news & events

New Work From Home Estate Agency Franchise Launched!

Looking for your own estate agency business where you can work from home with high earnings potential and a great quality of life? Well here it is!

We believe that our newly launched ‘work from home’ franchise Hunters Personal will deliver all these things and will also revolutionise the way we sell homes by allowing field-based agents to cover their own local area without the need to set up a dedicated high street office. It’s a win-win situation as the agent gets to keep 100% of all the commissions earned!

Having no office means the Hunters personal agent will have low overheads and more freedom to deliver a world-class service. Unlike many web-based operations, the emphasis is on personal service and is an enhancement on their already strong service culture.

Kevin Hollinrake, MD of the Hunters group, which also offers franchises for conventional estate agency offices, believes that it could revolutionise the industry, “New technologies, such as the internet and mobile working, mean that our industry is changing, just as the travel industry changed over the last decade. This will allow our agents to work more flexibly and with a focus on personal, one-to-one service for the customer.

The fact that the agents will be self-employed will make them much more driven to get the best result for the seller. The most common complaint about estate agents is “they didn’t keep me informed” - being a personal agent means you will have time to make sure that everyone is aware of what is happening.  Moving is a stressful time and the seller can now look forward to a more personal service from their agent.

Hunters personal agents will farm an area surrounding their own property, so they will know and serve their own community, and there are lots of benefits to that.”

Kevin continues “We feel the time is right for it here. Market conditions are difficult and that is having an effect on how we work and on how customers buy and sell property.

We’ve also got the software now to allow agents to work from home and to go out there and gain market share.”

The Hunters Personal agents will have access to all Hunters’ services, including their training, their website and their surveying and financial teams.

“They’ll market in the same way as office-based agents, by canvassing, board presence, websites and advertising in newspapers, and they’ll do viewings for you and hold your hand through the process,” says Kevin.  “It’s traditional estate agency, it’s just that technology allows different ways of working.”

Footfall in estate agent’s offices has fallen dramatically in the past few years, and just five percent of buyers visit in person.  Most buyers and sellers now use the telephone and the internet to keep in touch.

“Only time will tell how much importance customers put on a conventional office, but we see Hunters Personal as evolution,” says Kevin.

The franchise costs £2,995 and Hunters say agents can make up to £100,000 a year.

“There are a lot of estate agents looking for a new way or working at the moment and we think this could be an option for them, but with our award winning training courses, we do have the capabilities of training someone from another related industry.  The success really lies with the individual who has the ‘get up and go’ attitude and wants a great job with a great quality of life.”

For more details call Jamie McMullan on 01904 756161 or email enquiries@huntersfranchising.co.uk

Award winning Hunters franchise takes over in Ripon, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough.

Building upon their success with Hunters in West Yorkshire in 2007, Michaela Craven and Stephen Slack are bringing their winning formula to Nidderdale. In December 2007 Michaela and Steve took over the Hunters branches in Ripon, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough, which in addition to their existing offices in Saltaire and Bingley, brings their franchise group to five. 

"We are very excited to be part of Hunters continued success in North Yorkshire" says Michaela. "Our Ripon branch has recently won the 'Quality Award' given by the national industry body Home Sale Network at Europe's largest estate agency conference. We are very proud that our efforts and service levels have been rewarded." 

The award is given to the Home Sale Network member who, over the past year has made the most significant contribution in the delivery of outstanding customer service to its clients.

Home Sale Network is a national network of over 750+ independent estate agents in the UK and is a division of Cartus, a premier provider of relocation services. Richard Tucker, Home Sale Network's managing director commented: "Our members strive to excel in customer service and this award recognises their achievement."

2007 was a tough year for the property market, but with continuous hard work, Hunters marketing approach, and high level of service they have achieved great success. Sue Murray, Hunters Franchising Ltd adds "Michaela and her staff continue to out perform in their market place and we are delighted that she is bringing her dynamic approach to the Nidderdale branches."

Rebekah Try and Tony Wallis outside their new Selby branch

Hunters’ franchise scheme is so appealing that even employees of the property group have been unable to resist!

Tony Wallis, manager of Hunters’ City Country branches in York and Harrogate and Rebekah Try, a senior valuer at the Bishopthorpe Road office in York, are leaving their jobs to set up their own Hunters franchise.

The pair are planning to open the first branch on Selby early this year, with a further four offices planned over the next five years.

Rebekah, who has worked for Hunters for nine years, said: “Tony and I both have experience of managing Hunters offices and had often talked about the prospect of one day running our own business. However, we may never have risked it had the franchise opportunity not arisen. We know that we are buying into a great brand and the huge advantage we have is that we both know the property industry and Hunters’ processes inside out.”