Agency Due Diligence

The headline number in most sales conversations is the multiple. Three times profit. Four times profit. It sounds precise. It's only as reliable as the profit figure it's being multiplied by. The problem is, not all profit is the profit you think it is. Sellers, entirely reasonably, want to present the business in its best light. That often means "adjusted" profit, with addbacks for things that supposedly won't apply once you own it. Some addbacks are legitimate. Some are doi

The lease summary in a lettings agency sale pack rarely tells the full story. Here's what to check in the actual document before you commit.

Most buyers check the accounts. Far fewer check whether the contracts, licences and key employment agreements actually survive the sale. Here's what to ask for before you complete on a lettings agency — and why a seller's answer tells you as much as their numbers.

One landlord can hold half a lettings agency's income and you'd never know it from the accounts. Here's why customer concentration is the number to check first.

Every year, a steady stream of people decide the smartest way into the lettings business isn't to build one from scratch, it's to buy one that already works. Established landlords, a trading name people recognise, income from day one. On paper, it looks like the sensible route. Then completion happens, and the surprises start. At Russou, we sit on the buyer's side of the table for a living. We've seen good businesses bought well, and good businesses bought badly, and the diff

Twelve staff, two hundred properties, and one man who actually holds it together. Here's how to spot key person risk before you buy a lettings agency.