Skip to main content

Landlords Recommendations .. Chicken vs. the Egg?

'Most of my business comes from recommendations' is what most established letting agents will say. But what if you are a new agent in town. You have no landlords on your books to recommend you to others.

The lettings market has changed so drastically over the last 10 years. Every estate agent has a lettings department, plenty of one-man bands have started and there have been others, like our selves who advocate the franchise option. The landlord has many agents to choose from, the list is endless. Excluding properties that are new to the market, a landlord will only swap agents in three circumstances.

Firstly, if the existing agent makes a complete mess, that the relationship is broke so far that the landlord moves agent mid way through a tenancy. It has to be pretty horrific for them to do so. Secondly, when the tenant hands their notice in and thirdly, when the property is void and the landlord gets nervous and starts looking elsewhere.

So if you were contemplating opening your own office, what a letting agent has to do today to get started, get some landlords and breakeven is completely different to what they had to do 10 years ago, I would even go so far to say it is different to 5 years ago.

The advice and opinion I give to those who wanted to start their own lettings agency ( and remember I help open 26 cold start letting agencies up and down the UK in the last 2 and a bit years), who cold start from day one is that you need a reason for landlords to want and come and do business with you.

A shop or an office shows that you are here to stay, as does a brand which gives you a certain amount of credibility. However, the driving success has to be the person and the story they tell .... as its the story they tell that will make the landlords WANT to do business with them.

Its like people with their bank accounts. Why isnt everyone jumping to Santander, who are offering hundreds of pounds to switch to them .. because its hassle... and its the same with agents ... unless that is, you give them a reason to WANT to come to you.

Irrespective of where you trade from, shop, office or online, what do you do DIFFERENTLY that makes me WANT to give my property to you?

Answer that my blog reading friends and you will succeed.