Four 10% improvements could boost agency fee income by 46%

Estate agents could generate 46.4% more fee income from the same number of valuations by improving four key performance measures by 10% each, according to a new calculator launched by property brokerage Moveli.

The Moveli Earnings Calculator allows an agency to enter figures including average property value, fee percentage and conversion rates to explore potential earnings and the number of valuations, instructions and completions needed to reach an income target.

The company, which operates an upper-market brokerage with more than 100 agents across the UK, says the findings highlight the combined impact of incremental improvements across an agency’s performance.

Its example starts with an average property value of £1 million, a fee of 1.5%, a valuation-to-instruction conversion rate of 30% and a listing-to-sale conversion rate of 50%.

Increasing each measure by 10% – to an average property value of £1.1 million, a fee of 1.65%, conversion to instruction of 33% and listing-to-sale conversion of 55% – produces a 46.4% increase in expected fee income per valuation.

The company says this could allow an agency to generate the same fee income from approximately 32% fewer valuations. The calculation applies to percentage-fee estate agency businesses generally, rather than only self-employed models.

Ben Littlewood, co-founder of Moveli, said: “Agents often focus on getting more valuations, but there is as much opportunity in making more of the valuations they already attend.

“Winning a slightly higher-value instruction, defending your fee and improving conversion rates can have a powerful combined effect. The brand behind you, the systems supporting you and the network you can draw on all play an important role in achieving those incremental gains.

“We built the calculator to show agents how achievable working for themselves can be. With Moveli brokers retaining 70–90% of their fees, it helps agents see how a relatively modest number of sales could translate into a substantial personal income.”

The calculator is available online and is free to use.