Franchise Letting Agency
The letting market is continually growing as is the demand for rental properties in the UK. Demand for rental properties is very high at the moment and landlords, letting agents and councils are struggling to meet the high demand as there is a large shortage of properties in the UK. Despite the shortage of properties there is a lot of scope for agents to expand their operations or even for people to start up their own letting agency aswell.
Why would you want to start up your own letting agency? First off I am not suggesting you start from scratch because with the major competitors out there that would be a crazy notion. You could however consider a franchise but you need to ensure you have a lot of capital lying round to do this. It can be a great a starting point to do this because you will be operating under a already recognised brand and have training and support to hand on tap.
You do have to be prepared to pay a percentage of your earnings to the main group of your franchisers, however once you have built your customer base you should have a good regular income flying into the business without any problems. This stream of income does not come with just taking the back seat, it is a lot of hard work and requires a lot of time and effort on a weekly basis to get the business off the ground.
A letting agents business comes from property owners (domestic and commercial) and landlords with multiple properties. You may also act a full property manager where you take a percentage of earnings to manage properties on a daily basis i.e. rent collection, property maintenance and tenant queries. Your activities can range from –
• Finding tenants for properties using the correct marketing channels which also includes online work
• Supplying let boards
• Dealing with property legal documentation and signing agreements on behalf of property owners and landlords
• Dealing with tenants issues aswell as being involved in the initial screening process
• Dealing with tenant checks, references and even securing a tenants deposit and monthly / weekly rent
• Inspection of properties for rental value and legal requirements
Be aware as letting agents it’s not all easy work and difficult to manage for one person so you may need sales staff, legal reps and property managers. One major thing to consider is the legal side of the business is not easy and can become a daily issue, for example if you are responsible for the property management then you will have to with problem tenants i.e. non paying tenants can be the biggest problem with a property and it would be your responsibility to resolve and avoid losing money.
As with any venture there are good and bad arguments but overcome the bad and do your research you should be fine. That said it is not for everyone so here are some general person specs to see if you fit the bill:
• Ability to communicate
• Understand your legal stance and documents that are wide ranging in this industry
• Being able to deal with a number of different people
• Being able to handle administrative tasks across the board from accounts to legal documentation.
