Do you feel like you are your own worst enemy when it comes to creating comfortable and attractive spaces as you regularly make excuses for the common hurdles you face?
What is important to note as a HMO investor - you are not alone!
It is part mentality and part execution - but when you get it right, the reward is great.
So, do you ever find yourself saying any of the following?
I have limited time to research what the competition are doing
I have limited budget to spend on dressing the rooms
I not interested in dressing my HMO
I have limited time to research what the competition are doing
Time is a limiting factor for many as we live in a world that is the fastest it has ever been.
For some their current career, passions and family time mean there is little time left for other ventures. If you wish to make something happen such as get fitter, eat healthier, succeed in business or spend more time with loved ones, then you have to prepare for what you want. Things do not happen without effort. Therefore if you wish to create a HMO that grabs potential tenants when searching online and then gets them to commit to the room once they have visited the property, then you need to spend time researching your local competition and finding out what your targeted audience wants.
If you do not have the time to conduct the research then you could consider outsourcing this activity. If you wish to achieve success then you must be prepared to put in the hard work at the start. At TMG we are able to look after the process from finding properties through to sourcing tenants so an investor can be as hands off or hands on as they wish. We have a proven track record of dressing our HMO’s in high end products that make our properties jump off the screen at our tenants yet with budget levels also in mind. We have achieve a balance of good quality and well priced items giving a high end luxurious which suits our target tenants.
I have limited budget
Having limited budget is a big concern for anyone looking to invest in property. The typical way of looking at buying property is that you need a large lump sums of money to purchase the property, pay for the refurb, purchase items to fill the house such as furniture, white goods and then get the house marketed. All these expenses are vital and must be budgeted for at the start.
If you know your target audience then you can set budgets to suit these tenants. If you research the market you can find good quality produce that are well priced. You can not offer cheap plastic furniture to high end tenants and expect your rooms to rent and at the other end of the scale if you place furniture in rooms with tenants who will not respect these items then you will not have enjoy long life span of your furniture.
At TMG we mix high end items will budget dressing items such as Fusion Furniture HMO furniture packs with Argos bedside tables, kitchen salt and pepper pots from Poundland! It is about the look of the product and what you are using it for rather than the price tag. We now have a set list of where we get items from so we have a very accurate shopping list of what is required to ensure expenditure is controlled. We also re-use all our staging items as we are conscious of being efficient with our expenditure. So we remove all the kitchen and lounge items when the first tenant signs the AST and we then remove the bedding when the tenant signs their AST. We store all items in vacuum compact bags in our shed for the next HMO!
I not interested in dressing my HMO
Staging a property to sell or rent is the last important step and sometimes it can be overlooked. When you have spent time and money creating a perfect property you need to ensure that you can sell or rent the space. You need to create the environment to allow others to imagine themselves living here.
Some elements of business with not always play to your strengths or your interests but dressing a HMO is one of the final and critical tasks when completing a refurbishment. You may have a superb location with a property that has the latest mod cons but if the house does not grab peoples attention when seen online then your HMO will stay empty.
Again if you want to ensure that someone does this task who enjoys it or is better at it then you, look to add that person to your team. TMG would be delighted to help as we can show you the HMO’s we have created before and on what budget and from here we can assist in dressing your HMO to ensure maximum potential when the rooms go to market.
Feeling a little stuck in the mud?
It's essential to get yourself in the right frame of mind to start achieving the results you want. Once you are aware of these common drains on your time and results, it becomes so much easier to overcome them.
If you've found this useful and want to help a fellow HMO investor, why not share this article on your social channels? Better yet, show some love and give feedback below - we actively work to answer every comment and use feedback to improve the quality of future articles.
