ASK523: Could this commuter hotspot boom? PLUS: The best way to read a property book?

0:02Rob B:Hi, I'm Rob. And I'm Rob. And this is Ask Rob and Rob. It is Ask Rob and Rob. It's that fixture of your Tuesdays where we get your questions answered. We have got two wonderful questions today, but you, I'm sure, have got a wonderful question in you somewhere. How do you send it our way? Well, it is very simple. Just go to the one place, go to propertyhub.net forward slash ask. And there you have multiple options where you can submit your question via a voicemail, direct audio. You can even put a written question into us and you may see that appear in the Sunday Times. All very exciting. Right, let's listen to our first question in from Scott.

0:39Rob B:Hi Rob and Rob, you guys are brilliant. I've been listening to you for years and years and years. You were talking about Manchester then, still talking about Manchester now. My name's Scott, I'm a carpenter by trade. I saved up enough cash to buy a house outright, but it was a low entry price. It is in between Sheffield and Nottingham. So it's in Mansfield. I bought it outright because I know that the resale value, it does have a ceiling. So I wanted to save costs. It's my first renovation. So I'm going to live in it as well. So I've been living in it for a year. So because I'm living in it, no capital gains tax.

1:17Rob B:Because I bought it outright, I've got no costs on interest. And because it was my first, it's all I'm focused on. So it wasn't like I was going to put my money to work anywhere else. I'm renovating while I'm living there and I'm wondering if you think places like Mansfield and surrounding areas that have good transport links to places like Sheffield and Nottingham and Derby are places that are attractive because they do have low entry points and I know you've said some places that are cheap are not necessarily the best places to buy but I thought there might be a bit of a ripple effect from Mansfield, sheffield and so on because they do have good transfer looks to work in these places i'd be interesting to hear your thoughts thank you very much scott i can tell you've asked this question because you're having some doubts you've made an investment you're a bit nervous and i'm here to tell you you've completely messed up no i'm really joking you're absolutely fine scott mansfield is a great area for buy to let i really like it fundamentals are strong what you've outlined is absolutely true.

2:21Rob B:There's lots of employment in the area as well because of those transport links. And I think rather than just making this a very niche answer for you, I think that's something that people can do and learn themselves, is that when you can't invest in a city that you particularly want to invest in, say like a Nottingham or a Sheffield, the commuter areas that will benefit from the growth and the strength of those areas can be a good option. And you rightly identify that as a ripple effect another place that certainly benefits from that is Doncaster and Doncaster's own fundamentals are really strong as well transport links absolutely fantastic there and Mansfield I'd put in a similar boat every major city that's strong has these areas as well Manchester we talk about a lot as you've identified but for those who can't afford the city centre of Manchester there are multiple commuter towns that are very good but this goes on there are loads of places within greater manchester that make a great investment and you can keep repeating this with leeds with birmingham with all these other places you can find areas that have got strong transport links in their own right good meter links into a city that you like and then you'll get some of that benefit from the economic powerhouse that is that particular city so do not worry scott you've not messed up i like your strategy it's great that you've started well done and if you keep thinking like that for the future i'm sure you'll be very successful best of luck okay let's have our next question now from pierre rob and rob thank you very much for all your free material that's great like the property hub just read it fantastic good summary of all the good stuff i have heard on your podcasts over the past 18 months i've decided to take the plunge and buy your book, Rob, second edition.

4:14Looking forward to it, but a silly question. How do you intend your book to be read 300 pages? It's long. And do you intend your book to be read through from top to the end? I was more planning to dive on the two issues I'm facing. I've got three properties, soon four. I'm struggling with the cash flow. I'm looking for two pieces of advice on how much to borrow, loan to value, so there is enough cash flow. I'm trying to find some hints on how to have a healthy cash flow. So I was going to focus on that and all your chapters around the renter's right acts, documentation, requirements. so happy to do just some picking and choosing would you recommend to read it differently i don't know if you can answer that briefly but it'd be great to hear your viewpoint from the author thank you very much both bye pierre thank you for your question you say silly question no

5:16Rob B:it's an amazing question because it lets everyone know that the second edition of how to be a landlord is out now but how should you read the book well my imagination the package arrives from amazon you immediately cancel your plans for the day you call in sick for work if you need to and you read through it line by line and you do not stop until you finish stopping to laugh at all the jokes along the way in reality though you don't have to do it that way and i doubt anyone does the way i recommend approaching it if you've never let a property before is flick through the whole thing get a sense of the general shape of how the whole process works and then use it as a handbook as you work through the process so as you go through it for real you can go and read the chapter that's relevant for you at that moment that's the most useful way of using it but as you've been listening to the podcast for a while and you probably get the gist of how it all works then you probably know all of the basics already if you're interested in the renters right stuff most of that is concentrated around starting a tenancy and ending a tenancy those are the parts where most changes are happening so i'd recommend reading those sections if you want to know what's changing and what it means for you and then like i said before just use it as a guide as you go i hear from people all the time who first read it years ago but now they just come back and find what they need when a situation in their portfolio comes up.

6:27Rob B:So Pierre, thank you for your question. Hope you enjoy. So that's just done for another week. Thank you for listening. We'll be back with the main event, The Property Podcast, on Thursday. Until then, take care, have fun. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.