Landlord Products / Services
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk about my newest affiliate partner flyp.co, a nifty “property selling” service that helps folk:
- Sell homes quicker than average…
- for the most amount of money
Isn’t that the dream scenario?
If you’ve hopped onto flyp’s swanko website, you might believe you already have a reasonable idea of how their service works.
I’m here to tell you that you absolutely don’t. it’s not humanly possible to have a clue.
it’s not you, it’s them.
No doubt, their visually dashing website is as slick as a baby seal, but the problem is it’s about as useful as a singing bollock. This is what they call tough love, I believe.
As flyp’s affiliate partner, it pains me to say that they do a remarkably poor job at explaining what it is they do, so it seems reasonable to assume that most people never get as far as to appreciating what it is they bring to the table. It hurts because their house-selling service is awesome and so is the team behind it (which is precisely why I’m excited to be their affiliate partner), and I’m confident more people would flock to use their service if it’s better explained.
I’m here to fill in the gaps gigantic holes in their flimsy sales-pitch, so you get it.
flyp’s offers two types of house-selling services
You would never be able to tell from their website (currently), but flyp provides two distinctly different house-selling solutions, and one will likely be more suited to you than the other. For some unknown reason, flyp have meshed the details of both services together, giving the impression they’re flogging one product when they’re absolutely not!
I probably should question management on why they’ve gone down the path of chaotic confusion, but I’m the new guy, so I don’t want to ruffle any feathers. I feel safer cowering behind the comfort of this blog post, which they may or may not stumble upon at some point.
- 1) “Multi-agency strategy” sales service
If you’re simply looking to sell your home faster and for more, then this is the solution. It’s very similar to how you would sell a home on the open market via an estate agent, but this version is on steroids.In short, flyp’s multi-agency sales strategy entails gathering the best local agents in your area and getting them to market your property all at the same time.
Powerful.
I’m going to stop this brief explanation here, because I believe this service will apply to most people so I’m going to go into much more detail about their multi-agency service in a moment.
- 2) “Improve it and sell it” sales service (designed for empty properties)
This is a multi-layered customised sales service just for you, specifically optimised for landlords and/or sellers with empty properties. It can be a little tough to fully digest, but I’ll do my best to give you the gist of it.The service entails three potential stages (it all depends on which is relevant):
- Transformation (improve property)
- Short-let property while it’s being sold (to generate rental income)
- Sell (using the multi-agency strategy)
flyp identifies if and where a house can be improved to add value before going to market (this can include hefty renovations and interior design upgrades). flyp pay for the entire transformation (up to a maximum of £150,000) and then recoup their investment from the sale (i.e. flyp snatches up to 40% of the value they’ve created). But ultimately, the idea is that the seller ends up with the lion’s share and makes more money from the sale compared to pre-transformation.
After the property has been transformed – and if a buyer hasn’t been found yet – flyp will then host short-term rentals in the property, so this way the seller can generate some sweet rental income while it’s vacant and being marketed for sale (with their multi-agency approach).
The tenants (or more accurately put, “guests”) agree to flexible rental tenancies (1-3 months) so they don’t have tenancy rights (think Airbnb holiday lets). They can be vacated with 4 weeks notice, which is actually kind of perfect since it can take several weeks to complete a sale once a buyer is found.
flyp manages the viewings with the guests and also clean and dresses the property each day there are viewings scheduled. So to quote my contact at flyp, the experience results in “flawless viewings”
It’s a pretty remarkable service, because it squeezes as much lemonade out of the lemon as possible, from start to sale.
For more information on this specific service, here’s my in-depth overview of flyp’s transformation service. If you’ve heard enough because you’re sold, then you can fill in this form to book a free no obligation appraisal from flyp.
flyp’s multi-agent house-selling service
flyp’s multi-agent house-selling service explained in a nutshell
Sign up with flyp’s service, and they’ll find and recruit a handful of the best performing local agents in your area, and get them to market and sell your property all at the same time, for more or less the same price as you’d expect to pay if you only had one agent on the job.
In other words, instead of having one estate agent trying to sell your property, flyp will ensure you have several of the best performing local agents all fighting to sell your property.
Winner takes all – the agent that gets the sale earns the sweet commission. And as normal, no sale, no fee.
flyp manages all the agents on your behalf, which includes managing and scheduling viewings and offers. You only deal with your contact at flyp.
The benefits of using flyp
- Get increased exposure to your property
- Receive more offers
- Statically quicker than average sale time (80% of flyp’s clients get an offer within 3 weeks and currently have an 85% sales rate)
- Increased chance of getting a higher sale price
Get a free no-obligations appraisal from flyp
Is flyp’s multi-agency service more expensive than using an estate agent directly?
Most of flyp’s customers pay between 1 – 1.5% of the sale price on fees.
But let me briefly explain the difference between a sole-agency agreement and a multi-agency agreement, just so you fully understand the cost benefit of using flyp’s service.
A sole-agency agreement is a contract that grants exclusive rights to an agent to market and sell your property within a specified period (i.e. typically between 8 – 16 weeks), during which time another agent cannot be instructed without breaching terms of service. This is the most common type of agreement.
The typical fee for a sole agency agreement is 1-2% of the sale price.
A multi-agency agreement is a contract that allows you to instruct multiple estate agents to market and sell your property. This is effectively what flyp does on your behalf.
However, the typical fee for a multi agency agreement is 2.5% – 3.5% of the sale price, Basically, you will need to pay that fee to whichever agent gets the sale.
Conclusion? flyp makes it possible to get a multi-agency agreement in place for the price of a sole-agency agreement fee. But the real value ad is that they do all the recruiting and management on your behalf.
So how much do flyp charge for their service (revenue model explained)?
If you sell your property via flyp’s network of agents, you pay absolutely nothing to flyp. Not a bean!
How it works is, flyp will get in touch with your local agents and negotiate a sales fee with each and every one of them directly (as mentioned, typically between 1 – 1.5% of the sale price).
Once a fee is established and agents are onboard, flyp will check to see if you’re happy to proceed.
If one of the instructed agents ends up selling your property, you will only pay them the already agreed fee, and no more. For example, 1.5% of the sale price.
The agent will then give flyp 0.25% (that’s their fixed-fee) out of the 1.5% commission. Basically, flyp earns their commission directly from the estate agent that gets the sale, not from you.
If during the sale process you use their fully-managed short-let rental service – to generate rental income during the “emptiness” – they will take a percentage of the rental income (this rate can vary depending on circumstances, and will be confirmed during an appraisal).
The key point to remember is that flyp’s service is designed for sellers to make as much money as possible from the sale of their house. That is the bottom line.
flyp doesn’t explain any of this useful goodness on their website (at least from what I could tell). Like I said, useful as a singing bollock.
The only reason I know any of this is because I was persistent and kept asking questions. I certainly don’t expect any sane person to jump through the same hoops (and hopefully now you don’t have to).
What’s my cut (for being their affiliate)? I literally don’t have a scooby. The numbers were run by me, but honestly, it all went over my head. I genuinely thought their service was useful so I was just happy to spread the word. I believe I get a small piece from flyp’s 0.25% cut if anyone uses my referral link and ends up using flyp’s service. Thank you to anyone that actually does, it goes a long way and helps support my blog.
How flyp sells houses (step-by-step explanation)
- Book a virtual inspection for an in-depth assessment on the current and potential value of your property.
You can do that by either going to their website or using the convenient form below.
- flyp will identify the best performing estate agents in your area and reach out to them in order to negotiate a deal with them (i.e. agree to a fee to sell your property)
- flyp will request a few key details of the home, including pictures, floorplans etc. and engage all the relevant agents (typically 10-30).
- The agents will then provide flyp with property valuations.
- flyp will contact you to discuss and determine the asking price, fees and strategy with the agents.
- If you’re happy with the fees and the proposal, you can sign the instruction with flyp.
- Once your property is sale ready, flyp will instruct the best local agents in your area to market and sell your property. That means you won’t have one agent trying to sell your home, but you’ll have a network of agents tripping over themselves, all trying to get you the best price possible. May the best man/woman win.
Get a free no-obligations appraisal from flyp
Hopefully I’ve managed to explain flyp’s service a little better than they do, and given their fabulous service the true justice and shine it deserves. Feedback welcome.
If you have any questions, you know what to do…
Landlord out xoxo
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
