Want to Co-source?

I see posts every day about ‘co-sourcing’ from sourcers who are ‘looking for deals’ etc.

Co-sourcing means fee splitting which can work well in certain circumstances but the issues can be more than that.

You’re going into business with someone, relying on their customer service to reflect yours, putting faith in a third party to work in a transparent way and leaving yourself open to letting clients down (we’ve all been there).

By co-sourcing you immediately run the risk of putting your businesses reputation in the hands of someone else.

It seems like a good idea, and a quick way to expand your pipeline of deals/fees but, trust me, after doing it for years you lose more than you gain.

Conversion rates are very, very low on co-sourced ‘deals’, usually because of a lack of security over the property or poor quality.

People say it’s a great way of leveraging time and growing quickly but the flip side to this is the lack of control and the frustration.

From my experience, 2 exclusive sales where you control the whole process and can offer a great service from beginning to end beats 10 flaky co-sourced deals.

It beats it on cash in bank, converted deals and on building your business properly and sustainably.

Sourcers are taught to co-source but it can be counterproductive.

I come from an estate agency background and local estate agents base their pipelines around properties that they control - sole selling rights. Imagine if estate agents ‘co-sold’ all of their stock. The best agents work exclusively and work to their brand guidelines and ethos.

I’m not saying “don’t co-source” but I am saying stop and think if your business is better off being built with more secure properties and clients who have chosen only you to act for them.

The posts I see are from trawlers, casting an ambiguous net across property forums...

“CALLING ALL PROPERTY SOURCERS!!!!!

I offer a 15% referral fee to anyone who introduces me to someone selling a property.”

It’s what everyone does when they first learn about ‘earning money from selling properties to investors’ - then they settle down after realising that trawling and co-sourcing is counter productive (this can be after a few months or a few years).

The ones left, who build a sustainable business around ‘sourcing’, end up only working direct to vendor and direct to buyer.