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October 2, 2012

Starting a Letting Agency – Letting agency business strategy

So you’re thinking about starting a Letting Agency?

Back again with another business blog, and today I am going to recall some of my global strategic management knowledge to help break down the different letting agent strategies. Starting a Letting Agency involves a good bit planning and strategy. If you know anything of business strategies, you will have heard of Michael Porter, a leading opinion leader on business strategy and lecturer at the professor at Harvard Business school.

Image: Michel Porter’s Generic Strategies for Letting Agents

starting-a-letting-agency-strategy-

A popular approach that he believes for any company to take is the generic focus strategy. And what this means is you are either going to try and be the best on the market or you are going to try to be the cheapest (See Image above). On both occasions you are looking to work towards one thing, a competitive advantage in the industry, for the purpose of this blog we are going to discuss the lettings and management industry.

So what I decided to do to show you a quick example of two different letting agents with two opposite strategies is jump on Google and see whats on offer with agents in Ireland. Within a few minutes, I stumbled upon two agents advertising with VERY different approaches, one taking the low-cost strategy and one offering a premium and differentiated service to landlords for lettings.

Agency 1 – Mannix Ryan Estate Agents

starting-a-letting-agency-case-study-1

Letting agency Strategy Case Study 1

This agency stuck out to me in particular because of their claim to be the only agency doing what they do. This is a clear attempt at gaining a competitive advantage due to their superiority and different offering, compared to every other agent in Ireland. Even comparing their website and the social media tags below the text to others, I have seen that it is clear that this service is based around quality and not price, in fact there is no mention of how much it costs. So the value proposition to the landlord is on innovation through the use of video. Now we look at another agent offering the same service but differently.

Letting agency strategy Case Study 2

starting-a-letting-agency-case-study2

Now we look at the low-cost letting agent. As you can see from this advertisement, that I came across on Daft.ie , everything about the company and the brand screams low-cost. This is in stark contrast to above where the product offering was describing in detail the excellent service and differentiated marketing ability they offer. A great example of one the biggest companies in the world who has gained and sustained a competitive advantage in their market, based around choosing a focus strategy on costs is Ryanair. On the flip side, a company who has developed a sustainable competitive advantage based on differentiation and innovation/quality is Apple, who charge big bucks for their products.

So there you have some basic business strategy examples for starting a letting agency. I guess I wanted to find out what agents are doing at the moment and how effective are they finding their business strategy in terms of increasing their landlords, tenants, properties and revenues. Is one strategy better in the other, can we find a balance between the two?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, or if you have any questions, do get in touch!

by Rentview

The following may be of interest:

Letting agent marketing strategy

Why use Youtube for marketing

Rent management software

March 23, 2012

Property management:Retaining tenants in the longterm

2012 is Well under way how can Agencies work towards a successful year?

Hello and welcome to the weekly Rentview property blog, today I am going to look at the top priorities of company CEO’s and analyse or discuss these in relation to the lettings and management industry in Ireland. The idea for the blog came about after reading through a great report published by Oracle that I received from a lecturer in Strategic Information Systems for Business this week and it highlights some great areas in which managers and company CEO’s are looking to address and improve. The report is titled ‘The Best Defense Is a good offence’ and it immediately stood out to me as the lettings industry has become quite competitive recently with the fall in attractiveness of the market and influx of people renting.

So what were the top needs and business improvement goals identified by the CEO’s interviewed by Oracle? See the table below!

Today I would like to briefly look at the top ranking priority on the list and over the coming weeks I will look to analyse and discuss the other top improvements that agencies may be able to make in accordance with those ranked here. If there is any that stand out, let me know in the comments!

Attracting and Retaining new customer?

A pretty obvious answer that we could have expected from managers and a goal any agency will have a major focus on, attracting tenant brings in the demand we can utilise for securing landlords properties and once we attract the landlord this can lead to long term income for an agency is they are retained successfully through management services. Today’s blog will solely focus on the tenant as the customer and next week we can look at the landlord as the customer for a better analysis or discussion.

There is obvious ways in attracting tenants to your agency with Daft.ie being the hotbed in which they browse the thousands of properties in Ireland but my opinion is that a lot of letting agents do not put enough focus on the retention of a tenant. Check out this recent theoretical model on customer service relationships , the majority of the points are relevant for Letting Agents.

Above-Building a relationship as a PM with your tenant can lead to retention.

If we view the tenant as a long term asset to the company like many other industries it can eliminate a lot of re-occurring issues such as minor disputes over often avoidable issues and the significant time spent in re-letting your properties at the end of lease terms if a tenant is lost. Ultimately an agency should aspire to provide such a high level of service to its tenants that they act as advocates for that agency and create a positive word of mouth marketing channel that really doesn’t exist with a lot of agencies in the Irish market yet.

You want the tenant to be so satisfied with the level of management received they wont go looking on Daft for new properties as the end of lease approaches, and if they are in a position where they need a new or improved property they contact you the agency! That’s all for this one, don’t forgot to comment with your opinions and share the content if you enjoyed the blog. You can follow me at @cormac_rentview and for information on Rentview check out the main site.

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February 29, 2012

Mould in rented accommodation

Mould

Mould is a type of fungi that occurs completely naturally in nature and its main function is to help with the decomposition of organic matter such as leaves. Not the type of thing anybody would want in their property. They reproduce through spores that float around in the air and only grow into visible colonies when they spend enough time on a suitable surface containing moisture and nutrients.

Mould Growth

Materials that are used in the building of most homes like plywood and carpets are perfect breeding grounds for growth so the key to prevention is reducing moisture. Excess moisture appears after flooding, plumbing leaks, buildings that are too airtight so moisture can’t escape, not enough ventilation near ovens and showers resulting in condensation and general high humidity levels. Condensation also occurs when air gets colder and it loses its ability to retain moisture. Add moisture to warmth and give it a bit of time and you’ve got a new addition to the household.

The most common cause in Irish homes is probably condensation. It’s an internal problem arising from moisture that can’t escape. To prevent condensation and in turn contribute largely to the prevention of mould you should:

Have a good ventilation system in place – extractor fans in bathrooms, exhaust fans in cooking and laundering areas and open windows
Dry windows and windowsills when you notice condensation forming
Insulate cold surfaces well in order to keep central heating low to stop build up on windows, walls and floors
Try to keep carpets and rugs away from water sources like sinks and showers
Dry washed clothes outside as much as possible
Air cupboards and wardrobes frequently

Choosing the right tenant for your property

Removing Mould

If mould is already a problem in the home, the best thing to do is get rid of what’s already there and then take preventative measures. Mould killing sprays can be bought in most local supermarkets and these are effective in removing small growths, although a mixture of water and bleach can also help. If on walls or skirting boards, fungicidal paint can be used after the clean-up to prevent a recurrence of the problem. When cleaning, don’t forget to protect yourself. Rubber gloves, protective goggles and a dust mask are a must for protection against spores, and stop and go outside to get some air if you develop a headache or become nauseous. For larger growths it is recommended to call a professional mould remover. Certain materials like insulation and carpets can’t just be treated, they need to be removed and replaced.

If you spot the beginnings of mould growth (black pinpricks) take action immediately. While not generally toxic, mould can be an irritant and can contribute to respiratory problems. It also causes stains and eventually rots and/or causes deterioration depending on the material it’s growing on.

Whose Responsibility is it?

The simple answer is it’s both the landlords’ and tenants’ responsibility. Before they let a property, landlords should ensure there isn’t any mould growing or remove what’s currently there. Tenants should be informed of how to prevent it, what to do if it starts to grow during their tenancy, and should notify the landlord in case structural changes need to be made.

Other blogs of interest Keeping a tenant happy &

Final inspection and return of a deposit

by Andreas Riha

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