5 Advantages of Running an Estate Agency Franchise

Alice Tuffery, writer

Published at 16/01/2019, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

5 Advantages of Running an Estate Agency Franchise — Photo © real-estate-agency.jpg

Are you considering running your own business with an estate agency franchise? If so, read on. We’ve compiled the top five advantages of doing so.

Starting an estate agency business can be challenging, but there are plenty of rewards for those who have the business acumen to do it successfully. Here are just five of them.

You help people find their dream homes

Many people dream of becoming an estate agent; showing people around the homes of their dreams. Of course, there’s paperwork and administerial tasks that go along with this element of the job. But, ultimately, you’ll be part of a rewarding company helping people move up the property ladder and achieve their goals.

Running a business in any sector comes with a certain amount of stress. So, knowing you’re making a real difference in the lives of others will give you the motivation to carry on developing your franchise unit.

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You can diversify your offering

Depending on the franchise you join, you may be able to offer both lettings and sales services. This is a great way of securing your business. The economy can have a significant impact on whether people choose to rent or buy their next home, and we can never know what’s around the corner. You only need to look at factors like Brexit and the COVID-19 outbreak to see how one-off events can have a huge knock-on effect.

By specialising in both lettings and sales, you can safeguard your business for the future. Often, when one area goes quiet, the other suddenly gets busier, so you can make sure you always have work coming in by showing both rental and ‘for sale’ properties.

The rental market is in higher demand than ever

As you can imagine, the lettings market has never been bigger. As house prices creep up and wages remain low, many people are forced to keep renting for much longer than they’d like to. In fact, the number of properties in the private rented sector went up from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.5 million in 2017. This is an increase of 63 percent in just 10 years.

Changes to stamp duty for buy-to-let properties announced by the chancellor back in 2015 also make it a good time to invest in an estate agency franchise offering rental properties. A considerable rate increase for houses bought in addition to a primary residence triggered a buying frenzy among landlords. This meant there were many more buy-to-let properties for estate agencies to manage.

These two factors make rental estate agency franchises a great investment.

You can set up an estate agency from home

These days, most people would love the opportunity to work from home. If you dream of cutting out the commute, spending more time with your family or just saving money by not renting a high street premises, why not start an online business? This is an easy option for estate agency franchises.

Companies such as Purple Bricks, On The Market and Zoopla have shown you don’t need ‘brick and mortar’ offices to advertise and manage properties. By following suit, you can reduce the typically astronomical buyer/seller fees and attract customers who don’t want to spend thousands of pounds unnecessarily.

You can gain brand trust through a franchise

You can set up an online estate agency franchise unit with just a computer and internet signal. Working from home will help you avoid hefty rental bills, but you’ll still need to know how to market yourself and find customers. The property business is very mature, so you’ll come up against well-known estate agencies with decades of experience. These firms often dominate their chosen territories, making it very difficult for any ‘newbies’ to set up business on their patch.

Luckily, franchises can help you make a mark in your region. When you become a franchisee, you’ll be joining an established company and will benefit from its existing brand recognition and customer trust. Dorian Gonsalves from Belvoir explains just how much of an advantage franchisees have over independent business owners in the estate agency sector:

Many new letting agents set up with cut price offerings. Many of them fail because they don’t have the strength of a reputable brand.

The current state of the estate agency sector

The average house price in the UK is just over £230,000, a figure which is set to rise over the coming months and years. This increase goes against the predicted housing market slowdown some economists had suggested, and is down to record levels of employment and a lack of available properties. In fact, the Resolution Foundation has revealed there are just 825 homes for every 1,000 families in England, which, of course, pushes house prices up.

Extra costs add around £3,300 to the bill for buyers and approximately £6,900 for sellers. By the time the process has been completed, it’s usually the single biggest financial commitment those involved have ever made. Most people turn to estate agents to make sure they get the right advice, so there’s great scope to run a successful business in this sector.

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Be a part of the story

If you want to help customers find their dream home – and make money whilst doing it – joining an estate agency franchise could be a great move. By becoming a franchisee, you can launch a business safe in the knowledge you’re using tried and tested strategies and have a trusted company behind you. If you ever need help in any area of your franchise unit, you can turn to one of the franchise team for guidance.

We have a number of estate agency and property franchises on our books. Browse our portfolio and filter your selection by investment amount or popularity.