My plan right now – as I type these words – isn’t to compile an in-depth piece on HMO’s, because that’s been done and dusted – right over here, in my HMO (House In Multiple Occupation) Guide. Go there if you’re still trying to figure out the basics.
So, the purpose of this blog is to focus on the tenant sourcing and management side of HMO’s, because that’s the stage – particularly the latter of the two – where most novice HMO landlords lose the will to live, and then contemplate going back to the Single Let model (which is like Disney World in comparison to HMO’s).
However, before you retreat and wave the white flag, perhaps I’ve got a cost-effective HMO management solution for you, which will make the situation bearable. But first. let’s cover a couple of methods you can use to find HMO tenants…
Finding HMO tenants
1) Ask existing tenants
Yup, it’s a no-brainier (or at least it should be).
Asking existing tenants whether they know of someone suitable to rent a room is often one of the most effective (and cheapest) means of replacing tenants in HMO’s.
2) Online agents / house share websites
If tactic #1 fails, this is where I’d look for answers! I’d use an online letting agent because they’re super effective and a buttload cheaper than using a traditional high-street letting agent.
There are a shit-ton of online letting agents out there, along with house/flat sharing websites, but the following two are the winners I’d recommend utilising (because they’re free, effective and have a proven track record)…ServiceNotes / IncludesPriceAgent
Notes / Includes
OpenRent have been causing mayhem in the online lettings world for quite some time now, and that’s because of their 5 day free trial, which remarkably includes advertising your property on Rightmove, Zoopla & Prime Location. Yup, all for free (and no credit card details required, or anything equally as shady)! After the free trial, and there is absolutely no obligation to continue using their service, but if you want to, it will cost £24, which is a bargain.
For more details, read my OpenRent review, along with a bunch of feedback from other real landlords who have used their service.Price
Free TrialTry Free TrialService
Notes / Includes
SpareRoom is UK’s most popular House/Flat sharing website, and the odds are you already use their their platform to generate leads if you’re a HMO landlords.
Spareroom won’t distribute your properties across different platforms (e.g. Rightmove and Zoopla) like OpenRent, but that’s ok, because they don’t need to – they receive more than enough prospective HMO tenant’s directly scouring their website.Price FreeVisit Website
My advice? Use both OpenRent and Spareroom to find tenants quickly, they’re free!
3) Local high-street agent
As always, you can pop down your local high-street agent and get them to source you a tenant… for an extortionate amount of cheese. It’s also one of the least favoured option by HMO landlords, because most HMO landlords are experienced enough to source their own tenants, so they don’t need to rely on the high-street solutions.
Regardless of how you find your HMO tenants, I can’t emphasis the importance of thorough referencing enough! There’s also an added element of ‘match-making’ to consider when it comes to finding suitable tenants for HMOs, because you need to ensure everyone will play nice with one another. Unsurprisingly, domestic controversy with in HMO’s is not uncommon, not at all.
HMO Management Solutions
Most HMO landlords manage their own properties, which includes the soul-destroying tasks of finding tenants, tenant referencing, arranging tenancy agreement contracts, repairs management, rent collection etc.
It’s a lot more hassle than Single lets, simply because you’re dealing with multiple tenants, which means you’re collecting rent and arranging contracts from each one of them. That’s precisely why many landlords prefer handing over the day-to-day running to specialist HMO management companies and letting agents.
Of course, if it’s your full-time job, it shouldn’t really be an issue.
1) Local high-street agent
Your local high-street agent will most likely offer HMO management services, on either a per room or per property basis. From the research I’ve done, most charge between 12% – 15% of the rental income.
Generally speaking, agents charge more for managing HMO’s than Single Lets simply because of the extra work required to manage them. You’ve got no argument from me there. I get it!
2) Online agents & HMO management services
After running a few Google searches with the expected keywords, I came across a few online HMO management services offering mouth-watering rates compared to high-street agents. No surprise there.
If you’re not up to speed with the whole online agent ‘thing’, I recommend hustling through my online letting agent guide.
The most notable service I came across was Howsy.
Howsy charge a fixed free (as opposed to charging a percentage of the rent), and come fully loaded with quite a few handsome features, including a HMO tenant-find service! Howsy’s package provides a fully managed service, perfect for landlords that want to sit-back and handover the majority of the mundane day-to-day management. Details below:Letting AgentRatingContractNotes / IncludesPrice Howsy
Rating 4.4 TrustPilot Reviews Duration 12 month Notes / Includes
HMO Management package (per room)
Room Valuation
Marketing on the relevant portals (Spareroom, Zoopla, Rightmove, Gumtree etc)
Tenant pre-screening
Referencing
Tenancy agreement
Only start paying monthly fees after a tenant moves in
Rent Collection
Arrears management
Inspections - every 3 months, photo evidence & report sent to the landlord
Repairs management via our 24/7 call service -obtaining you quotes or we can use your preferred suppliers
Renewals and negotiation
Deposit protection
Free legal helpline
Optional Extras
Photography: £250 for Professional photos of whole house
Viewings: £300 for hosted viewings. Covers 30 days of unlimited viewings for the first room. It will be an extra £50/room for additional rooms if the viewings are done in the same 30 day window.
Pricing & Discount explained
*Inspection of the property (and all areas) required prior to agreeing to take the property on. The inspection cost is £100 and is not refundable.
*£26pcm price is based on one years' fee and with the usage of the discount (which qualifies you for 3 free months service). Normal price is £35pm.
*£41pm per room inside of the M25 with the usage of the discount (which qualifies you for 3 free months service). Normal price is £55pm.
**Sign up to get the first 3 months FREE if you mention you came from Property Investment Project. Price *£100 + £26pm per roomInc VATNormal price: £100 + £35pm
Discount availableVisit Website**First 3 Months FREE if you mention PIP!
Please note, I try my best to keep the information accurate and up-to-date, but you should read the T&C’s from service providers website for the most up-to-date information.
Update: Howsy stumbled across my blog post (probably because their analytic tools noticed I was sending their website traffic), and as a thank you for featuring their service, they have generously provided me with an exclusive deal to share: if you sign up to their service, you get 2 months free if you mention you came from Property Investment Project. Enjoy!
When HMO management solutions make particular sense
Needless to say, there is an added expense when splashing out on HMO management solutions, so the figures need to stack up, and it’s up to you to determine what’s feasible (after crunching all the numbers).
However, that said, in some cases very particular cases, running a HMO without external management services often doesn’t make sense in certain situations:
Not ideal for newbies I cannot stress how much time HMO’s takes to setup, which includes conducting viewings, filtering tenants, meeting legal obligations, and managing HMO’s in general. Those are aspects of being a landlord that you can’t learn over night; it’s takes years of practical hands-on experience. Consequently, I don’t think it’s an ideal scenario for a brand-spanking-new landlord to delve straight into HMO’s; start with Single Lets first, and then hack off the training wheels after gaining experience.
However, life happens, and we’re all entitled to make our own decisions. If you do go diving into the deep-end with a HMO as your first BTL, I’d definitely consider looking at a management service, even if only for a year.
Long distant landlords If you live far away from the property!
Unlike Single-lets, which are often manageable from long distances, it’s extremely different to manage a HMO from a long distance, whether you’re an experienced landlord or not. HMO’s typically have much higher tenant turnover rates, and require a lot more attention in terms of maintenance and repairs. So it’s a hell of a easier when someone’s around.
Part-time landlords Being a landlord is a part-time job for many of us, so in a similar vain to living far away, if you’re unable to address matters efficiently to an acceptable level, then you’ll quickly find yourself dealing with… several dissatisfied tenants. Not just one.
24/7 availability A friend of mine self-manages a couple of HMOs (which houses about 20 or so tenants in total) and his phone is frequently buzzing with enquiries, varying in nature. When I say “frequently”, I mean a lot more than I would personally like, or expect from Single Lets.
If you want a layer of protection between those calls, and would prefer to reduce the probability of being disturbed, then you may want to consider a management service.
The thing with being a landlord is that you can’t just “switch off”, because you’re providing a service 24/7 (which will more likely to be the case with a HMO)!
Kommentare