Advertise on podcast: Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins

It’s October. If your commercial property portfolio hasn’t performed the way you hoped this year, there’s still time to change that. Even if things are going well, these five moves could save you thousands and set you up for a strong 2027. In this episode, I’m sharing the five things I’d be doing right now: 1. Fill vacant units with Christmas pop-ups. Seasonal retailers, local charities and food banks can take your empty space on a short licence. They cover business rates, utilities and service charges, and you may be able to restart your empty rates relief afterwards. I’ll also explain how to make sure the unit comes back to you in white-box condition. 2. Prepare for lease events in the next 12 months. Renewals, rent reviews and break clauses cost money, so find them now. Check local rental levels so you don’t get caught out by a rent drop. If you have to give ground on rent, look at what you can win back elsewhere in the lease. 3. Cash flow your portfolio and stop paying tenants’ costs. I’ll walk you through the reconciliation I do every Friday. I’ll also explain why insurance, service charges and utilities should usually be recharged to tenants. Commercial property is a business-to-business relationship, so being “nice” can cost you. 4. Serve dilapidations before tenants leave. Don’t just take the keys back and pick up the repair bill. Set out the required condition early, and use the deposit or personal guarantee if the work isn’t done. 5. Talk to your professional team if they’re giving you sleepless nights. You’re paying them to manage your assets. I’ll explain how to hold them to account, ask for what you need, and smooth out the lumpy years so your income stays predictable. Which one will you do first? Tell me in the comments. I’d love to hear from you. Links mentioned Commercial Property Expo, 4th November, Manchester, 10am–3pm. Tickets are free. Come and find my team and tell them I sent you! Book your free ticket hereNew to commercial property? Head to ncrealestate.co.uk and click Getting StartedWant to talk to us? Book a call here

Are you actually building wealth through property, or are you just creating more work for yourself? This week on the Honest Property Investment Podcast, I'm joined by Scott Williams, founder of the Property Developer Show and Commercial Property Expo, to talk about building businesses, investing in property and knowing when it's time to change direction. Scott started his property career as an apprentice in 2015, bought his first property at 23, built and exited a finance brokerage and has since developed a successful events business. But his journey hasn't been straightforward. He's tried different business models, walked away from opportunities that weren't right, sold much of his residential property portfolio and learned that sometimes the best way to grow is to stop spreading yourself so thinly. In this episode, we discuss: Why Scott decided to sell much of his residential portfolio rather than continue accumulating buy-to-lets. How property investment helped provide the capital to build his businesses. The importance of recognising sunk costs and knowing when to walk away. Why being busy doesn't necessarily mean you're building a successful business. How Scott tested different businesses before finding the right opportunity. Why specialising in one area can be more valuable than pursuing multiple property strategies. The importance of building relationships and having people you can turn to for advice. How the Property Developer Show evolved into the Commercial Property Expo. Why commercial property is attracting interest from investors. It's an interesting conversation about property, entrepreneurship and the decisions we make about where to put our time and money. Come and meet Team NCRE at the Commercial Property Expo! The Commercial Property Expo takes place on 4th November 2026 in Manchester, from 10am to 3pm. There will be exhibitors, speakers and opportunities to meet other commercial property investors and professionals. My team from NCRE will be there, so please come and say hello! Register for your free ticket here:https://portal.commercialpropertyexpo.co.uk/attendee_register.php Find out more about Scott: Property Developer Show: https://www.propertydevelopershow.co.uk Instagram: @scottluiswilliams | @propertydevelopershow | @commercialpropertyexpo If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to the Honest Property Investment Podcast and share it with another property investor.

Are small businesses really being squeezed out of commercial property? And are only the biggest occupiers going to survive? That was the argument somebody made to me on Substack this week — but it simply isn't what we're seeing across the commercial properties we manage. In this episode, I'm sharing what's actually happening on the ground: the types of commercial tenants we're seeing thrive right now, the businesses I'm becoming increasingly cautious about, and what I look for before agreeing to a new tenant. We're seeing particularly strong demand from service-led businesses — including beauty, healthcare, counselling, care services, food-to-go and professional services — alongside continued demand for small workshops, storage and flexible business space. But there are other sectors where I'm asking considerably more questions before handing over the keys. I cover: The commercial tenants we're seeing perform well right now Why service-led businesses are proving resilient Why I love a boring 500 sq ft workshop or storage unit The tenant types I'm currently more wary of Why a successful business isn't necessarily a good tenant for your property What recent tenant failures across our own portfolio have looked like The due diligence we carry out on prospective tenants Why I want to see tenants thinking about business rates, utilities, grants and operating costs before they move in Why I'm increasingly interested in the person behind the business, not just the sector they're operating in The big takeaway? Commercial property isn't dying. Occupational demand is changing. As investors and landlords, our job isn't simply to find somebody willing to sign a lease. It's to understand who needs our space, why they need it and whether they've built a business capable of paying the rent for years to come.

I’m not an off-market deal girlie. There, I said it. There’s a mythology in property investment that off-market means exclusive, less competition, cheaper and therefore a better deal. But in commercial property, I don’t think those things automatically follow at all. In this episode, I’m talking about why I actively like dealing with agents, why having a property properly exposed to the market can actually help with price discovery, and why some of the hardest deals I’ve tried to negotiate have been directly with sellers who have simply decided what they think their property is worth. I also explain how we actually search for commercial property for our acquisition clients — starting with a clear strategy, understanding what’s on the market, analysing the right opportunities, making evidence-based offers and, importantly, building genuine relationships with the agents operating in that market. Because those relationships are often what eventually lead to opportunities coming to you before they reach the wider market. My point isn’t that you should never buy off-market. It’s that being off-market isn't what makes something a good investment. The numbers, the risk, the lease, the covenant, the location, the capex and the opportunity still have to stack up. If you’d like NCRE to help you find and acquire your next commercial property, you can book a call with the team HERE

What does success in commercial property actually look like? We hear a lot about achieving the highest ROCE, buying at double-digit yields, recycling every penny of capital and building bigger and bigger portfolios. But I’m not convinced that’s the dream. In this episode, I want to sell you a slightly different version of commercial property success. For me, the dream is owning an estate that pays you consistently, has enough financial resilience to deal with the problems that inevitably arise, and doesn’t require you to run it day-to-day. You have good professionals around you who do the legwork. They keep up with changes in their areas of expertise, put those changes into practice, manage the day-to-day and introduce you to the people you need to know. Your role changes. You become the Estate Owner. You make the overarching decisions about capital, acquisitions, disposals, debt, risk and strategy — while your professional team executes. And importantly, you can still get involved in the parts of commercial property you genuinely enjoy. The difference is that your involvement becomes a choice rather than an obligation. I also talk about why we don't tend to hear much from investors who have already achieved this. Perhaps the people quietly receiving their income while somebody else manages the day-to-day simply aren't spending their evenings at property networking events telling everyone about their latest ROCE. Because ultimately, I think there's a much more interesting measure of commercial property success: Is your estate serving you, or are you serving the estate? That’s the commercial property dream I want to sell you.

Everyone wants a higher yield from their commercial property investment... but are you prepared for what comes with it? In this episode, I’m talking about what different yield levels can actually mean in practice. I cover the risks you’re likely to encounter with 10%+ yielding properties, why 8–10% can offer an interesting balance between cash flow and asset management opportunities, and what you’re really buying when you move below 8%. I also talk about competition, realistic timescales for finding these deals and why a higher yield isn’t simply a higher return — there’s usually a reason the market is pricing the property that way. If you have a target yield in mind for your next commercial property investment, this episode will help you understand what you may need to accept to achieve it.

"I want an 8% yield." I hear a version of this from almost every investor I talk to, and there's nothing wrong with having a target return, but wanting an 8% yield doesn't mean the market owes you one. In this episode I break down the relationship between the return you actually want, the yield the market is currently pricing, and the risk you need to take to bridge the gap between the two, including what prime yield guides are (and aren't) telling you, and the one question you should ask every time someone sends you a deal "yielding 9%." In this episode: Why wanting an 8% yield doesn't mean the market owes you one What return do YOU actually want and why yield and return aren't the same word Working backwards from your required return to the right risk profile What a prime yield guide is actually telling you (and what it isn't) Prime yield as the market's risk benchmark breaking down where the extra 2.5% comes from Why "is 8% a good yield?" is the wrong question — two properties, same yield, opposite investments What prime yield guides ARE useful for Why prime yield isn't your required return Where the 5-Minute Deal Check fits into all of this Links: Run the 5-Minute Deal Check yourself → https://ncrealestate.co.uk/5-minute-deal-check/

If you think the reason you can't find a decent commercial property deal is the market, it isn't — it's that you're checking a couple of portals every few days instead of running an actual funnel. In this episode I show you exactly what my funnel looks like end to end, using a real client search that's been running since Thursday: 48 leads in, filtered right down to 2 genuine opportunities. Then I run both of those real, live deals through my 5-Minute Deal Check on air, so you can hear exactly how a fast filter tells you where to spend your actual time — and where not to. In this episode: Why "the market" isn't your actual problem What a real funnel looks like — alerts, one spreadsheet, a hard filter The numbers: 48 leads in since Thursday, only 2 good enough to shortlist Live case study 1 — a mixed-use freehold that looks fine on paper Live case study 2 — the deal that comes down to one question for the agent What both of these actually prove about filtering fast Where to run this same check yourself Links: Run the 5-Minute Deal Check yourself → https://ncrealestate.co.uk/5-minute-deal-check/

Get the 5-Minute Deal Check → https://ncrealestate.co.uk/5-minute-deal-check/ (£49 + VAT founding price, rising to £249 + VAT once the first 100 are sold) Every deal that lands on my desk gets the same first test before anything else happens: rough numbers, real risks, a straight verdict. In this episode I walk through exactly how I do that — and introduce the tool I've built so you can run the same check yourself in about five minutes. I also take a property that's live on the market right now and run it through the test in real time, so you can hear exactly what it catches that a quick skim of the brochure wouldn't.

Welcome to the second edition of my monthly NC Real Estate Economic Dashboard, where I take the latest economic data and explain what it means for commercial property investors. Rather than reacting to headlines, I use a simple dashboard to monitor the key indicators that influence commercial property and decide whether I need to change the way I analyse investment opportunities. This month, I discuss: Why 10-year gilt yields have edged back up and what that could mean for commercial property valuesWhy the Bank of England base rate has remained unchanged whilst commercial mortgage pricing has started to softenHow the latest inflation figures are influencing my view of tenant affordabilityWhat the latest RICS UK Commercial Property Monitor tells us about occupier demandWhy vacancy continues to rise even though tenant demand is beginning to improveWhat the latest investment enquiries reveal about buyer confidenceWhy I'm continuing to underwrite deals using a 9-month void period and 6 months' rent freeThe biggest risks and opportunities I'm seeing in today's commercial property marketI also explain the assumptions I'm making in my own deal analysis and why, despite some encouraging signs, I'm not changing my underwriting just yet. The purpose of this dashboard isn't to predict the future. It's to understand the current market, ask better questions and make more informed commercial property investment decisions. NC Real Estate helps commercial property investors build high-performing, income-generating portfolios that have the potential to increase their value — without the overwhelm.

In this episode of the Honest Property Investment Podcast, I sit down with Caryn Yuen and Antoine Dufresne from The Investables. Between them, they've invested in more than 50 property projects, giving them a unique perspective on what separates opportunities worth backing from those they pass on. Rather than focusing on how to raise private finance, this conversation explores what experienced private investors actually look for before they commit their own money. In this episode, we discuss: What first attracted Caryn and Antoine to private property investing.The first things they assess when reviewing a new opportunity.The due diligence they carry out before investing.The biggest red flags that make them walk away.Why the people behind a project matter just as much as the numbers.The common mistakes developers make when approaching private investors.What investors expect after they've invested, from communication to reporting.How understanding an investor's mindset can help you become a better property investor.Whether you're looking to raise private finance one day or simply improve the way you assess commercial property opportunities, this episode offers practical insights into evaluating risk and recognising what makes a project truly investable. Connect with Caryn & Antoine Website: https://www.theinvestables.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carynyuen/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.investables/

In this episode, I'm sharing a conversation from one of our Thursday night Members Club Q&A sessions after several members suggested it deserved to become a podcast. You can join the Members Club here ---> https://ncrealestate.co.uk/membersclub We discuss what's happening behind the scenes across the commercial property market, from institutional investors pulling back on spending to increasing rent-free incentives, cautious lenders and deals that are collapsing during lease negotiations. While the headlines often focus on interest rates or values, the reality on the ground tells a much bigger story. Understanding these market dynamics can help you negotiate better, analyse deals more realistically and avoid overpaying. In this episode I cover: Why institutional investors are cutting capital expenditure and what that means for the wider market.How increasing rent-free periods are reducing landlords' effective income.Why banks and valuers still appear to be catching up with current market conditions.Why commercial property prices may continue to soften.The challenges landlords are facing when letting vacant space.How solicitors are unintentionally slowing transactions.Why cash buyers and SSAS purchasers are currently in a particularly strong negotiating position.The assumptions I'm now using when analysing acquisitions, including realistic vacancy periods.A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation I use before deciding whether to pursue a deal.Commercial property has always been cyclical. The key isn't avoiding the market—it's understanding where the opportunities are and making decisions based on today's realities rather than yesterday's assumptions. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you subscribed to the Honest Property Investment Podcast and left a review. It really helps more commercial property investors discover the show.

Making an offer on a commercial property is about far more than simply negotiating on price. In today's market, understanding the wider economy and how it affects both investors and tenants is essential if you want to make informed investment decisions. In this episode, I explain how I use the current market conditions to shape my offer strategy, why asking price and market value are rarely the same, and how to negotiate professionally using data rather than emotion. I also share why my own underwriting assumptions have changed, from longer void periods and increased rent-free assumptions to higher borrowing costs, and how these changes influence the price I'm prepared to pay. Topics covered include: Why the asking price isn't necessarily the market value Understanding the agent's role in the negotiation process How the current economic climate is influencing my offers Using market data to support your negotiations Why your assumptions should determine your offer price Educating agents on how you've reached your valuation Looking beyond price and negotiating on terms Why today's market presents opportunities for disciplined investors The best commercial property investors don't make offers based on emotion or asking prices. They make offers based on robust analysis, sensible assumptions and a clear understanding of the risks involved. NC Real Estate helps commercial property investors build high-performing, income-generating portfolios that have the potential to increase their value — without the overwhelm.

Over the past few episodes, I've explored the key economic indicators that influence commercial property, from gilt yields and occupier demand to inflation and interest rates. But understanding these indicators individually is only part of the picture. In this episode, I bring everything together and explain how I use these indicators to assess the market and, more importantly, how they influence the assumptions I make when analysing commercial property investments. I also share the simple framework I use each month to stay informed without spending hours reading economic reports. Topics covered include: Why you don't need to predict the economy to become a better investorHow gilt yields influence commercial property valuesWhat the RICS Commercial Property Monitor tells us about tenant demandWhy inflation affects far more than just rent reviewsHow interest rates influence both landlords and tenantsWhy commercial mortgage rates don't always move with the Bank of England base rateThe assumptions I've changed in my own deal analysisHow I use economic data to build a more resilient commercial property portfolio Successful investing isn't about forecasting the future. It's about understanding what's happening around you and making sensible assumptions based on the current market.

Many commercial property investors assume the Bank of England base rate is the only interest rate that matters. In reality, commercial lenders consider a much wider range of economic factors when pricing debt. In this episode, I explain why commercial mortgage rates can increase even when the base rate remains unchanged, how lenders assess future risk, and what this means for commercial property investors. I also explore how rising borrowing costs affect not only landlords, but tenants too, influencing business expansion, demand for commercial space and ultimately investment performance. Topics covered include: How the Bank of England base rate works Why commercial mortgage rates don't always follow the base rate The factors lenders consider when pricing commercial debt How higher borrowing costs affect deal analysis Why interest rates influence tenant demand as well as investors How I'm stress-testing acquisitions in today's market Building resilience into your commercial property portfolio Understanding the cost of debt is about far more than watching the next interest rate announcement. It's about understanding how lenders think and ensuring your investments remain resilient in an ever-changing economic environment.