Former Chainbow owner Roger Southam is returning to the residential letting market with new company called Cohab.
Southam who sold residential property management company Chainbow to Savills in 2016 has teamed up with Canadian tech-entrepreneur Saveli Kotz, as Cohab’s chairman, and will charge an all-in lettings and management fee of 6%.
Southam said: “This is just what the residential lettings market needs. For far too long residential landlords have had to put up with exorbitant lettings fees from property agents that can be as high as 20% once tenant finding, management, contract preparation and referencing fees are taken into account.”
Southam says that Cohab has developed a new technology platform that delivers operational efficiencies and drives down costs.
He continued: “Saveli Kotz’s technology team has created an excellent and innovative software platform together with US-style efficient property show round techniques that drive efficiencies and allow us to disrupt the market with our 6% all-in fee.”
Cohab has an ambitious expansion programme. It will have over 100 properties on its books within the next two months with a target of 1,000 units in its first year and the goal of 30,000 units in the next two to three years.
“Initially we are doing deals with landlords on single units and blocks of flats but our goal is to target the major Build-to-Rent landlords over the next couple of years,” added Southam.
The idea of launching the new agency came to Kotz when moving his family from the Bahamas to the UK in 2021.
Kotz commented: “We found the lettings agency service in London to be seriously lacking and I decided that with my background in creating online businesses and then successfully selling them that this would be my next venture where I could drive business efficiencies and disrupt the market with a 6% all-in management and letting fee.”
Good luck with trying to make money at that bonkers fee level. Nice bit of publicity, but “goodbye”!!
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Good choice of suit colour to match a low fee sales agency who instead of going bust sold for £1
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Why? We have all seen the damage that burple ****** caused in estate agency with their crazy low fees, why inflict the same on lettings?
Sorry but I hope that this company has a swift demuse before others jump in and decide that cheap fees are the way forward.
With increasing legislation, we need to respect ourselves by charging a fee that reflects what we do, pay cheap, pay twice!
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Hey Jeremy, what year were you born in?!!!
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Certainly looks “special”
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This is just what the residential lettings market needs……………………………………………………another village missing someone!
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So these clever people have developed a product that beats everything ever created by all the brains in agency! Sadly for them, irrespective, they and their staff will have to work for less than the market rate for the skill level and demands agency places upon them.
And no doubt like others before them they will learn the hard way (bottomless pits) that mature markets charge what they do for good reason.
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A wise entrepreneur told me many years ago that he had learnt the hard way that: “Its very easy to be a busy fool, by dramatically undercutting established businesses, but the trouble is you make no money”.
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When will people learn that our industry is about people, property is the commodity but we are a service industry, if you pay peanuts you generally get monkeys.
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LANDLORDS – Please be aware , pay peanuts you get monkeys. As someone who has provided training for 25 years, I am only too aware of the agents out there who charge cheap – but it costs dear later on.
You have been advised
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Where is the pride in the race to the bottom????
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Why is ‘disruption’ inevitably linked to low fees. Yaaaaawn. We also know very well that building and operating a tech platform is not cheap- and devs cost a lot more than negs & PM’s.
I’m waiting for the day an agent launches a bona fide end-to-end tech solution that is amazing- but charges market rate or higher. When that happens, Ill be genuinely concerned.
30K! Only if they plan to acquire at a rate/scale akin to Lomond.
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So a quick look at the cohab website and…..
No EPC’s
No Tenant Fee info
No essential information
No CMP certificate
No complaints process
Why don’t other agents do it this cheap? Hmmmmmm I wonder.
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Brilliant spot! Sink these amateurs!
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