Our Services
Or…how we help investors maximise their returns
Our ‘Client Funded’ model
Usually when you buy an investment property the vendor, or developer is making a profit on the sale.
With our Client Funded model you keep that profit by funding the purchase and refurbishment yourself.
This keeps the cost of your investment down. In turn this means your yield is much higher than if you just bought a finished property.
Also, any resulting uplift in value when the work is complete is yours. This is real equity.
If appropriate, you may choose to refinance against the increased value of the property. This may mean you can recover a large part of your cash.
We help with the whole process. We charge a fee for sourcing the property and make a margin on the refurbishment.
Find out more about the different investment types below.
HMO Conversions
Turning run-down houses in areas of strong rental demand into Houses In Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
HMOs are shared houses with individual contracts for each bedroom but shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.
To find out more please go to the bottom of this page.
We find properties which are in need of refurbishment and where we can turn the reception rooms into bedrooms.
For example we might take a three bedroom, two reception room house and turn one or both of the reception rooms into bedrooms. This results in five lettable rooms and boosts your income.
We can find you the property, assist during the purchase, provide a fixed price quotation for the refurb and then carry it out, and then assist with on-going lettings and management. It’s a full service package.
HMOs offer yields far in excess of single-let buy-to-let properties in the same area.
For example, in the North West, you should expect to get gross yields from your HMOs between 14% and 17% compared to 7% to 9% for single let properties.
Net yields are usually around 10-12%.
There are very clear rules on the standards required of HMO properties.
These rules differ slightly between local authorities but are concerned with living space, fire and smoke security, privacy and quality of accommodation.
We take care of all of that for you.
Some properties may require an HMO license. We will advise you of this and guide you through the process. It is usually an administrative task as our properties always come up to the required standards.
The landlord is usually responsible for the bills including utilities, council tax, wifi, and insurance. This can reduce the gross yield by 4-6% (but still results in a yield much higher than a single let net yield).
HMOs usually require more management involvement than single let properties. We will put you in touch with letting agents with HMO experience who can take care of this for you.
Entry level properties are usually £70K to £90K and the refurbishment will be around £50K to £65K.
You should also allow around £5K for the sourcing fee, solicitors and other items.
Please speak to us so that we can explain in more detail.
“The team at Open House offered me an end to end solution to my HMO property investment requirements.See project photos from this property and othersThey found the property, advised on, organised and project managed the refurbishment, both on time and within the agreed budget and to good standard (the letting agent remarked on how easy the property will be to let due to the standard of finish).
They have liaised with the Local Authority and obtained all the necessary certifications to complete the job satisfactorily.
The team have been both courteous and professional and easy to deal with and I look forward to working with them on the next project.”Damian M. Oxted, Surrey
For clients looking to build their pot of cash the C2R route will be of considerable interest.
We look for office buildings and disused pubs in areas with reliable buyer demand. The building layout needs to allow easy conversion into apartments or HMO rooms.
You can decide to sell the apartments into the open market or keep them in your portfolio.
Just like the HMO Conversions we cover all the bases from sourcing to management and/or sale of the finished units.
By selling the finished properties into the open market you become the developer.
You should expect a profit between 20% and 30% of the cash employed within 12 months after all costs.
If you convert the property into apartments and sell them, you can charge ground rent and service charge.
This route will usually mean the project will require planning permission.
This means you may need to pay for architects, planning consultants and legal advice, with no guarantee that there will be an approved project at the end of the process.
For this reason the C2R strategy is only suitable for more experienced investors who understand that some money will be ‘at risk’ until planning permission is obtained, and may be lost if it is rejected.
The nature of these projects is that they require a larger pot of funds to participate, usually £200K to £500K.
Commercial to Residential (C2R)
Converting offices and pubs into apartments or HMO rooms (see above). Sell in the open market or retain yourself.
Typically we take offices which were once residential properties and convert them back into residential units again.
To find out more please go to the bottom of this page.
Single Let Renovations
Use our firm to renovate your single-let property. You’ll get the same quality of finish with hard-wearing interiors which will appeal to professional tenants.
If you have properties in the North West let us visit them to give you a quotation for refurbishment.
Take advantage of our buying power with suppliers and the reliable professionalism of our team of builders to spruce up your property.
Whether you want a full hit refurbishment, or just a simple redecoration we can help.
It’s common sense that a well-presented property will give you the opportunity to charge higher rents and will usually result in happier tenants.
Happier tenants are more likely to stay and therefore your void periods will be reduced.
You might be looking to sell your property, in which case a quick refurbishment can help you get the best price and help you to sell it faster.
We will do relatively simple jobs from £1500 up to full renovations costing £40K or more.
Find out more
Click the button opposite to leave details so we can contact you, or call on +44(0)1942 366770