Franchising :: Become a Personal Agent

Become a Personal Agent

From Teesside to Leeds - and as far afield as Wales - personal agents are revolutionising the world of estate agency and are working in close association with Hunters city centre offices to extend their reach and are replacing the need for lots of physical branch offices in suburbs.

Kevin Hollinrake, MD of Hunters, came up with the idea after offering ground-breaking franchises for people wanting to open conventional estate agency offices.

He realised that not everybody wanted the outlay of opening a premises and came up with the win-win alternative of agents working from home.

No office means low overheads and more freedom to be out selling and letting houses. Agents work in their own neighbourhood, using local knowledge and contacts to get off to a successful start.

Sellers are sold on the idea that the personal agent is always at the end of the telephone. In the often faceless world of modern estate agency they love having a ‘name’ - the owner of the business - to speak to. The house sale or lease is never passed on to a third party, calls are always returned; this is a bespoke service. A special relationship. Agents get to keep up to 75% of all the commissions earned.

Although the latest in technology is at the forefront of the success of the personal agencies - websites and mobile phone apps are the order of the day - this is balanced with a return to a highly personal one-to-one relationship. It’s reminiscent of the way the travel agency business has evolved.  There will always be a place for flagship city centre offices but we envisage the future expansion of these hub offices will be through their support of networks of personal home based agents, rather than lots of physical branches in suburbs.

Footfall in estate agency 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,” says Kevin Hollinrake, who collected the Estate Agency Innovation Award at the prestigious Negotiator Awards in London for the personal agent initiative. “We - and the property industry - see Hunters Personal as evolution.”

The concept of personal agencies has taken the property world by storm, with lots of media interest.

Newspapers such as the Guardian have been intrigued enough to report on the initiative, in particular how being “out in the field” rather than office-bound can keep costs down for customers.

Of course, scouring estate agency windows has already started to become a thing of the past, with the National Association of Estate Agents reporting that more than 80% of buyers already use internet portals like primelocation, rightmove.co.uk, or to shortlist properties they may want to buy.

The franchise costs £2,995 and Hunters say agents can make over £80K a year OTE.

Ian Dunlop (York personal agent) Click here

Andrew Mills (Sheffield hub office owner) Click here

Andy Thompson (Scunthorpe personal agent) Click here