Inside Rob B’s first investment of 2026

0:02Rob B:Hey everyone, it's Rob B here with Rob D and this week's show is all about me. Well, it's not really, it's all about an investment I've made. And I bet if I gave you a hundred guesses, you would not guess what I've invested in. But by the end of the podcast, I bet you feel like you'd invest in it too.

0:26Welcome to the Property Podcast. Thank you for joining us. In case you don't know, we run a business that arranges more than 100 million pounds worth of property deals every year. You can find out about that at propertyhub.net. And today we've got an exclusive interview with one of our buyers. His name is Rob B and he is going to be sharing exactly what pushed him to make an investment at a time when so many others are shying away.

0:46Rob B:Let's start with our news story of the week. And Rob, this is a news story that we were both discussing earlier this week because we were really surprised by the data. Yeah, this is data from Hamptons. We put investor purchases rise as landlords buy from other landlords. Yes, buy to let is not dead. So we hear a lot about how landlords are selling up, which they are, but some of those properties are bought by other landlords. And the data says in the first quarter of 2026, the share of homes bought by landlords across the country was 13.3%, which is the same figure it was in 2016, which I actually thought was pretty amazing because 2016 was the beginning of the stamp duty surcharge.

1:24So the fact that we're anything like those levels, I found really surprising. But the other really interesting thing, Rob, is how that varies across the country. Because across northern England, landlords made up 24 % of buyers this year. That's incredible. Of every property transaction that happens in the north of England, one in four is an investor buyer rather than a homeowner. So both of those things I actually thought was quite astonishing. It's not denying the fact that lots of landlords have sold or are selling or are thinking about selling but this data gives another piece of the picture which isn't often talked about which is

1:56Rob B:yeah but other landlords are buying and i love to see this of course you know i'd love to see people improving their financial situation taking control of their financial futures by doing things like this but it's more the fact that it's not been an easy market from a sentiment point of view and it's very easy just not to do something right now but this shows how much smart money there is out there and I just love that like if you are making up this percentage if you're one of those people then hats off to you because you are flying in the face of what the media is spouting out all this negativity is what people are talking about you're just taking advantage of a brilliant situation which is what we talked about last week on the podcast and I really really recommend because it pairs so nicely with this week's podcast I really recommend that you listen to last week's podcast where we talk about how to get a deal right now because while the market is super favorable for those who are buying right now for those who are investing it's not easy if you go down the traditional path there are ways to get a great deal but they might not be so obvious to you so do listen to last week's episode and last week's episode rob leads into this week's episode because one of the methods that we talked about was getting a deal from a developer because they need sales right now.

3:16Rob B:And that's exactly what I did. Yeah, you've made your first investment of the year. And I'm really looking forward to talking about it because we've got so much going on. It's barely come up in our conversations. But I'm very curious about some of the details. And I'm sure listeners will be curious as well. And normally, you say, well, a guy who talks about property and runs a property company for a living, buying property is not exactly headline news. But I think with everything that's going on at the moment and the nervousness that is out there, people are going to be particularly curious about what it is that's given you the push to act right now because you could have bought later in the year or not at all but you've chosen now as the moment so let's start with the very big picture where did you end up buying rob okay get google maps out everyone because you're going to need it i purchased in a place called d side d e double e s i d e d side and if you can't be bothered looking at google maps it's near chester but it's in wales so it's right on the border so that's its location it's not northwest england but it's a mile away from being northwest england and a lot of the benefits of being in northwest england apply to this area with the towns and cities the infrastructure all the employment i'm sure we're going to get into it rob but that's where it is and of course you've got the beauty of north wales on your doorstep as well okay the risk of offending lots of people i'm going to bucket it as the northwest for now and to say well yeah i completely understand why you're buying in the northwest that's an area that we've targeted heavily but Again, we've done deals in the Northwest recently.

4:42There's something about this location in particular that caught your interest.

4:45Rob B:I love this investment for a lot of reasons, but I love the story behind it because the fact is 90 % of our audience won't know this area. But it's all about the fundamentals. And this is a prime example of an area that has incredible fundamentals, but you may not know of it. and it reminds me of places like well people know Doncaster but it's not the first place that comes to mind when you think of an investment but the fundamentals are super strong in Doncaster and the rental demand is super strong in Doncaster for those reasons as well we can get into the fundamentals Rob and talk about that in a little bit more detail if you like but because the fundamentals are ridiculously strong in this area that a lot of people haven't heard of the rental market is also red hot stuff that comes to market just lets really really quickly in this area okay and so we've talked about where but what kind of property is it well it's not a property that you would normally associate with buy to let it's a four bed detached house with a good size garden as well it's not your typical buy to let property and this is actually now the second four bed detached that I have in my portfolio.

6:03Rob B:So I don't have a lot of them, but I don't think many people have any of them. So it's an unusual play. I get it, but it was a deliberate one. So why did you do that? Because of course, we should go without saying that you bought this through Property Hub Invest. And so lots of people joined you in this investment. It sold out very quickly, but there were different property types on offer. Some of them were three beds and you might think that's more of the kind of buy to let friendly one. You consciously chose a four bed. Why was that? Yeah. And a four bed detached as well. So not, you know a four-bed townhouse a detached but unusual but that's why i liked it because i've done really well in the past when i've gone a little bit outside the norm so my best performing apartments have been three-bed apartments because you don't build many of them and not many come to the buy to let market and it's exactly the same here there was less four beds in the development but again when everything comes to market there'll be fewer four beds on the market and that helps obviously with getting it rented so it's because it will be different it's because it's not the type of thing that comes to market all the time but people want different types of properties yes of course two and three bed houses are the norm one and two bed apartments are the norm that's what most people go for and i understand why i've got them in my portfolio too it works but because your three bed apartments your four bed houses don't come to market very often they actually do really really well from a rental point of view because people still want to rent those types of properties it's not like tenants don't have the desire to live in those types of homes they absolutely do yeah i've got four bed as well and it's had the same tenants in it for i think five years now because like you say there just isn't that much and there certainly isn't anything else new and modern so if they were going to move somewhere else they'd be moving to somewhere that all right maybe it's got more character or whatever but it's not as well set up for how they want to live is this one.

7:56So I completely see it. And I guess there's an element of monopoly strategy in here as well, right? Because with the part of the country that it's in, it's not going to be the most expensive investment that you could buy. So by going for a four bed, you're also maximising the amount that you have invested in one asset.

8:13Rob B:That's right. In this area, I've gone for a property that is priced at the upper end. i mean we can get into the price i'm sure people are going to be curious the value and that's that's important right the value of these properties based on actual sold prices of other properties that are like this one so not an asking price i just want to really make clear that distinction you can put an asking price of 20 million down but it doesn't mean it's worth that so when we've looked at the value we've looked at other properties that have sold recently that are the same or similar to this one. So the value of this property is£340 ,000.

8:52Rob B:And Rob, you've been banging on quite a lot recently about how you should be forcing a deal when you transact in this market. And that's what I did. Yes, of course, what Property Hub Invest does is take on stock from developers. And like we talked about last week, developers are the people in the market who have to make sales at the moment. They don't have the option of just sitting on stock. And And that means that unusually good deals can be done. So Rob, make everyone jealous. What discount did you achieve on this? How much did you end up paying? Well, we got 12 % off. So just over 40 grand, which that's a lot of money, right?

9:29Rob B:That's a lot of money. Sometimes I say to investors, like when we get discounts at that amount, like that's a premium car. It's like buying a house and then a car on the drive turns up for free. That's what it's like. It's like a massive amount of money. when I know that in that same development, people have paid£40 ,000 more than I have. But we're in that market, Rob, where deals like this can be done. It's wild. When you actually put the cash figure on it, it's crazy. We're used to talking about percentages, but we step back and go, wow,£40 ,000 is a lot. So that goes straight to your equity.

10:00Great. But what about the income you expect to make from it?

10:03Rob B:Well, it's not built yet. And we can talk about that more in a bit because I think it's an interesting play there as well but on today's rents so we'd expect rental inflation right but let's just base it on today's numbers today's rent the gross yield would just be over six percent and the roi so my money in versus what i get out each month after all costs considered would be in the low fives which is good there were plots on this development which were higher you know the ROI in the high fives approaching six and gross yields in the upper sixes as well. Mine isn't the highest yielding but I went for the one of the most expensive units on the development for reasons I've talked about already.

10:48Rob B:There were others there that had a on paper stronger yield but I'm really happy with those numbers especially as they're based on today's rents. That's it you're basing on today's rent so you expect them to go up but also you're basing it I presume on today's mortgage rates. And because you said this isn't built yet, then your mortgage rate could change for the better or the worse, but we assume from the way things are going for the better. And then the numbers could be spectacular, right? Like if the mortgage rates come down by a percent, which could happen by the time this completes, then that ROI number suddenly becomes very, very attractive.

11:25Rob B:To me, it's attractive enough already in the low fives. That's solid. But I wouldn't be surprised if interest rates came down and maybe not as much by a percent but even if they came down by half percent and the rents just lifted up by five percent in that time my roi starts to become really really attractive well yeah something we talk about a lot is how people over fixate on year one numbers so i'm going to go out on a limb and assume that even if it was built and ready and you'd be having to take today's mortgage rate today's rent i'm going to assume you would still take that deal because there's so much else to like about that deal.

12:01And if that's the case, then fine, you're getting your return in the fives or whatever. But then, you know, in a year, two years, three years, it's going to get better because the rent will go up and the mortgage rate is highly likely to come down. This way is just even better because you're locking it in now and it might have even improved by the time you complete.

12:17Rob B:I think that's a really, really good point. I think that's what a lot of people are missing in this market, that they're obsessed with interest rates. I don't get it, right? Because they're not great at the moment, but they're temporary but that discount i've achieved is permanent no one can take that away from me now i've got an enhanced equity in this property because of that deal i've done even if i was purchasing it today like you said in two years time i'd be remortgaging and then where would that be like then that roi that i've started to talk about you know say like it's going to be great it in a few years time well that would become a reality as well you're being paid to complete today with that discount obviously i'm not but i would absolutely do that deal if it was stock but the fact that it's off plan makes it even easier and even more attractive in this case so one of the things i said people would want to know earlier is why now because you know you don't have to buy anything you could you've got a portfolio already you could quite happily just sit this year out if you wanted to i think some of the things we've talked about have gone some way towards answering that question but i'd like to hear like what was it that made you go yep now is the time i'm pushing the button i just want to make something super clear right because i don't want people to think i'm like selling this deal or whatever to anyone this is sold out completely oversold so i just want to make that clear when i carry on because i'm going to say something that sounds very strong nobody can contact property of invest and go i want what rob's got you can't it's gone but the reason why Rob is how could I not like it was just one of those deals where I just thought I can't not do this deal yeah I'm super busy like there's loads going on with the business wherever but I just thought I can't not do it because the fundamentals are ridiculous in this area the rental demand is red hot it's only going to improve with what's planned for this area and then the fact that the numbers were strong today the discount was huge and i don't actually have to complete today so i'm going to complete when the market's in a more favorable position but i'm locking in a deal that takes advantage of the volatility today like it's brilliant i suppose that's the question i posed to others who invested which was how could you not do this deal so i just want to drill on location a little bit more because if all of this was true everything that you said is exactly the same, but it was in an area that's highly unlikely to get much in the way of capital growth, then that deal is a whole lot less attractive.

14:48Rob B:I'm not touching it. No, the rental income is the same. The equity that you've locked in at the start is there. Everything's true, but the capital growth won't be there. So if you said, I bought in Manchester, then a lot of people will be like, yeah, of course you did. Makes sense. But a lot of people, most people have never heard of Decide. So given that it's not an obvious blockbuster capital growth area that people will recognise, what is it that you're seeing in the immediate area that gives you confidence? There's a lot, right? Because fundamentals, what do we talk about? Well, we talk about transport links a lot.

15:20Rob B:We talk about employment and things like that. So let's start with employment. In this area, there's already huge employers. So when you look on a map and you turn the satellite on, there is loads and loads of employees in this immediate area so not 20 minutes away not half an hour away like in this immediate area which is an enterprise zone i might add so there's benefits for employees moving to this area you've got airbush uk they alone employ over 5 000 people and then you've got all the businesses locally that support that business as well that's huge but there's areas like barrow further north which have a major employer like this.

16:01Rob B:But that's not the end of the story. A D-side carries on. Toyota, heard of them? They're based there. Tata, yep, they're based there. Amazon have got a massive fulfillment and logistics center right next to this development. You've got the global headquarters of Iceland in this area. You've got Moneypenny, which is a service business which employs over 1 ,000 people nearby. That's just the start. And then you've got the future. there's a one billion pound recycle center being built in this area one billion pound investment and it's going to be the largest recycle plant for paper in the UK I don't know the technology right Rob so I'm probably completely under selling by just calling it paper but the fact that that amount of money is going in is huge you've got the ICT group building a 700 ,000 square foot manufacturing facility in that area building not built yet you're the Marshall Commercial Development which is another 400 ,000 square foot this is not in yet it's it's happening industrial and logistic space and that is going to add another 600 jobs plus another 300 construction jobs and it goes on honestly the list goes on it's absolutely huge so you may not have heard of Decide but you've heard of a lot of those employers and that's why it reminds me of a place like Doncaster because they've got huge employment there as well or rugby or places like that there's loads and loads of employment it's just that it's just this wonderful hot spot where there's loads in already loads more going in and it's just going to continue to go on the up and up but because of all that employment because of the enterprise zone as well they're building a new train station okay that's interesting because because when you're looking for what kind of investments and fundamental changes can move the needle that's right up there yeah the train station's a huge news story and the funding is committed to this project as well so it's happening and i'll be honest with all that employment going in i didn't need this train station being built as well it's just the cherry on the fundamentals cake the commute into liverpool now becomes a reasonable and realistic one so before this train station or as it stands currently to get to liverpool it can take an hour to an hour and 15 not ideal and not something that people would do frequently lots of employment in both these areas the east side than liverpool but it's one that people would have to drive you could you wouldn't do the train that train journey will come down to just over 40 minutes after the station is built which is huge chester's already well connected it's less than 10 minutes on the train to chester already so the strong fundamental is currently in place but wrexham improves as well because there's another one of the big reasons of building this station is is the connectivity to wrexham the journey times come down but it also helps between the two enterprise zones that exist in those areas connecting those up as well so you've got quicker journey times but more frequent trains as well which is brilliant it's wild i'm just imagining the google trends spike that's going on for d-side at the moment because so few people will have heard of it and you're now making a very compelling case for it so i'm feeling the fomo i'm sure a lot of other people are feeling it as well but it's about to get a little bit worse in terms of FOMO because I know that there's a cherry on top of the cherry which is the amount of cash you had to put down so earlier when I said how could I not do this deal this was what made it like Rob you're busy but come on just invest because it doesn't complete until 2028 the beginning of 2028 so I've got this long off plan period it's from a national developer i can't name them because they don't give us these deals for us to to share it all over the internet but it's from a national developer and because of where the market's at right now and this isn't normal right so if you contact property of invest after this normally we'll cap it at 10 so lots of people sell off plan stuff that's often overpriced you've got to put 30 25 deposits down we never do that we the maximum will ever do is 10 % which is great but because of where we are right now we were able to negotiate a 5 % deposit so I'm only putting 15 ,000 down until the beginning of 2028 I'm looking in this price I'm probably going to get a better interest rate there'll be more of this infrastructure built and the rents are probably going to go up a bit as well and I've locked all that in but I've only put five percent down i think that falls into no-brainer territory mad isn't it yeah i think ask the why now question and i've got of course there are reasons to be nervous and cautious but set against that is the fact that these opportunities are there that will not be there when that caution is not there anymore we talked about it last week but i think it's just it feels like we're saying it all the time but it's worth saying it all the time because it's true.

21:01A year ago, we would not have negotiated that. And it could easily be that in a year's time, we again won't be able to negotiate something like that because the market would have moved. 100%. And that's really why I wanted to share this investment.

21:15Rob B:Is it the best investment I've ever made? Probably not. Is it a brilliant investment? Absolutely. And it's not a once in a lifetime deal but it is a unique and rare moment in the market that started late last year has carried on to this year for different reasons but will not last forever we thought it was ending at the end of last year and world events meant that it had an extension and we might not like the reasons why we've got that extension but we've got it so you can feel bad about what's going on in the world but you can also go well you know what because everyone's feeling bad i'm going to do something special for my financial future and yes this is sold out obviously but this is the type of stuff that we're doing at the moment at property of invest so if you've been sitting on the fence for a while you might want to make contact because you know what's possible now there's a link in the show notes where you can get in touch and speak to one of our portfolio managers they're not going to start selling you stuff it's a chat to understand you because you might not be a good fit and they'll tell you that's cool it's fine but that's what you want to do or use one of the methods that we talked about last week on the podcast as well we can't work with everyone who listens to the podcast we don't have that many people in our team it's impossible there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of you so there's lots and lots of people who listen to this podcast but some of you if you're like me who's really busy but just want help to get a great deal then it's possibly a good fit i would get in touch for me i'm the perfect and you're the same rob you're the perfect type of client where we're really busy but understand the benefits of investing and this deal would i have had the time to go and do by myself absolutely not do i take full advantage of the business we run definitely it's just an interesting moment in the market and i think we wanted to help you understand that we are taking advantage of it personally as well and you can too whether it's with us or someone else or by yourself it doesn't matter but what matters is don't let this opportunity miss if you are able to do something and you're just waiting for times to get better then you will not get a deal like this you won't when times are better why on earth would the developer give away a deal like this it wouldn't they absolutely wouldn't so don't wait for good times because good times is when you get bad deals well that's right and well done to you for doing it because okay it's a bit easier because you're the company that sets up the deals so that was like ultimate easy mode but i think the point is like running a business is hard having the kind of job that makes you a high earner in whatever you do is hard it's always easy not to do something so even though you were doing it on easy mode well done to you for doing it and it's hard to imagine how you're not going to be really really happy with that in a few years time let's move on to hub extra 40 something edition we're going to be talking about our resource this week which is to do with stretching yes for the billionth time in my life i'm trying to establish a stretching habit i've never managed to make it work so i was just asking our producer dan for a resource this morning because i know that this is something that he has managed to make stick and he mentioned pliability which is a mobility app that gives you short guided routines we were talking about it in the past but i don't think we mentioned it on the show before so pliability is what dan recommended but i know rob that you've also got a stretching routine on the go and there's a youtube channel that you recommended called tone and tighten yeah it's really good really good die runs it i've used it for a stretching routine of course say though rob like i don't know if we've got any cool credibility but like if we had any it's just being eroded like bloke stretching like that's all i mean i would say though it makes such a difference and you feel so good afterwards so that is why we're talking about it because it is brilliant and i promise you it's worth implementing like i'm i'm trying to be super active at the moment playing paddle going to gym on a regular basis so i need it because i'm so active the most active i've been probably in 20 years so i absolutely have to do it but i feel so much better after every time i do do it so while it may not help any last remaining cool credibility we had we've uh got to recommend it because it makes such a difference and you don't have to be in your early 40s early 40s very early 40s next week we'll be talking about the best socks that you can buy in the market we will not i promise you that's terrible honestly i think losing our untouchable air of cool is probably pretty low down on our list of concerns so no damage done there let's end the show before it gets any worse thank you for listening thank you rob for sharing all about your deal and making us all feel bad.

26:00And thank you to you for listening. And we'll be back here to do it all again next week. We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.