HYPE invest

"What a beautiful house you have there 🏚...it would be a shame to smash it up 🤣"

Said no one ever 🤣🤣

The reality is, there are so many houses like this one that needs to be modernised in to bring back into the market for rental 👍👍

Think about it from the end users point over view or put yourself in their shoes. If you were to go into a rental home would you rather have one that is riddled with issues such as damp, dodgy plumbing and a kitchen straight from the 80s?

Chances are, unless you like the challanges of the above, you would like a home that is ready to move into without having to do anything. 😉😉

For me, I see my living space (home) as one of my most important asset because it is the environment that will influence you the most. Not only from a basic shelter needs fulfillment kind of way, but also for mental health and growth.

If you live in a house full of problems and disrepair, it won't do your mental health any good ❌❌

This is why, as a responsible property developer / landlord, I would always do my homes to the standard that I would like to live in - in fact, I would often also go the extra mile and upgrade things that don't need it 😁

I truly believe that us responsible property investors are doing the work of providing an important service to others and we should be celebrated 🎉🎉

Here are some before pictures of my next property investment before we send in the boys to start a ripout. This is the starting point and I can't wait to turn this house into a home again 🏡🏡

Follow me for more updates on this project 👍

PS. If you are looking to invest or earn a return on your savings, feel free to reach out to me for a chat 😉😉

If you are a property investor, here are my 4 reasons why you should work with property sourcers at some point in your property journey 😉😉

Since I'm being spammed by Black Friday sales, it would be a good idea to share this around as a reminder and a bit of sanity check 🐸🐸

Before you rush out and spend your money on more stuff take a minute to stop and think...do you really need it? 🤔🤔

Chances are you don't and just because it is 40% off, doesn't mean you need to buy it...you're just spending 60% on something when you could have spent 0%. 💸💸💸

Because people are naturally wired for instant gratification, you could be making a bad decision based in feelings rather than logic.

This is important even more so now with high inflation and increase in the cost of living, you can't afford to waste money on luxury items and ignore the fact that you might struggle to keep the heating on this winter or put food on the table...you know the necessities.

Be smart with your money and look after yourself. Don't be foolish. 🙏🙏

That being said...if there is a Friday sales for properties...I'm all over it 😂😂

Did you know that valuation reports are extremely useful tools for property investors. 🔨🔨

When you purchase a property, the lender will instruct a valuation report to be carried out through a surveyor to “value” the property. 🏡🏡

Whilst this report can be long and daunting (my latest report was 50 pages long!), if you were to dive into the details, you will uncover a lot of information that the Lender is looking for which will give you an idea of what the lenders want to see and what areas they are covering in regards to their risks. 👀👀

This also gives us an indication of the lending appetite and minds of the lenders and what their opinion on the property market as a whole.

Here are some areas I pay attention to when reading a valuation report:

- The specific instructions given to the valuer from the lender ✍️✍️

- Location and general market information 📍📍

- HMO specific checks ✅✅

- Cost of conversion checks 💰💰

- Local Rental and Sale comparisons and the evidence to support this📈📉

- The methodology of calculation the valuation of the property you are purchasing / refinancing 📊📊

Each of these points is really useful for you to understand the point of view of the valuers and lenders when it comes to the property you are buying.

Regardless of what you think the property is worth, it can be vastly different from what a valuer would see it as and this could mean the difference between leaving little money in to leaving a LOT of money in the property deal. 😨😨

However, if you are to study the reports and with enough time and experience, you can learn the way valuers value properties and do the same for yourselves as a part of your due diligence process. 💭💭

If you are able to nail this skill down, you will be able to accurately predict what the property would be worth with a methodology behind it rather than “hoping” for the valuation you want. 🔥🔥🔥

I hope this is useful and if you have more questions about valuations, feel free to ask me! 😁😁

Behind door number 2 👀👀

7 months on and we have carried out an inspection on one of the flats that we completed on earlier this year.

I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting to see the flat in such a prestine condition when walking in. 🤩🤩

So much so that I asked the tenant if he would be happy for me to take pictures and use his flat as a example case study ☺️☺️

Very often we see projects completed and them being nice and shiny. But what actually happens 6 months down the line once it is being lived in is another story and can be a bit of hit and miss at times. 💫💫

But after seeing this I am ever more certain that if you provide the right product for the right people (and a bit of luck), you will have a match made in heaven 🏡🏡🙏🙏

I'm so proud of this project and happy to provide a quality and comfortable home for my tenants.

This is part of the joy of being a property investor and the positive contribution you are making by taking the housing crisis and providing a solution 🙏🙏

Have a great day everyone ☺️☺️

Part 2 - the rooms 📸📸

Big Reveal✨✨🤩🤩

After a couple of weeks of working on this conversion, I finally have the finished product for my 5 bedroom SA unit in Stoke. 🔥🔥🔥

For this one we took an existing HMO and updated the look to give it a new modern feel. 📸📸

I think it came out really well with the colour combination and a blend of urban (thinking New York urban apartment 💭💭) with modern and classy styles.

Working around with what I have existing was easy for me since the foundations of the property was done properly in the beginning (it had a full renovation in the past already). This allowed me to make recent upgrades with minimal effort and costs 👌👌

I'm looking forward to seeing how this unit performs 🙌🙌 (checked today and we have already got booking locked in for next week!! 🎉🎉).

What do you guys think 😁😁

Big Reveal✨✨🤩🤩

After a couple of weeks of working on this conversion, I finally have the finished product for my 5 bedroom SA unit in Stoke. 🔥🔥🔥

For this one we took an existing HMO and updated the look to give it a new modern feel. 📸📸

I think it came out really well with the colour combination and a blend of urban (thinking New York urban apartment 💭💭) with modern and classy styles.

Working around with what I have existing was easy for me since the foundations of the property was done properly in the beginning (it had a full renovation in the past already). This allowed me to make recent upgrades with minimal effort and costs 👌👌

I'm looking forward to seeing how this unit performs 🙌🙌 (checked today and we have already got booking locked in for next week!! 🎉🎉).

What do you guys think 😁😁

Part 2 with rooms coming soon. 🤩🤩

And here is one that we have done earlier 🙌🙌

When you scale up from doing residential conversions to commercial conversions, there are a whole new set of skills and challanges that you will be faced with that will force you to grow 🌱🌱

For this project, we converted a former office into a block of flats and it gave a lot of new challanges to consider and solve.

One of those challanges was figuring a way to keep the existing floor and working around the head height of the ground floor flats (as the building was on a slope and the elevations weren't the same). 😑😑

We tried to save costs by trying to reuse the existing floor but after the ripout and exposing beams that were rotten and brickwork that was unsafe, we ultimately decided to put in a complete new floor in the end.

It ended costing more but it is a better job than to try and keep the existing follow. One positive outcome that came with this was that the new floor meant that we are able to create a flat floor through the building which made all the other jobs (such as joinery and sound proofing) a lot easier job...and probably ended up saying us money 😂😂

The key takeaway from this is to have contingencies built in when doing any projects and also think about the level of job you are trying to do! This is just one decision amongst a lot more when doing a commercial conversion and it definitely isn't an easy ride. 😅😅

But the results and reward at the end are all worth the hard work and sweat (and sometimes tears) put into it! 🔥🔥👌👌

If you are interested in investing in projects like these and would like to learn along the way, I am currently looking for funding on my next projects and am offering earn and learn opportunities to you. DM me and let's have a chat 😁😁☕☕

We need to build more houses 🏡🏡

For those that are involved in properties, it comes as no surprises that we see news like this.

"Demand outstrips supply"
"rental prices increase"
"mortgage payments are no longer affordable"

These headlines above have sadly become all too common in the news cycle.

What is interesting is finding out the actual facts and numbers behind headlines and getting a real view of the current market situations.

The current demand for rental is up by 20% and supply is down 9% according to rightmove. Naturally this pushes rent up- to over £1100 on average outside of London locations.

Tenants are literally fighting to secure accommodation and it has brought in a rise of popularity of hmo rooms and especially studio rooms.

The smaller units, while still expensive, are still cheaper than renting houses and with the energy crisis also being a factor, allows tenants to have some security whilst being able to live in the location they want to.

The pressure is put onto us investors and landlords to increase the supply of these properties to the market to ease demand as the government certainly isn't doing enough themselves.

The government should in turn support us (investors) to increase the housing supply but alas, we are still quite negatively viewed upon despite all the signs pointing to what the solution actually is.

On the other hand, it confirms the opportunities available for us investors to keep on carrying on with what we do. The market is still there and strong and so the best thing we can do now is to just "keep calm, carry on".

Property investment is safe when you invest with facts, not fear 😉😉

Updating your old HMOs. 📸📸

If you have HMOs, no matter how new and nice and shiny they look straight after a refurbishment, there will always come a time where you will need to give them a new fresh look. ✨✨

This is down to natural wear and tear of tenants living in them and over time, it isn't enough to use give it a clean and call it a day (if only it was that simple to own HMOs 😂😂).

Styles and tastes also change over the years and to keep your property competitive with other providers, you will have to at some point do a make over.

For this 6 bed of mine, that time has finally come after 5 years of when it was first renovated.

I have given each room a new design that has completely changed the look and feel of the property, bringing it up from an average looking property to a more modern and chique theme (I won't show what it looked previously as it is quite embarrassing looking back 😂😂).

What do you guys think about this? Do you give your own properties a makeover every few years or do you not bother with it? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

I'm very proud to at last present the final pictures of this resi to 6 bedroom HMO conversion in Stoke. 🎉🎉🎉

This property was previously two separate flats which we decided to turn into a HMO with the co-living ethos.

It could have become a 7 bed HMO but the investor really liked the idea of co-living and giving more to the tenants in terms of living space (and all the positives that come with it). ✅✅

As a result, I had the creative freedom to create a house that flows well and allows for multiple zones. It has a living area, dining area, kitchen area, study/work area and separate utility areas. I don't think any students or working professionals would have any trouble saying yes to this property 😆😆

I sourced this project from the open market (it wasn't DTV) earlier this year, designed the layout and finishes from the very beginning and saw it through to the end with getting the furniture and dressings and doing the photographs 🛋🛋🛏🛏📸📸

First time I did a dividing wall feature and totally love it! It not only adds a feature to such a big space, it also gives that all important wow factor 🤩🤩

Had lots of fun with this one and looking forward to designing my next project for myself. It's going to be a 4 bedroom Serviced Accommodation 🔥🔥 be sure to keep an eye out for that!

Will post a part 2 with the bedrooms soon!

Bedrooms are the sanctuary of the house ❤️❤️

Whilst the communal areas of a HMO are often the centrepiece of the property, the bedrooms are the sanctuary.

It is the place where you can have peace and privacy and as such the most important area of a HMO in my opinion 😁😁

This is why we always take care in designing the bedrooms and making sure that it is as welcoming and spaceous as the shared communal areas.

When it comes to design bedroom spaces, I aim to design it so that the room is function, spacious and comfortable. This means designing with the location of the furniture in mind so that it doesn't feel cluttered or in the way of someone living in the room.

The bedroom should be a place to relax and unwind in private and is probably the place you spent most of your time in when living in a HMO.

So by designing this area well, your tenants will really appreciate it once they have moved in and chances are would love to stay longer 😍😍🙏🙏

Nothing fills me with more joy than receiving a review and feedback from a great client and property investor. 🤩🤩🎉🎉

I always value honesty and transparency and to have that reflected in this review is more than I can ask for 🙏🙏

This client is an overseas investor living in Hong Kong and put his faith and trust in me to source a property investment that suited him and to give him a one stop shop service and support. ✅✅

In the end, I believe I have delivered on that promise and was overjoyed with receiving such a glowing review 🙏🙏

Onwards to the next one 😁😁

For those who would also like to know more about my sourcing services, and would like a hands-off experience, feel free to contact me! 👏👏

Bedroom showcase ✨✨

Not to take anything away from the living areas but the bedrooms for this co-living style hmo is equally as impressive 😍😍

We have taken the various rooms in the property and crafted function spaces, paying special care to the layout and flow of each room.

By maximising the use of space and creating features such as built in desks and additional shelves for storage, we are able to turn what could be a small room into a 'homely' bedroom for the tenants 😊😊

Hats off to all of the teams of people involved in this project and turning it into a reality 👏👏

Onto the next one! 🔥🔥

I think we did it again 😍😍

I've said it before and I'll say it again; students are so lucky nowadays to live in houses like this. Student hmos nowadays are definitely not what they were when I was a student many moons ago 😂😂

I just love working with investors that want to put the time, money and care into creating rental properties that are better than their own homes! (Or better than my home anyway😂😂).

This property has gone through a complete transformation and is now ready to hand over to the students moving in this semester. I bet they will love it too.

Here are some showcase picture for the living and kitchen areas (and in my option, the best in the student area at the moment). Bedrooms to follow later 😉😉

It's amazing how the general news cycle around properties often contradict each other in the surface. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

With clickbating titles, it's easy to draw conclusions that might not reflect the true picture and often it isn't until you dig deeper that you find the truth behind the emotions these articles try to evoke.

So taking away the emotions, we know that the following statements are true in today's current market:

1) house prices have risen 15-20% on average compared to last year.

2) with inflation being at or near double digits, we may start to see property prices come down a little as people tighten their belts and wait to see what happens

3) the value of money has dropped due to inflation so it will be harder for people to buy properties due to affordability

For investors, it is important to keep a track of what is happening as it gives us a glimpse into opportunities that might be coming our way.

With current exchange and completion times dragging on for 6 months or more, we may start to see a surge in properties that was STC come back onto the market for reasons such as the buyer not being able to get the mortgage valuation they need or them deciding to pull out at the last minute through fear of a recession.

It is at this point, that investors can double down on their efforts to secure properties that might have been lost all those months prior.

It will be a good idea to revisit properties that haven't completed yet and see if it may fall through for you to come back and secure it.

If you invest with facts and not emotions, you will be able to find opportunities 💪💪

Some behind the scenes of this 6 bedroom HMO I sourced for an investor earlier this year. 😁😁

Just a few more running back and forth to the shops and then we can get the photographer in for the photoshoot 📸📸

This project was completely hands free for our investor and they already have property number 2 in the pipeline 🙌🙌

If you are interested in projects like these too and want to grow your property portfolio, feel free to contact me 📲📲

Ofgem raising the energy cap by a further 80% from October this year. You might as well just call it 100% and say it is double the cost. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Looking at the data, the cost of electricity is set to raise from 28p per kwh to 52p and gas from 7p per kwh to 15p.

This increase isn't insignificant at all and it will impact everyone living in a property (not just investors), which is not a good outlook to say the least. This is on top of increasing cost of goods and interest rates.

For HMO investors that offer an all Inclusive service (bills included in the rent), the upcoming months will be more challanging than ever.

Any buffer from a higher cashflowing property will quickly be eaten away by both higher bills and interest rates if you are going out of your fixed term period. Throw in a void or two and you potentially have a serious problem.

Under these circumstances, I can see the HMO market changing drastically over time. Here are some ways I think the market will change:

⭕️ Do nothing and just live with little to no cashflow and hope the situation changes in the short term (or before you go bump).

⭕️ Increase in rent for the tenants to help stem the bleeding from energy costs. (Some problems with this).

⭕️ A shift in offering and rent with bills NOT included (back in the good ol' days).

⭕️ A shift in strategy and repurposed your HMO to something else....ie for corporate clients or SA.

⭕️ Give up, sell up and go sell cheese instead 🧀

There will be some challanging times to come ahead for investors that predominantly rely on their cashflowing assets as a primary income. Being able to navigate these testing times is not unique to property investors but for everyone living in current times.

On the flip side, should the market worsen and the bottom falls out, there will be some sweet opportunities for those that are prepared (and have their war chest ready) 😉😉.

In other news, anyone want to lend me some money for a return? 💰💰💰😂😂

Feeling a bit namaste with this property 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️😍😍

This turnkey investment has a lot of character shining through and is definitely perfect as a serviced accommodation.

In fact, this property is actually a cottage and located on a private road overlooking green fields. 😍😍

This property is sourced by myself to one lucky investor and is currently going through conveyancing. Fingers crossed it will complete in the next 3 months (if you know how slow solicitors are...you know 😂😂).

Purchase price for £115,000 - the plan with this one is either rent it out as a BTL or use the SA model to achieve higher rental income and cashflow.

If you are interested in deals like these, drop me a DM 📥📥

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