Hybrid Estate Agent Idea

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pete9877

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Mar 21, 2019
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  • #1
    Hello

    I am in the process of developing a business plan for a new estate agency concentrating on buying and selling.
    I have been a landlord and part-time property developer for 10+ years. I have become frustrated after recent dealings I have had with buying, selling and letting property - appalled with the customer service, mistakes and lack of respect to the fact that I am the customer. I find all the local estate agents have pretty much the same out-of-date setup and they haven't adapted to combat the online EA concept. I know I can do so much better - it ain't hard!

    I am developing my USPs based on what I want as a customer. I would love your input as to what you want from an estate agent - please send your ideas my way. The list so far:

    - Online meets local hybrid

    - No high street office and the overheads that go with it, meaning prices more in line with the online outfits. Home working. We will come to you if required.

    - Remaining local and targeting a town with a population around 200k. Keeping the local knowledge, service and personal side to a traditional EA.

    - No hassle - provide fixed price/percentage for a sale, plus a few package options. For instance, a complete package at a set fee will provide all advertising, professional pictures, sales agent accompanied viewings, conveyancing.

    - Accompanied viewings with a "professional" and "honest" sales agent - I was once told that the old man who had passed away had gone into a care home first. He hadn't, he had died in bed. I don't want to be associated with this crap. Just concentrate on the good stuff and how much he enjoyed the garden in his retirement. The vendor doing first viewings can be a big turn off for prospective buyers and ultimately most vendors are not sales people.

    - The sales agent will visit the vendor at the start of the process to learn about the property for sale for the benefit of accompanied viewings.

    - Open late for phone calls and viewings - 8pm weekdays and open Saturday & Sunday 9 - 4. None of the local EAs are available on a Sunday and quickly run out of slots for viewings on a Saturday, yet this is an ideal time to go and view houses and make enquiries.

    - Regular updates, even if it is just a quick text.

    - Offer advice to the vendors, but ultimately respect that they are the customer and their decision is final. It is vital that my customers remain happy with what is supposed to be a stressful time.


    Any thoughts?

    The BIGGIE - getting the first customers on board. I am content with breaking even for the first year and understand the hardest task is gaining market share. As I won't have a high street presence, I will be focusing on local and online advertising and concentrating on why we are different. Newspapers, billboards, leaflet drops / Facebook, online local paper. One good suggestion I have seen is sponsoring school newsletters. Prepared to offer heavily cut fees for first customers, although I am concerned this may make us cheap in quality as well as price - perhaps run a competition instead for free sales. I'm prepared to chuck a bit of money at it to get it going. Any other ideas?

    Thank you!
    Peter
     
    Mark T Jones

    Mark T Jones

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  • #2
    Without being too dismissive I can’t actually see anything here that doesn’t already exist. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing but there will be challenges

    The key challenge you’ll have is customer perceptions and expectations. The big name agents might be slippery and borderline crooked, but their model is also pretty astute and plays to the greedy side of the vendor.

    Set price unrealistically high to get the commitment. Create a steady footfall to give the perception of activity (despite the fact that most of those people have expressed no interest in that type of property). Gradually manage price expectations downwards etc

    The older, white-haired agents will align themselves with your ideals but struggle to compete

    I’ve yet do meet an agent who didn’t describe themselves as professional or honest. Your challenge is that people wang honesty on their own terms.
     
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    fisicx

    fisicx

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  • #3
    Apart from not having a high street office everything you propose the local agents already do.

    We just searched on rightmove and arranged viewings. Never once went to an estate agent’s showroom/office.

    I’d rather not have to deal with an estate agent at all. They are an unnecessary and expensive waste of time. All equally useless.
     
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    tony84

    tony84

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  • #4
    My biggest issue with what you have said is that you want to be a local agent, but nobody can come to see you when they want. Even if you just had an office above a shop, I think it adds to the the whole being local thing. Otherwise, what is the point in being local, you could be anywhere.

    A lot of estate agents suggest they are honest and trustworthy. Most I would not spit on if they were on fire. Although admittedly, a lot of the smaller 1 or 2 office firms tend to be better than the larger companies who seem to be much more sales orientated presumably with targets.
     
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    NickGrogan

    NickGrogan

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  • #7
    pete9877 said:
    Open late for phone calls and viewings - 8pm weekdays and open Saturday & Sunday 9 - 4.
    Click to expand...

    8pm is late?

    And 4pm on weekends?

    Why not open at midday and close at 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 10pm on weekends?

    You can do 3 or 4 times more viewings than every other agent.

    How many people want to talk to an estate agent 10:30 on a Wednesday morning?

    As has been said, you're offering the exact same service as everyone else, but without an office.
     
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    Stedurham

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  • #8
    I was involved in an estate agents that I thought would be a massive success got one of the best agents/manages from a competitor, did massive advertising mail dropped 20k houses etc. Lets say I got out with what I put in and now she owns it and makes a living. Unless you have big brand you will struggle, wheres sarah beenys online one gone and look at what they had behind them and the burn rates on advertising will be huge
     
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    Stedurham

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  • #9
    We spen in excess of 10K on online marketing just the local area, facebook, twitter free give aways, we were on rightmove and zoopla, didn't even dent surface. Shop however everyone loved it tiled floor all modern, majority of customers came from there. If you want to compete with online companies hope your pockets are deep really deep
     
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    Maxwell83

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    • Aug 4, 2012
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  • #10
    With your focus on a personal service and local knowledge, it sounds like you would be better placed to be an agent working from a premises that people can visit - If I want a personal service, I want a shop/office I can walk into. If I want "quick, dirty & cheap" I go online.

    By focusing on being online your biggest competitors become the huge companies with budgets that dwarf yours - customers (even those in your locality) looking for online agencies won't be as bothered about the fact that you are local, they are simply looking for an online agency which they know full well could be based anywhere - thats what the internet is all about.

    Being a local high street agency, your competition is the agencies on your street. The customers that walk will be those that still value a local personal service.

    If you don't have the shop, you will still have all the other overheads of a traditional estate agent - marketing, travel, sales agents, someone to answer the phone, etc (I assume you will do this yourself to begin with but essentially your time is still an overhead). Depending on where you are based, a high street shop/office could be less than £1k a month - its not a huge expense in relation to the other expenses and could generate a handful of new clients and sales per month.

    You can succeed as an estate agent, but I don't think re-inventing the wheel is the best way for you to go about it at this stage. A high street presence is going to be a cheaper advert than what you will need to compete online. Utilise the traditional model but give great service, be honest, be there late and on Sundays, keep clients updated etc - if you can offer the type of service and enthusiasm that your original post displays, you will eventually be recognised in your area as an exception to stereotype that most people have of agents.
     
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    Financial-Modeller

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  • #11
    @pete9877 In many parts of the country, estate agents are lazy and complacent, knowing that there is sufficient demand to maintain an income with little incentive to try harder.

    FWIW I agree with you that a new agent should be able to do well by:
    • focussing on being available to do viewings when it suits the prospective tenant/purchaser, NOT the agent. Some near me won't even do viewings outside weekday office hours!
    • putting time into value-added stuff like viewings and automating the administrative side as much as possible
    • using the Zoopla and Rightmove well e.g. taking decent photos and adding floorplans
    • reducing premisies costs - an accessible office in which to sign documents etc is sufficient. Expensive High Street shop is not needed today.
    • seeing proactive property management as a revenue stream to develop, rather than an inconvenient hassle to react to.
    Starting with the tenancy side is obviously easier than sales. Building relationships with the local BTL community, whilst offering tenants reduced fees while you build your portfolio might be a good approach.

    Where are you thinking about launching? It may be worth you connecting with a like-minded acquaintance in Gloucestershire.
     
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    pete9877

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  • #12
    Thanks for all the replies!!

    Well to be honest this has been a bit of a reality check as I was expecting a more positive response.

    Several comments about it not being any different to what is out there. Perhaps I didn't get my ideas across properly, so I'll try again:

    Purple Bricks biggest complaints according to review sites:
    Fee upfront so they make little effort to sell - We will collect on sale and therefore make the effort
    Deal with a call centre and someone different each time - We will offer a consistent contact
    No local knowledge - We've got that covered

    Local estate agents:
    Day time viewings on weekdays and Saturdays if you're lucky - We are open into the evening and Saturday & Sunday. Nick, I like the point you make "Why not open at midday and close at 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 10pm on weekends?"
    High street shop overheads - I really don't want them. People are looking for an alternative to rip off local EAs and that is why they go to Purple Bricks and they are prepared to compromise on service for the cheaper price.


    Staffing wise, as I haven't mentioned this, I have been looking into a virtual receptionist and there seems to be some great options out there. Always someone on hand to take calls even in the early days.
    Also, I will be looking to get an experienced sales agent on-board - I haven't got a concrete plan for this yet.

    Financial-Modeller, Maxwell83, Stedurham, NickGrogan, Chris Ashdown, MikeJ, tony84, fisicx, Mark T Jones thank you for all your input!!
     
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    Mark T Jones

    Mark T Jones

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  • #13
    pete9877 said:
    Thanks for all the replies!!

    Well to be honest this has been a bit of a reality check as I was expecting a more positive response.

    Several comments about it not being any different to what is out there. Perhaps I didn't get my ideas across properly, so I'll try again:

    Purple Bricks biggest complaints according to review sites:
    Fee upfront so they make little effort to sell - We will collect on sale and therefore make the effort
    Deal with a call centre and someone different each time - We will offer a consistent contact
    No local knowledge - We've got that covered

    Local estate agents:
    Day time viewings on weekdays and Saturdays if you're lucky - We are open into the evening and Saturday & Sunday. Nick, I like the point you make "Why not open at midday and close at 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 10pm on weekends?"
    High street shop overheads - I really don't want them. People are looking for an alternative to rip off local EAs and that is why they go to Purple Bricks and they are prepared to compromise on service for the cheaper price.


    Staffing wise, as I haven't mentioned this, I have been looking into a virtual receptionist and there seems to be some great options out there. Always someone on hand to take calls even in the early days.
    Also, I will be looking to get an experienced sales agent on-board - I haven't got a concrete plan for this yet.

    Financial-Modeller, Maxwell83, Stedurham, NickGrogan, Chris Ashdown, MikeJ, tony84, fisicx, Mark T Jones thank you for all your input!!
    Click to expand...

    I wouldn’t get hung up on the negative/positive thing I would look at each observation and ask yourself how it applies to you

    There are any number of independent agents out there so I’d start doing some detailed research around your own target area / sector

    Ultimately, as with any business, your success or failure will hang on the quality of your reasearch and your execution of the idea.
     
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    fisicx

    fisicx

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  • #14
    How do people research houses?

    I’d put my money on them searching rightmove and others and then contacting the estate agent.

    They don’t care who the estate agent is, it’s the house that’s important not the vendor.

    So while everything you suggest is good, it’s minor compared to the property. Do a good job on the pictures and description and the chances of a sale improve.

    You, your local knowledge, answering the phone and everything else is irrelevant. It’s the property that matters.

    If you really want to make a difference, make the estate agent redundant. Not met one yet that added any value to the buying process.
     
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