What is a Property Sourcer? Discover the Skills you Need to Succeed as a Property Sourcing Agent in London
It’s easy to confuse deal packaging for property sourcing, but you should know that they are not the same thing. Differentiating the two is important because many people looking to do property sourcing get discouraged when they see that they might have to do deal packaging.
Property sourcing is an activity all property professionals assume to search for, inspect, and close property deals. Property sourcers do more than work on behalf of property investors.
Deal packaging is a service that property sourcers can undertake by sourcing property on behalf of property investors for a fee.
Property Sourcing Agent Responsibilities
There are multiple tasks that the property sourcing agent will be responsible for daily. Here are just a few of the property sourcer’s responsibilities:
• Research the area — be familiar with the neighbourhoods and properties throughout London.
• Choose and implement an investment strategy — be aware of the market, define your strategy, and stick with it.
• Generate leads — start with people you know, but you can also go through agents or directly through the owner.
• Analyse deals — don’t be quick to settle; investigate until you know you have a good deal.
• Make and chase offers — always be on the lookout for new sales opportunities.
• Progress and close deals (for yourself) — be persistent until the end.
• Build property network — you generate leads by making connections.
Being a property sourcer does not have always have to involve negotiating between seller and investor.
Now that you know the difference, you can see that you can start sourcing property deals for yourself or investors (or both). Whatever you prefer, there are five things you need to focus on.
3 Habits Property Sourcers Need to Succeed in London
Whether you will source property deals for yourself or an investor, you’ll need a strong foundation on which to build your property business.
1) Focus on ONE strategy (market) and ONE area (properties)
The best way to become excellent at something is to focus on it entirely.
Start by defining your niche. Whether your specialist is on estates, houses, flats, or even mansions, choose a specific type of property you love and stick with it until you’re the go-to expert! Be aware of the market and choose your investment strategy.
You should focus on one area. It’s impossible to have a quality network across the whole UK— so zero in on London (or whichever city you are located in) and build connections and awareness of all the properties there.
2) Quality Leads for business
Without leads, you have no deals, and without deals, you have no business. So leads, are of course, essential.
Build partnerships by networking with as many locals as you can, such as agents, insurance companies, personal bankers, commercial lenders, cleaning services, and more. Consider making a website and optimising your LinkedIn to build your awareness.
The more leads, the more deals you can get!
3) Self-management before properties
It’s a self-run business, after all. You should learn how to manage yourself before you can manage a business.
Time management
As a property sourcing agent, you should balance your property sourcing activities with your job and your home life.
Be realistic when planning out how much time you can spend on your property business.
Expectation management
You’ll get discouraged fast if you have unrealistic expectations. Results don’t happen overnight. Being persistent and consistent will get you the results you’re looking for.
Financial management
You will have costs you will have to manage, such as fuel costs, phone bills, lead generation costs, and many others hiding in the folds of your business.
It is imperative to take the time to prepare a budget and find the loopholes when you can.
Conclusion
Implementing these habits will set you up for great success as a property sourcing agent! Don’t get discouraged by any setbacks but be patient with yourself.
As you master property sourcing, you can begin to deal with packaging properties if that is something you believe you want to do.
Keep up the negotiation game, always be making connections, and never stop improving yourself or your business.
Author Bio: Lynn is a student at Bethel University who studies English and Business. She doesn’t have a plan after graduation except to never write an academic paper again. She is working for Pearl Lemon Leads. In her free time, she cruises around on her longboard and avoids eating mushrooms at all costs.
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