The Scottish Property Podcast

Nick Ponty and Steven Clark

A weekly podcast focused on keeping property investors informed and educated on the Scottish property market. Co-hosts Nick Ponty and Steven Clark share their own experiences, answer questions and talk to experts in the industry.

  1. From Steelworker to 46 Properties and 800 Under Management

    1d ago

    From Steelworker to 46 Properties and 800 Under Management

    He had $300 to his name, sleeping on a mate's floor in Perth, Australia. Then a stranger in an empty pub changed everything — and 23 years later he owns 46 properties and manages 800 more. 🏠 In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with David Lamb — founder of Orange Sales and Lettings in the North East of England. David's journey takes in steelworks apprenticeships, delivering tea bags with a wicker basket, a commercial conversion that doubled in cost during Covid, backpacking through Southeast Asia on passive income, and a chance meeting with a stranger in a pub that got him his first offshore job. This one's got everything — the crashes, the lessons, the laughs, and a masterclass on building a letting agency from zero to nearly 1,000 properties under management. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Welcome & David's story in numbers 01:01 – Growing up in Billingham, Teesside 01:36 – Private school, kicked out, and finding his feet 03:01 – Walking out on his business teacher after 6 weeks 04:19 – Delivering tea bags door to door with a wicker basket 07:17 – First flip: bought for £52k, made £26k, slept on the floor 10:13 – The 2008 crash — and two new builds he'd just completed on 11:39 – Why new builds off plan was his biggest property mistake 15:03 – Zero knowledge of leverage — the lightbulb moment 16:46 – 46 personal properties: the buy to let foundation 17:05 – Converting 17 offices into 11 apartments 22:44 – Made redundant from the steelworks 23:30 – Backpacking Australia & Southeast Asia 23:51 – $300 left, Perth, and an empty pub 24:29 – The stranger who bought him a pint and changed his life 25:21 – Email Paul Gordon — one message, one offshore career 29:53 – Earning offshore and feeling passive income for the first time 32:33 – Rich Dad Poor Dad, all the books, and going property shopping 34:58 – The 17-office business centre: bought for £450k 35:24 – Covid hits — £450k becomes £750k 37:10 – Starting Orange from a portacabin on site 47:04 – First hire Charlotte — and building the team 49:37 – First agency acquisition 51:01 – Asset purchases vs share purchases explained 51:48 – How David structures every agency deal 51:54 – The deal that'll take Orange over 1,000 properties 53:22 – Why relationships are the real currency in business 54:09 – David's sole role at Orange now: buying agencies 1:00:15 – Business rates, national insurance & the real costs of running a team 1:00:25 – AI in property management — what David is integrating right now 1:03:44 – Why AI will never replace emotions in property 1:05:44 – The bank conversion: planning, apartments & serviced accommodation 1:07:07 – Wrap up & Marbella plans CONNECT WITH DAVID @davidlambproperty on Instagram NETWORKING EVENTS First Wednesday of every month 📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | Glasgow Follow our socials for speakers and details SPONSORED BY Prime Property Auctions — earn £1,500 just for sending a WhatsApp. If you know someone selling a property, John and Lewis will pay you £1,500 or 1% of the sale price (whichever is higher) just for passing on their details. They've paid out over £350,000 in referral fees so far. 👉 https://primepropertyauctions.co.uk/ 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode 👍 Like if you found this valuable 💬 Would you have sent that email to Paul Gordon? Drop it in the comments 👇

    1h 8m
  2. The Hidden Stress of Scaling a Property Portfolio

    Jun 15

    The Hidden Stress of Scaling a Property Portfolio

    A complicated miscarriage. A goodbye in a hospital room. Two years of everything going wrong. Then they bought their first property — Claire eight months pregnant, the world in lockdown. 🏠 In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Claire and Dan MacDonald of Cladan Property — a husband and wife team who started investing in 2020 with no strategy and a sold car, and have quietly built a portfolio of 24 properties in five years. This one isn't about overnight success. It's about a slow, steady, intentional approach — two young kids, a teaching job, a brand new mortgage advisory business, and a portfolio that's just gone through its biggest and most challenging growth phase yet. 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Welcome to Claire and Dan 02:02 – Growing up in the Highlands & how they met 06:39 – The honeymoon that sparked the business idea 07:54 – One-day property events & the financial advisor who said don't bother 14:05 – Claire's teaching career & the stress behind it 17:59 – The difficult years: loss of Dan's mum 24:26 – The complicated miscarriage & why it changed everything 00:20 – Claire starts investing eight months pregnant in lockdown 19:06 – First deal: analysis paralysis & what pushed them through 19:14 – Analysis paralysis & the first purchase 21:23 – Releasing equity to fund deals three and four 22:07 – Selling the car to fund the second property 32:13 – Working with Jillian and Darren Green — mindset & clarity 33:36 – The vision: cash flow number, lifestyle goals & what they're building toward 34:36 – Dan's civil engineering background & the move into property 39:11 – The pivot to short-term lets & the Highland cottage 41:04 – The cottage flat STL in Cardonald 41:14 – 8 months to get the STL licence — what they learned 43:26 – Winter cash flow struggles & the unpredictability of STL 43:40 – The Joseph Todd liquidation post & what it meant for the market 49:25 – Speaking at the April networking event — how it led to two portfolio deals 49:31 – Direct to vendor: the portfolio acquisitions that changed everything 53:31 – Tenanted portfolio — when the cracks started appearing 55:59 – Butting heads as a couple & how they're working through it 1:00:56 – Dan's mortgage advisory business & where to find them 🔑 KEY TOPICS ✅ Starting a property portfolio with savings, a sold car & family equity ✅ The real challenges of buying a tenanted portfolio — what nobody talks about ✅ ADS savings through portfolio deals of 6+ properties ✅ Short-term lets: the cash flow highs, the winter lows & the licensing uncertainty ✅ How speaking at a networking event led to two direct-to-vendor portfolio deals ✅ Balancing a marriage, young kids, teaching and a growing property business ✅ When to pay someone to project manage a refurb (and when their fee pays for itself) ✅ Why Claire and Dan prefer quality and cash flow over chasing numbers 📲 CONNECT WITH CLAIRE & DAN Instagram: @cladanproperty Mortgage enquiries: reach out via Dan's Instagram 📅 NETWORKING EVENTS First Wednesday of every month 📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | Glasgow Follow our socials for speakers and details 🤝 SPONSORED BYPrime Property Auctions — know someone selling a property? You could earn £1,500 just for making an introduction. John and Lewis handle everything from the first call to the sale. Over £350,000 in referral fees paid out so far.👉 https://primepropertyauctions.co.uk/ 🎙️ ABOUT SCOTTISH PROPERTY PODCAST Real conversations with real Scottish property investors. No fluff — just honest stories, market updates, and investor journeys. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode 👍 Like if you found this valuable 💬 Are you investing as a couple? Drop your experience in the comments 👇

    1h 8m
  3. The Homeless Landlord With 12 Properties

    Jun 8

    The Homeless Landlord With 12 Properties

    He owns 12 properties. He lives in his mate's spare room. And he accidentally bought a Chinese restaurant from an airport while flying back from Japan. 🏠 In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Isaac Cross — a former offshore worker and CERN technician who saved £140k, came off the Scottish Property Podcast course in January, and went all in on property faster than almost anyone they've had on the show. This one is raw, honest and genuinely funny. Isaac doesn't just talk about the wins. He talks about the bridging nightmare on five properties at once, the deals he overpaid for, the sourcing fees that didn't add up, the solicitor with 98 problems to solve — and what he'd do differently if he was starting again. 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Welcome to Isaac Cross & the 52 properties in 52 weeks goal 02:04 – Growing up between Aberdeen and Lanarkshire with a single mum 04:35 – ADHD diagnosis as a kid — and how it shapes the way Isaac works 05:21 – Wanting to go offshore like his dad 06:28 – Electrical apprenticeship & how he was the only one who applied 10:55 – Life offshore: earning £90k in his early 20s 16:20 – Moving to Switzerland for the CERN job 16:29 – The best job title, the most boring job 18:59 – First property: Holytown two-bed at 20 21:14 – Bad mortgage advice, blowing the profit, starting over 26:16 – The power of a good power team 33:24 – The Dennistoun flat — bought at home report in peak Covid 35:04 – Social media, personal brand & why Isaac went all in on content 36:38 – The January networking event that flipped the switch 44:04 – First deal in Aberdeen on a plane to Australia 52:07 – Five properties on one bridge — and 98 problems to solve 60:19 – The Chinese restaurant accident 62:53 – Bidding at auction from Heathrow flying back from Japan 66:45 – The community hub plan for the Carluke commercial unit 71:55 – First private investor on board & what comes next 🔑 KEY TOPICS ✅ How Isaac went from zero to 12 properties in 3 months ✅ Bridging five properties at once — the fees, the problems, the lessons ✅ Why cheap Aberdeen stock served a purpose but he'd do it differently now ✅ Sourcing fees that don't add up — and how to spot them ✅ Accidentally buying commercial property at auction ✅ Building a private investor relationship from scratch ✅ Why social media is already bringing the right people to Isaac ✅ His honest advice to anyone thinking about starting 📲 CONNECT WITH ISAAC Follow Isaac's property journey on Instagram — @isaaccrossproperty 📅 NETWORKING EVENTS First Wednesday of every month 📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | GlasgowFollow our socials for speakers and details 🎙️ ABOUT SCOTTISH PROPERTY PODCAST Real conversations with real Scottish property investors. No fluff — just honest stories, market updates, and investor journeys. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode 👍 Like if you found this valuable 💬 Would you have bought the Chinese restaurant? Drop it in the comments 👇

    1h 17m
  4. Scotland’s £10k First Home Fund Is Back — Will It Be Gone in Days?

    Jun 1

    Scotland’s £10k First Home Fund Is Back — Will It Be Gone in Days?

    The last time Scotland launched this fund it had £60 million and it was gone in eight days. This time they've got £100 million. Nick and Steven give it two weeks. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿In this month's market update, they break down exactly how the £10k First Home Fund works, what the catches are, and why investors should be paying attention too — because when first-time buyers pile into the 80–100k market, it gets competitive fast.That's just one of the stories this month. Gilt rates just hit their highest level since 2008. Scottish rents have dropped annually for the first time in eight years. And a new law coming in April 2027 means one tenant in a joint tenancy can end the lease for everybody — a potential nightmare for HMO landlords.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🕐 TIMESTAMPS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━00:00 – Intro & what's coming up this episode01:48 – Rants episode feedback — scarcity selling & FOMO in the market05:30 – The dodgy deal story — unfactored building, hole in the wall, empty property12:21 – Listener email — "Fatty" tells Nick to stop interrupting Steven15:04 – Fuel prices & the macro economy17:26 – CPI inflation came in at 2.8% — lower than expected19:47 – Interest rates & why cuts are off the table21:54 – The 80–100k sweet spot for Scottish BTL right now24:24 – Post-election results — Reform, SNP minority, what it means28:31 – The £10k First Home Fund — how it works & the catches32:16 – Last time this fund launched it was gone in 8 days34:00 – House prices & the Zoopla index38:07 – Average time to sell in Scotland: 15 days, fastest in the UK39:04 – Down valuations — are surveyors getting more cautious?43:01 – Rental market update — Citylets data43:21 – First annual rent drop in 8 years44:49 – City breakdown: Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh46:46 – Rent controls — nothing until late 2027 at the earliest50:36 – Rent adjudication changes — tribunal loophole closing April 202752:12 – Joint tenancy bombshell — one person can end it for everyone━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🔑 KEY TOPICS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✅ The £10k First Home Fund — how it works, the equity catch, and how long it'll last✅ Rants episode feedback — scarcity selling, FOMO and deals passed around 15 WhatsApp groups✅ Fuel prices, inflation & why CPI came in lower than expected at 2.8%✅ Interest rates: why three or four cuts this year is now off the table✅ Scottish house prices: Glasgow up 2.9%, Scotland up 2.6%, Aberdeen finally climbing✅ Average time to sell in Scotland — 15 days, fastest in the UK✅ Rental market: first annual rent drop in 8 years — and why Nick thinks it's already bouncing back✅ City rents breakdown: Aberdeen up 1.7%, Glasgow up 0.4%, Edinburgh flat✅ Rent controls update — nothing happening until late 2027 at the earliest✅ The joint tenancy bombshell — one tenant can end the tenancy for everyone from April 2027✅ Why this is a major problem for HMO landlords✅ Rent adjudication changes — the tribunal loophole is closing✅ Down valuations — are surveyors getting more cautious?✅ The 80–100k sweet spot for Scottish BTL investors right now━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📅 NETWORKING EVENTS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━First Wednesday of every month📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | GlasgowFollow our socials for speakers and details━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎙️ ABOUT SCOTTISH PROPERTY PODCAST━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Real conversations about Scottish property. No fluff — market updates, legislation changes, and honest investor chat every month.🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a market update👍 Like if you found this valuable💬 Do you think the fund will be gone in days again? Drop it in the comments 👇

    54 min
  5. Cold pitching in our Facebook group, dodgy sourcers, and LinkedIn spam — we've had enough

    May 25

    Cold pitching in our Facebook group, dodgy sourcers, and LinkedIn spam — we've had enough

    No guests. No filter. Just Nick and Steven saying what everyone in property is thinking. From deal sourcers pressuring investors to buy in minutes, to buyers pulling out of flips at the last second, dodgy sourcers, LinkedIn inbox chaos, ego-driven cliques in the Scottish property community, and yes — American tipping culture at Starbucks drive-throughs. This is the Scottish Property Podcast rants episode. It always does well. You'll know why by the end. 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Welcome to the rants episode 03:00 – Cold pitching in our Facebook community group 08:00 – LinkedIn inbox: why Steven doesn't go on it anymore 12:00 – Deal sourcers rushing investors into decisions 18:00 – The 6-minute deal — how much due diligence is that? 24:00 – Younger investors trying to keep up with social media portfolios 29:00 – A sourcer called Natalie — the community calling it out 34:00 – Steven's Florida rant: Starbucks drive-through tipping culture 40:00 – Scotland's property system: buyers pulling out with no consequences 47:00 – Three flips, two fall-throughs — the real cost of the Scottish system 52:00 – Non-refundable deposits: should they be the norm? 57:00 – Letting agents: the three-quotes rabbit hole 1:03:00 – Egos and cliques in the Scottish property community 1:10:00 – Going to other people's events — why Steven loves it 1:15:00 – Copying in business: where's the line? 1:20:00 – Every f****r's got a podcast now 1:24:00 – Wrap up, sponsors & G4 Studios shoutout 🔑 KEY TOPICS ✅ Why rushed deal sourcing is putting new investors at risk ✅ How to do due diligence on a sourcer before you spend a penny ✅ The case for non-refundable deposits in Scottish property sales ✅ Why cliques are killing the Scottish property community ✅ Cold pitching in Facebook groups — add value first ✅ Tipping culture in the US — a rant we all needed to hear 📅 NETWORKING EVENTS First Wednesday of every month 📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | Glasgow Follow our socials for speakers and details 🎙️ ABOUT SCOTTISH PROPERTY PODCAST Real conversations about Scottish property. No fluff, no filter — just honest talk from people in the trenches. 💬 What's YOUR biggest property rant? Drop it in the comments 👇

    40 min
  6. 17 years in the RAF, walked away 3 years before his pension — Ross Orrock's property story

    May 18

    17 years in the RAF, walked away 3 years before his pension — Ross Orrock's property story

    17 years in the Royal Air Force. Iraq. Afghanistan. The Falklands. Then he walked away — 3 years short of a guaranteed pension — to go all in on property. 🏠In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Ross Orrock — deal sourcer, property investor, and one of the most honest voices in the industry. Ross doesn't just talk about wins. He talks about the Samuel Leeds course that cost him £12k, the social housing Hmos that turned the community against him, the £44-unit rent-to-rent scheme that turned out to be a nationwide scam, and the Grade 2 listed cottage that cost him £90k in losses.250 deals later, Ross is still standing — and his story is one every property investor needs to hear.🕐 TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Intro: 17 years RAF, walking away from the pension04:00 – Deployments: Iraq, Afghanistan & 4 months on a Falklands mountaintop09:00 – The breaking point — missing 800 days of his daughter's life14:00 – Discovering Samuel Leeds on YouTube while deployed19:00 – Spending £12k inheritance on a property course24:00 – Starting from zero: divorced, sleeping on his grandad's couch29:00 – Why he chose deal sourcing over rent to rent34:00 – Building his personal brand on Instagram from scratch39:00 – Investor first vs deal first — Ross's strong take44:00 – The budget HMO years: cheap terraces, chaos, and high turnover50:00 – Social housing & asylum seeker contracts — bricks through windows57:00 – The City Gate scam: £44 units, a pyramid scheme, and a £96k investor loss1:06:00 – How it destroyed his reputation (and how he rebuilt it)1:12:00 – Why he ditched HMOs and went all in on buy to let1:18:00 – The Grade 2 listed cottage disaster — a £90k lesson1:26:00 – Building his own portfolio: 10 buy to lets and counting1:32:00 – How to onboard investors and weed out time wasters1:38:00 – Northeast property market: where to invest and what to spend1:44:00 – Oric Property: sourcing, lettings & estate agency🔑 KEY TOPICS✅ Leaving the military 3 years short of a full pension✅ The honest truth about property courses — are they worth it?✅ Why budget HMOs are a trap (and what works instead)✅ The City Gate rent-to-rent scam exposed✅ Social housing & asylum seeker contracts — the real story✅ Why Ross never puts his name against third-party builders✅ Investors first vs deals first — the debate settled✅ Long term capital growth vs cash flow — where the real wealth is✅ Northeast England property: areas, prices & what to expect🎙️ ABOUT SCOTTISH PROPERTY PODCASTReal conversations with real property investors. No fluff — the wins, the losses, and everything in between.👍 Like if you found this valuable💬 Have you ever been caught out by a property scam? Drop it in the comments 👇

    1h 7m
  7. £5M retail brand, 10 cash properties, still lives at home — Taylor McNeillie's no-excuses story

    May 11

    £5M retail brand, 10 cash properties, still lives at home — Taylor McNeillie's no-excuses story

    At 23 years old, Taylor McNeillie has built a £700k property portfolio — mortgage free — while running a retail business doing over £1 million a year. And he still lives at home. 🏠 In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Taylor to hear the full story: from reselling Yeezys at 12 years old and skipping class to cop Supreme drops, to opening Empire Glasgow at 18, scaling to £1.8 million in revenue, and quietly buying 10 properties in cash before most people his age have a savings account. This one is packed with lessons on business, money, social media, and why building a cash-generating business first might be the smartest property strategy of all. 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Intro: Taylor's story in numbers 02:30 – Growing up in East Dorsetshire & early entrepreneurial spark 06:00 – Reselling Yeezys at 12 using his dad's credit card 11:00 – Supreme drops from the school toilet at 11am 16:00 – Building the Empire Glasgow Instagram page 22:00 – Covid hits — and changes everything 27:00 – Opening the pop-up in Princes Square at 18 33:00 – Going full time: signing the long-term lease 38:00 – Silverburn Christmas pop-up & £790k quarter 43:00 – Running 9 staff at 19 — winging it and winning 49:00 – Revenue peaks at £1.8M — then the Yeezy disaster 55:00 – Business rates, retail challenges & Glasgow high street 1:02:00 – The property lightbulb moment & 500k sitting in the bank 1:08:00 – First deal: 2-bed in Cambuslang for £65k (never seen it) 1:14:00 – Buying mortgage free — the no-debt philosophy 1:20:00 – TikTok, the £28k flat and the "parasite landlord" comments 1:28:00 – 10 properties, £700k portfolio, still at home with mum 1:34:00 – Future plans: portfolio deals, refinancing & commercial property 🔑 KEY TOPICS ✅ How Taylor built £500k in business profit before touching property ✅ Buying 10 properties mortgage free in under 2 years ✅ Why he treats tenants like customers ✅ Using social media to find off-market deals ✅ The Yeezy stock crisis — and how he handled it ✅ Business rates in Glasgow & the retail landscape ✅ Why Taylor avoids serviced accommodation and shiny penny strategies ✅ His plan to refinance a portfolio deal and scale further 📲 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE 🏪 Empire Glasgow — Princes Square & Buchanan Street, Glasgow 🔑 Kyle Black — property sourcing 🔑 Callum McWilliam — Rapid Removals & sourcing 📊 Slater Hogg — letting agents 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode 👍 Like if you found this valuable 💬 What do you think of the no-mortgage approach? Drop it in the comments 👇

    57 min
  8. SNP, Labour, Reform — who's best for property investors in Scotland?

    May 4

    SNP, Labour, Reform — who's best for property investors in Scotland?

    The Scottish election is days away — and if you're a property investor or landlord, what happens on May 7th actually matters. 🗳️In this market update, Nick and Steven cut through the political noise and break down exactly what each party's housing policies mean for landlords, investors, and anyone trying to build a portfolio in Scotland right now.From ADS cuts to rent controls, council tax hikes of up to 500%, first-time buyer grants, and a housing building crisis — this one is packed with real talk on the policies that will shape the Scottish property market for years to come.🕐 TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Intro: why this election matters to property investors02:00 – Election overview: latest polls & party predictions06:00 – Reform's rise in Scotland & what it means10:00 – ADS (Additional Dwelling Supplement): party by party breakdown18:00 – LBTT: who wants to cut it, scrap it, or raise it?24:00 – Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR): is it safe?28:00 – Rent controls: CPI+1% capped at 6% — is that fair?35:00 – Council tax: the 500% increase in Midlothian explained42:00 – Short-term lets, Airbnb & the small business bonus loophole closing48:00 – Edinburgh tourist levy from July 202652:00 – First-time buyers: right to buy & the £10k SNP grant1:00:00 – House building targets: will any party actually deliver?1:08:00 – The £307k social house in Clydebank worth £200k1:18:00 – Build to rent, private equity & what Scotland needs1:25:00 – Energy, North Sea drilling & the Norway comparison1:30:00 – Who are they voting for? Networking events & wrap-up🔑 KEY TOPICS✅ ADS breakdown by party — Tories want to cut from 8% to 4%✅ Rent controls: CPI+1% capped at 6% — what it means for you✅ Council tax on second homes — up to 500% in some areas✅ Short-term let licence & small business bonus scheme changes✅ SNP's right to buy proposal & £10k first-time buyer grant✅ Why Scotland's house building targets keep getting missed✅ The social housing cost crisis & impact on private developers✅ Edinburgh's 5% tourist levy coming July 2026 💬 Drop your questions or opinions in the comments — who are YOU voting for?

    43 min
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About

A weekly podcast focused on keeping property investors informed and educated on the Scottish property market. Co-hosts Nick Ponty and Steven Clark share their own experiences, answer questions and talk to experts in the industry.

Information

  • Creator
    Nick Ponty and Steven Clark
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    335
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Nick Ponty and Steven Clark
  • Show Website
    The Scottish Property Podcast

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