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Beat the Credit Crunch

After another month of doom and gloom for the property market and numerous news headlines reporting major agency chains closing, I wanted to provide fresh ideas on how to bring much needed additional incomes streams into your agency.

Firstly go back to basics and look at what services you initially offered when your agency started. You may even need to ask a retired director or a member of staff who now takes a back seat as to the methods used as you will probably find that strategies used to build your agency up from the start have been dropped due to a buoyant market and natural source of landlords with property coming in through your doors.

If your agency currently out sources services such as tenant referencing or conducting inventories look at bringing these services back in house. Always ensure your agency tenancy agreement is up to date with the newest legislation as tenancy clauses are continually challenged in court. You do not want to have the bad press associated with your agency if action was taken against you. Inventories are very time consuming especially for larger fully furnished properties so ensure you have plenty of time to complete the task. A rushed inventory would not stand up to scrutiny if the property is damaged during the tenancy.

Look into schemes offering commission for providing new account customers. When a tenant is moving home the last thing on their mind is sorting out the utility accounts. Some schemes simply require the tenant to sign a form and everything else is taken care of, allowing a fast and efficient way to have all utility accounts changed to their new address. Although schemes vary in services offered, you should be able to find a suitable scheme for every utility service including broadband and even mobile telephones. I have recently read about a commission based scheme where one agent had received over £50,000 over the course of the year so these programs shouldn't be sniffed at.

Look at the times and dates viewings are arranged and conducted. If you can book viewings in one after another you will save the cost of fuel travelling back and forth. This method of multi viewing also creates urgency with interested tenants as they feel they need to act quickly or will loose the property.

Take time out to re-valuate the fees you are charging to lower income families and students. It is far better to have a larger amount of tenants snapping up your rental accommodation than having houses to rent left on the market due to high fees. You only need to make a small reduction in fees to sound competitive. Remember there are now a large number of student accommodation bed providers which compete for your tenants so do all you can to retain their business.

Look into selling insurance products that will appeal to landlords, such as rent guarantees and building insurance. Extra income can easily build up by simply passing a leaflet to an enquiring customer. There are also similar products that can be sold to students offering protection of their deposit or the contents of the building. Please remember that if you are going to give advice on insurance products you do need to be registered with the Financial Services Authority, although this is not required if you are only handing out leaflets with you agency details printed on the back for commission payments to be made. Before selling or providing insurance products please find out exactly what is required by contacting the insurance company and asking about their reseller requirements.

Finally look into partnerships with other local agents and agree on a commission split. You may have tenants on your books that can be introduced to another agent who is struggling to fill a particular property or vice versa. Half a commission is better than disappointed tenants sat waiting to be informed of suitable properties.

These methods may all seem as low income stream generators and not worth the hassle to implement but once made part of your usual business will generate a good source of income. In the current climate every penny counts!

About the Author

Benjamin Perry CEO of www.online-lettings.co.uk
View the original article at www.online-lettings.co.uk
The Specialist lettings website where you can find a local letting agent and view houses to rent

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