TPP386: How to become a property super-geek

When we refer to a property super-geek you may think that we’re referring to the number one Property Geek, Rob D.  But it seems that there’s someone else who is just as excited by tech and property, and that’s Chris Ryder.  You may remember Chris from a few weeks ago when The Robs interviewed him about his serviced accommodation business and how it was coping during lockdown. Well, he’s joining Rob & Rob again this week to talk about all things tech in property.  Before getting involved in property Chris was in a good corporate career that centered around software development. Chris has since gone on to deploy different apps and systems into the day-to-day management of his business. So, naturally Rob & Rob couldn’t resist doubling down and getting unashamedly geeky about property and tech. Tune in to find out how these apps have changed the way in which Chris manages his portfolio. You may pick up a few tips for yourself if you self-manage your properties or you’re thinking about doing it.    Over the past few months we've shared a number of news stories around mortgage products and how much they’ve changed, particularly during lockdown. The long term trend with mortgages and rates was downward, and even with interest rates going up, mortgage rates were still low because everyone was competing for business.  Now, it seems that’s been flipped on its head. There’s plenty of people now seeking a mortgage but the rates aren’t particularly attractive. One broker Rob D spoke to recently even said that some lenders are currently putting their rates up because they wanted to become less competitive!  Lenders are actually struggling with their workload so much that they want to put people off from applying for a new mortgage with them. Absolute madness!    We’ve got another two resources for you for this week’s Hub Extra. Naturally they’re related to what Chris has talked about on this week’s episode, and they’re both helpful with connecting different pieces of technology together to do cool automated stuff for you. The first is called ‘if this, then that’ which allows you to connect different tools together and it’s pretty cool in the way that it works, just have a look at the website. The second tool is called ‘Zapier’ which is basically the same thing but a little bit more techy and more for connecting ‘small business’ kind of software.   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.