking me to judge a deal based on decisions I’d make for my own portfolio… that’s not your portfolio and your goals. I know for a fact that clients of mine and friends definitely wouldn’t buy the same things that I buy and that’s brilliant because I’m not led by what they do. Instead the question you should be asking is: ‘I've found this deal, my goals are X, Y and Z, does it hit those goals?’ But before asking that, you have to make an important decision. What is it you’d actually like to achieve?! Yield / Purchase Price… any other stat you’re measuring by. That way, when it comes to purchasing property the next decisions become easier: Choosing the right location Identifying if a deal really works for you, or deciding to let it go Knowing what finance option works best Want to a dig a little deeper into how to think about these decisions and a step by step guide into how to buy your next commercial property; Listen to this weeks podcast. And now I have something even more special for you a freebie unlike any other freebie before it… Crossing Over To Commercial, my mini-course on everything you need to know before delving into the world fo commercial property. It will take you 60 mins to complete, but once you have, you’ll be more clued up as to how to make these decisions!!

Now it's time to focus and I want you to listen closely because there are some tripping hazards in 2022, that if you don’t concentrate on, will slow your property investment success this year. The biggest tripping hazard… F👏I👏N👏A👏N👏C👏E (Finance) Firstly, if you need an affirmation, use ‘There will always be finance for my property’... I firmly believe that. However, it’s taking longer than ever to find a product that suits that you’re aiming for. This is across the board for both residential and commercial. The reason being is that lenders want to do due diligence, but also don’t want to get sucked into the hype bubble from last year, where there was a lot of overpaying for properties. So, you are going to have to stay resilient when it comes to finding finance. You are going to get a lot of NOs and you are going to come across a lot of products where you think WT eff is this?! Ultimately you will get the finance you need but it could take 3-6 months (or sometimes longer). The investors that will succeed this year will build relationships with lenders and be able to present why a deal works to a lender so that they can get the best rates and loan to value. Those who will fall flat in the mud, won’t prepare and won’t spend the valuable time needed to get this right. I delve into this in more detail on my Podcast and share some things I’ve learnt recently in regards to refinancing property (Oh and some super exciting news!)

After last weeks podcast about the 10 business mistakes I’ve made, it also got me thinking about the biggest risks I’ve taken to get to where I am right now. Success doesn’t happen through luck or coincidence, it happens because you keep putting yourself out there again and again and again until something sticks… here’s a summary of the risks I have taken which have made me laugh and cry, I go into the learnings in detail on this week's podcast. And just like that… it’s the end of 2021. Thank you so much for being part of my community this year and supporting me. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I’ll see you in 2022.

It’s getting to the end of the year and firstly I’m getting reflective… for the second year in a row we’re about to double NC Real Estate’s income… in fact it’s doubled today and we’ve still got 4 months until the end of the year. It’s crazy, certainly something that when I sit down and reflect with Lorenza and the rest of my team, I wouldn’t have even imagined being able to do back in 2016-17 when I really started to push forward on this. In the spirit of transparency and to help those of you out there who are running a business and feel like its both heaven and hell all at once I thought I’d share with you the 10 worst mistakes I’ve made in business… I’ve hashed out the details in my podcast.

I didn’t know how to sum up this email and subsequent podcast in anymore of a succinct way then simply: Moving House, Serviced Accommodation Sometimes Sucks and Resident Meetings because that has been the last two weeks of my life. Maybe… now I’m reflecting on the podcast I just recorded, all of the chaos happened with my US portfolio and I’m just not used to dealing with Amercians and I’m a fish out of water. What I can confirm is that: Hosting an Air BnB in the US seems to come with more demands from ‘local’ guests who want 5* hotel standard or their money back.... But not before blowing your whole electricity board and blaming you because they didn’t read the instructions Apparently when storing furniture, its usual for it to leave storage looking like someone just beat it with a baseball bat. And yes, Parks and Recreation is actually based on real life stories of what goes on at residents meetings… there is armed police in attendance and yes residents do shout at each other as well as the local area leaders. Although I could not gather why both of these things happened because we were discussing a 100ft x 100ft patch of grass (I’ve learnt in my property journey to not sweat the small stuff! So gawd knows why this was such a contentious issue, I only went to try and get to know my neighbours, now I know who to stay well clear of) If you want to hear about this, you seriously are going to have to listen to the podcast, I’ll explain in detail! I would also love for you to reply to this email and tell me about your resident meetings and also what your Serviced Accommodation cancellation policy is (especially with Omicron doing the rounds and guests cancelling last minute!) Back to something I am in control of and have ALOT of experience in… Commercial Property in the UK. This week I’m opening the doors to my Members Club for ONE FINAL TIME THIS YEAR! The reason being is that we’re offering a pretty hefty bonus: Buy your next Commercial or Mixed Use Property 3 month Accelerator Included within this is 3 x 60 Minute accountability sessions with our Asset Management Team who will be there to support you in finding and buyingyour next property 3 x 30 minutes LIVE deal analysis training 1 x 30 minute 1:1 with EITHER our Commercial Surveyor or Residential Surveyor to discuss the properties that you've found Plus a support group where you can chat with my team and I! In order to get access, you MUST sign up to our 3 month starter package for £297 HERE before Friday 10th December as we are going to get started next week!! This is the cheapest the Members Club will ever be and seriously less than the price of your daily coffee (Side note: you should be billing this as professional fees through your property portfolio). We’re getting started now because we need to be prepared to hit the ground running in January AND yes we will be giving you time off for Christmas. So if you are ready to buy your next Commercial or Mixed Use Property and want to work with a team of surveyors to do that YOU NEED TO JOIN NOW!! https://ncrealestate.co.uk/membersclub/ 

Click Here to join my Webinar on Monday 6th December The 5 Step Process to nailing down and executing your Property Investment Strategy...over the next 12 months - https://ncrealestate.co.uk/december2021 It took 6 months to go through but finally the commercial property in Barnstaple completed!! There are a lot of lessons that I’ve learnt here: If you buy a commercial property (that’s wholly commercial not mixed use) lending is harder to get which makes it more expensive… eurgh 7.3%. The reason being, lenders think its risky because its low value which MUST mean your tenant isn’t that great If you simultaneously exchange and complete on the same day the lender is going to want you to get insurance on the building before you own it… to resolve the problem make sure you agree a quote with the insurer first and get them to start it on the day you want to complete Second charge loans are expensive and the legal fees may mean its better to go through a private investor… I’ll let you make that decision when you listen to the podcast! However, there are still reasons why I pressed on regardless and that’s the beauty of it: It’s a net 4.69% yield / £644.89 net income pcm on a purchase price of £165,000 The lease runs until December 2024 It’s a full repairing and insuring lease so I don’t have to do anything to it at all… if I don’t want The rental values in the area have gone up since this lease was agreed so it should be around £21,500pa for the whole building which if I agree that at lease renewal the value of the property will jump to £253k, which means I’ll get all of my money back out The local council is desperate to develop the High Street and make it better and there is a lot of money being spent to do this… so I’m excited to see what happens The finance has been expensive. Yes it’s taken a long time to go through… but all of it SHOULD be worth it due to my due diligence suggesting increase in values. In this weeks podcast I’ll go through my learning from this deal in detail and ALL OF THE NUMBERS associated with it! So you are going to want to listen here.

SIGN UP For the December webinar HERE I float this question because there is always so much buzz around the next creative strategy… HMO’s, which are a product of the private investment market and have been picked up and ran with by small time investors thinking they are about to make a quick buck… when over the years legislation and increased health and safety (which is necessary) have decreased net yields. SA’s whereby investors, excited to get nightly prices rather than monthly prices, oversaturate the market without thinking about offering a quality product, give up after a few months because they aren’t seeing the ‘nice’ income streams they want. Rent 2 rent… glorified property management The list goes on. Instead sometimes it really is easier to think about property investment simply. You buy a property and offer good quality long term lets. Now, I’ll warn you, that doesn’t mean you get to sit on your laurels and just count the cash. No, instead you need to be proactive, focus on bringing your property along with the times, maintain it well, look to the future with sustainability… this is where you will see an asset that works for you throughout the test of time. So this week, I’ve invited Sam Coleman, NCRE’s residential surveyor onto the podcast! He believes whole heartedly in regular BTL’s and the power that they bring to your portfolio. Sam is an expert in sustainability as well so has some top tips for how he is managing his property portfolio in this market PLUS where he is buying and will be buying in the future to keep continued growth. Want to find out more, listen to this weeks podcast.

Sign up for the Webinar on the 6th December HERE If you’ve seen where the hype is in the commercial property market, you’ll know it’s great big massive sheds somewhere around the midlands where all the big online retailers are gathering on good supply routes. We’ve seen cap rates (yields) down as low as 3.5%, the reason being, they are seen as ‘safe bet investments’ for large pension pots and big investors. Caroline Saxon, our in house commercial surveyor believes that, for now, these larger investments should be left to the big players with deeper pockets because for the most part they are around the top of the market (why? You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out). Instead there’s still money to be made for smaller investors in other commercial asset classes that are still bubbling away… especially in secondary and tertiary locations. Retail and office is still exciting. Mix it with a little bit of resi and you’re moving towards a recipe for success. But of course with all these shiny pennies, there are do’s and dont’s and you’ve certainly got to be prepared to sift through the sand to find the gold! You want to know how to do that? You’re going to have to listen to this weeks podcast with me and Caroline Saxon from Team NCRE where we discuss what’s all the fuss about sheds and actually where small investors should be investing right now to see growth over the next 5-10 years!!

I’ve invited the next Team NCRE member onto the Pod, Doug Parker, our asset management surveyor. We talk about how the mundane actually can be the most lucrative. Why you need to be patient and the secondary / tertiary locations we’d be investing in for good commercial property deals RIGHT NOW… but you’re going to need to listen to the podcast to find that out! Fill out this questionnaire for what you want to see coming up on the podcast WEBINAR Sign up here - Monday 6th December @ 6:30pm The 5 Step Process to nailing down and executing your Property Investment Strategy...over the next 12 months 

This week I've invited Lorenza Allan who is the community manager for the Members Club onto the podcast to discuss how small wins add up to big things in property investment! Remember to come and follow this podcast @honestpropertyinvestment

JOIN THE MEMBERS CLUB AT £97/MONTH FOR THE LAST TIME HERE Last night I hosted a webinar, which covered exactly how and why commercial property is so tasty right now. Whilst it’s still turbulent times in the commercial sector… some tenants are still struggling. Some property is still lying empty. But, that seems to be the exception, not the rule (well in my experience). The trick is that rather than sitting back and letting the market work around you, you have to be proactive in speaking to your tenant. Asking them what they want to do moving forward. Negotiate where necessary. And if you loose the tenant… well you have to also be proactive in finding the next tenant. To help you nail this, I’ve taken a clip of the webinar and made it into todays podcast, I cover Why invest in commercial property Commercial property we avoid right now Commercial property that you should be looking at right now, How the commercial valuation triangle works and what you can do to improve your assets value in the short term!

Before I get started, make sure to register for my webinar on Monday 25th October at 6:30pm UK time: How to Supercharge Your Portfolio through buying Commercial property, Without jumping on the Commercial to Residential bandwagon. Have you been feeling like you’re rushing your property investment journey recently? Maybe you feel like things aren’t happening quickly enough? If you’ve answered YES to either one of those questions its a sure sign that you have given up on patience… which is one of the most important skills you need as an investor. P.S Sorry this is late! I had some technical problems this week :D

Before I get started this week, I’m putting this up top… come join me LIVE on Monday 25th October at 6:30pm for my webinar: How to Supercharge Your Portfolio through buying Commercial Property without jumping on the commercial to residential bandwagon. Just click the link ⬆️ and pop in your name and email and I’ll send you the details. I’m always curious about the changing nature of the mortgage industry… the reason being it seems to change on a month by month basis. You think you’re getting lending one month, they pull the plug on you the next, you have to go elsewhere. Are you finding that too? It’s just changing appetites of lenders. To get to the bottom of it I thought I’d ask someone in the know onto my podcast to find out what’s going on… so this week Gareth Ward, Head of Underwriting at FutureBricks is my guest.

It’s been a hot minute since I last released a podcast, here we are on season 4! I see the trends come and go in the property industry. Flavour of the month is commercial to residential conversion… I’m skeptical that we should all be doing it. Here’s what I’m finding works instead (if you’re looking to buy commercial): Find something that’s got an alright value because it’s either vacant or part vacant. Get an estimated rental figure for the building Look at the demand for tenants in this area could you get 2-3 tenants interested in the building at your estimated rental figure? Yes you will have to do research here and phoning around!! Will the tenants you’ve approached take an agreement for lease so that you know you’ve got a tenant in your vacant space day one? Yes? great … work out the increase in value with the tenants in situ All being well and STRONG lease terms agreed, chances are you’ve made yourself some ££’s overnight! No resi development needed. You want more detail? You’re going to have to listen to this weeks podcast! SIGN UP TO THE WEBINAR HERE

This week I’m late in sending this out because I’ve been in Austin, TX, searching for another house! I’ve had so many requests for details on what it’s like to buy in the US that I thought I would share. Now full disclaimer, I’m not a US investment expert we buy where we need a base… that’s completely possible because the money needed on completion is low. For example on what I’m about to tell you, the purchase price is $595k, we’ll need $50k/£36k to complete. If you’ve been listening to the pod, we’ve needed a base over there for a while as it’s closer to Chris’s office. So this week I tell you what we're doing. Remember to come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment  Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have a story to tell me please email [email protected]

I’m not going to sugar coat it, being a property investor is hard. Especially when you’re building a portfolio and you want to keep buying. I’ve been doing this for 12 years and this week I was met with a curveball… a lender ignored the valuation report and allowed their underwriter to choose the value instead. Remember to come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment  Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have a story to tell me please email [email protected] Here’s the link to the details from the NRLA about housing Afghan Refugees https://www.nrla.org.uk/news/monthly-bulletin/202108/news/resettlement-scheme

There’s nothing like speaking to a fellow surveyor to get you excited about what’s coming in the industry. This week I invited Jen Lemen onto the podcast because she always knows what’s going on with the RICS and changes to the profession… I have to be honest and say I’m sometimes behind here as I dread reading long guidance notes and practice statements!! My favourite part of this conversation was imagining what the property industry is going to look like in 5 years time. Remember to come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment  Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have a story to tell me please email [email protected] Jen Lemen is a co-founder of Property Elite, Chartered Surveyor and RICS APC assessor. She is the author of 'How to Become a Chartered Surveyor', published by Routledge. She is also an experienced property consultant (co-Director of Projekt) with FRICS status, a RICS Registered Valuer and a RICS Accredited Mediator, with nearly 15 years' experience working in the commercial property sector.

On this weeks Podcast I discuss how my US property portfolio is changing up, why we’re renting this place and where we’re off to next PLUS exactly how to make the time to invest in property. Remember to come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment  Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have a story to tell me please email [email protected]

This week I NEEDED to share that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows over here. Sometimes I too, even though I have tried my hardest to stay away from this, have to deal with the wild west of property The lesson to be learnt here is that if you don’t hire a fully trained professional, you’ll end up costing yourself money. Remember to come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment  Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have a story to tell me please email [email protected]

Usually when you talk to other property investors it’s all about how good they’ve done it and all the successes they’ve had (mainly because they probably want to forget the terrible moments) but that can make other property investors feel inadequate. Let’s be more honest: Everyone runs out of money in a project and feels despair It’s terrifying the pull the trigger and buy another property Not every investor will want to invest in the same property deals, don’t be put off if it’s not someone elses cuppa’ tea Finding good contractors is a messy business Sometimes doing nothing is the best possible advice Don’t put up with anyone else being cheap - it doesn’t matter how much cheaper someone else has got something, you’re not a bad property investor for paying more… every project is different It’s OK if a deal isn’t profitable just be honest about it - what did you learn? I delve into these points in more detail in this weeks pod and share my own experiences because it’s important we talk about these things! Remember to follow the pod on instagram @honestpropertyinvestment Come and find out more about NC Real Estate HERE

This week I let you in on my week of offering on commercial property PLUS why I'm feeling out of sorts. Sharon Griffiths, my lovely Members Club Member, gives you an update on a day in a life of a property investor, including why she invests in her area and her top 3 tips for property investment. Then, for my interview of the week, I'm chatting to my colleague and friend Andy Dodson. Andy has had such an interesting property career and shows us that success is not always linear. From working in his family business thatching roofs to going into construction during his time in the army to doing his property degrees and embarking on his PhD... I know his journey is going to inspire you! As always please leave a review as I'd love to hear from you and come and follow the podcast @honestpropertyinvestment

Part of my work (and Team NCRE’s) is acquisition strategy, which means when a client finds a property they like the look of… or we find something that would suit their strategy, the deal analysis has to begin in quickly. That’s how we’re getting deals across the line right now. Perseverance, and doing this time and time again. If you want to know more about this process, definitely come to my webinar on the 26th July (click the link to sign up). You want to delve deeper into the buying process, listen to the podcast, I explain what’s going on with my commercial deal… updates on a head leasehold purchase which is making me want to claw my eyes out and being let down by a property manager!! Plus Simon Grant is the Day in the Life of a Property Investor this week!

This weeks podcast is a Mail Bag episode, I answer your questions, including what keeps me up at night and: What is your advice for first time buyers and do you have any tips for doing your APC? How to source and finance mixed use property? Have you come across any property investment scams? Why would an agent pass to you without putting it on this market and getting the best price for their vendor? Why don’t you negotiate on your fees? How would you buy a property in America if you are living in the UK? How do you buy a property in the UK if you are nowhere near it? This is the last in this series BUT don’t fear I’ll be back in a few weeks time with Series Three AND I’d love your input what would you like to hear more of FILL THIS FORM IN HERE If you need to reach out to LIONHEART you can do so HERE.

This week my solicitor Nishita Gudka of LBMW is back to discuss all things legal packs. PLUS I'll tell you about a new commercial portfolio that I'm starting. Jack Veaney is #ditlos - If his job sounds interesting to you, you can apply for a similar position HERE. LionHeart is our partner, you can contact them here Finally, if you want to reach out you can find us @honestpropertyinvestment

Register for the WEBINAR HERE This week I've invited Adam Vickers back onto the podcast and we discuss the property investment scams we're seeing in the market! Remember check in with Lionheart if you need them HERE #ditlos is Tim Kenny a residential surveyor! You can follow the Podcast on Instagram @honestpropertyinvestment or me personally @natashaccollins

This week I've invited Daniel Wood from Momentum Property onto the podcast to discuss the 25 ways of raising money for a deposit! Remember if you need to reach out to LionHeart you can HERE #DITLOS is Avneet Virdee a valuation surveyor Finally come and follow me @honestpropertyinvestment

This interview is one not to miss! Come and join Kath Fontana and I to discuss what it's like being the president of the RICS. I also discuss how you can work out a strategy for property investment by working backwards. Remember if you need help reach out to LionHeart  #ditlos is Andy Dodson! Come and follow the @honestpropertyinvestment Podcast on Instagram

Part 1 - I talk through why it's important that you have a strategy AND give you some homework! Part 2 - Take a break with LionHeart  Part 3 - #ditlos is Dr Samantha Organ  Part 4 - Planning for retirement through property investment with Felicia Flinders  Come follow me on Instagram @honestpropertyinvestment P.S This episode is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute professional advice!

This is a Jam Packed Show (P.S There is some swearing in here so be warned if you don't like the F-word)! 1. I start off by talking about Mental Health Awareness Week and how perfectionism can ruin property investors 2. Break with LionHeart --> http://lionheart.org.uk/ 3. #ditlos is James Greenway, Director of Estates, Facilities and Business Services at Highways England 4. Finally my good friend Danielle Bell joins me to talk about How to avoid disasters in Commercial Property & Residential Property Investment PLUS the forecast for what to look out for post-pandemic Please come and follow this pod on IG @honestpropertyinvestment

After a few weeks of downtime to recreate the podcast, it’s back AND rebranded. I present to you… Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins, for investors who aren’t taking shortcuts. (If you’re already subscribed to the NC Podcast, this will automatically update!) So here’s how I’m going to run this, each week I’ll start with a 10 minute catch up on the things I’ve been working on, industry trends I’m seeing and things to watch out for. This season I’ve partnered with LionHeart, who will get the break (I’m one of their mental health ambassadors, I take no £’s for this… just go use them if you need them PLEASE!!). Next up is a new feature, A day in the life of a Surveyor or #DITLOS, where colleagues and friends of mine leave me a voice note explaining who they are and what they do and why it’s so important to the property industry. Buckle up, Pasq a Project Management Surveyor is up first! Finally, you’ll get an interview with an industry expert or advice from yours truly… I listened to what topics you wanted this season so watch this space, I’ve got most of them covered. This week I have to tell you about why it’s so important to start picking up the phone more! Yes we can listen to the naysayers about the market being problematic right now and yes it’s trickier than pre-covid times, but seriously where there is a will there’s a way. I’ll tell you about how I use off the record conversations and why they should be a staple of your communication. It’s a good one!! Last request, go follow @honestpropertyinvestment on IG. That’s the community for this podcast. It’s where you can leave feedback or requests for future topics PLUS ask questions for my mailbag episodes. Woop! I’m so excited about this Natasha P.S If you don’t use IG you can always email [email protected] with your suggestions!

Sometimes in life you’ve gotta change things up to improve them... Right now I’m focusing on my podcast Simply put, we’re taking a 2 week break to make it better!! That’s why I need your help. I want to know how I can improve it and make it the best Property Investment Podcast. Please could you fill out these QUICK 6 QUESTIONS and let me know what’s working and what’s not! Your feedback means the world, because it’s the way I can improve my content so that you see the biggest success. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being part of my community. Natasha P.S Usual service will resume on the 4th May.

I’ve been worried for a long time about the amount of cowboy action I’m seeing on social media when it comes to investor finance. Posts which say something along the lines of ‘Guaranteed 10% returns, we’re looking for investors’ without any disclaimers or even knowing if you’re pitching it to retail, sophisticated or high networth investors… Which could get you in hot water with the FCA, especially if you mess with a retail investors money, never repay them and they get a good solicitor on your case (think bye bye investment career, credibility and status) Running a regulated firm, I know how important it is to do things by the book… but I’m not FCA regulated (We’re RICS regulated) and so I KNEW that I had to find someone to come and train my clients on exactly how to raise finance compliantly. Inside the Members club we’ve been talking about this stuff all month and there’s plenty of trainings and templates on how to raise finance compliantly. However, I wanted to carry this conversation over to the podcast to make sure that there is enough information out there to help everyone get it right! This week, I’ve invited my good friend, FCA regulated and resident coach in the Members Club, Steve Wallis onto the podcast to discuss, what you ACTUALLY need to know about investment finance. How are you going to act when you next go out to raise finance? Natasha You can find out more about Steve --> http://www.indehacker.com/ 

THE MEMBERS CLUB IS OPEN. To join click here: https://ncrealestate.co.uk/membersclub/ Have you heard this too? ‘The move to online retail is damaging the high street’ The stats say it all, in 2020, 16,000 stores were shut across the UK and 183,000 retail jobs were lost. The RICS are forecasting that values for standard retail and shopping centers will drop by 10.9% and 13.11%. There doesn’t seem like there’s much to get excited for in the retail sector right?! Wrong… I strongly believe it’s more of an exciting time then ever. Commercial trends change every 5-10 years. If you don’t keep up as a Landlord and make sure your unit is ‘new trend accommodating’, every time it becomes vacant, you’ll have an obsolete building before you know it. Which is why when you see values falling you know there’s a new trend coming and this time, it’s OMNICHANNEL RETAILING… we have to be providing units that fit this spec. This week on the podcast I delve into what omnichannel retailed is and how you can get involved in this as a Landlord. Does retailing seem more appealing to you? Natasha P.S If you have made it this far down the email, you’ll want to know about a special bonus I’ve nestled into the podcast. Make sure you listen to take advantage of it!