Serviced apartment operators and estate agents – good business?

While serviced apartment operators and real estate agents have different business models, working together can lead to mutually beneficial partnerships. Our Head of Real Estate, John Harrington, was an agent himself for close to 20 years - so he’s well-placed to tell us why!

“Many of the opportunities presented to me originate from within my network of real estate agents – not surprising, seeing as we share the common goal of concluding transactions to all parties’ satisfaction,” John says. “Mind you, it has not always been plain sailing as our modus operandi is totally alien to many estate agents and will almost certainly go against entrenched and ingrained business practices.” 

With this in mind, John highlights the following considerations (applicable to most serviced apartment operators) to any agent, landlord, or developer he works with as examples of the benefits such a business partnership can have:

• A serviced apartment operator is one tenant offering longer than normal lease terms of three, five and even up to 10 years
• Break clauses are generally at 30-month intervals (landlord’s choice)
• There is multiple, and generally simultaneously, leasing of apartments
• There are no void periods during the tenure
• There are pre-agreed built-in rental increases throughout the tenancy
• A serviced apartment operator is a professional tenant that has a vested interest in ensuring excellent asset maintenance, with weekly professional cleaning and early detection and reporting of any issues (you can read more about John’s thoughts on this here)
• Trading records and references are available from professional landlords and agencies

The ease with which 10, 20 or even 50 apartments can be rented to one corporate tenant is particularly attractive for estate agents, but finding the right serviced apartment operator with whom to build this partnership is key. With our 25 years’ experience in serviced accommodation, we welcome inspection and scrutiny of our properties and business practices, and we encourage seeking references from the businesses with whom we partner. “After all,” John says, “there can be no better comfort than the word of fellow estate agents or landlords, can there?”

“We understand the importance of building excellent business relationships with the real estate industry. The additional increase in rental income streams and overall benefits we deliver to both landlord and agent are immense,” John adds. “So to go back to the original question – are serviced apartment operators and real estate agents good business? – well the obvious and logical conclusion is: without doubt!”

Interested in partnering with us?

If you are interested in learning about the key benefits of partnering with us, please get in touch with our Head of Real Estate, John Harrington:

 44 (0) 7503 645 922

john.harrington@viridianapartments.com

Connect with John on LinkedIn