Your First HMO Property Investment - 6 Key Steps To Success [#REWIND]

Most new HMO investors don't struggle because there aren't any opportunities.

They struggle because they don't know where to start. They get overwhelmed by all the information, worry about making expensive mistakes, or spend too long waiting for the perfect time to take action.

In this episode, I revisit one of the most important podcast episodes I've ever recorded because, if anything, the message is even more relevant today. I walk through the six key areas every new HMO investor needs to understand before buying their first property, and explain why getting these foundations right will save you time, money and a lot of frustration.

🎯 What You'll Learn

• Why you need a clear HMO strategy before viewing a single property
• How to find the right deals and build relationships with estate agents
• The planning, licensing and Article 4 pitfalls that catch out new investors
• The different ways to finance HMOs and recycle your capital as you grow
• What to expect from refurbishment projects and how to budget more accurately
• Why finding and managing the right tenants is critical to long-term success

If you've been sitting on the fence, waiting until you feel ready, this episode will help you understand what really matters before buying your first HMO and give you the confidence to stop waiting and start building your portfolio.

💻 Resources & Mentions

• Join my Accelerator Programme: If you’d like my direct input on your current or next project, you can watch this video or book a complimentary strategy call with me here.
• The HMO Roadmap: Feeling overwhelmed? Access 400+ tools, templates, and lessons to help you start, scale, and systemise your HMO business - all in one place. Join here.
• The HMO Community: Got questions or need support? Come and connect with 10,000+ investors inside our Free Facebook Group here.
• Social: Follow me on Instagram for daily HMO tips, advice, and behind-the-scenes updates here.

Transcript

Andy Graham (00:02.67)

Hey, I'm Andy, and you're listening to the HMO podcast. Over ten years ago, I set myself the challenge of building my own property portfolio. And what began as a short-term investment plan soon became a long-term commitment to change the way young people live together. I've now built several successful businesses, I've raised millions of pounds of investment and have managed thousands of tenants. Join me and some very special guests to discover the tips, tricks, and hacks, the ups and the downs, the best practice and everything else you need to know to start, scale and systemise your very own HMO portfolio now.

Andy Graham (00:40.686)

Today's episode is a rewind of an episode I recorded back in 2023. Now, over the last few weeks, I have found myself more than ever pointing people back to it. Because if anything, the message now is even more relevant than it was when I recorded it in 2023. You see, the market has changed dramatically over the last six to twelve months. Finance isn't necessarily any cheaper, but there's more stock coming to the market, and competition has eased in many areas, and in my opinion, especially adjusted for inflation. We are in one of the best buy markets that we have seen for a long, long time. 

And yet I speak to investors every week, every day, even, who are still sitting on the fence. They're still waiting for the perfect time, the perfect deal, the perfect level of certainty before they make their move. The reality is, opportunities don't stay around forever. Markets move, conditions change, and some of the principles that I talk about in this episode are exactly the ones that stop investors missing those opportunities.

And now is the time if you are gonna get into the market to get in the market. If you're not gonna do it now, you are not going to do it. So rather than recording something new, I just thought I'd bring this episode back to the top of the list. I know there'll be a lot of new listeners who haven't heard it because we're what nearly 400-ish episodes in now. But whether you've listened to this before or haven't, this is such an important episode. And hopefully it just helps you, refocus your attention and your efforts on what it is that you want to do. And I'm presuming that that is to build HMO business, to get started, to get liftoff, to start building your portfolio. 

Hope you enjoyed today's episode. Hope you find it useful. And more importantly, I hope it gives you the confidence to stop waiting and start taking action now. Let's get into it.

Hey guys, it's Andy here. We're going to be getting back to the podcast in just a moment. But before we do, I want to tell you very quickly about the HMO roadmap. Now, if you're serious about replacing your income, or perhaps you've already got a HMO portfolio that you want to scale up, then the HMO Roadmap really is your one-stop shop. Inside the roadmap you'll find a full 60 lesson course delivered by me teaching you how to find more deals, how to fund more deals and raise private finance, how to refurbish great properties, how to fill them with great tenants that stay for longer, and how to manage your properties and tenants for the future.

Andy Graham (03:00.62)

We've also got guest workshops added every single month, we've got new videos added every single week about all sorts of topics, we've got downloadable resources, cheat sheets and swipe files to help you, we've got case studies from guests and community members who are doing incredible projects that you can learn from. And we've also built an application just for you that allows you to appraise and evaluate your deals, stack them side by side and track the key metrics that are most important to you. To find out more, head to theHMOroadmap.co.uk now and come and join our incredible community of HMO property investors.

Andy Graham (03:40.63)

Okay, welcome back. So, today we're going to talk about what I believe are the six most important things that you need to get right if you're at the very beginning of your HMO journey, just starting out, maybe looking to acquire your first HMO. Now, look, I get it. I remember how much I sort of was afraid of taking that leap of faith and getting my first property. And there wasn't all that information out there back then. And I think that that's probably only made it even more difficult. Now, there's lots of really good information out there now, some of it's free.

Some of it's not. There's also a lot of information out there that's not so good. Again, some of it's free and some of it's not. So I totally sympathize. If you're not quite sure whether what you're doing is right, whether you should actually take this step. And if you're feeling a bit lonely, a bit apprehensive, a bit unsure about all of this, perhaps even if you feel like this is out of your reach, then today's episode is for you. I want to try and help you. And I'm going to do that by sharing what I think are the six most important things that you need to kind of nail if you want to get this just right.

So here's what we're going to tackle today. We're going to talk about the importance of really understanding HMOs. Then we're going to move on and talk about finding the right property and how we do that. We're going to talk about the legal requirements and the planning permissions that we need to think about when it comes to HMOs. Then we're going to move on and talk about financing HMOs, such a key area, something we absolutely have to understand and get right. And then we're going to talk about renovation and conversion strategies. And then we're going to talk about finding and managing tenants. 

So little bit to get through today, but I've tried to break it down, make it really bite-size. But look, today's episode is gonna be an overview, high-level breakdown of the things that you need to go away and focus on. We'd be here for hours, days, trying to explain each one of them in detail, and you'd be overwhelmed and you'd be confused, and I wouldn't be able to do it in a way that kind of gives you the personalized strategy that you need. 

But the good news is everything that I'm gonna kind of point out today, you can go and learn about in more detail and find tools and resources to help you execute in a really kind of strategic fashion inside the HMO roadmap. Now, I know that that's a little cheeky plug, but honestly, head to theHMOroadmap.co.uk. After today's episode, you're gonna find it a lot easier to kind of build on what we cover in today's episode. Right, let's kick things off by talking about how important it is to really understand HMOs. 

Andy Graham (05:55.724)

It really surprises me how many people still don't understand what a HMO is. Technically, what a HMO is. There's a lot of confusion between what a HMO is, HMO licensing, and Article 4 direction. So it's really important that these basics are absolutely nailed and completely covered. And then, of course, we can go a step further. We really need to understand the different types of HMOs. Why we might think about investing in social strategies or professionals, or students. They all behave really differently. 

The requirement for capital and experience and the barrier to entry is very different for each one of these strategies. So before you actually go out there and look at anything and decide, I'm gonna buy this, make sure that you know what you're looking for. And more importantly, make sure you really understand why you're looking for that. This is a step that so many people skip. They get blinkered by the idea of high returns, cash flow, a hands-off passive income.

And they forget to really think about what they want on a very personal level. That's why I built the roadmap, because it's designed to help you build a personalized strategy. But of course, that all depends on all of these things, the type of property, the type of tenants, your experience, the amount of capital that you've got, kind of your objectives, your short and longer term goals, all of this stuff is really, really important. So what I'm saying here is in this first part, it's really important part of today's episode, is until you know what your strategy is, and you really understand your strategy. Don't go out and try and buy anything. 

Nail that first, have the plan, and then go out and stick to the plan. You can be like a pimprick to the heart. You can go out and do exactly what you need incredibly efficiently. You won't waste anybody's time, and you'll find the whole experience much more enjoyable and much more fruitful. Moving on to the second thing I want to share with you today, then, and that is about finding the right property. How do we actually do this. I guess this is kind of the holy grail. 

How do we really know where to go and find the right HMO? Are we doing it online? Are we doing it offline? Direct? What sort of strategies do we need to be employing? What sort of tactics do we need to be kind of understanding and actually executing on if we want to do that? 

So, look, before we even think about this, we have to absolutely know the details of what we're looking for, really specifically, really get into it. So let's say we've decided that we're going to invest in.

Andy Graham (08:16.962)

Professional HMOs. Now, what we have to do is absolutely dial down the location, the size of the property that we are looking for. We need to really get into the types of floor plans that we're going to be kind of finding favorable for our strategy. As an example, are we looking for things that we can really add value to, in which case, having a loft that we can convert or a garage on the side or the front that we can convert? Those are the things that really kind of build on that strategy, that first layer of like your goal and your objective.

So until we know this sort of stuff, we can't really go out and try and find the right property. If we're just relying on scrolling through RightMove aimlessly, we're going to be looking at a lot of properties and then finding that we're doing the numbers and it's not stacking up. I want you to go into a lot more detail before you get to that level. So, like I said, the location, the exact location, I mean proximity to amenities, to transport links, to employers, things like that, the size of the property, the floor plans, the potential for alterations. And then you need to know what the local market rent is, you need to understand that detail because if you don't, you can't really stack the deal up. You know, if you're using our deal stacker, it's going to ask you, it's going to prompt you, well, what are the rents that you're going to be able to achieve? You need to know all of this stuff. 

Now, look, let's move on and talk about different strategies to actually find properties. Well, there are different methods. I would say that most of the things that I've bought and kind of the easiest way by a country mile is by working with local estate agents to actually find you the right properties. The truth is these guys hold most of the keys for most of the properties out there. 

Not all of them. And yes, there are some deals that you can find off market that people haven't discovered yet. But it's a really tough way, a really it can be quite an expensive way in the first instance as well. You have to sometimes throw a lot of money at this strategy to get it off the ground. And sometimes you could be waiting months, even longer. I know people who've done direct-to vendor marketing for over 12 months and still not yielded anything. 

And yes, it does work on the whole, but is it the best way if you're just getting started? In my opinion, no. Build good relationships with local agents. But of course, to do that, you have to know how to do that. If you just walk in, barge in and tell them that you're an investor and you've got some cash and this is what you want, they're gonna kind of just look at you a bit funny and put you at the bottom of the pile. Join the queue, because there are so many people going in and trying to do that thing.

Andy Graham (10:34.72)

It takes subtlety. It takes time. Nurturing and building these relationships in itself is a strategy. Arrange viewings, have the conversations, feedback, put the offers in. Even if you know you're not getting it, accept it, then put the offer in and tell them why that's your offer. And no, they might come back to you, but they might just say, okay, I get that that doesn't work. I've got something else that might work. Let me see if I can dig out a bit more information on it. Let me see if we've actually got the instruction and I might be able to send it to you. And then, you know, one thing leads to another, and all of a sudden, agents are kind of giving you a bit of an ear on deals that are coming to market. 

They're showing you a little bit of stuff or they're highlighting things that maybe you haven't even seen or noticed online that could potentially work. They might know that a seller has been waiting out and their circumstances have changed and actually they need to move a bit more quickly. And the price that they're actually asking online is probably not necessarily what they're prepared to accept. This sort of stuff, these conversations don't happen unless you're meeting agents and doing viewings. 

Couple of other strategies. Auction houses, good, can work. I kind of like them, but I also don't like them. I don't like the pressure of buying at auction. I kind of like it because it's exciting, but on in a practical sense, I don't like it. If you need funding and financing, you have to get all that stuff in in line. And because of the timelines, it's often sort of coming onto the market three or four weeks before the auction and you've got to get the auction pack checked out, do all your due deal, get it all your ducks in a row. It's quite stressful. If you've got the appetite for that.

You can pick up some good stuff, but you have to be prepared to be able to move fast. You know, you can't kind of go into it half-hearted. If you're gonna go for it, know you're gonna go for it and get everything in line and be incredibly well prepared. Because trust me, when that hammer comes down, you're committed, you've got to get stuff done. I would say if you're just starting out, it's probably not the best place to be looking unless you've got very deep pockets, you've got a lot of cash that you're already sitting on that you want to put to use very, very quickly. 

It's better if you can buy yourself a bit of time by buying stuff on the open market. Direct-to-vendor marketing, can it work? Yes, absolutely. What do you need to do? Well, consistently send information and marketing material straight to property owners' houses. But there's a lot of time and work involved in actually doing that. You've got to be really consistent and you've got to be, you've got to be really disciplined. And this is where most people fail on this one, unfortunately. Because they don't get results straight away, they get disheartened and they just forget about it. And that

Andy Graham (12:59.242)

is so unfortunate because if you give it long enough, it probably will work. But I guess what I am saying is if buying in the next two or three or four months is what you want, it's probably not the right strategy. You have to be incredibly lucky to find a landlord very quickly who, in the matter of two or three months, is ready to sell. Usually what happens is you send out your information, they get familiar with who you are, they like the brand, they start to trust you and like you. And then in three, six, nine, twelve months' time, when their circumstances change, when they decide that the Tories of I've ruined it for them. 

At that point, they might pick up the phone and call you because you're the guy, you're the girl that's been sending all of this information to them. You've been persistent. So that's kind of how you have to think about direct-to-vendor. But hopefully that gives you some ideas. And look, there's a lot more information inside the roadmap on every single one of those points just covered there. All of the detail you need if you actually want to execute on it, if you actually want to go away and build those relationships, or if you actually want to build a successful direct-to-vendor campaign, you can find that sort of stuff inside the roadmap.

Number three, then the third thing I want to talk to you about today is the legal requirements and the planning permissions. Unfortunately, it is quite a complicated sector, and a lot of new investors don't quite grasp this. And unfortunately, a lot of agents selling HMOs and a lot of people even own HMOs, you've got them existing. They don't really understand this. And it is a bit of a minefield. So I guess a big part of this point is if you don't know and understand this, there's a real risk.

That you will actually buy something that isn't compliant and you will waste tens of thousands of pounds, possibly more, and end up with a real problem on your hand. And unfortunately, I have seen this happen so many times. Quick example: HMO licensing standards have changed over the last five years. Different councils employ different standards. Well, something that's licensed today may not be licensable when it comes up for renewal. When somebody sells a property, they sell it to you, you buy it.

You have to apply for that license. So you've either got to renew or sort of get a new license. At that point, you're going to be assessed against the new criteria. And if that new criteria means that that fifth attic bedroom that isn't quite big enough anymore isn't licensable, you thought you were buying a five bed, but actually what you've bought is a very expensive four-bed. That could be a 40, 50,000 pound mistakes. And I have seen this happen honestly dozens of times. It's really sad to see, but

Andy Graham (15:21.016)

there are lots of savvy landlords who know about this stuff selling before things like their licensing comes up for renewal. So be aware of that. Article four directions. Really important to understand article four directions. Really important to understand where in your location that article four direction is. And really important to understand what things on the fringe of that article four direction look like in terms of desirability for tenants. Are there opportunities on the edges and on the fringes?

But understanding why properties within an article four direction are more expensive is so important. Understanding how the valuation at the end, the commercial value, might change depending on whether or not you're inside or outside an area with an article four direction. These sorts of things are incredibly important. and just back to licensing again, the criteria, so important because when you're specing out, and we're gonna move on to sort of refurbing and scheduling, but when you're specing out your refurb, you really need to know exactly what the license requirements are because things like amenity standards and bedroom sizes, all of that sort of stuff will heavily impact what it's gonna cost to actually do your refurb. 

No point buying it and then kind of figuring all that stuff out afterwards and realizing it's gonna cost you an extra 20 or 30 grand to refurb it because your kitchen and living space actually isn't big enough to get the HMO license that you need. So just a bit of a word of warning, but again, loads of information about this inside The HMO roadmap. 

Go and learn about the differences between C3, C4, sui generis, HMO licensing, health and safety regulations, even if it's not a licensable HMO, let's say it's under five rooms, there are still requirements that you need to consider. So a lot to think about. Go and make sure you learn it and absolutely nail it. Once you've got it, and it is pretty simple stuff, you just need to know what, you'll feel a lot more comfortable about what you're going out to do and what you're buying and all of your numbers. Let's move on.

Fourth thing that I want to share with you today or talk to you about today is the importance of financing your HMOs and understanding the different strategies or methods behind financing your HMOs. Now, yeah, finding the right property was the holy grail, financing your HMOs. I don't know what it is. If you get this right, it's the golden goose. And you need this goose to keep laying golden eggs because as long as you can keep the finance tab open, you can keep buying. And as long as you know what to buy and where to buy, you can build that portfolio and you can do it really, really quickly. 

Andy Graham (17:39.702)

So there's a lot of options when it comes to buying HMOs, various financing options from the high street. There's bridging loans, there's especially HMO mortgage products, there's bridge to term products, there's private investment, there's all sorts of things that you can use. And lots of creative solutions that you can actually employ to go and do this. You could use a combination of some investor finance and bank finance, but you need to know that different banks have different requirements and some will more heavily scrutinize you and some won't like the fact that you've borrowed from an investor and some won't care.

Depending on what you're proposing to do. If you're gonna do a refurb you're gonna do structural stuff, or whether or not you've got experience, this is all gonna impact and influence the type of lending and what you can actually do. The back end, your valuations, your refinancing. It's gonna be a really important part of your strategy, isn't it? Particularly if you want to recycle cash and go again and do the same. You need to know what's involved and how you can actually access commercial valuations. How do you really max out that value at the back end so you can get your money back out and go again?

Different lenders, different requirements, different sizes of properties, different types of tenant, different locations, article four, all of this stuff plays a role. But the good news is it's actually really simple if you understand the basics of it. Go back and if you haven't listened to it, listen to the podcast I did with Ellie about understanding commercial valuations. But all of this stuff, again, covered in detail in the HMO roadmap. The idea is you have a constant supply of funding through either private investment or capital that's being recycled from deals, cash inflow from your up and running HMOs, anything else you can think about, saving whatever it is, money that you've got coming in or being recirculated to keep building your portfolio. 

Let's move on to number five. Renovation and convergence strategies. This, in all honesty, is probably the area that people struggle with the most when they're just getting into HMOs for the first time. The truth is, it's really, really difficult to look at a property on Right Move or even view a property without the experience, have a good idea of what it's gonna cost to refurb it. And I completely sympathize. And even now, sometimes I look at some different types of projects and I do kind of struggle. I think on pretty standard stuff and things that I'm familiar with buying, I like to buy the same sorts of properties every time. And I can get within about five percent of my budget every single time. But of course, that's experience. Without the experience, how can you possibly expect yourself to be able to do that? The truth is you're gonna need some help. You're gonna need to understand.

Andy Graham (20:04.75)

What electrics cost and what the plumbing costs and what it costs to put en suites in, and what flooring for a thousand square foot property is going to cost, and what it might cost to re-roof a house, and what labor costs, and what kitchens cost, and all of that stuff. 

So don't beat yourself up too much on this. But what I want you to really take away, first and foremost, is that it's a bit of a question mark, and you've got to build that question mark into your model. Most people do underestimate what it's going to cost. And what I would say.

You can probably bet that if you're doing a fairly full refurb, sort of a back-to-bricky type of job, you're gonna be doing some electrics and some plumbing, you're gonna be at around £100 a square foot. So if you've got a thousand square foot property, which I can comfortably get five good bedrooms in, that's probably gonna cost you about a hundred grand. Now, of course, you can do refurbs on far less. They're gonna be cosmetic refurbs where you're changing the furniture, maybe spraying the kitchen or just sort of upgrading the kitchen, maybe you're

Changing one or two of the bathrooms. Those sorts of cosmetic refurbs cost a lot less, but of course, you're going to find it much more difficult to physically and fundamentally add value. You're not going to be able to convert an attic on a 20,000, 25,000 pound budget if you've also got to replace the flooring and paint and redecorate and do all the furniture. So you've got to be practical and you've got to be realistic about this sort of thing. That said, particularly with things like the rent to rent, I learned to execute on low budget refurbs really well and find a way to get a huge bang for my book on those smaller refurbs. Even sort of ten to fifteen thousand pound refurbs, we could find ways of really pushing up the rent, but it is a bit more challenging to push up the value of the property because you're often not fundamentally making any changes. You're not upgrading the heating system, the electrical system, you're not updating or improving the floor plan. You're probably not changing doors and windows. So materially, you're not adding much value, but you are adding rental value. 

So there's a couple of things to think about there, but don't worry if you feel a bit overwhelmed by this. You should if you haven't got any experience. That's absolutely fine. One of the great things you'll find inside the HMO roadmap is about 60 case studies, incredible case studies, really inspiring case studies from our community members. And we break it all down in there and we share numbers of what the reverb costs, and you'll be able to see the before and after pictures. And our community members talk about the problems and the challenges that they had through the build and things like that. 

Andy Graham (22:25.996)

So a really good way of learning through experience, actually looking at other people's projects and looking at, okay, well, they turn that into that and it costs them that. And you can start to get a really good idea of what it could cost you. I think that's a fantastic way, personally, of actually learning from experience-based investors. So there we go, refurbs and conversion strategies, a tough one, but there's a lot of information out there that you can go and find and work on to actually improve your confidence with it.

Number six, then finding and managing tenants. And this is the final thing that I want to share with you today. Before you buy anything, you really need to know how you're actually going to find and manage your tenants. If you're investing in a sort of a prime city center area with lots of amenities, universities, big employers, and you'll find lots of information and data that allows you to be really confident on the fact that you're going to find it pretty easy to keep your property filled. You're going to find it really easy to advertise to tenants and get tenants. If you're investing in a smaller town or peripheral location or an area that's not as popular, but is perhaps a bit more up and coming, you need to factor this in. It might not be as easy. And you need to think about what you might need to adjust or change to incentivize tenants to live there as opposed to living somewhere else. And those things are really important. And often new investors actually overlook them. They see a proximity, for example, to a city center, but that's if that's on the wrong side of the city. And I see people make this mistake with student accommodation all the time.

If that property is on the wrong side of the city, even if it's quite close to the city center or to the campus, tenants won't want to live there. So no matter what you do, no matter how good you make it, you're going to struggle. You're probably going to have to really compromise on, for example, the rent that you can charge, which then might change the parameter of your deal entirely, just to make it work, just to keep it filled. So you've got to get this bit just right. If you're investing remotely, you need to think about who's going to manage it.

Even if you're investing close by, you need to think about who's going to manage it. If you're going to self-manage it, you need to be really, really, really well prepared because the truth is, it really boils down to how good you are at managing properties as to how much money you're going to make. The refurb and buying it and getting all that bit is just the first bit. And that's actually the easy bit. The rest of it is about management. If you're going to rely on somebody else to manage it, you need to give this a lot of thought, particularly if you're investing in social or professional strategies, because

Andy Graham (24:45.708)

Unfortunately, there are not that many really good and experienced managing agents out there, particularly in peripheral locations or small towns. It's a bit different in the student market. If you're investing in students, you're probably investing in a prime city location. There's going to be, I would imagine, a lot of agents that you could pick from the high street. If one of them's no good, you can use another. But you're certainly going to be able to have a lot of conversations and pick someone and probably shop around a bit for the service that you want. When it comes to professional stuff.

It's a lot more challenging. And one of the things that I find a little bit concerning is new investors being influenced by managers who actually were just investors themselves, maybe have one or two properties themselves and manage their own and are now managing for other people. That's quite different. That is not necessarily an experienced manager or something that you can rely on building a portfolio or a whole strategy around. You need to give it a lot of thought. Now you might be prepared to take that sort of risk or a punt on somebody or a company.

But you do need to build it in. You need to think about that. So when it comes to management and finding tenants, there's a whole lot. We could open an encyclopedia on it. Well, the good news is all that information and everything you really need to think about in detail is waiting for you inside the HMO roadmap. But everything from certificates and the sort of legislative updates and best practice when it comes to managing tenants, communication, processes, documents.

All that stuff's there in the roadmap, and you'll find loads of templates. You know, simple things like rent chase procedures. You want a sequence of rent chase letters because one of your tenants is probably not going to pay rent at some point. We've got it for you. You can go and download the template, you can put your branding on it, and you can send it yourself. You don't need to think about it, you don't need to do the work. Particularly great if you are thinking about self-managing. And I'm not trying to put anybody off self-management. Actually, I think it's great. I don't actually think it's that difficult if you understand what to do, but the problem is.

Most people think it's easy and don't then go and do the work to find out what's involved and of course find it really, really difficult. Don't let that be you. Please don't let that be you. 

So look, guys, there we are. Those are the six things that I really wanted to talk about today. Like I said, this was going to be a high-level overview of the things that you need to go and really figure out. Once you have got it and you've nailed it, you'll feel a lot more confident. Once you've got that, you can go out and you can start viewing and then offering and ultimately buying things, knowing that you are doing.

Andy Graham (27:04.984)

The right thing by your goals, your objectives, and your strategy. But let me recap because I appreciate there's a lot of information that's come at you very, very quickly there. So first of all, we talked about the importance of understanding the HMO model, the HMO strategy. And under that, I mean, look, understand the different types of HMOs and things that are important when it comes to what you want to get out of all this model and you know do all that preparation before you go out there and start shopping. Then we moved on and we talked about the importance of understanding how to find the right property and the different strategies to actually source or acquire the right sorts of HMOs. 

We moved on to talk about the legal requirements and the planning permissions that you need to understand in detail. So important. Number four, financing your HMOs. The golden goose. If you get this right, you can keep buying HMOs, but you really do have to understand exactly how to do it and everything that's involved. 

Number five, renovation and conversion strategies. As said, you're probably gonna find this a difficult one if you haven't done it before you don't have experience in the sector, it's gonna be a challenge. But there's a lot of stuff in the roadmap that'll really help give you that confidence. 

And finally, number six, we talked about the importance of, I suppose, finding tenants and managing tenants. That is when the hard work really does start, I'm afraid, when it comes to HMOs. But you need to know what you're going to do about that before you actually buy your HMOs. It's gotta be a big part of your overall strategy. So don't skip it and don't wait to do it until you've actually acquired and done your refurb. Do it now.

So there we go, guys. Six things that I think if you absolutely nail, you'll feel a whole lot more confident and you'll be able to buy HMOs much more successfully. You'll be able to go out there and start building your portfolio. And I try to sort of prepare and record today's episode with myself in mind, thinking about the things that I struggled with back then, what my mentees struggle with, and the methods and the strategies that I've found myself and with my mentees and our really successful members in the community.

Things that they've done and employed and the kind of the things that have, I suppose, resulted in them being able to do it really successfully. So there it is. But like I said, it was an overview podcast episode, if you like. There's so much more to you've got to get into the detail. If you've listened to today's episode and you think, great, that's everything I need to know. And now you're gonna go out and try and do it, I guarantee you will almost definitely fail. It just simply isn't enough. You have to be prepared to put the work in. Look, it's touted as like a passive income strategy.

Andy Graham (29:28.296)

It's dead easy. The truth is, it's not. It's hard work. You need to do a lot of preparation. There's a lot of hoops to jump through. There's a lot of obstacles that you're gonna find in your way. Make sure you do this work first. I promise you'll find it so much easier, so much more enjoyable, and ultimately a lot more profitable. And you'll at least safeguard yourself from losing money, which is the biggest risk of all. And unfortunately, people do lose money, so don't let that be you.

Andy Graham (29:59.79)

That's it for today's episode, guys. Thank you for tuning in. I hope you found that rewind useful. Like I said, I think it's more pertinent today than it possibly was when I recorded it back a few years ago because the market conditions are so good right now. And if you have been sitting on the fence, this is quite possibly the signal that you need to get into the market, start taking action. Now, like I also said, today's episode was a high-level summary of some of the stuff that you need to do, but it's not all of it.

Head to theHMOroadmap.co.uk right now if you are just getting started and go and get your hands on everything else that you need, the templates, the documents, the resources, the video lessons, the case studies, and a whole lot more. It'll cost you less than the price of a cup of coffee every single day. That's it. You'll be blown by what's inside there. 

But if you're already building your property business, if you're already underway, but you really want to put your foot down and accelerate things, just head to the show notes now and you can watch a video. And that video is all about what working with me is like. 

Now, if it sounds like the sort of thing that you want, if it sounds like the sort of thing that you need, then you can also book yourself a free strategy call and we could sit down and we can have a chat about your business, where it is that you want to go and how I can help you. If it sounds good, we can get going. I can help you build your property business. So just head to the show notes and watch that video now. And if you like, book yourself a free strategy call. 

That's it guys. Thank you again for tuning in. And don't forget that I'll be right back here in the very same place next week. So please join me then for another instalment of the HMO podcast.