stockport property blog

Hello Readers,

I hope you are well on this strange November day – so far today I have seen three seasons in one day – some sun and blue skies, grey dark and gloomy skies, torrents of rain and even a rainbow.  Strange!

However, I thought I would warm your spirits with a fantastic opportunity to purchase a HMO property.  Don’t know what a HMO is, no worries.  It is simply an abbreviation standing for a House of Multiple Occupancy.  Still no wiser, well it is a property whereby multiple sharers live in one property each with their own personal bedroom, but sharing a living room/communal break out space and a kitchen.  In some HMO properties you would also share bathrooms – there may be one or two bathrooms, but in others you would have your own ensuite.  Each tenant would pay for their own room on a monthly basis and they would also pay for all their bills to be included.  The tenants would not necessarily know each other and its a great opportunity for people new to an area to meet other like minded people and/or to have a cheaper rent whilst they relocate and find their feet in a new area.  These types of properties are extremely popular with students, recent graduates and people relocating to a new area.

Landlords love HMO’s and I have several investors who will only buy properties which can be converted into HMO’s, but there are a couple of issues finding the perfect property to turn into a HMO in Stockport as Stockport (well the area’s that I cover from the Julian Wadden Stockport Exchange Branch) are generally two bedroom terraces, so to find a property that can be converted is quite specific as the cellar needs to have a good head height, or you need to be able to convert the attic into a bedroom easily as its all about yield!  With a HMO you need to be able to have 4 plus bedrooms in order to make the figures stack up, but then to also be able to have the required number of bathrooms and living rooms to ensure the property falls in line with the HMO regulations is not an easy task.  You also need to provide all the furniture and be prepared to pay for damage to communal areas, as its pretty impossible to lay blame to one tenant and therefore request monies from their deposit.

Today however, I have done the impossible and found the perfect HMO!  Go me!  I have found a property that is on the market at a fair price, which would be able to provide you as an investor looking for the perfect HMO with enough bedrooms to have a very good yield and would meet the HMO regulations with a little bit of a reshuffle!  And… here it is… a 5 bedroom semi-detached house for sale on Glenmoor Road, Offerton and on the market for a very reasonable £260,000.  I say reasonable, I know we don’t all have this amount of money sat in our bank accounts but the price is reasonable for what you could do with the property.  I believe that you would be able to get 7 or 8 bedrooms in this property – 2 bathrooms and then you would need a communal living area which would be a lovely lounge/conservatory area at the rear of the property.  In order to do this and to modernise the property I think you would need to spend about £20,000 but then the rooms would rent out at £400 to £450pcm (before bills) which would give you a monthly income of £3,400 per month.  This means the yield would be 14.6% which is absolutely fantastic!

I know my HMO investors will now be quite excited, so let me tell you a little more.  The property is on the market with Bridgfords in Hazel Grove and although its not very modern, its certainly very well presented and in good condition.  It has a large, beautiful lawned garden and a driveway for at least a couple of cars.  If you were to take a little of the garden away, you would be able to provide off street parking for multiple tenants meaning the neighbours would be happy too!

For more information about this property or HMO’s in general or even if you are looking for a rental property in the area, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0161 474 8668 or email me at stockportlettings@julianwadden.co.uk.

Happy investing!

Gemma Lowe