The HMO Podcast

In this guest episode, I am joined by Jade Bailey - the Creative Director and Founder of Beespace, a design-led creative property company that specialises in creating co-living and co-working spaces with a difference. 

Jade is best known for her incredible interior design and branding skills, and today we’re going to talk about Jade’s background, the importance of branding and design and how you’re going to apply that to your HMO property business.

 In this episode, JP and I talk about the importance of structure in your HMO property business, what it is, and how to implement it.  

The opposite of structure  is chaos and this is why structure is the pillar you need to build into your business as quickly as possible. Without structure, the systems you implement won't work, you'll have a higher staff and tenant turnover, and ultimately you'll make less money from your HMOs! 

If you ever feel overwhelmed about what you need to do next, then this is episode is going to help very helpful for you! Tune in to this episode now to discover the solutions you need now! 

In this guest episode of The HMO Podcast I'm joined by Josh David from Davis Hughes Property. In this episode we discover how Josh got started in property buying a single HMO for £44, and Josh talks us through how he and his business partner have transformed this into a £12mn portfolio of mixed assets! 

Josh's story is unique and is a rare and genuine example of what can be achieved through property investment. We talk about how HMOs have played a key role in this process, we talk through an important HMO deal that Josh and his business partner purchased and I ask Josh  what he thinks is important to know and do when it comes to investing in HMOs. 

Josh is funny, witty and and wickedly honest and he tells his inspirational story in such a way that it will make anybody see and realise anything is possible if you approach what you do with logic!

There's a lot to think about when it comes to HMO properties! In this episode, the second of a two part series,  I'm talking through the 20 steps you can follow to build a successful and sustainable HMO portfolio or business. In the episode we're going to cover the final 10 steps and how you can apply them to your HMOs, and by the end of the episode you should feel refreshed about what you need to do to scale up your HMO portfolio! 

1. Convert viewings to tenancies
2. Referencing and guarantors 
3. Taking Deposits 
4. Tenancy agreements 
5. Inventories and inspections 
6. Managing your tenants
7. Business financials 
8. Raising private finance 
9. Systems
10. Staff 

In this guest episode I am joined by my Non Executive Director John Paul, or 'JP' as he is more affentiontely known! JP is the CEO of the Castlene Group who manage over 2000 properties, he is an ARLA Propertymark board member, he is pioneering the Rent To Own strategy and he has successfully built several other business including his training and consultancy business and his own personal residential portfolio. 

As if that wasn't enough, John is also a former winner of the Sunday Times Letting Agent Of The Year Award and has achieved an Investors In People GOLD award, the first estate and letting agent in the country to do this! 

JP has been a Non-Executive Director to my company Smart Property for four years, and while he does not specialise in HMOs himself, he has been a key part of our success and strategy by imparting his experience and knowledge on business growth, strategy, systemisation and leadership, all of which we begin to discuss in this episode. 

There's a lot to think about when it comes to HMO properties! In this episode, the first of a two part series,  I'm talking through the 20 steps you can follow to build a successful and sustainable HMO portfolio or business. In the episode we're going to cover the first 10 steps and how you can apply them to your HMOs, and by the end of the episode you should feel refreshed about what you need to do to scale up! 

1. Goals, Strategy and Vision
2. Sourcing HMOs 
3. Appraising HMOs 
4. Planning the refurbishment  
5. Delivering the refurbishment  
6. HMO Designs  
7. Furniture and Appliance Solutions 
8. Certificates 
9. Utilities, bills, and going ‘all-inclusive’ 
10. Enquiries and Viewings 

Join me in this episode to discuss the 10 essential points to stress test in every single HMO property deal appraisal! If you master this skill and apply the principles to every financial evaluation, you can be confident you're making an informed decision, you can better prepare for the unexpected and you can set manageable and realistic expectations with your investors which will help you build trust and ultimately, ensure you are buying the best possible  property deals! 

Effectively using  social media is a great way to build you HMO property network, and it can also be an essential springboard for many investors who are looking to generate brand awareness and raise private finance! But are you finding it difficult to post and engage regularly on social media? Do you go through periods of being very active, only to find you lose your mojo?  Well if so, you're not alone! 

In this episode I talk about how to combat the social medial slump with some simple action steps that will help to get you back on track with your digital HMO and Co-Living property goals! 

Are you getting calls from your HMO tenants in the evenings and at weekend? In this episode I"m going to share how you can mange your tenants expectations when it comes to problems that arise 'out of hours'. I'm also going to share how I manage this issue in my businesses, and I'm going to help you understand if an out of hours service is the right decision for you and how to implement this into your HMO or Co-living business if you decide it is something you want to include in your management service. 

Getting the right 'look' for your HMO and Co-living properties is important, but it's not often easy; There are lots of solutions to achieving incredible interior designs if you know how, and in this episode I'm talking about one of my favourite methods of creating impact through interior panelling!