Southcourt Business Pack

[Ladylady]

Hi all

I posted to the board last week looking for info on Southcourt's Business Pack for setting yourself up as a letting agent. I chased up quite a few leads on this board then went over to Ebay and spent time hunting down the people who had sold their packs on.

I did this because, being a cautious person, naturally I wanted to find out from any previous purchasers of the pack if there was something wrong with the Southcourt's idea before shelling out my "hard-earned" on the package.

Well, I did not get any "dirt" on Southcourt at all. Those who sold on the Package or who bought it and did not set up an agency did so because, for personal reasons, they found themselves unable to run *any* kind of business. Indeed, no-one had a single bad word to say about the Package so I took the plunge and bought it!

It arrived yesterday and although I promised myself I would work my way through the long and detailed "training course" manual from start to finish in a disciplined way I could not resist taking a few peeks at some random pages and the snippets I saw were absolute dynamite! The method they suggest to use to obtain your first tenants and landlords are just stunning - I would never have thought of that myself (cannot tell you as it is a trade secret of course.) As well as the main thrust of the course - how to run the agency - the manual is packed with loads of little tips and tricks that they've developed over years of working as agents. I've phoned the helpline once and found Mike chatty and helpful. So, I'm pretty optimistic!

I have already chosen a trading name and uploaded a website using the templates that came with the pack. I did this early so that by the time I've trained myself up the site will be showing up on search engines.

So, wish me luck!

Ladylady

[MrShed]

Well, good luck! I am not going to get into the for/against arguments of Southcourt, others im sure will do that for me(my one opinion is that from what I have seen it is vastly overpriced, but that is only my opinion). But just remember two things:

- The housing/letting market changes very rapidly, both in market terms and legal terms. So make sure you keep abreast of all new developments.

- Although the Southcourt pack may give you a lot of info, bear in mind there is no substitute for real world experience!

That said, good luck, and tell us your website address when its up :D

[Ladylady]

Everyone who has seen the pack has said it is a fair price. In terms of how long it would take me (not to mention the many mistakes I'd make!) if I "went it alone" it is a good price.

You mention updates - the price includes access to a member's area on a website onto which Southcourt upload all the latest industry news.

The website is up! It's ABCLettings.co.uk. I won't be trading until January as I am going to put myself though the Southcourt "home training course" first plus do all the extracurricular coursework that is set by Southcourt and this will take several weeks.

Of course, you could start up an agency without the Southcourt pack, but why put yourself to all the bother?

I spent 3 years learning the hard way how to self-publish my own books (see http://www.hastingspress.co.uk) . I made many mistakes along the way. Nowadays I charge people a mere £40 a head to attend a day-long seminar in which I condense all my knowledge into those 8 hours to save people three years of faltering. I see Southcourt as doing the same thing, really!

Ladylady

[MrShed]

As I said Ladylady, I am not commenting on the quality, or otherwise, of the southcourt pack, so don't get too defensive! :p The comment regarding keeping up to date was nothing against southcourt, as I am aware of the members area on the site, was just a general reminder!

As to why bother....it is horses for courses. Some people prefer the challenge of learning it themselves, making their own way, making their own mistakes etc. Some people prefer to have it all given to them, all information ready and available immediately etc etc. Either way is fine, it is personal preference.

I remain unconvinced on the price. For what is a essentially a business guide, I consider the price to be extremely extremely high....I would think around the £100-150 mark is a fairer price. For £600 you can go to one-on-one training sessions and learn that way, so surely a paper pack should be cheaper. However, this is the entire extent that I can comment upon, as I do not have the pack, so cannot obviously comment in depth on its value, as I am unaware of its contents. The important thing for you is that you are happy with the purchase, and you feel it is good value for money. What I think is irrelevant! :D

[Paul_f]

A good benchmark to tell whether the Southcourt pack will arm you with sufficient knowledge to run a lettings might be to take the ARLA/NAEA Techncial Award exam in Residential Lettings & Management when you have had time to study the pack information.

If you can pass then it works!