Every now and then we like to check in with our COHO customers to get a sneaky peek into what they have planned in the future for their businesses and how they came to be where they are now.
Way back in the wintery depths of January 2022 COHO's Helen Turner had a chat with Gergo Herald of HGG Properties. He shared the impressive details of his journey of moving from Hungary, to having 100% occupancy, with 230 tenants over 37 properties in his rent2rent portfolio. He told us about his plans for growth in 2023 and how he enlisted the help of COHO to help him scale up.
How did Gergo start the rent2rent property business?
Gergo took a chance and moved to England to build a new life. His family had lost their savings when they closed their business, so he took drastic steps to get their lives back on track. He began working in a variety of jobs from kitchen porter to forklift truck driver, sometimes putting in 100 hours a week. After three years of working hard and saving harder, he was able to begin his rent2rent business with his first property.
He researched and built relationships with landlords to gain the knowledge he needed regarding HMO regulations, whilst working his day jobs. The growth of his business started slowly but after eighteen months he took on his second property. He can now take on the management of eight plus properties a year and plans to buy his first property in 2023, using the cash flow generated by his rent2rent portfolio. This is part of his well thought out long term personal wealth building strategy…of not retiring early because he enjoys his job too much!
Gergo has worked hard to build a network of agencies and landlords who know him and trust his ability to do a good job. He has been able to build these partnerships because of his track record of hard work and his dedication to contributing positively to the industry. Because he has invested the time into nurturing these relationships he has not only formed some genuine friendships but he has also put himself ahead of the competition. He no longer has to hunt for new properties to add to his portfolio as the agencies will offer them to him first, before they even hit the market. He credits these relationships to his dependability; he has never been even a day late with a rent payment since he began his business 8 years ago.
HMOs and Coliving
A couple of years ago I discovered that if I want to achieve top rents, and good tenants I need to provide top quality.
During the interview Gergo touched on the subject of co-living.
It is a concept that allows housemates to share a home; with communal living spaces that encourage the bringing together of like-minded people.
Gergo has recognised that there is demand for a better than average living environment and he has built his success by providing this.
Gergo adds value to his properties by providing extra amenities like tumble dryers, netflix and a regular cleaner. Not only does this help increase his revenue with higher rates of rent and longer tenancies but he also gets to enjoy seeing his tenants happy.
By investing in the co-living concept Gergo was able to step up the growth of his business which led him to the discovery of COHO.
I really love to see people satisfied... they share their experiences of bad properties and landlords…and they're just super happy that they've found somebody who looks after the property and looks after them.
Why COHO for rent2rent HMO management?
When the level of organisation his business needed outgrew the operational structure of him and his Mum, he knew it was time to look elsewhere. Like many rent2rent property managers Gergo was juggling spreadsheets, whatsapp groups, messenger groups and e-signature apps in the day-to-day running of his business.
I knew sooner or later I needed to get my company, my structure organised if I wanted to grow more. The first step is good management software, which I believe I've found.
He was finding it very difficult to keep up, and decided that if he was serious about scaling up he would need to get his administration system organised.
He found that COHO offered a software that would eradicate the need for the hotchpotch of apps and spreadsheets he was previously using.
COHO recognise that the barrier for a lot of rent2rent managers to upgrading their property management admin is the big, dreaded data transfer! We get that. It's like the thought of having to delve into the depths of your shed or attic when moving house….who knows what you might find covered in dust? Having to decide what to keep and what not to keep. Having to face the junk drawer! But imagine if you could fast forward that process to you, pirouetting around your new house, because everything has a place and the junk has been discarded and everything is just-so. COHO offers that feeling of organisational satisfaction with our fast-track service.
Gergo took advantage of fast track when he became a COHO customer - we took a deep-dive into what he had achieved with Excel spreadsheets and inputted all the information for him onto his new COHO profile, making the migration a much smoother experience.
Maybe you are at the beginning of your rent2rent journey, trying to source your first property…or maybe you are at the point where you are trying to scale up but finding it difficult.
Gergo offers one piece of advice; be better than the average.
If someone wants to work in rent2rent they have to provide good quality living, otherwise they won't be successful.
With his years of experience growing his rent2rent business from the ground up, Gergo is definitely a man worth listening to.
If you want to know more about how COHO can help free up your time to concentrate on scaling up your rent2rent business, just like Gergo did, try an Instant demo or book a live demo to find out how we can help.