Estate agents contractors list

[Ajf100q]

I've been approached by an estate agents to see if I want to go on their contractors list.
They asked about my prices, would you just tell them an hourly rate?

 

[123]

I've been approached by an estate agents to see if I want to go on their contractors list.
They asked about my prices, would you just tell them an hourly rate?

I'd be asking them what there payment terms are before giving them any rates. If it's not payment on invoice I wouldn't be bothering quoting for any works. If it is payment on invoice, ask what kind of works they have in mind.

 

[Ajf100q]

Thanks for that. Not had anything to do with estate agents, so not too sure about it tbh.
Suspect they will want rock bottom price.

 

[SJD]

Note also some agents deduct that they call "contractors commission" from your invoice - essentally a bit of your invoice for their own pocket, for the pleasure of giving you the work. So you might invoice £100, but after (say) a 15% deduction, you only receive £85. I used to do work for one agent like this, so I inflated my prices in order to receive the correct amount - and that includes both parts and labour.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I used to deal a lot with letting agents , not so much now.
slow payers , want very cheap work and some as above even want a cut of the job

 

[brianmoooore]

Sounds very much like selling your soul to the devil! I'd have to be very short of work.
Estate agents? Just one small step up the scale from letting agents.

 

[Dustydazzler]

To add a bit more detail , most common job I was asked to do was to 4 inch ceiling fit fans in bathrooms etc.
My quote included a wired fan , all the ducting and a sofit grill etc etc

I was told 99% of the time it was far too dear and to just fit a cheap fan in the ceiling and their handyman would duct it etc

I used to sometime go back 2 or 3 years later to replace the odd defunct fan and the ducting was never ever done. The fan was covered in loft insulation and just sucking wind up into the roof loft void. Cheap arse lettings agents never bother getting the handyman to duct it

 

[Ajf100q]

It is a letting agent actually.
Think I will give it a miss tbh.

 

[Dustydazzler]

It is a letting agent actually.
Think I will give it a miss tbh.

If you are desperate for work , they used to give a job sheet and a list of addresses.
If you are fast and you can earn about £300 in one day doing jobs for a letting agent.
You might have to wait 3 months to get paid is the only issue

 

[adonis2]

To add a bit more detail , most common job I was asked to do was to 4 inch ceiling fit fans in bathrooms etc.
My quote included a wired fan , all the ducting and a sofit grill etc etc

I was told 99% of the time it was far too dear and to just fit a cheap fan in the ceiling and their handyman would duct it etc

I used to sometime go back 2 or 3 years later to replace the odd defunct fan and the ducting was never ever done. The fan was covered in loft insulation and just sucking wind up into the roof loft void. Cheap arse lettings agents never bother getting the handyman to duct it

That is the sort of job that you need to make clear on the invoice that you are fitting the fan only and the client does the rest, so no comeback if they get mould in the loft or the fan goes bang because it is full of dust and insulation.

 

[Risteard]

Note also some agents deduct that they call "contractors commission" from your invoice - essentally a bit of your invoice for their own pocket, for the pleasure of giving you the work. So you might invoice £100, but after (say) a 15% deduction, you only receive £85. I used to do work for one agent like this, so I inflated my prices in order to receive the correct amount - and that includes both parts and labour.

Many agents will tell you to compensate for it (i.e. charge more) to mitigate the discount.

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

I used to do work for a local estate agents but ended walking away as the payment time-scales were unacceptable.
The way these guys worked was that you would only receive payment once the ENTIRE job was complete.
For example, domestic EICR which failed resulting in EICR remedial works being required. You would only be paid once the whole job was completed with certs issued etc.

But that's not the whole story as you'd then have to wait until "rent day" to be paid. also, as was usually the case, if the amount to be paid to you exceeded the rent payment, you would then have to wait another month to receive the final payment.
Over 3 moths could pass without receiving a single payment.

I usually expect payment for each invoice within 30 days but these guys had a great way to string it out.

Ultimately, I was owed over £4k and had to resort to threatening letters of legal action in order to get paid. Ridiculous.

There is also another very large well known estate/lettings agency which require you so sign a 14 page contract before they will even put you on their list. They take a large 20% commission from all invoices submitted for sole traders as well as lots of hidden fees and charges within the contract.

Needless to say, I binned the contract and moved on.

 

[LukeD]

Honestly..... who the hell would work for management agents ..They all seem to be wide boys hell bent of scamming everyone and wearing cheap suits

 

[pirate]

Only fair to put the other side...
In another life I was heavily involved in estate agency and letting. If I was asked to arrange electrical work, I told the client to choose his/her own contractor. If they were miles away/abroad, I would ask 2 contractors to quote, and these were guys I trusted to do a good job.
Once the quote was agreed, I asked for the money up-front, and if not forthcoming (very rare) the work wasn't done, or not via my intervention anyway.
I used local contractors who had a good record, I never took any commission, they got paid promptly and as a result they came out to my jobs quickly and never tried any rip-off. Result? Happy landlord, happy contractor, happy me.
I know full well that is not the usual business model, but it worked for me, and life is a two-way street!
Just saying...
Oh, and I always wore expensive suits!

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Only fair to put the other side...
In another life I was heavily involved in estate agency and letting. If I was asked to arrange electrical work, I told the client to choose his/her own contractor. If they were miles away/abroad, I would ask 2 contractors to quote, and these were guys I trusted to do a good job.
Once the quote was agreed, I asked for the money up-front, and if not forthcoming (very rare) the work wasn't done, or not via my intervention anyway.
I used local contractors who had a good record, I never took any commission, they got paid promptly and as a result they came out to my jobs quickly and never tried any rip-off. Result? Happy landlord, happy contractor, happy me.
I know full well that is not the usual business model, but it worked for me, and life is a two-way street!
Just saying...
Oh, and I always wore expensive suits!

That's fair enough. They're not ALL bad to be fair. I currently do regular work for 3 estate agents/property managers whom I've chosen to work for and not the other way around. I chose them because they are honest, reliable and good payers.
You have to get through the dodgy one's to find the hidden gems.

It works both ways though. I guess there are lots of property managers/agents out there who are sick of dodgy tradespeople.

One particular agent I work for now had a previous "electrician" do all their EICR's etc etc. When I came on board, they soon discovered that the certs they had paid for were not worth the paper they were written on.

It's swings and round-abouts I guess.