There's always a lot of talk within the community about how 'far' to go with buy-to-let properties.

Do you invest time and money into renovations in order to reap the benefits later? Do you try and keep the look-and-feel the same as your wider portfolio and your brand? Or do you play it safe and keep it within budget?

A big part of our teachings inside The Hive focus around the importance of branding your space and designing high-quality homes for tenants, but it's also important for us to remember that every developer has a different approach to doing that, and it all depends on what works for them, their budget, and their desired tenants.

It can be difficult to navigate through everyone's differing opinions and experiences, especially if you feel like you're being lead by external sources or trades. But it ultimately comes down to what works for you, the investment, and your business goals.

In order to help break through the noice and indecision, we decided to broach the topic with a few trusted friends in the industry to see how they approach their buy-to-let projects.

Simplicity is key – Jonathan's Approach.
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We decided to reach out to Nottingham-based HMO & BTL Investor, Jonathan Ioannou.

Jonathan buys properties predominantly for families, in order to build up a steady cash flow into his existing portfolio. Each renovation costs Jonathan an average of £12-25k, depending on the level of work involved. 

Low maintenance on the buildings, and a tenant churn of two years, makes it a hands off strategy.

When it comes to designing the property, Jonathan always over-specifies on budget on the main fabric of the property, for key items such as kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and tiles. This is for a few reasons, first of all to create a nice family environment that has curb appeal, and secondly to justify a higher valuation – as it clearly demonstrates the value added through spend to a surveyor. 

Adding value is essential to Jonathan, and this is done by either adding a bedroom through space reconfiguration or general refurbishment to upgrade and update. 

‍Jonathan's top tips:

• Always try and restore victorian features where possible – as it's what people want
• The aim with photography is to make the space look bigger, and show a lovely blank canvas for a family home
• Remember that whatever you put in, you have to fix – so long term it makes more sense to keep it simple! 
• Don't try and ‘over design’, as people want to add their own stamp – simplicity is key
• No white goods - to avoid replacing breakages 
• No curtain poles - and ensure contracts state that tenants have to ask for permission to add or make any changes to plaster work etc. 
• No staging 
• No blinds 
• Natural paint colours and carpets
• Standard Howden's doors (avoid hard wood!)
• Hardware from eBay 
• Howden's kitchens 
• Flooring from Tradepoint or local suppliers 
• Tiles from Tradepoint 
• Use Farrow & Ball colours, but have them mixed at a third party supplier 
• Source doors and windows local, and use composite doors for security

You can see Jonathan's properties here if you're keen to see the type of family homes he creates.

Taking the Branded Approach with Jade McNeil
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To offer an alternative to Jonathan's approach to creating BTLs, we decided to speak with Jade who is renowned for her bolder and more brand-focused properties.

Although she predominately works with HMOs, you'll see that even in her buy-to-let properties she manages to subtly pull through her consistent brand qualities.

Here's what Jade says:

Firstly, with any strategy you need to consider who the end user is and what they need, and want, from the every day experience in your property. 

For example, families need open space, a bath, and lots of storage! But this may not be the case for a single couple who might be happier with smaller room configuration and styled rooms with accessories.

Always look to create an inviting space that feels like a home to your target tenant, and most importantly can actually function like one!

When considering the branded approach you can do this by focusing on the key fabric of the house ie kitchens, bathrooms, tiles, etc. in the same way that Jonathan does. These can all be chosen to create a consistent branded look. You can easily select colours, shapes, and patterns that sit within your brand palette. ‍

Unlike Jonathan's quicker and simpler approach of putting the property on the market, Jade does recommend that you consider staging the property for photographs, as she believes it will help create a better marketable product in photographs that you will be able to use time and time again for the benefit of your business.

You may not need to stage every room, but doing it in the main living space and one bedroom for example should really help to set the scene of what is possible with the space and how a potential might live in there. 

‍Jade's top tip: If you don't have the budget for a staging kit, consider what you might have in your own home that would do the job.

‍You can see Jade's BEE65 BTL project in full here to see how she designed and staged this terraced property to attract long-term families looking to rent.
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Other Tips from our Interior Design Clinic

We recently approached the topic with our members during one of our live Interior Design Clinics.

Last session we were joined by our lovely co-host Mary Osman, Architect and co-owner of Elite Dwellings – and she shared some great ideas with our members. Mary agreed that the first and most important thing to consider when designing a BTL is your end user.

Here are some questions that cropped up during the session, and our response to them:
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"Will painting my buy-to-let put a potential tenant off?"
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You might be concerned that by painting your BTL, even the subtlest of colours, will put people off if it's not to their taste. Same goes for applying your branding schemes to your properties. Because what if after all of your efforts, the property is more to your taste than anyone else's?

It can be a tricky one, but perhaps try and think of how by adding that bit of difference to your property you can help to attract your niche market. Not everyone is going to like your brand or your chosen colour, but that's okay, because not everyone is your target customer!

‍If you want your property to stand out in a saturated market, instead of being just another white box, find that colour that sits well with your 'brand' but that remains relatively neutral and 'harmless' to tenants. Make clever design choices in-line with your brand look to create really simple but nice interiors

You don't have to overwhelm your BTL with your chosen colour too – painting one wall, panel, or subtle areas like skirting boards or doors, will do the trick if the rest of your portfolio is cohesive.


"I don't have a brand yet, so where do I start when branding my BTL?"

First up is to get your brand concept down! Pick your palette, and get clear with the creative direction for your brand and your business (you should finish our interactive Branding & Design Discovery Programme if you haven't done so yet!)

You don't have to go all out right now, especially with a BTL, but try and commit to a look-and-feel and a selection of brand colours. This is guaranteed to help you make decisions such as paint colours, textiles, and hardware choices SO much quicker and reduce the dreaded decision paralysis!
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"My brand, and my vision for my properties, just doesn't sit within my budget!"

With all of this, you have to consider what the return of investment looks like to put a little bit more effort and cost into higher-spec decorating, photography, and staging in your area.

Is there a lack of quality homes in your market? Do those types of properties get snapped up faster than those of your competitors? By investing an extra say £300, can you increase your rental value per month to make that a better investment?


"Do I include fittings and fixtures?"

‍This is totally up to your preference as a developer, and your budget. Where as Jonathan recommends that you don't include things like curtain poles and blinds, we think it makes for a better experience for your tenants and helps the property to feel higher-end. A lot of our members in The Hive do include things like lampshades, curtain poles etc. and they require tenants to provide a written request to make any alterations in their contracts.

Our Member Elly Freeman spoke in our last session about the differences between how she has approached her SA, buy-to-let, and social housing properties. Whilst Elly has been able to be more creative when it comes to branding her serviced accommodation, in her social housing for universal credit tenants she still deems it important to add a small bit of colour and create that homely space on a small budget, with things like lampshades and curtain poles included – because she knows her tenants situations and she cares deeply about the experience her business is providing.‍‍

"I don't have a staging kit yet, what should I do?"

‍From a marketing perspective, and thinking about how you can use the property to catapult your portfolio further, you should definitely see this time (where the property is at it's highest quality, and before the tenants have moved in) as a really key moment to gain valuable content and showcase your ability.

Having your property photographed is a great opportunity to produce top-quality content for your business and marketing channels - so take advantage of it! Gather up your staging items and create a space that feels alive and homely. These photographs will help you enormously when it comes to marketing your next property, and in attracting potential investors.

And if you don't have a full staging kit yet, consider what things you own in your own home that could make a difference to the photographs and make the house feel a bit more like home. Easy tricks might be styling photo frames on the floor instead of hanging on the wall, creating clusters of decor, dressing beds with cushions and textiles, and lots of plants!

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Have more questions about how much to invest in your buy-to-let property? Join our supportive Hive community today, and get ready to join in with our next live Interior Design Clinic!