In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Elaine McLaren, chartered management accountant turned property investor. Elaine shares her journey from growing up in Scotstoun with early exposure to renovations, to leaving behind the corporate mould and building a portfolio designed to give her family more freedom and flexibility.

From watching Homes Under the Hammer to investing £15,000 in property training, Elaine reveals the importance of vision boards, long-term planning, and staying focused on why you started. She also opens up about her successes, lessons learned, and her evolving strategy — from building buy-to-lets to flipping properties and taking on HMOs.

🎙️ Episode Highlights

🌟 Early Influences & Corporate Life

• Growing up around property thanks to her father’s renovation projects

• Pursuing a corporate career as a chartered management accountant

• Realising she didn’t fit the corporate mould and wanting more flexibility

🏡 Getting Started in Property

• Inspired by a colleague with 13 properties and Homes Under the Hammer

• Investing £15,000 in training and waiting a year before buying her first deal

• Why she believes education was worth the investment

🎯 Building a Vision & Portfolio

• Setting her first goal: 12 properties to leave her job and focus on family life

• The power of vision boards to stay motivated and productive

• Growing her portfolio with her husband, including four properties in St Andrews

🔑 Lessons & Advice

• Do your due diligence before investing in training programmes

• When planning for retirement, set your financial target — then add two more properties

• Why involving your partner can strengthen your property journey

🚀 Current Focus & Future Plans

• Working on flips and managing an HMO

• Feeling like she’s “drifting” without a strong new vision

• Setting her next big goal: helping her husband retire so they can enjoy more holidays and freedom together

In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Graham Reeves, digital marketing entrepreneur, property investor, and founder of an SEO agency that ranks number one for “SEO Glasgow.” Graham shares his journey from struggling with dyslexia at school and working as a chef, to building a thriving online business and scaling a growing buy-to-let portfolio.

🎙️ Episode Highlights

🌟 From Kitchen Chaos to Business Hustle

• Growing up in Newton Mearns and overcoming challenges with dyslexia
• Working his way up from dishwasher to chef before leaving hospitality
• Learning sales skills through commission-only work and early entrepreneurial ventures

💻 Building an SEO Business

• Why college proved valuable but university felt like “too much fluff”
• Starting in digital marketing and discovering SEO
• Scaling his SEO agency during Covid through Facebook ads and ranking #1 on Google
• Recruiting and managing a global remote team across South Africa, the Philippines, and Serbia
• Tips for hiring and retaining top overseas talent

🏡 Property Investing Journey

• Entering property in 2023 after realising the need to invest profits wisely
• First six properties: leaving £27,000 in each but gaining £300/month net cashflow
• Learning BRR strategies and sourcing portfolios through a solicitor
• Latest deal: six-property portfolio with £7,500 left in each unit, generating £2,000 net per month
• Why he believes portfolios are the way forward

🤖 AI & The Future of Business

• How AI is transforming SEO and content with Google’s AI overviews
• Using ChatGPT to build scrapers and source landlords with large portfolios
• Leveraging AI to analyse CRM data, Zoom calls, and sales patterns
• Why he believes trades and service jobs are safe, but knowledge work is rapidly changing

From hustling cigarettes in the schoolyard to launching a marketing agency during Covid, Graham explains how his entrepreneurial mindset has shaped both his business and property journey. He also opens up about investing in property after a period of overspending, his strategy for buying portfolios, and how he’s using AI to source deals and streamline his workflow.

In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Phillip Stewart, a property investor and professional property photographer. Phillip shares his journey from a passion for landscape photography to building a successful property media business – and how he’s now using that platform to grow his property portfolio.

Phillip talks about working with estate agents, developers, and investors, and explains why professional photography can make or break a property listing. He also opens up about the challenges of starting his own business during COVID, the importance of branding, and how photography has given him a unique advantage when sourcing and investing in property.

🎙️ Episode Highlights:

🌟 From Passion to Profession

• Discovering photography at school and turning a hobby into a career

• Winning national and international awards in landscape photography

• Moving into property photography with McEwan Fraser Legal

🏡 Building a Property Media Business

• Gaining experience with estate agents before launching his own company

• Starting out during COVID while facing tough restrictions

• Growing a team of freelancers and scaling the business across Scotland

📸 Why Property Photography Matters

• How professional photos, videos, and floorplans boost sales and branding

• Case studies showing the difference high-quality marketing can make

• Breaking down packages, costs, and the value delivered to agents and investors

💬 Property Investing & Personal Growth

• Using his media business profits to buy his first rental property

• Training with Darren & Jillian Green and planning future HMOs and SA units

• • Balancing business growth with family life as a husband and father of two

  
  

  ----------------------------------------------------

  Know someone looking to sell?

  
  

  Send the guys at Prime a message now: https://wa.me/447938603856

  ----------------------------------------------------

  Follow us on all of our social media accounts and join our monthly networking events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee!

  Vist: https://linktr.ee/scottishpropertypodcast