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Woman who went from teen mum on benefits to millionaire shares tips on how you can too

Managing Your Money
 Sisters Stephanie (left) and Nicky Talyor (right) have gone from benefits to millionaires (Image: Kamila Jarczak)

Two sisters have gone from a life of benefits and debts to become millionaires - and now they want to share tips on how anyone can follow in their footsteps.

Stephanie Taylor, from Birmingham, once got through each week living as a single teenage mother on £49.80, reports Birmingham Live, while her younger sister Nicky Taylor was struggling with credit card debt before moving to London.

But after five years, now authors and owners of two businesses, they have both become millionaires owning a string of homes and a lucrative property business.

Their companies Rent 2 Rent, and HMO Heaven use HMO properties from landlords, give them a new makeover, and rent them out again to tenants.

Nicky, 47, said: "What we love to see people do is to make money. You just need to take advantage of the opportunities available."

These are some of their top tips on how you can get your hands on the high-earning world of a rent-to-rent property business.

Step one - Find out how

To begin, the first step is learning about the trade of renting out a property that is owned by someone else. Stephanie said: "I think the first thing is to understand the strategy to a high standard - find out about it.

"You rent a property for usually three to five years. You pay the owner or letting agent a guaranteed rent - usually, you are going to take on paying the bills. You rent the property out to tenants for a higher, yet still affordable rate than you pay the owner."

"The difference is your profit after the running costs of the property - you want something that is a win-win for all three parties.

"Rather than investing £50,000 in deposit and buying costs [on your own home] you can rent an HMO for an average investment of £3,000 and generate a monthly profit of around £700 per month."

Step two - Set up your business

"People can either set up a limited company or a sole trader - we recommend doing it as a limited company but some may want to test the water out as a sole trader," Stephanie said.

"Workout websites, names, email addresses, and social media. We were lucky because it turns out I have a knack for coming up with these names.

"I came up with HMO Heaven, but people didn't think it was a good idea at the time. HMOs are not seen as a good thing but I like it - now people think it’s catchy."

"Brainstorm and think about the value once you know the sort of business you want to be. Having this most important brand name is not the most important thing - provide an incredible service because that is its own marketing.

"Have a clear message of what your business offers, your logo, and business page. Get legal with the things you need [such as] insurance, compliance money protection, or licensing schemes in the area.

"Then go out and start talking to letting agents and landlords - basically attracting the right people who want to work with you."

 A before and after of one the rooms the sisters designed (Image: Kamila Jarczak) 

Step three - Location, location, location

The sisters’ claim finding the right location of your chosen property can have a major impact on the amount of money you can charge, as well as what you can eventually earn.

Stephanie said: "It needs to be near people hubs, transport links, universities, schools, large employers, everything that brings people in. The more people there are in that area of the accommodation, the easier and more resilient that is as an investment for the future.

"If one employer closes down in the city centre that is not going to affect you. But if you are on the outskirts somewhere where that is the only employer, you’re more affected."

Step four - The property itself

Lastly, both sisters claim the all-important design of the home for budding tenants is best not to be overthought. Despite offering many plush rooms of their own they state that it's best to be as unfussy as possible.

"Keep it simple. When we first started we were not interior designers even though I thought I was. I look back and the pictures are terrible," Stephanie said.

"But now we have a package that works. We know what pictures to buy for the wall, accessories for the room and we already have our bedding in stock. Keep it simple. You might have two pictures on the wall, two accessories plus the bedding and it actually looks really dressed."

Nicky said: "If you really can’t afford to be doing a refurb, then as part of taking on that property you want to talk to the landlord and see what money they are prepared to invest in their property.

"Because after all, it’s not typical for anybody else to paint the walls other than the landlord, it's their responsibility. Quite often they know it is their responsibility and they love to invest a bit especially when they know you’re going to care for it and look after it and give it back in exactly the same condition.

"Another way would be to only take on properties that don't need redecoration. There are probably more out there than people probably realize."

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