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Estate Agency Launch Programme · Stage 1 of 10
Choose Your Model & Patch
Make the decisions that shape everything else: what kind of agency you are, where you work, and what you charge.
How long
1–2 days
You’ll have
A model, a defined patch, and a fee you can defend
Steps
4 steps
Resources
2 resources
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01 Step 01
Step 01
Choose sales, lettings, or both
Your compliance load, your software, and the shape of your cash flow all follow from this one choice.
Do it yourself
- Sales earns lumpy commission on completion, months after you win the instruction. Lettings earns recurring management fees, steadier but with heavier compliance.
- Decide hybrid or high street: a remote, online model keeps fixed costs low; a shopfront costs more but buys local trust.
- Model the runway. A sales-only start can wait three to four months for its first completion cheque, so know how you will cover it.
- Note the compliance delta: lettings adds client money protection, deposit protection, Right to Rent and safety certificates on top of the sales baseline.
Common mistake · Launching sales, lettings and management all at once and drowning in the combined admin, instead of nailing one motion first.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyMedium -
02 Step 02
Step 02
Define your patch
A tightly drawn patch is what makes you the local agent. Your brand promise and your marketing efficiency both depend on it.
Do it yourself
- Draw a realistic catchment: a cluster of postcodes or a few named neighbourhoods you can service and canvass on foot.
- Pull the numbers for it (average sale price, typical rents, transaction volume, dominant property type) from Land Registry and portal sold-price data.
- Count the agents already there and note their fees and weak spots.
- Pick a farm core: the streets you will dominate for boards and reviews, inside the wider area you will take instructions from.
Common mistake · Defining the patch as the whole city. Too big to own, so you are invisible everywhere instead of famous somewhere.
Time~1 day CostFree DifficultyMediumResource for this step
PDFPatch profile worksheet
Pin down the postcodes, prices and rivals that define the patch you will own.
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03 Step 03
Step 03
Position and price your service
Your fee and your positioning decide who you attract and whether you can pay yourself.
Do it yourself
- Set a sales fee model: a percentage commission (broadly 1–1.5% plus VAT on the high street, varies by area) or a fixed fee, and decide sole versus multi-agency.
- For lettings, set tiers (Let Only, Rent Collection, Fully Managed), each with a clear fee.
- Write your positioning in one sentence: the [patch] specialist who [your difference].
- Sense-check the margin against your real costs (portals, CRM, boards, insurance) so the fee leaves a profit.
Common mistake · Competing on being the cheapest. It attracts price-shoppers, starves the business, and signals low quality in a trust-led purchase.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyMedium -
04 Step 04
Step 04
Scan the competition and find your gap
You are entering an occupied market. Your opening has to be a gap a real customer feels, not a slogan.
Do it yourself
- Mystery-shop three to five rivals: request a valuation and note their speed, professionalism, and what they do badly.
- Read their Google reviews for recurring complaints like poor communication, pushiness and slowness. Those are your wedges.
- Compare their fees, portal presence and branding.
- Write down the one gap you will own, like proactive weekly updates or a genuinely local, owner-answers-the-phone service.
Common mistake · Claiming “better service” with no evidence. Every agent says it. Find the specific, provable gap.
Time~1 day CostFree DifficultyEasyResource for this step
PDFCompetitor teardown grid
Size up the agents on your patch and find the gap a real seller would feel.
What you’ll have after this stage
- A decision on sales, lettings, or both
- A patch drawn tight enough to own
- A fee model and service tiers set against real costs
- The one gap you will compete on