How Estate Agents Can Save Money

Written by The Landlord on 31 Oct 2008

Just to put the record straight, I don’t think all estate agents are total worthless scumbags, I just think a vast majority of them are smiley snakes. To be honest, I don’t even think agents themselves can dispute that. Hell, I can even admit that the majority of landlords are fucking morons that have extremely little respect for their tenants. I’m one of the first to stab my own kind in the back! STAB! STAB!

However, In order to show my support to estate agents during this grueling time of financial bankruptcy, I’m going to provide a list of money-saving suggestions. Granted, I’m no expert in the area of estate agency- this is just, ya’ know, my uneducated analysis and stuff.

1) Sell those stupid florescent Company Cars

I don’t know which sucker would want to buy one of those rancid company cars, but their must be a way to sell them and squeeze some change out of them.

Estate agents are notorious for buying Minis and defacing them with bright company logos and other visual pollution. Minis aren’t cheap, and I imagine getting them defaced with unsubtle marketing tactics ain’t all that cheap either.

I personally don’t think they’re an extremely effective form of advertising, so they’re pretty much only good for one purpose- getting from A to B. On that note, sell the MINIS, and forget company cars. If they’re necessary, get a basic Peugeot 206 Diesel or something. You know, something normal…it’s probably best if estate agents don’t stand out anyways.

Additionally, cut back on the number of company cars. I’m sure with the amount of viewings the average agent has these days, it would be more than ample for 6 agents to share one vehicle.

2) Use free advertising methods

There are so many avenues an estate agent can wander down to take advantage of free advertising opportunities. When I recently performed a live experiment of finding tenants without the use of letting agents (to save money), I used forms of advertising which cost either a small amount or absolutely nothing.

All you need to be is resourceful and dedicated. Obviously free advertising will take more time and effort, but if it isn’t time estate agents have right now, what have they got? Use websites like Gumtree and PropertyLive, and even go back to the old school and strike up a deal with your local corner shop.

I ended up finding my tenants for free on Gumtree. I saved about 1k on fees.

3) Online Social Networking

Whilst a lot of pseudo-nerd-wannabes from the property sector has already jumped on board the social media frenzy, I feel a lot are still missing out. The beauty about social networking online is that you don’t actually have to be a computer anorak to get started nor do you have to spend a penny.

Creating a social network online has advantages for any business, whether it be online or offline orientated. The main advantage is that it can create masses of FREE exposure for any business. So for example, if I was an estate agent, I would start a property blog and offer free advise and tips to buyers and vendors. Building a targeted social network can take time, but with a bit of patience, the rewards can be priceless. Another idea would be to take advantage of platforms like Facebook- start a community.

3) Ditch Rightmove if it ain’t working

Sorry to circle out Rightmove, but they seem to have cornered the market. A lot of estate agents use Rightmove because they believe it’s the Holy grail of marketing platforms; likewise for car dealers and Autotrader. Both companies have pretty much monopolized their markets. However, that means they are more inclined to charge a lot of money than their competitors (which they do). I also know that Rightmove increase their rates on a regular basis. Last I heard, they charge approximately £450p/m. That’s a lot of cheese, right? Right.

My point is, if Rightmove ain’t working i.e. isn’t generating leads, then don’t bother using it. Look for other streams of more cost effective methods. Also, other property portals may not generate as many leads as Rightmove, but they may provide a better cost per enquiry.

4) Energy saving tactics

There isn’t a better time to be green than now. The basic concept of being green is to be more energy efficient at a lower cost. Even simple actions like leaving a monitor on standby can add to the monthly bills. Tips on how to make your home green

5) Buy cheaper coffee beans and teabags

I read somewhere that a certain estate agent was in so much financial trouble that they started buying cheaper coffee beans and teabags. They could be onto something. I imagine a lot of agents are having sleepless nights, consequently consuming a lot of caffeine whilst chair-spinning from 9 to 5.

Every penny helps in this current climate. Either buy Tesco value crap or buy in bulk. But then again, if you believe in Karma (which I do), I wouldn’t buy in bulk, because you might be implying that you’re smug enough to actually believe that you’re going to last the winter. So Tesco value it is…

6) Drill down on which forms of advertising actually work

As i’ve already mentioned, a lot of agents use Rightmove because they’re actually expected to. But Rightmove doesn’t always make sense (of course, a lot of the times it does). However, now is the time to finalise which forms of advertising actually works the best. With a little data crunching it should be easy enough to find out which is the most cost effective form of adverting. Of course, there are a lot of variables that can be taken into consideration.

For example, if I were an estate agent which used both Rightmove and Propertyfinder, I would work out which site produced the most amount of leads, and which leads I managed to convert the most. Although Rightmove may produce more leads, propertyfinder may produce more sales. Another issue is that PropertyFinder may perform better in certain areas, so there is always the geographical factor.

Point is, whichever methods of advertising you are using, don’t be afraid to actually get the calculator out and find out which method actually is working for you, and don’t be afraid to side with the facts, even if that means elbowing one of your personal favourites.

On a final note, if you’re an estate agent, I’d love to hear how you’ve been cutting back on costs constructively…

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