Jim Halliburton, based in the West Midlands, is a well known, highly experienced private landlord with forthright views, formed from his many years of hard-won experience of letting to tenants in HMO properties. Over the last year or so, a number of self-styled mentors and property seminar promoters have been heavily promoting multi-lets and HMOs as the latest quick route to property riches. In reality, and if you really know what you are doing and understand the complexities of tenant and property management, then HMOs can be a strategy that can produce enhanced returns. But as Jim explains in some detail below, dealing with some tenants at the lower end of the lettings market is not for the faint hearted.

In my opinion there has not been a better time than now for acquiring properties, especially those for letting as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). I have been in the business as a landlord for 20 years and last year was pretty good but this year I firmly believe it is going to be even better. With the increasing acceptance of strategies using Options and Delayed Completions and working with owners as a way of disposing of unwanted properties, it is now even easier than when same day re-mortgages were offered by Mortgage Express to obtain properties creatively. And I believe this trend will continue as I expect the recession to deepen throughout 2012 for most parts of the country outside of the South East of England.

Tired landlords and private owners will become increasingly desperate to get rid of their problem properties and, finding them increasingly difficult to sell, will become even more accepting of other ways of disposing of their properties. However, do not expect, except for a few places outside the South East, to get any capital appreciation whatsover as I believe property values in most areas will continue to drop or stagnate for some time to come.

All you need for success is the knowledge of how to do these creative strategies and you could obtain control of properties for very little. With effective tenant management, these properties can then cashflow for thousands of pounds profit a year, especially if the property is turned into a HMO.