Two new services for agents emphasise use of Artificial Intelligence

A new white-labelled outsourced lettings management service is launching today, claiming to undercut all rivals.

F%ur - a brand from 4percentproperty - is being launched by Adiuvo, which describes itself as the largest specialist out of hours management in the property industry and which already includes Savills and Knight Frank amongst its customers.

Adiuvo has been in operation for the past 12 years and looks after over 500,000 properties out of hours. F%ur’s packages rely substantially on PropTech, using Artificial Intelligence powered management platform Askporter. 

The offer also involves input from Rushbrook & Rathbone, a firm with expertise in back office lettings.

The firm says it offers letting agents “a full outsourced solution for all parts of the property cycle which includes all pre-tenancy administration including referencing, the agreement and right to rent checks; all tenancy, maintenance and management including a yearly inspection; rent collection, accounts and arrears management and complete post-tenancy including deposit issues or renewals.”

F%ur managing director Colin Stokes says: “Further to our investment in Askporter in 2018 we saw the possibility … to offer a service to letting agents and property managers at a hugely competitive rate. Agents’ margins have been squeezed tight with the tenant fee ban; a solution like F%ur which agents can fully white label, will help them offer great value to their clients and make a return for themselves too.”

The company makes its claim of undercutting all rivals following a mystery shop of 150 agents of varying sizes; F%ur claims management prices across the country ranged from six to 14 per cent. 

Meanwhile an Artificial Intelligence assistant, which can automate many parts of the lettings process, also launches in the UK today.

Roby.ai is a cloud-based system that claims to look after back office tasks, connected to an agent's existing CRM or could itself act as the agent's CRM. 

It also connects to accounting software and can be used to assist in property advertising, arranging viewing, tenant referencing, move-ins, rent collection and maintenance management.

It says its attraction is that it helps agents to reduce the time spent on low-level administration tasks and focus on closing deals, increasing profitability and offering a more streamlined service.

"We're not looking to change the way letting agents work, we want to fit in with how they currently work, providing them with a tool that dramatically reduces their administration workload and automates as much or as little of the rental process as they wish" says Roby.ai chief executive and co-founder Tom Reiss (pcitured right).

"Some agents still want to use spreadsheets, while others want to be almost fully automated. Our AI assistant can fit in anywhere on this spectrum, helping to make each day that little bit easier for agents."

The platform says it has already been adopted by UK agents with a combined rental portfolio of over 400,000 properties.

"We've reached a point of 'too much information' for letting agents and property managers as the industry regulations tighten and the rental sector continues to grow rapidly" Reiss adds. 

"That's why they increasingly need tech solutions driven by AI to help reduce workload, minimise repetitive tasks and make things faster and easier for consumers, all while remaining compliant with increasing legislation."