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Dan RichardsPartner Agent, The Letting ExpertsWolverhampton20 May 2026
I Was Ready to Walk Away From Lettings Entirely. Then This Happened.
After nearly 15 years in lettings, Dan was ready to walk away from the industry for good, but then a LinkedIn message changed his mind.
Partner Agent, The Letting ExpertsWolverhampton20 May 2026Some of the best decisions people make don't start with a plan. They start with a moment, something that shifts the way you see what's possible. Dan had nearly 15 years of lettings experience, a genuine talent for the job, and had reached a point where he was seriously considering leaving the industry for good. What happened next changed everything. This is his story, told in his own words.
The Moment He Decided to Walk Away From Lettings
Dan spent close to 15 years building a career in lettings. Branch manager. Consistent performer. The kind of agent landlords trusted and colleagues rang when they had a question they couldn't answer. But underneath all of that, something had been building for a long time.
The frustration wasn't just about money. It was the whole structure, watching the branch he'd built turn a profit of sixty, seventy thousand pounds, and walking away with a certificate and a bottle of supermarket prosecco. Being moved between branches without being asked. He'd seen the profit and loss himself, made the branch seventy grand in a year, and taken home barely two in commission, with nobody even stopping to say well done.
So he left. Not for another agency. Out of the industry altogether.
The frustration wasn't just about money. It was the whole structure, watching the branch he'd built turn a profit of sixty, seventy thousand pounds, and walking away with a certificate and a bottle of supermarket prosecco. Being moved between branches without being asked. He'd seen the profit and loss himself, made the branch seventy grand in a year, and taken home barely two in commission, with nobody even stopping to say well done.
So he left. Not for another agency. Out of the industry altogether.
Except lettings kept following him.
I was disenchanted. There were glass ceilings everywhere, and just a real lack of appreciation for the amount of time and effort it actually takes to do this job properly.
The LinkedIn Message That Changed Everything
A few months after leaving, Dan received a message on LinkedIn. Someone from The Recruitment Experts thought he might be a good fit for a different kind of lettings model.
Dan was sceptical. He'd just left the property industry and wasn't looking to go back. But he opened the prospectus anyway, and got to page two before anything really landed.
Dan had worked with Susan Liles previously and knew her track record. Seeing her name attached wasn't just reassuring, it removed the biggest barrier he had to going self-employed as a letting agent, the fear of doing it without proper support behind him. He asked to speak to her directly before committing to anything, and that conversation was enough.
Dan was sceptical. He'd just left the property industry and wasn't looking to go back. But he opened the prospectus anyway, and got to page two before anything really landed.
Dan had worked with Susan Liles previously and knew her track record. Seeing her name attached wasn't just reassuring, it removed the biggest barrier he had to going self-employed as a letting agent, the fear of doing it without proper support behind him. He asked to speak to her directly before committing to anything, and that conversation was enough.
Susan was one of the only people I'd ever worked with who, when you came to her with a problem, actually sorted it. She'd go away and come back and say, right, we've put something in place. That almost never happens. Usually people just nod and then nothing changes.
The First Year: Honest About What It Actually Takes
Dan joined in late June, got married in early September, and just got on with it.
He got two early wins, landlords from previous roles who resurfaced through social media. One is still with him now, has put multiple properties through him, and regularly refers people he knows. It was exactly the kind of early momentum that reminded him he was on the right track, even when the wider picture was quieter than he'd have liked.
Dan is candid about the reality of that first year, and deliberately so. He was out there shouting loudly, WhatsApp, Facebook, anywhere he could, and only completed around three lets across the whole year. But he was always getting market appraisals, so it never felt completely hopeless.
He got two early wins, landlords from previous roles who resurfaced through social media. One is still with him now, has put multiple properties through him, and regularly refers people he knows. It was exactly the kind of early momentum that reminded him he was on the right track, even when the wider picture was quieter than he'd have liked.
Dan is candid about the reality of that first year, and deliberately so. He was out there shouting loudly, WhatsApp, Facebook, anywhere he could, and only completed around three lets across the whole year. But he was always getting market appraisals, so it never felt completely hopeless.
I don't want people to come into this having only heard the beautiful version. The reality takes graft. But I could have called Susan at several points and said, I don't think this is working, and I didn't. And I'm glad I didn't.
What Going Self-Employed as a Letting Agent Has Actually Given Him
Dan won the People's Choice Award at the TLE Agent Success Day, voted for by other Partner Agents. He's the person newer agents ring when they have a question. He does all of this because he remembers exactly what it felt like at the beginning.
He's not where he wants to be yet. But he's closer than he's ever been, doing it on his own terms, in his own time, with his own name above the door.
He's not where he wants to be yet. But he's closer than he's ever been, doing it on his own terms, in his own time, with his own name above the door.
I just want to build something. Something that's genuinely mine. And I'm doing that.
Does Dan's Story Sound Familiar?
If you're a letting agent who's good at what you do but not sure the structure around you is still working, Dan's story is one of many.
Across The Letting Experts network, experienced letting agents are building profitable, personally branded businesses with the compliance support, coaching and systems to make it work from day one.
The first step is simply finding out whether it's the right fit for you and whether your area is still available.
Partner Agent territories are taken as agents join the network, and we cannot guarantee that your area will still be open when you decide you're ready. If Dan's story has made you think it might be worth a conversation, now is the right moment to have it.
No pressure. No obligation. Just an honest conversation about what might be possible for you.
Across The Letting Experts network, experienced letting agents are building profitable, personally branded businesses with the compliance support, coaching and systems to make it work from day one.
The first step is simply finding out whether it's the right fit for you and whether your area is still available.
Partner Agent territories are taken as agents join the network, and we cannot guarantee that your area will still be open when you decide you're ready. If Dan's story has made you think it might be worth a conversation, now is the right moment to have it.
No pressure. No obligation. Just an honest conversation about what might be possible for you.