As I travel up to Middlesbrough on the train, courtesy of East Coast, I was flicking through LAToday and saw an old article about the Easyproperty launch. I wasn't planning to write a post until this evening on my way home, but after reading it, I thought, hey, lets get this written this morning! Before we kick off, Joey aka 'The Lettings Dog' is in fine form .. if fine form is sheding hair by the bundle load .... The Dyson was clogged! My good lady wife says we could knit another Joey .. I will get some more pics of him soon .. but those of you who need a Joey fix .. here is his famous video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRv5yoLdiXc
EasyProperty is due to launch sometime later this year, with
a budget of £5,000,000 to attract landlords to their lettings business. Should
you be worried .. well in my humble opinion, possibly and no.
Sir Stelios has a great reputation of shaking up the markets
he enters into. Airlines, car rentals, hotels, why not estate agency and lettings? Well, there are
plenty of big names jumping on the band wagon of lettings and estate agency,
with their online models. One of my favourites is Purplebricks with their mix
of local people and online, but all of us could list many many more.
But here is a thought, I do not believe online agents will
take much more than 10% of the market by 2024 and certainly not the 30%, 40% or
50%’s levels that are being bandied about by every new start up online agent,
when they promise to shake up the world of lettings and estate agency at launch.
You see, boys and
girls, much as you deride them, Rightmove and Zoopla, have saved you shop based
letting and estate agents from online agents taking over the UK lettings and
estate agency market, because, if you think about it, they are the online agent and they already
have a near 100% market coverage.
That argument aside, (and the Agents Mutual thing) should
you be worried about the £5,000,000 in advertising spending? Sales possibly ...
lettings ...no.
In sales, the most important issue an estate agent must
answer is this ... ‘How do you become one of the three agents asked out for a
free valuation/market appraisal’ .. its a simple as that. If you don’t get
asked for the FV, you don’t get a chance to pitch, no pitch means no chance of
listing, no listing means no sale and no sale means no pennies. Foxton’s do it
with their 0% fees when they first come into a town. Their boards pop up , they
get market coverage, and as people are like sheep, after six months, everyone rings
them up for a fv, by which time they are charge full fat fees . Sir Stelios
could just do a Foxton’s?
Lettings .. Landlords don’t swap agents whilst there is a
tenant in the property. The first chance they can swap agents (when the tenant
hands in their notice), 99.999% of landlords just say to their agent to get it
back onto the market (that’s if the agent tells them at all). Most landlords don’t
love their agent just like most people don’t love their banks .. they just can t be bothered to move agents,
its too much hassle. For the same reason YOU won’t swap banks, even if they
offer you 5% interest of £200 to swap, is the same reason landlords wont swap
agents .. hassle, trouble, cost, you are all the same, better the devil you
know etc etc.
So if you are a letting agent, how do you get more
business.. easy, spend £190 a month, use a bit of shoe leather and start to
think a little. I teach agents that after they have done the initial work
(which you only have to do once but an apprentice / work experience person / teenage
son or daughter can do this for you), for them to get a uplift of 20% to 30% a year
in lettings fees income, I need them to spend £190 a month and some of their
time.
How much time? Three or four half days a month walking the
streets in your town (don’t worry – it isn’t
door knocking.. quite the opposite), four hours a month doing something on the
kitchen table, 30 minutes once a week doing something else and 12 minutes a day
doing something else .... for a 20% to 30% uplift in lettings business..... and
the best bit .. its all been proved to work! (see my Linkedin
testimonials/recommendations)
So, what’s it to be? £5m or £190 per month? ... the choice is yours Mr(s) letting agent!
PS If you haven't seen it already, I posted yesterday about a spare slot on one my courses .. have a look if you are interested