Who are you and what does it say on your business card?
My Name is Rob Trotter. I’m married to a vet, a father of two young children and Associate Director at apropos
What is ‘apropos’ and what does it do?
Apropos is a revolutionary new property management service centered around a digital platform. Apropos transforms the renting experience, for both landlords and tenants, to deliver complete transparency and better tenancies nationwide. We believe in renting done right.
What services do you offer?
Apropos landlords can track and manage their portfolios, monitoring all activity via an online dashboard which delivers complete, real-time visibility of all transactions, accessible 24/7. Tenancies are facilitated by a network of local apropos agents and centralised client support provided by our teams of specialised staff at apropos HQ.
Tenants can do everything online: book viewings and provide feedback on the property, submit and track their rental application, pay their rent and book their check in date. In addition, they can report and monitor maintenance issues online during their tenancy.
What makes your product different and how does it benefit agents?
We’ve re-engineered the rental experience using our 4 decades of property experience to deliver better tenancies, for landlords, tenants and agents alike. Our model transforms the traditional property management model, by taking the rental process from manual to digital, underpinned by our local property experts across the UK and customer support staff at our HQ. We’ve invested in uplifting the customer experience using a synergy between people and technology. With no capital outlay, chosen agents are subsidized to get them established and can generate an uncapped, recurring monthly income and build a business which they own.
What do you look for in an individual when selecting an agent?
Honesty, integrity & drive are absolute pre-requisites to the role, and chosen individuals must have extensive knowledge of the rental industry, a knowledge of their local market and the ability to identify prospective landlord clients.
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What is your greatest achievement in your current role and what made it so special?
We are extremely proud to have built a network of over 30 trained and committed individuals ready to deliver our service in towns & cities across the UK, stretching from Aberdeen to Bournemouth. We’re now searching for the next 30.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing estate and letting agents at the moment?
Only the most forward thinking, innovative and adaptive agents will survive. There’s an urgent need for agents to embrace technology to rapidly re-invent themselves and transform the way they do business. We’re now in a world where the old ways of renting look very antiquated.
What is your property prediction for the remainder of 2020?
As a growing proportion of the population becomes even more reliant on our PRS, I predict an essential and hugely positive transformation of our industry accelerated by the introduction & enforcement of fair and supportive regulation.
Country house or city apartment?
Country House (I was raised on a farm)
Trendy roof terrace or traditional English garden?
Traditional English garden
Would you rather be a free-moving tenant or settled owner occupier?
When I was younger, the former, but now the latter.
What is your favourite room in your home?
Our sitting room, in the winter, with the fire lit.
Homes under the Hammer or Location, Location, Location?
Location