He's your accountant by day and a 54-unit landlord by night. And he charges less than you'd spend on a Friday night out. 🏠

In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Matt Herbert — qualified property accountant and 54-unit investor across Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Matt covers everything from his dad being made redundant and discovering property by accident, to doing refurbs after work in his finance job, building a 54-unit portfolio, and why he'd rather help investors structure their businesses properly than charge a fortune for it.

If you've ever wondered what a property accountant actually does for your portfolio — this is the episode to watch.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Welcome to Matt Herbert — accountant and 54-unit investor

00:14 – Qualified property accountant at the Glasgow networking events

00:28 – 54-unit buy to let portfolio across Aberdeen and Edinburgh

00:52 – Why Aberdeen is controversial — and Matt's take on it

01:30 – Growing up: dad moved from Wales to Aberdeen for oil and gas

02:06 – Dad made redundant and retrained as a teacher — the lesson it taught Matt

05:54 – Dad's first property: rented to his girlfriend

06:54 – Oil and gas crash 2015 — everyone made redundant

10:40 – First investment property — and the finance stories

12:41 – The First Home Fund: government equity stake explained

14:03 – Planning to buy a bigger home — and how it changed

15:30 – First refurb: doing it himself after work in Edinburgh

16:59 – What clients actually want: financial freedom and passive income

21:45 – Ex-council and social housing stock — what to know

24:27 – Aberdeen market deep dive — buying flats under £40k

24:43 – Partnering with Aiden — sourcing and project management

26:39 – Finding deals at offers over £45k and getting them down

27:57 – Target ROI: 20–25% on all capital invested

28:42 – Aberdeen pitfalls: what to watch out for

28:52 – Structural issues in Aberdeen stock — the same problems everywhere

37:43 – The condemned street nobody saw coming

40:34 – Porous concrete explained — and why it's a serious problem

42:38 – Net cash flow reality: why Aberdeen yields aren't always what they seem

48:41 – Edinburgh: inflated rents and the Alex Walker connection

55:33 – Shareholder structure: getting the limited company right from day one

57:40 – Year end tax planning: what to do when the bill hits £50k

1:00:15 – Mortgage strategy: 75% LTV, five-year fixes

1:00:33 – Set and forget — why Matt loves boring, stable assets

CONNECT WITH MATT

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-herbert-fcca-76558a8a/

https://www.facebook.com/matthew.herbert.980

https://ljyaccountants.co.uk/

NETWORKING EVENTS

First Wednesday of every month

📍 Aberdeen | Dundee | Edinburgh | Glasgow

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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/

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💬 Would you do your own refurb to save money? Drop it in the comments 👇