

The Property Podcast
Rob Bence and Rob Dix from The Property Hub
The Property Podcast from Property Hub (propertyhub.net) is the podcast for all property investors – new or experienced. Rob Bence and Rob Dix discuss a different property topic and property news item each week, passing on their knowledge and experience to the listeners. They both invest in UK Property so they practise what they preach. No hard sell, no bull just straight talking property investment advice!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 21, 2020 • 6min
ASK219: How does Multiple Dwelling Relief work? PLUS: How long do I have to sell my former home and claim a stamp duty refund?
This week on Ask Rob & Rob, the guys have got a stamp duty special! We know, we’re just too good to you! Our first caller with his stamp duty related question is Medassa. He’s in the process of buying two blocks of flats with a business partner which are blocks of six and five individually let apartments. He’s wondering how multiple dwelling relief works. To his understanding, you can split the stamp duty costs amongst each individual apartment which will reduce the stamp duty costs. But is he right? The second question this week comes from Stan. He’s obviously been busy listening to the podcast which has sparked up his own question. Like a previous listener, he wasn’t aware that if you kept hold of a residential property and bought a new one to live in, that further down the line you could claim back the higher amount of stamp duty that you would have paid. So now Stan is wondering just what exactly is this time frame and has he missed the boat to make a claim? 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.

Jan 16, 2020 • 20min
TPP357: Hot Spots for 2020
Last week on The Property Podcast, Rob & Rob gave you their predictions for 2020. And this week they’re back for their annual rundown of the top UK property investment hotspots to help you decide where to invest next. It’s an episode that many of you look forward to at the beginning of each year. So now the wait is over - here’s a run-down of which locations made The Robs’ 2020 hotspot list, along with places should be on your radar to watch… Cities: Liverpool Manchester Nottingham/Leeds Towns: Crewe Doncaster Greater Manchester Up and coming: Sheffield … you’ll have to listen to find out the rest. So, there you have it, Rob & Robs property hotspots for 2020. Some of them may come as a surprise, so make sure you hit that play button to find out why The Robs reckon these should be on your radar. Our news story this week is actually a positive one! (New Year, new Rob & Rob?) and the headline reads ‘Buy-to-let investment sentiment remains strong as 2020 kicks off’. According to a recent survey, 75% of people were positive about buy-to-let - rising to 83% if you include millennials. Apparently a lot of young people have a positive attitude towards property investment, whilst those who have been in the game for a while are a bit more sceptical due to recent changes over the past few years. But, nevertheless, no matter whether you’re about to start or you started 10 years ago, property will still come out on top as the best investment model. For Hub Extra this week, we thought that this podcast episode on our 2020 hotspots just wasn’t enough. So, we’ve also done a new YouTube video where Rob & Rob go into more detail on these locations, allowing you to get even more of an insight on what made these locations capture their attention. So head on over to our YouTube channel to check the video out, and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button and turn on those post notifications. 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.

Jan 14, 2020 • 6min
ASK218: Can I buy my first investment property with a residential mortgage? PLUS: Have I been given bad stamp duty advice?
The Robs are back this week for another episode of Ask Rob & Rob, and we’ve got two fantastic questions.... First up we’ve got Jonathan who’s a newbie podcast listener who has a really interesting question on renting a property vs. buying one. Jonathan lives and works in London - he’s lived here for the past decade and wants to continue to do so. However he is now looking to start his investment journey but wants to put his money where the most growth is. He’s been looking at Manchester and Liverpool as potential options, however, he would like the first property that he purchases to be in his personal name. Jonathan is wanting to know if it’s possible to buy a property with a residential mortgage and then rent it out, if it has a lower interest rate? He’s also questioning if he had to buy it with a buy-to-let mortgage, would he be allowed to live in the property for a short period of time whilst he saves up the funds to purchase his own place to live? So what’s Jonathan’s best option? Next we have James, also from London, who’s after some clarification on tax advice that he received from a tax advisor. He’s been told that you only pay stamp duty in a limited company if you’re paying it on a single property. James is looking to spend around £330,000 in a limited company on property, which, according to his tax advisor, would mean he’d pay £6,200 in stamp duty. Whereas if he were to purchase that property in his own name, he’d be paying £16,400. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But what do Rob & Rob think about this tax advice? 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.

Jan 9, 2020 • 19min
TPP356: Predictions for 2020
We’re back again for another episode of The Property Podcast and this week it’s one of our favourites - Rob & Robs buy-to-let property investment predictions for 2020. A couple of weeks ago they reviewed their predictions for 2019 and they didn’t do too badly. But can they make it a clean sweep this year? The Robs are making some bold statements for 2020, some of which Rob D isn’t convinced they’ll get right. So what are they making predictions on? The top five cities to invest in property this year What’s happening to the UK as a whole London - should it be back on our radar? The base rate Big announcements in the budget And just for fun, they’re making predictions on the stock market, the US election and who will win the Premier League - although we all know who Rob B is backing before we’ve even listened. So tune in to find out whether The Robs property predictions for 2020 are positive, negative or just a bit too hard to call. It’s not just Rob & Rob who are dishing out their predictions, they’re looking at other property experts too. In the BBC there’s a summary of what property experts are predicting for 2020. Everyone seems to be expecting around a 2% increase in house prices, however there’s one person who has predicted a 2% fall! So should you be worried? And this week for Hub Extra, we’re giving you an inspirational quote to get you kick started and motivated for the rest of 2020: ‘Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently` - Henry Ford As this time of year is usually a time for self reflection, you can look back on the past year, or even the past decade, and see where you’ve been successful and where you’ve failed. But at the end of the day, don’t beat yourself up about it, learn from your mistakes and try again with a new perspective. 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.

Jan 7, 2020 • 7min
ASK217: Is it worth investing in major property companies?
We’re back with the first Ask Rob & Rob of 2020 and we’ve got a cracking question to kick off the year! This week’s question comes in from an avid Property Podcast listener who off the back of it has had the confidence to invest in his first property at the beginning of 2019. Go you! He even has a bit of spare cash left over from his property and is looking at other ways that he can invest it outside of property. One option that he’s considering is investing in shares in a development company. He’s noticed that in some of the big development companies, their share prices have closely followed the 18-year property cycle and now he’s wondering if this is a good investment option for around the mid-cycle wobble, or even before the next crash. So what do Rob & Rob think? Is investing in a major property company a smart investment or should you run for the hills? 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.

Jan 2, 2020 • 14min
TPP355: New to The Property Podcast? Start here!
Happy New Year! What a way to start 2020... by listening to the first episode of the year from The Property Podcast. This is the perfect episode to start with if you’re just starting out on your property investment journey, or if you’ve only just come across Property Hub. Even for those of you who have been with us since the beginning, this is a fantastic refresher episode. Over the past few years we’ve put out hundreds of podcasts, so going all the way back to episode one might seem a little daunting. Now there’s no need to trawl through all the past episodes, because we’re going to give you everything you need right here. Here are the topics that Rob & Rob will be sharing, including which they consider to be their most valuable podcast episodes - so you can skip straight through to the essentials: Goals Fundamentals 18-year property cycle What type of investor are you? Strategy All you have to do to listen to these podcast episodes is head to propertyhub.net/podcaststart and everything will be linked for you. It’s that easy! So now you don’t have any excuse not to get started! And, if you are a new listener, thanks for joining us. You can expect to hear Rob & Rob in your ears every Tuesday (for Ask Rob & Rob) and on Thursdays for The Property Podcast. Happy listening! 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.

Dec 26, 2019 • 11min
TPP354: Reflecting on 2019 and our biggest lessons
Merry Christmas! We hope you had a lovely day yesterday, and just because it’s the festive period, that doesn’t mean we’re stopping The Property Podcast! So as a nice little finisher to the year, Rob & Rob are taking a look back on 2019 and discussing what went right for them, and more importantly, what went wrong. But also, how they’re going to learn from it. Here’s what you can expect The Robs to reflect on in this episode: News: To kick start this episode, Rob & Rob are discussing the big stories that have been in the news this year. You can expect to hear mentions of Brexit (even though we didn’t really get anywhere with it this year), the general election and the industry as a whole. Industry/Market: The guys then go on to discuss the property industry and market over the past year and how we’re in that mid-cycle wobble territory. Also this year saw the tenant fee ban come into play which wasn’t as detrimental as everyone thought it was going to be. Property Hub: 2019 was a huge year for Property Hub! We kick started the year with a complete rebrand (we can’t believe it’s only been 12 months!), we moved our head office to Manchester city centre and we launched our YouTube channel (even though Rob & Rob are still getting used to being in front of the camera). One of the hardest things that The Robs have had to deal with this year was the development at Grand Junction which, if you’ve listened to this podcast episode, you’ll know has been going on a lot longer than just 2019 and has brought a lot more downs than ups. But it is finally now complete so there have been plenty of lessons for The Robs to take away from it. But that wasn’t enough to put Rob D off, he went on to build another development in York which wasn’t quite as stressful as Grand Junction but did have it’s own host of issues that Rob D was able to learn from. You can listen to the podcast episode on Rob D’s York development here. Personal: To wrap up this episode, Rob & Rob reflect back on their personal lives with what they’ve been up to over the past 12 months outside of The Hub. So that’s it, 2019 is boxed off! And what a year it’s been. We hope you’ve had an amazing year and if you’ve been with us on this journey over the past year, thank you and we look forward to kick starting 2020 with you. Here’s to 2020 being bigger and better than ever! 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.

Dec 19, 2019 • 9min
TPP353: 2019 predictions reviewed
This week on The Property Podcast, The Robs are starting to round up the year by taking a look at how their 2019 property hotspot predictions have stacked up. Were they bang on? Or were they completely off the mark? If you didn’t listen to Rob & Robs predictions at the beginning of the year, then you can listen to that episode here. So let’s dive right in… Top 5 cities: At the beginning of the year Rob & Rob predicted that Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool would be the best performing cities in England. Were they right? Well they got four out of five right which is pretty good going, with only Nottingham letting them down, but it only just missed out on the leaderboard coming in at sixth place. UK on average: Rob B predicted that the whole UK market wouldn’t creep into negative territory, but it would sit somewhere between zero and 3%. Whilst Rob D said that there won't be anymore than 1% growth nationally. Did they get this one spot on? Listen to find out. London: At the beginning of the year Rob D’s thoughts were that London would continue to be the worst performing region, whilst Rob B agreed but also threw the South East into the mix as well, and said he could see them falling into negative equity. You probably already know the answer to this one - did you agree with their predictions at the start of the year? Let us know! Brexit: The dreaded ‘B’ word that everyone has been tip-toeing around this year. Back in January, Rob B thought that no politician would be bold enough to push through a no-deal Brexit and that we would be leaving the EU with some form of deal. This one is technically still undecided so there’s time for it to go one way or the other, but what The Robs definitely didn’t predict is that we would be no further along than what we were at the beginning of the year. Transaction Volumes: Following on from Rob B’s Brexit prediction, Rob D seemed to think that off the back of Brexit this year we would see lower transaction volumes than we did in 2018. Luckily for our industry, Rob D was wrong on this one! Although the annual data hasn’t yet been released, some months were higher than the previous year but some were incredibly lower. So on average it seems like transactions were probably lower than 2018, but we can’t be 100% sure. Markets and Media And to finish of the 2019 predictions, Rob B called that this year would be pretty boring for all markets and he didn’t see the property market surging or crashing. But he did call that the media would be incredibly negative. We think we can say Rob B pretty much hit the nail on the head with those two. Looks like The Robs did pretty well on this years predictions. They got four right, one half right and one wrong. Not bad going. Find out more by listening to today’s episode and let us know what you think on our social channels. And what will be Rob & Robs predictions for 2020? Well luckily you only have a couple of weeks to wait! 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.

Dec 12, 2019 • 29min
TPP352: Best of Hub Extra - 2019
This week on The Property Podcast, it’s one of the most popular episodes that The Robs do throughout the year. If you’ve listened to every every episode of The Property Podcast, you’ll know that at the end, Rob & Rob like to give you a tool or resource that you can go away with and put into practice. We are, of course, talking about Hub Extra. And this week we’re doing a round up of the best Hub Extra mentions that Rob & Rob have shared throughout the year. So grab your pen and paper as the guys go through their favourite: Books Podcasts YouTube channels TV episodes/series Apps & tech It’s a fantastic episode and you’ll definitely walk away with something valuable, even if Rob & Rob aren’t talking about property. And even though we’ve given you a complete run-down already… here’s something else if you’re struggling to find that perfect Christmas gift for that property lover in your life. You can now buy a gift voucher to our Property Hub Magazine! Just simply click this link, pay up front for the yearly subscription, and give the gift code to your nearest and dearest. It’s that easy and they’ll love you for it! 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.

Dec 10, 2019 • 4min
ASK216: What can property investors expect in their Christmas stocking?
It’s the final Ask Rob & Rob of 2019! But before the guys disappear for the festive holidays, they’ve got one more question they’re answering. And this week it’s from the big man himself. Our caller, Nick, is wanting to know when Rob & Rob are going to do their yearly roundup of Hub Extra, and he’d also like to see The Robs do some live events in 2020. So what have The Robs got in store for us to round up the year and look forward to in 2020? 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.