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What's Involved in Running a Letting or Estate Agency?
Take a look behind the scenes
These days many people are running a business from home or a small office, and Letting Agents and Estate Agents are no exception. Sellers, purchasers, landlords and tenants are met at the properties, paperwork can be handled by electronic signing, email and post, and payments can be received electronically to your bank. Your website is your shop window and your marketing engine.
The Role of the Agent
The agent’s role is to bring together the two parties. For an Estate Agency (sales) this is the seller and the buyer. For a Letting Agency (rentals) this is the property owner (landlords), and people seeking somewhere to rent (tenants).
In many cases the landlord requires only a ‘tenant find’ service, but these days more than half of all landlords engage the Letting Agent to let and then ‘fully manage’ the tenanted property. For sales, you can offer a choice of packages including fixed price, hybrid and commission based. The property itself may be anything from a studio flat to a large country house.
The Qualities Required
To run an estate or letting agency you really just need common sense and people skills. Being able to communicate comfortably, both on the telephone and in person is also useful.
Of course a good knowledge of the legal side is essential, as is a full understanding of how to run a letting agency business in practical terms. It's good to have a sense of proportion as you’ll be using your people skills and and communication abilities frequently.
These aspects are fully covered in our estate and letting agent training which is a central part of the Southcourt Business Package.
The Work Involved - Lettings
- Marketing your services to local landlords
- Taking property details and providing advice where necessary
- Advertising the properties to attract tenant applicants
- Listing tenants requirements and matching to properties
- Carry out viewings of properties
- Referencing tenants and preparing the legal documents
- Receiving first rental and deposit, and finalising the paperwork.
Where you are ‘managing’ the property, you would also:
- Check tenants in against the property inventory
- Receive ongoing rental payments and forward balances to landlords
- Deal with any maintenance or other issue that may arise (at landlord's expense)
- Carry out periodic inspections of the property
- Check tenants out at the end of the tenancy
The Work Involved - Sales
- Marketing your services to local and non-local residents
- Taking property details and providing valuations and advice where necessary
- Advertising the properties to potential buyers
- Qualifying buyers prior to viewings to ensure suitability
- Listing buyers requirements and matching to properties
- Carry out viewings of properties
- Communicating with solicitors, banks and buyers and sellers
- Handing over the keys and collecting your commission.
To gain additional further income once you've become an estate agent you may also:
- Create partnerships with financial and other advisors
- Provide investment advice from your knowledgeable sales position
- Build commission based relationships with insurance brokers
- Provide other chargeable services such as photography and floorplans and 3D tours
We cover the entire process in both Lettings and Sales
In our Letting Agent Training and Estate Agent Training (both included in our Business Package) we fully cover the operational and legal aspects, and take you through the entire procedures of running both a letting and estate agency step-by-step.
We also provide all the processes and procedures, contracts, legal documents, administration forms and standard letters that you will need to run your letting or estate agency business in an organised, efficient, and profitable manner.
If you have any queries or issues that you need help on, simply use our telephone or email Support Service, and we will provide you with sound practical guidance and help based on our own extensive experience in the business.
Your success is our success. We want your letting agency business to thrive and grow so that we continue to develop and provide outstanding training, tools and techniques.
Click here to learn much you can expect to earn as a letting or estate agent?