So, you think you know about HMOs?
What image does your mind conjure up when you imagine an HMO portfolio? Chances are it’s not what we see!
Are you wondering what kind of tenants you’ll have if you were to invest in property? House(s) with Multiple Occupancy (HMO) are typically associated with student accommodation. And whilst this may account for some HMOs, at Platinum Property Partners, we like to do things a little… classier.
Take our partners over in Reading, for example. Snug Shared Living was formed in 2015 by a group of Platinum friends living locally in Reading.
They have a gorgeous portfolio of stunning properties which they regularly fill with working professionals. “We purposefully create communities to offer our tenants a home which is convenient for work and suits their needs. We also match them with like-minded people because it’s our housemates that make it a home.”
Creating this sense of community within your HMO makes a difference when it comes to establishing your portfolio. And it’s where our team of experts can help and guide you to do so.
Creating a vibrant shared space to suit your tenants’ needs
When it comes to the Platinum touch, we believe in quality over quantity. So, many of our franchise partners start by renovating their properties to a high standard of comfort. You’ve heard the phrase, “If you build it, they will come.” Well, Platinum partner, Mark Davies, is the epitome of this. As part of the Snug team, he and his wife, Sue, specialise in transforming their HMO properties to attract busy, young professionals. They supply high-speed WIFI and working spaces, so tenants can work easily from home, but also help them to play hard, with events like city-wide treasure hunts, BBQ’s, and bar crawls.
As Mark says, “We're not simply in the rental business, we’re in the people business. The Snug team is passionate about connection, community and collaboration, and we love seeing our housemates having fun as they create meaningful, lasting relationships – much like we do within Platinum. Like being in the wider Platinum franchise, working in partnership with our fellow Snuggers makes it easier to deal with unexpected developments. The future for our portfolio is about steady growth. We feel extremely optimistic we can map our way to a secure and comfortable retirement and provide our family with opportunities – something we’d never have dreamt possible if we hadn’t been drawn to Platinum 10 years ago!”
As a result of Mark’s attention to the human-touch, his 5 HMO properties and joint ownership of another 2, consistently see occupancy rates of 98%, and a gross profit of over £100,000 just this year!
Interior design to match your tenants’ lifestyles
When you first start your HMO portfolio, chances are you won’t have refurbished a property to this spec before. We’re guessing you won’t have any interior design experience, either. Which is why joining a franchise like Platinum Property Partners proves to be incredibly beneficial. As our Partner, Dominic Hegan, experienced.
“When my wife and I first joined Platinum, we worked with a purchase mentor, Mike Dixon. His advice was key, and we were able to invest in two properties from the outset. As one of the properties was a ‘light refurb’, we connected with Platinum’s refurb mentor, Kim Thorogood to guide us through this stage. Both houses were then styled by Platinum Power Team member Hedgehog Studios – they looked stunning! No way I could have achieved such a classy look for myself!
“We launched rooms for both houses in September 2020, and within two weeks, we’d let all 12 of them, giving us 100% occupancy within a matter of months. This brought us a return well in the upper end of double figures – quite an achievement in the year of Covid, and something I couldn’t have achieved on my own; my risk-averse plan, initially, had been to wait until covid ‘died down’!”
Partner with us for your future
As you can see, the attraction of Platinum Property Partners, is knowing there is a different way to ‘do’ HMOs. To find out more, we’d love to have a conversation with you about what your aspirations are, and what we can do to help you.
