Why would a landlord or a letting agent give a property to me?
Why would a landlord or a letting agent give a property to me?
Today we’re talking about the second most popular question I get asked.
People are incredulous when they ask ‘but why would a landlord give a property to me?!’
They add an exclamation mark to the question mark with their tone of voice.
They understand how rent to rent works, they accept that it’s legal but they absolutely draw the line at believing that any landlord or letting agent would give a property to them.
If you kind of get what rent to rent is all about in theory, but you still kind of have your doubts about whether it’d work in practice,
the this episode is going to break it down, with real life examples about why landlords and agent do work with people just like you who don’t have property experience.
It sounds like it’s impossible but stick with me.
If you’re just joining us for the first time do go back to episode 1 as the episodes do build on each other to give you the full view of rent to rent success.
Let's dive in
If this thought had crossed your mind, you’re in good company.
And most people we work with have the same hesitation.
I do too.
And yet, people are getting their first properties from landlords and letting agents every day.
People without prior experience with property and without huge pots of cash in the bank.
How?
The ‘secret’ is that HMO landlords and letting agents have problems you can solve.
They want:
Rent paid
Property looked after
And the one people often forget is:
Minimal risk in any transaction
And agents tend to be more risk averse than landlords because as an agent you’re looking after someone else’s asset and you never want to be in position of explaining that you made a bad decision.
There’s one additional thing that agents want.
And it’s the thing their business relies on and that’s:
Their fees paid – the agent commission.
When you learn how to describe your solution effectively, you become an irresistible option to your perfect customers.
And in future episode we’ll be talking about how you can be magnetic with your marketing.
You might think that experience is the most important thing that landlords and agents look for.
But it isn’t.
The thing that we need to be able to convince them on is that we are a minimal risk option and because you're offering something different, they may view you as a risk.
How do we do that?
The 2 most important things are not the things people think.
The most important things are:
Likability
Trust
People often think experience is the most important thing but if that were really true no one would ever get their first deal.
This seems unlikely.
But you’ll have seen the evidence of it all around you in Facebook groups from people saying they got their first deals.
Let me illustrate this with a story.
Our story.
We got our first deal before we were ready.
And without HMO experience
I was still working full-time as a contractor in financial services.
I was half excited, confident and enjoying the thrill of this new path and half terrified I was making a hideous mistake and would end up wishing I’d listened to all the people who told me that it wouldn’t work.
At first the very idea someone would entrust their property to me was laughable but I leaned into it because I felt so determined.
Mum’s telephone call continually came back to haunt me.
Actually it wasn’t so much the call itself.
It was reflecting on it that afternoon sitting at my desk in the bank.
That feeling, that awful feeling in my gut as I knew I’d made the wrong decision.
The moment when I realised that I was making the Bank and the Job more important than the people I say I love and care for.
The people I want to share my life with.
Feeling these feelings whenever I thought of giving up, spurred me on.
And these feelings are what spurred me to think about walking into a large high street letting agent one Saturday lunchtime.
I hovered a safe distance away. Out of sight (I hope!). Dithering.
Shifting my weight from one leg to the other.
Talking myself in to and out of and in to and out of and...
Eventually I had a word with myself and said ‘Stephanie pull yourself together and go on in”.
What’s the worst that can happen?
So I went in
“Do you have any HMOs?” I heard myself saying in a strangled sounding voice that didn’t sound like me at all!
“Hmmn, is it sub-letting? We don’t do sub-letting”.
“Oh I see, maybe it’s something for the smaller independent agents we work with” [Where was I getting this stuff from?!]
“Head Office would need to approve and I don’t think it would get approval for the contracts”
Oh my gosh what I’m about to tell you here could be a goldmine for you.
What I said next totally surprised me too. I said:
“Oh I see, well I suppose with you not knowing us you’d want to get to know our work first before vouching us to Head Office.
And this is the juicy bit
Would you consider introducing us to any of your ‘tenant find only’ landlords?”
[I was really amazed to hear those words come out of my mouth as that is not something I’d planned.]
Suddenly it’s as though a light-bulb had gone off in her head, she started ushering me across to a large screen.
There she brought up 2 listings for HMOs on the same street just a few doors away from each other.
Oh my goodness I thought, what if I get this deal [excited]
Oh my goodness I thought, what if I get this deal [horror]
How I kept my composure I really don’t know.
But I did.
And we arranged a viewing.
At the viewing, Nicky and I met the owner and letting agent.
My heart was racing as we walked around the house.
It was a 4-bed and a 5-bed HMO each advertised for £800 a month.
That might seem unbelievably low if you’re in London.
The backstory is that they had been £1,100 and £1,000 per month and then student lets died when the local University closed its Newport campus.
So how did we get our first deal when we had no experience?
Because landlords and letting agents are looking for some thing more important than experience.
Likeability and Trust.
On top of the basics:
Rent paid
Property looked after
Minimal risk in any transaction
And for agents, fees paid:
The fees paid – the agent commission
Today I wanted to cover why landlords and agents will give properties to you as a newbie.
And I’ll be talking in future episodes about how to do it so stay tuned!
When it comes to talking to landlords and agents those are the things that will move you forward.
Yet many people are hesitant.
Execution is everything.
So much of success is just staying on track and doing the things that move you forward to fulfilling your goals.
It isn’t big leaps every once in a while that make the difference, it’s consistent actions that you take every day that will change your life in a big way.
Commit to doing the things, even if you feel uncomfortable.
So just do it.
Even on the days where you don't really feel like it.
Remember to surround yourself with people who have the result you want, whether that’s friends, acquaintances, or networking
Join our Rent 2 Rent Success Secrets facebook group.
Or if you really want to accelerate your results join our Kickstarter Programme
Success is outside your comfort zone.
So keep going
Keep taking the steps you need to take until you get the results that you want.
And in next week’s episode I’m going to talk more about how to deliver great results for yourself.
Because we’re our own worst enemy sometimes and this will explain why and more importantly, what to do about it.
Have you found this useful?
We’d be super appreciative you could leave a review on apple podcasts.
CLICK HERE to leave a Review on Apple Podcasts
And for every podcast review you give, you’re giving to help children in the Turkana region of Kenya to have the uniform and books they need to attend school.
See you next week.
And remember
Believe Bigger, Be Bolder and Be a Game Changer!
See you soon.
Stephanie & Nicky
xx
You’ll love these too…
In this episode, we talk about the easy way to make HMO admin run simply.
Vann Vogstad join us to talk about Coho, the user-friendly, HMO software solution that streamlines property management tasks.