Proptech is becoming increasingly important in the lettings sector, thanks in part to the changing 24 hour a day nature of consumer demand. This is being primarily driven by the millennial generation, who currently take up a large section of the lettings market, as well as a growing portion of the sales market. However, proptech provides the opportunity for letting agents to negate their rising costs, while providing an exceptional lettings service for their clients.
It is crucial that letting agents find ways to increase the fees currently charged to landlords in order to cover the fall in revenue once the tenant fees ban is in place from 1st June 2019.
Proptech software is able to add value to existing and new clients, and can provide the ideal solution for letting agents who are searching for ways to increase the fees they charge, in addition to those who want to demonstrate additional value. Ways to do this might be to improve the mid-term inspection process, or, with an inventory base login, to offer better inventory management services.
Consumer demand and expectations have transformed during the past decade, with landlords and tenants expecting accessible and instant services, such as those provided by inventory base. It is increasingly likely that tenants will routinely demand such services from letting agents.
Previously, letting agents competed for tenants by price, despite the reputation that agents overcharged for their services. In fact, agents tended to charge modest fees in order to attract more tenants. Now that these points of differentiation have changed, efficiently run services could be how letting agents separate themselves from the competition.
Moving home is often cited as a stressful event for most people, as it is extremely admin heavy and time-consuming, and there is clear demand for software solutions which save time. This also presents an opportunity for letting agents to earn commission, which would help reduce the impact of the ban on tenant fees, as well as improving the experience of customers by helping tenants in setting up their services and reducing the stress of moving.
There are several proptech platforms available to save the valuable time of letting agents, increase cross-sell rates and remain compliant. Due to the ban on tenant fees, many providers of proptech solutions have been focusing on refining their software, and inventing new ways to provide letting agents with improved or different revenue streams.
Meanwhile, other providers of proptech are pitching the concept of replacing some human contact with letting agents with artificial intelligence. For example, some property bots can answer a range of questions by using cutting edge AI technology to understand spoken or typed language and then locate the best answer. Questions concerning subletting, pet policies, rent payment dates and repairs can all be handled by a bot.
With tenants requiring immediate responses and resolutions to queries and questions, a property bot can fulfil the need for letting agents to minimise their costs and free up their time in order to search for new opportunities to grow their business.
Many proptech offerings also focus on ensuring that letting agents protect their businesses from ever-changing compliance threats and regulation. This can save letting agents from costly fines.
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