17 years in the RAF, walked away 3 years before his pension — Ross Orrock’s property story
Episode Overview
17 years in the Royal Air Force. Iraq. Afghanistan. The Falklands. Then he walked away — 3 years short of a guaranteed pension — to go all in on property. 🏠
In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Ross Orrock — deal sourcer, property investor, and one of the most honest voices in the industry. Ross doesn’t just talk about wins. He talks about the Samuel Leeds course that cost him £12k, the social housing Hmos that turned the community against him, the £44-unit rent-to-rent scheme that turned out to be a nationwide scam, and the Grade 2 listed cottage that cost him £90k in losses.
250 deals later, Ross is still standing — and his story is one every property investor needs to hear.
Episode Highlights
- Leaving the military 3 years short of a full pension
- The honest truth about property courses — are they worth it?
- Why budget HMOs are a trap (and what works instead)
- The City Gate rent-to-rent scam exposed
- Social housing & asylum seeker contracts — the real story
- Why Ross never puts his name against third-party builders
- Investors first vs deals first — the debate settled
- Long term capital growth vs cash flow — where the real wealth is
- Northeast England property: areas, prices & what to expect
Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 – Intro: 17 years RAF, walking away from the pension
- 04:00 – Deployments: Iraq, Afghanistan & 4 months on a Falklands mountaintop
- 09:00 – The breaking point — missing 800 days of his daughter’s life
- 14:00 – Discovering Samuel Leeds on YouTube while deployed
- 19:00 – Spending £12k inheritance on a property course
- 24:00 – Starting from zero: divorced, sleeping on his grandad’s couch
- 29:00 – Why he chose deal sourcing over rent to rent
- 34:00 – Building his personal brand on Instagram from scratch
- 39:00 – Investor first vs deal first — Ross’s strong take
- 44:00 – The budget HMO years: cheap terraces, chaos, and high turnover
- 50:00 – Social housing & asylum seeker contracts — bricks through windows
- 57:00 – The City Gate scam: £44 units, a pyramid scheme, and a £96k investor loss
- 1:06:00 – How it destroyed his reputation (and how he rebuilt it)
- 1:12:00 – Why he ditched HMOs and went all in on buy to let
- 1:18:00 – The Grade 2 listed cottage disaster — a £90k lesson
- 1:26:00 – Building his own portfolio: 10 buy to lets and counting
- 1:32:00 – How to onboard investors and weed out time wasters
- 1:38:00 – Northeast property market: where to invest and what to spend
- 1:44:00 – Oric Property: sourcing, lettings & estate agency
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