Setting up a business takes bottle and a passion to offer something different, or at least better. Our respect goes to everyone who takes the plunge, as operating your own outfit is often a million miles away from being employed, but one man who’s reached his ‘carpe diem’ moment is Oliver Rayns, who’s just launched his eponymous high-end estate agency and it’s his ambition to change the way you think and use estate agencies in Leicestershire.
What drew you into Estate Agency in the first instance?
My Grandparents established a highly successful commercial property development company in Leicestershire in the 1970’s which is still trading to this day. So, I’ve grown up around bricks and mortar and have always had a passion for residential properties. I was always taught the best way to learn is to start from the bottom up, so after graduating from University I decided to head into estate agency. I knew for me that this would give me the grounding I needed in the residential industry, and after several years of working for a highly-regarded agency I decided now was the right time to follow in my family’s footsteps and start my own business.
At what point did you decide you’d like to create your own estate agency brand?
After having worked for another agency for several years and learnt my trade, I knew there were things I wanted to do differently and didn’t have the opportunity to. As time went on these thoughts kept popping into my head, so I decided to take the horse by the Rayns (sorry for the pun), find business premises and go it alone.
Why is now the right time to launch Oliver Rayns?
The market is highly active; my offices are located in the ever-popular Clarendon Park and I feel the area is crying out for an upmarket brand to establish itself among an array of delicatessens and restaurants.
What is it that sets you aside from other agencies in the market?
I’d like to think that our honest approach, sales strategies and marketing really sets us apart from our direct competition in the area. I’ve always taken great pride in presenting a property to the best of my ability; this doesn’t just mean the description and wording that goes into creating property details but the finer points too. Take photography, a lot of agents will happily photograph on their smartphone, in low light, without a tripod and images speak for themselves. Properties marketed with blurry photos, their reflection in the glass, I’ve seen it all and have always thought how does an agent get away with it. At Oliver Rayns we really pride ourselves on our ability to represent your house in the best possible way and that really can make a huge amount of difference in the final price achieved.
If you had to summarise your agency in a few sentences, what would you say?
Innovative, honest, approachable and trustworthy. These are the words I have installed as the company ethos because it’s what the public think that the majority of estate agents lack. We really care about
achieving the best prices for our clients, in the most realistic timeframes possible.
Often you know what you want to be, but what do you not want to be as an agency, too?
Untrustworthy, as once the trust is broken it’s impossible to regain. If an agency gets a reputation for being shady it really sticks and that’s 100% not what we are about.
What is the dream?
To grow this company into a brand that is well respected and regarded in the whole of Leicestershire.
You are launching your agency with an enormous coup: a £2million property. Is this the shape of things to come for Oliver Rayns?
I’d like to think that this brand is comfortable selling one bedroom apartments to multi-million-pound estates, and with years to come, I can only strive to establish our heritage based on our ability to showcase a broad range of properties in all locations in Leicestershire.
Oliver Rayns 115 Clarendon Park Road, Clarendon Park Leicester.
Tel. 0116 296 0940
www.oliverrayns.com
