About this episode

Claire and Dan MacDonald share their journey of building a property portfolio amidst personal challenges and the pandemic.

A complicated miscarriage. A goodbye in a hospital room. Two years of everything going wrong. Then they bought their first property — Claire eight months pregnant, the world in lockdown. 🏠 In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven sit down with Claire and Dan MacDonald of Cladan Property — a husband and wife team who started investing in 2020 with no strategy and a sold car, and have quietly built a portfolio of 24 properties in five years. This one isn't about overnight success. It's about a slow, steady, intentional approach — two young kids, a teaching job, a brand new mortgage advisory business, and a portfolio that's just gone through its biggest and most challenging growth phase yet. 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Welcome to Claire and Dan 02:02 – Growing up in the Highlands & how they met 06:39 – The honeymoon that sparked the business idea 07:54 – One-day property events & the financial advisor who said don't bother 14:05 – Claire's teaching career & the stress behind it 17:59 – The difficult years: loss of Dan's mum 24:26 – The complicated miscarriage & why it changed everything 00:20 – Claire starts investing eight months pregnant in…

People in this episode

Hosts: Nick Ponty, Steven Clark

Guests: Claire MacDonald, Dan MacDonald

Topics covered

• property investment
• scaling portfolio
• personal challenges
• family dynamics
• financial strategy

Keywords

• property portfolio
• investment strategy
• lockdown
• miscarriage
• family
• financial advisor
• equity release
• analysis paralysis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cladan Property

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• Pension Funds Are Buying Rental Homes — So Is Buy-to-Let Really Dead? · June 29, 2026 · 43 min
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