What we have learned from working with the UK's largest property funds

Over the past two years, Home Made has made significant inroads in the Build to Rent sector. Having gained our first client in December 2019, we have grown in scale to work with the majority of the UK’s largest property funds. Our clients include Greystar, Get Living, Quintain Living, and Grainger PLC (to name just a few), and have a combined portfolio of more than 70,000 properties.

Many of these companies have never worked with an external lettings service, and we have had great success in receiving mandates from institutional landlords ahead of bigger and more established brands.

In the process of marketing thousands of properties for large and prestigious institutional landlords, we have learned a few things about letting property at volume and speed that are just as applicable to private landlords. Whether your portfolio includes one or 100 properties, certain core principles are universally applicable.

Here’s what we have learned.

It’s about measurable results, not excuses

Our clients, both private and institutional, have choices and ultimately want to see directly measurable results in the form of fast times to let, competitive fees, and increased revenue. As a startup, these are the strongest metrics we have for retaining and winning new business. Being measured by our results is the toughest, and most rewarding, aspect of our work.

With no branches (and therefore much lower overheads), and a unique operating model, we are able to:

• Drive significantly higher volumes of renter enquiries.
• Convert more of those enquiries into fully qualified prospective tenants requesting in-person viewings.
• Conduct more in-person viewings than any agent, onsite team, or private landlord can on any given day.
• Convert more viewings into offers and ultimately tenancies.
• Let properties in a fraction of the time of a traditional agent - our current average time to let after listing a property is just 8 days.

Our model is entirely success-based so if we don’t deliver exceptional, fully qualified renters then we don’t get paid – so it matters to us as much as it matters to our clients that it works.

The greatest testament to the fact that we do deliver results is our growth with leading clients such as:

• Greystar; going from one to seven sites including leading our expansion in the North;
• Grainger; going from one to nine sites;
• M&G from one to eight sites, and;
• Quintain Living where we have an exclusive partnership working with them on their landmark Wembley Park development.

Our fees are also considerably lower than anyone else offering comparable services (i.e. a complete end-to-end lettings service, with accompanied viewings, tenancy administration and property management). We charge just 5% plus VAT for tenant-find services, and 5% a month for property management - 60% less than the industry average.

Put simply, we deliver better results than anyone else and at a lower cost.

Data is indispensable

Data is by far the strongest resource available to landlords looking to meet ambitious revenue and occupancy targets and create surplus value throughout the lifecycle of an investment. Even when renter demand in the market is strong, access to meaningful live data is crucial in enabling landlords to react and adjust marketing strategies in order to meet (or exceed) their target monthly rental yield and avoid any costly void periods.

Build to Rent operators understand this, with all stakeholders wanting to understand how assets are performing in forensic detail. Home Made gathers millions of proprietary data points on a weekly basis from tens of thousands of renter enquiries and we have, and continue to, invest heavily in building the most comprehensive data reporting solutions in the industry. We are therefore able to provide the sophisticated data

We provide operators with incredibly sophisticated micro and macro analysis covering:

• Whole-of-market analysis.
• Local asset geography (market comps).
• Pricing sensitivity analysis (i.e. the size of an asset’s addressable market at different price points).
• Live renter demand analysis.

With our new landlord platform, The Property Wallet, private landlords can gain similar access to sophisticated and actionable data insights. Our property marketing dashboard provides live analysis of a property’s performance on the market, which an account manager will help to translate into pricing recommendations and other advice. Any adjustments to pricing or strategy can then be validated through the data on the dashboard.

Access to such crucial business intelligence allows us to provide the best possible support to our clients, improving their gross-to-net yield while offering absolute transparency.

A successful customer journey starts with the lettings process

Large property funds place enormous emphasis on resident experience and see it as their unique selling point with renters. Excellent customer service guarantees lower turnover and stable occupancy.

For renters, the customer journey begins at the very first point of contact when they enquire about a property. Lettings providers should therefore invest as heavily in processes to provide a seamless and pleasant experience for renters as they do in services for landlords. This establishes the right tone for the beginning of the tenancy, ensures there is minimal friction once the tenants during the process of handover to the landlord, and sets a firm foundation for the long-term success of the tenancy.

What matters most?

While they may use different language, private and institutional landlords ultimately share the same three priorities:

• Maximise net rental yield (or ERVs in sector terminology).
• Ensure a property is tenanted as quickly as possible.
• Achieve the above within a defined budget.

The Home Made model directly supports all three objectives in a way no other provider can and we are only just getting started with the development of our tech platform for private landlords.

Home Made can provide the resources, the technology and the processes to drastically reduce landlord operating costs and improve gross-to-net yield ratio. We have a proven track record of success with the best and largest property funds in the UK, and we deliver the same quality of service to all of our clients, while we leverage our experience from marketing thousands of properties to drive constant improvement in our delivery metrics.

At Home Made, we offer a hybrid lettings solution that adds value at every stage of the rental process. With our game-changing new landlord platform, The Property Wallet, we offer London landlords exceptional tenant-find and property management services for a low monthly fee.

• Avoid expensive upfront fees and spread the cost of marketing your property with the option to pay monthly.
• Free rent collection and arrears chasing.
• Sign off and see all charges and payments in your dashboard.
• Real-time updates on marketing, viewings, and offers.

Prices start from just £50+VAT/mo for tenant-find and £60+VAT/mo for management. Alternatively, you can pay a one-off upfront fee of £1,200+VAT for our tenant-find service.

If you would like to speak with us about your property needs, contact us via our website to find out how we can help. If you're ready to get started, book your free valuation here.

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