I went around to a friend’s house over the weekend and we were looking at some old photos I had taken. I love these photos she said, you must have a really good camera? Not really I said, it's one that cost a couple of hundred quid and anyone can buy it on the high street.
This got me thinking – would anyone ever say to Mary Berry - that’s a great cake you’ve baked, you must have a fantastic oven? Or would you say to Alan Titchmarsh ‘that's a fantastic garden design you must have a lovely spade?’
Would owning Rembrandt’s paint brushes mean you could paint like a Dutch Master? Would borrowing Ray Mears pocket knife mean you could lead a survival team into the jungle? What if you had Freddy Flintoffs’ cricket bat or Jamie Vardy's football boots - Does that guarantee you a ton of runs or a net full of goals?
What is it that ‘makes the difference’? The art of anything be it baking cakes, designing gardens or leading a survival team, is embedded in the skills and quality of an expert. These skills are honed through hours of preparation, practice, and dedication.
Even then not just anyone can bake the best cake. It is not simply about the ingredients or the oven - it's that magic alchemy that some people have and some do not. If I had Eric Clapton’s guitar or Stevie Wonders harmonica would I sound like either of them? Nope, not a chance. If I had Terry Wogan’s studio complete with headphones, microphone and swivel chair would I suddenly turn into the lilting mellifluous Irish Demi God of radio? (God rest his soul by the way). No I most certainly would not.
The same could be said for the world of the letting agent. Anyone can put a board up outside a property, link up to Rightmove, put an advert in the paper and ‘hey presto’ the property is let. It is how you achieve the let and what you do when the tenants are in there what really counts. Anyone can spout about Section 21 Notices, EPC Certificates, Damp etc… and sound like they know what they are talking about. At Rainbow Lettings we have spent thousands of hours over a decade with hundreds of landlords practising our art in a bid to try and provide the best possible letting agent. We aim to make a difference which is felt where it matters – in the pockets of landlords and in the well-being of tenants.
We might not make the best cakes in the world, but we do have the ingredients that go together to make an exceedingly good letting agents.
