Landlord Products / Services
I often wonder if HMOs are worth it.
They are, of course. I’m just whimpering.
But man, when you’re caught in the moment, the logistics of running a HMO can feel as comfortable as a cheap woolly jumper, especially when compared to the beautiful simplicity of single-lets.
Do you know what it is? it’s the high tenant turnover rate – the Achilles heel of HMOs – which means it’s not long before we need to go to market in order to fill another vacancy. Tiring.
Fortunately, much like everything else, running a HMO has become significantly easier as more solutions have been migrated from the real world to the digital world. In our case, finding and managing HMO tenants.
So, in this blog post, I’m going to cover:
- How to effectively find new HMO tenants (for peanuts)
- Some cool services that can help you manage your HMO
Finding HMO tenants
1) Ask existing tenants
Yup, it’s a no-brainer, but I’m suggesting it anyway.
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 HMOs.
2) Online agents / house share portals
If tactic #1 fails, this is where I’d go searching for answers!
I’d use the following websites to help market my vacant room(s), no doubt about it…
| Service | Notes / Includes | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
Agent | Notes / IncludesBest for Rightmove, Zoopla & PrimeLocation marketing if you’re looking for one tenantOpenRent is an online letting agent that has been the go-to solution for thousands of self-managing landlords in the UK. Not only is their platform brilliant, but they also offer a 5-day free trial, which remarkably includes listings on Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation. All you need to do is upload your property or room details onto OpenRent’s platform, and they will feed the information to the biggest UK property portals for advertising. Yup, all for free (and no credit card details required, or anything equally as shady)! After the free trial expires, there is absolutely no obligation to continue using their service, but if you want to, it will cost £39 for further 3 months of marketing! Bargain, if you ask me. For more details, here’s my OpenRent review. | Price Free Trial | Try Free Trial |
Agent | Notes / IncludesBest for Rightmove, Zoopla & PrimeLocation marketing if you’re looking for multiple tenants – list up to 6 listings per monthSimilarly to OpenRent, Quicklister is an online letting agent that will market your property across the most popular UK property portals, including Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket, and PrimeLocation. They have quickly become extremely popular among landlords, and I expect their momentum to continue growing. Quicklister offers a “Pro Lister” solution which costs £35 per month (cancel any time after 3 months, so minimum cost is £105), which allows landlords to list up to 6 properties per week. So this is a great solution for landlords that are looking for multiple tenants (which is commonly the case for HMO landlords). For more details, here’s my in-depth QuickLister review. | Price £35Per month | Visit website |
Service | Notes / IncludesMost popular UK house/flat share portalSpareRoom is the UK’s most popular House/Flat sharing portal. Marketing a vacant room here is a must! To quote, “Every 3 minutes someone finds a flatmate on SpareRoom. With the biggest selection of ads, you’ll find yours.” Need I say more? | Price Free | Visit Website |
Service | Notes / IncludesMost popular UK classifieds website, with a very popular property sectionGumtree is the UK’s most popular classified website. Yes, it’s a bit of a free for all, because you’ll find pretty much everything being sold there, from Pitbull terriers to second-hand prosthetic limbs. However, they have an extremely popular “Property” section, which is a hive of activity, bustling with prospective occupants. I’ve used Gumtree on a few occasions and it’s often proven to be my biggest lead generator. One word of warning, Gumtree tends to attract a lot of scammers, so it’s important to have your wits about you. | Price Free | Visit Website |
Service | Notes / IncludesLeverage Facebook’s gigantic userbaseFacebook Marketplace is relatively new but since it has access to one of the biggest directory of people on the planet, you can probably imagine how busy and effective it is for generating leads. I’ve personally never used it myself, but I’ve heard a lot of HMO landlords have success with it. Make of that what you will. Facebook Marketplace operates similarly to Gumtree in the sense that everything is up for sale (the clue is in the name). However, the good thing about it is that you’re not dealing with faceless strangers as you’re able to access people’s profile, which can be helpful when authenticating applicants. | Price Free | Visit Website |
My final thoughts? Using OpenRent and SpareRoom should provide enough oomph and create enough exposure to successfully get enough enquiries to fill a vacancy. However, there’s no debate about the fact that you’ll likely generate more enquiries the more places you advertise. So if you want to (or feel you need to) go for maximum exposure (which could result in a shorter void period), then go at it – get listed on all of the websites I mentioned.
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.
Useful HMO Management Services (which you may or may not of heard of)
If you use a letting agent to fully manage your HMO, these services will unlikely be relevant to you right now. However, they’re worth bearing in mind in case you ever decide to ditch your letting agent (and save a buttload of money in management fees in the process).
1) Ad hoc Hosted Viewing service
I’m going to highlight two unique and nifty on-demand services provided by Viewber that I think make life significantly easier (and less costly) for a HMO landlord.
First up, Viewber’s Hosted Viewing service – no service contracts, no tie-ins, just use and abuse the service when required.
| Supplier | Rating | Notes / Includes | Price from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Landlord Legal Service | Rating Google Reviews | Service detailsHosted Viewings on your behalf
How Viewber Works
*Viewing appointment price list
*Open House appointment price list
| Price From *£36+ VAT | More Info |
2) Ad hoc Inspection service
The second of Viewber’s services is their on-demand inspection service. Once again, no service contracts, no tie-ins, just use and abuse the service when required.
| Supplier | Rating | Notes / Includes | Price from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlord Legal Service | Rating Google Reviews | Service detailsRoutine or one-off property condition check service.
How Viewber Works
| Price From £44.5+ VAT | More Info |
Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each service up-to-date, but you should read the T&C's from their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information.
3) Regular Cleaning service
Not much needs to be explained with this, here are just a few options for HMO professional cleaning services, to help maintain the communal areas in shared accommodation settings.
| Service | Rating | Coverage | Notes / Includes | Price from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Service | Rating TrustPilot Reviews | Coverage Nationwide | Notes / IncludesRegular cleaning service (suitable for HMOs)
| Price fromDiscount code available£19 p/hour | Visit Website £10 Discount Code: pipd9el |
Service | Rating TrustPilot Reviews | Coverage Nationwide | Notes / IncludesRegular cleaning service (suitable for HMOs)
| Price fromDiscount code availableGet a Quote | Visit Website 10% off first weekly or fortnightly clean: APM1OFFD2 |
4) Split The Bills app
Apps to facilitate the management of utility bills have been blowing up over the years, and it makes sense why. They solve a very vital role in fairly splitting utility bills among all occupants in shared accommodation, and in turn help keep raging disputes at bay.
As mentioned, options aren’t limited, but SplitTheBills.co.uk seems like a good one that’s received positive feedback.
| Service | Rating | Notes / Includes | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Agent | Rating TrustPilot Reviews | Notes / IncludesShared Bills, Made Easy
How it works
| Price Get a Quote | Visit Website |
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
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