A new app lets you invest in property from your phone
We have become used to doing our banking and investing from our phones, so now a new financial-meets-lifestyle app is launching specifically for investment in the UK residential property sector. If you’ve had your eye on the buy-to-let market, but haven’t jumped, from next month you can build a property portfolio with a few clicks.
Launched yesterday to a waiting list, with the app to follow on 4 November, this venture has been two years in the making, but as a digital disrupter it may not find it so challenging to soak up ready cash right now as the launch coincides with the latest property boom.
The app, called Portfolio, is what you use to buy stocks and shares in diversified residential UK property in areas the company has identified as yielding high capital growth. Investors get to see these glossy new acquisitions via the app’s video updates, property tours and event news to bring the experience of owning property to life. The founders want you to feel like an owner, not just an investor.
The cash goes into a fund, a REIT (real estate investment trust), which are much more common in the US than they are here. Portfolio buys, rents and manages the homes and then distributes the rental profits as dividends. If the value of the properties goes up then so do the shares. In effect you own a little bit of all the properties in the portfolio as it grows, which you buy and sell almost like other types of stocks and shares. I say almost, because you can only sell on one day a month. I was “in” when it called for initial investors back in March because it seemed worth moving cash in the bank earning nothing to a start-up.
It is the brainchild of Property Hub co-founders Rob Bence and Rob Dix, known to the 300,000 regular fans of The Property Podcast as the Two Robs. The podcast aims to “inform and inspire” listeners to take the plunge as responsible property investors, which has, until now, meant the sometimes long and painful process of buying bricks and mortar. Portfolio aims to make high-quality, well-managed residential property an asset class available to more of these potential investors, for less time and money.
Currently the minimum investment in Portfolio is £10,000, much less than the average £63,656 needed for a deposit on a single buy-to-let. And it’s much easier to get your money out of the REIT than out of a house.
“We wanted to make property investment accessible to those who lacked the time, money or confidence to invest the more traditional way,” says Rob Bence, Portfolio’s CEO. “When we asked our audience what was stopping them from investing in property, the top three reasons were money, lack of confidence or time – all barriers that are overcome with Portfolio.
How might this affect first-time buyers? “Through our relationships with developers we’ll be using Portfolio to bring additional supply to the market, as well as giving first-time buyers the option of getting exposure to the property market while they build their deposit,” says Rob Dix, chief product officer.
“By getting involved in property earlier than they’d otherwise be able to, it also gives younger people a way to actively learn about property, whether for an investment or when buying their own home, which they’re not generally exposed to in the education system.”
To access the waiting list, register at Portfolio.co.uk
A new app lets you invest in property from your phone
We have become used to doing our banking and investing from our phones, so now a new financial-meets-lifestyle app is launching specifically for investment in the UK residential property sector. If you’ve had your eye on the buy-to-let market, but haven’t jumped, from next month you can build a property portfolio with a few clicks.
Launched yesterday to a waiting list, with the app to follow on 4 November, this venture has been two years in the making, but as a digital disrupter it may not find it so challenging to soak up ready cash right now as the launch coincides with the latest property boom.
The app, called Portfolio, is what you use to buy stocks and shares in diversified residential UK property in areas the company has identified as yielding high capital growth. Investors get to see these glossy new acquisitions via the app’s video updates, property tours and event news to bring the experience of owning property to life. The founders want you to feel like an owner, not just an investor.
The cash goes into a fund, a REIT (real estate investment trust), which are much more common in the US than they are here. Portfolio buys, rents and manages the homes and then distributes the rental profits as dividends. If the value of the properties goes up then so do the shares. In effect you own a little bit of all the properties in the portfolio as it grows, which you buy and sell almost like other types of stocks and shares. I say almost, because you can only sell on one day a month. I was “in” when it called for initial investors back in March because it seemed worth moving cash in the bank earning nothing to a start-up.
It is the brainchild of Property Hub co-founders Rob Bence and Rob Dix, known to the 300,000 regular fans of The Property Podcast as the Two Robs. The podcast aims to “inform and inspire” listeners to take the plunge as responsible property investors, which has, until now, meant the sometimes long and painful process of buying bricks and mortar. Portfolio aims to make high-quality, well-managed residential property an asset class available to more of these potential investors, for less time and money.
Currently the minimum investment in Portfolio is £10,000, much less than the average £63,656 needed for a deposit on a single buy-to-let. And it’s much easier to get your money out of the REIT than out of a house.
“We wanted to make property investment accessible to those who lacked the time, money or confidence to invest the more traditional way,” says Rob Bence, Portfolio’s CEO. “When we asked our audience what was stopping them from investing in property, the top three reasons were money, lack of confidence or time – all barriers that are overcome with Portfolio.
How might this affect first-time buyers? “Through our relationships with developers we’ll be using Portfolio to bring additional supply to the market, as well as giving first-time buyers the option of getting exposure to the property market while they build their deposit,” says Rob Dix, chief product officer.
“By getting involved in property earlier than they’d otherwise be able to, it also gives younger people a way to actively learn about property, whether for an investment or when buying their own home, which they’re not generally exposed to in the education system.”
To access the waiting list, register at Portfolio.co.uk