Finding HMO Tenants & Management Services

Finding HMO Tenants & Management 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…

Where to advertise for HMO Tenants
ServiceNotes / IncludesPrice
Notes / Includes

Best for Rightmove & Zoopla marketing if you’re looking for one tenant

OpenRent is an Online Letting agent, and they have been the go-to solution for thousands of self-managing landlords in the UK. Not only because thier platform is brilliant, but also because of their 5 day free trial, which remarkably includes advertising your property on Rightmove, Zoopla & Prime Location. All you need to do is upload your property/room details onto OpenRent’s platform and they will feed the details 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
5 day free trial, and then optional £39 for 3 months service.

Try Free Trial
Notes / Includes

Best for Rightmove & Zoopla marketing if you’re looking for multiple tenants – list up to 6 listings per month

Similarly to OpenRent, Quicklister is an Online Letting agent that will market your property on Rightmove & Zoopla, and quickly becoming extremely popular among landlords.

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).

Price

£35Per month
Cancel any time after 3 months.

Visit website
Notes / Includes

Most popular UK house/flat share portal

SpareRoom 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
Notes / Includes

Most popular UK classifieds website, with a very popular property section

Gumtree 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
Notes / Includes

Leverage Facebook’s gigantic userbase

Facebook 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.

Hosted Viewing Service
SupplierRatingNotes / IncludesPrice from
Rating

4.6

Google Reviews
Service details

Hosted Viewings on your behalf

  • Offer a 7 day service to vendors, landlords, buyers & tenants
  • UK-wide viewing service throughout the day, evening and at weekends
  • Book a time and place online through your dashboard
  • Trained, trusted and local viewing agents used
  • Individual Viewings + Open Houses
  • Guaranteed slot to see your property
  • Viewber has conducted over 300,000 viewings

How Viewber Works

  • Book a time and place
  • A viewber attends on your behalf (The Viewber collects the keys, or alternative key holding arrangements are possible)
  • Receive feedback directly to your inbox immediately after the viewing

*Viewing appointment price list

  • 30mins - £36
  • 1 hour - £49.5
  • 1.5 hours- £58.5

*Open House appointment price list

  • 30mins - £36 + VAT
  • 1 hour - £49.5 + VAT
  • 1.5 hours- £58.5 + VAT
  • 1 hour - £49.5 + VAT
  • 2 hour - £68 + VAT
  • 3 hour - £106 + VAT
  • 4 hour - £142 + VAT
  • 5 hour - £160.5 + VAT
  • 6 hour - £179 + VAT
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.

Property Visits & Checks Service
SupplierRatingNotes / IncludesPrice from
Rating

4.6

Google Reviews
Service details

Routine or one-off property condition check service.

  • UK-wide inspection service
  • Book a time and place online through your dashboard
  • Feedback including Photographs, Video and Opinion
  • Ensure your property is being kept in good condition
  • Professional property visit service - live or streamed
  • Routine Property Inspection report example

How Viewber Works

  • Book a time and place
  • A viewber attends on your behalf (The Viewber collects the keys, or alternative key holding arrangements are possible)
  • Receive feedback directly to your inbox immediately after the viewing
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.

Regular cleaning services (suitable for HMOs)
ServiceRatingCoverageNotes / IncludesPrice from
Rating

4.4

TrustPilot Reviews
Coverage
Nationwide
Notes / Includes

Regular cleaning service (suitable for HMOs)

  • Book & manage everything online
  • Insured & dedicated expert
  • Regular cleaning by the same person
  • No minimum contract
  • Daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly visits
Price from

Discount code available

£19 p/hour

Visit Website
£10 Discount Code: pipd9el

Rating

4.6

TrustPilot Reviews
Coverage
Nationwide
Notes / Includes

Regular cleaning service (suitable for HMOs)

  • Book & manage everything online
  • Insured & dedicated expert
  • Regular cleaning by the same person
  • No minimum contract
  • Daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly visits
Price from

Discount code available

Get 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.

ServiceRatingNotes / IncludesPrice
Rating

4.7

TrustPilot Reviews
Notes / Includes

Shared Bills, Made Easy

  • Energy, Broadband, Water, TV – all in one monthly bill, split equally.
  • No unexpected bills (uncapped Gas & Electricity)
  • Best suppliers used (Virgin Media for broadband and trusted gas & electricity providers)

How it works

  • Build your ideal package
  • Everyone joins the account
  • Split The Bills set up your services
  • Each pay the monthly share
Price
Get a Quote
Visit Website

1 Join the Conversation...

Guest Avatar
Gareth Birkett 19th September, 2019 @ 12:44

like the blog, think there is more issues that could be included

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