Running a 1,000-property lettings operation, and what it taught me about repeat work
From 2012 to 2024 I ran a lettings and property management operation in the Manchester area, with about 60 staff and around 1,000 properties, and built the CRM it ran on; the repeat work I saw there is why I now automate first and outsource what's left.
- Sector
- UK residential lettings and property management
- Stack
- C#, .NET, SQL database
- Status
- 2012–2024
The problem
Lettings is a volume business. Every property brings the same cycle: viewings, referencing, move-ins, rent, repairs, certificates, renewals, move-outs.
With about 60 people and around 1,000 properties, a large share of each week went on the same tasks done again and again: copying details between systems, chasing contractors, and sending landlords and tenants updates they could have had automatically. The quality of that work varied from person to person, and the cost of it grew with every new hire.
What I did
I'm a software developer by training, so I designed and built the CRM myself. It covered lettings, maintenance, the sales pipeline and contractors in one place. Routine messages to landlords and tenants went out from the system, not from someone's keyboard.
I ran the operation day to day, which meant I saw exactly where the hours went.
Tools and stack, in plain words
A custom web CRM built on Microsoft's stack (C# and .NET with a SQL database), shaped around the way the office actually worked, with automated messaging to landlords and tenants. The same system later grew into the multi-branch agency CRM.
Outcome
The automation in the CRM replaced work worth over £100,000 a year in staff time. Routine landlord and tenant updates stopped depending on staff remembering to send them, and lettings, maintenance and contractor work lived in one record instead of several.
Alongside the systems work, I kept the commercial side close: over £400,000 in commission came through my own sourcing, referrals and landlord and investor relationships.
What it shows about how I work
I learn the operation before I touch the software. The model I use now came straight from this: understand the sector, automate anything repetitive, hand the rest to skilled outside people, and keep fixed costs low.
Where it led
The CRM kept growing after the operation. It became the multi-branch estate and lettings CRM, which is in real use. Everything I learned from both now goes into my newest platform, the property assistant for self-managing landlords.
FAQ
Does Him Yip have hands-on experience running a property business?
Yes. From 2012 to 2024 he ran a lettings and property management operation in the Manchester area with about 60 staff and around 1,000 properties, covering landlords, tenants, contractors, maintenance and cash flow.
Why does Him Yip recommend automating before hiring?
Because he paid for the alternative. In his own lettings operation, the CRM he built automated work worth over £100,000 a year in staff time, work that had depended on people remembering to do it.