For those that are not aware of the latest hot app in the market, Pokémon Go is dubbed an ‘augmented reality’ app due to its video capture overlay technology. Nintendo, the owner of the original handheld game phenomenon, have teamed up with a third party software developer to produce the latest craze.
It has been such a hit that the NSPCC have written a series of guidelines for parents whose children have downloaded the game – click here to get them
So what is all the fuss about, and how can this possibly relate to Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO)?
When Pokémon, the game, originally came out on the NintendoDS, it was aimed at children, and appealed to the same children that wanted to collect all the Figurini Panini Football Stickers to fill their albums, the idea being to go around and capture all different kind of Pokémon while travelling through worlds of discovery. This all happened within the confines of the on screen world.
Pokémon Go, is a resurgence of the original idea, but uses your GPS enabled device to show you where the Pokémon are so that you can go out and about and catch them. The really cool bit is that you can take photos of where you catch them, and trust me, they appear in all kinds of unusual places! This is the addictive bit, trying to catch the Pokémon when they appear.
And that’s the thing with HMOs, catching them when they appear. Sometimes, even when you undertake hours of research on search engines, property portals etc. you can never find any that seem to stack up, and then a ‘friend’ suggests a property just two streets away that is up for sale and you completely missed it. Some people call this ‘analysis paralysis’, others in Yorkshire say ‘can’t see t wood for t trees’.
Just like Pokémon Go, even though they appear to be visible, underneath they just aren’t there.
So how do you find the deals to get on with?
There are several tricks to finding the right deals, some are more basic than others; sending leaflets to all houses in a certain area where an HMO would see high rental demand, schmoozing estate agents to make sure they contact you first, employing a professional sourcer. The important thing to remember is that sometimes, like Pokémon Go you may need to try an alternative to the normal route to get what you are looking for. Jumping over a fence to catch a Pokémon in someone’s garden possibly isn’t the way to get to the next level, but then if sourcing an HMO was easy everyone would be doing it…..
Perhaps there’s an idea for a new app, the Pokémon HMO sourcer?
Or perhaps you need a few new ideas; our 5 ways to source an HMO is an excellent place to start.
Whatever your challenge, there is always help at hand. How do you source your HMOs?
Let me know.