From HMOs to BRR: How to Niche Your Property Strategy
It’s a long time since I started out formally delivering property learning. And it all started with a one-day programme. I just wanted to share the knowledge I’d got over years as a financial advisor and property finance broker. Little did I realise that I was embarking on a journey into brands, niches and creating a reputation as a specialist.
I’ve had some excellent marketing support over the years, and I’ve learned a lot. My business has progressed, but also specific niches within the business have developed too. The BRR learning niche is a great example:
- BRR Summits – a one-day event, launched in 2021
- BRR Launchpad opened in 2022, offering attendees a more in-depth opportunity, initially a 2-day event, expanding to 3 days in 2025
- The BRR book was published in 2023 – check it out here https://www.recycleyourcash.co.uk/brr-book
- And now the BRR Boardroom is launching, an exclusive 1-day event limited to 10 places.
- Also launching is the BRR Workshop, a virtual event for people who can’t get to a physical workshop.
These 5 points of evolution show how one niche can be developed and expanded. In other words, progression doesn’t have to be whole of business but can be part within it.
This is not confined to property learning – it exists in many industries. If you want to buy a car – a great exercise in micro-niching, you may have decided on which model you want, but then you still have a multitude of options – petrol, electric or hybrid; 1.1, 1.4, 1.8 litre engine, Sport, Family, 2 or 4 door – the micro-niching opportunities are nearly endless!
Supermarkets may have started out selling food, but now they sell everything – clothes, electronics, homeware and let’s not get into how many different varieties of cheese you can get.
What’s your property investment niche?
You may have a number of strategies or niches, but each one has the potential for progression and expansion to a micro-niche.
Let’s say your first property was a 2-bed terrace, a few years down the road, you may have progressed from single ASTs to HMOs, or into serviced accommodation, or commercial to residential conversions – these are your niches.
Even within the commercial niche you might micro-niche to specialise in industrial units, serviced offices, retail outlets, or a mix of retail and residential.
Let’s look at HMOs. How would you micro-niche your HMO properties? It’s usually about the type of tenant you want to attract; you might specialise in students, contractors, blue-collar workers, young professionals – all HMO micro-niches. You could even micro-niche down further still, some years ago I met a female investor some years back whose HMO was only for divorced mature women. Lorraine wanted to create a safe space for women coming out of relationships without having to deal with younger women who had a more ‘party’ vibe or visiting boyfriends. You might focus on men only, women only or young people in their first rented home, LGBTQ, the micro-niching opportunities are endless – and you’ll build your reputation as a specialist.
You can apply this micro-niching approach to any strategy, you just need to be creative.
If you’re using a variety of strategies, you don’t need to tackle them all at once – in fact, I’d strongly recommend that you don’t try to do that. Pick one strategy and look at how you might progress that.
Build out that strand within your overall brand. Even if you have several strands, you can micro-niche down that sub-division.
That doesn’t mean you can’t add more strands in time, I’ve added many over the years to meet the current market demand, and you’ll probably do the same.
Barretts sell homes – that’s their brand. But they’re not all same house, there are 2, 3, 4 bedroom options, detached, semi-detached, terraced, apartments and on one development you might have the option of a house with an integrated garage, a detached garage, a double garage or a car port – micro-niching again
So the message is – micro-niche in your niche.
