Sourced Living Franchisee Grows Portfolio from 33 to 408 Properties Through Major Devon Acquisition

Sourced Living franchisee Sara Watkins-Schmidt has completed the acquisition of Devon estate agency Complete Estate Agency, taking her managed property portfolio from 33 to 408 properties in one major move.

The acquisition, funded through Sourced, sees Sara take on an established Devon property business with 375 managed properties, four branches and 23 employees.https://sourced.co/lettings-franchise/

All four Complete branches will remain open under the existing brand, with the existing team continuing in place.

The deal marks a significant milestone in Sara’s journey with Sourced Living. She joined the franchise with the ambition of building her own lettings and property management business, growing her portfolio organically to 33 properties with the support, training and infrastructure provided by Sourced.

Now, she has taken the next major step – acquiring an established agency and more than 10 times the size of the portfolio she had built herself.

From 33 properties to 408

Sara’s journey began by building her own portfolio from the ground up.

With Sourced Living’s training, ongoing one-to-one support and business infrastructure behind her, she grew organically to 33 managed properties.

The opportunity to acquire Complete Estate Agency presented a very different route to growth.

Rather than spending years building another 375-property portfolio, Sara was able to acquire an established operation with its own branches, people, landlords and managed properties.

Sourced provided the funding to support the acquisition, enabling Sara to make the jump from 33 to 408 managed properties.

It means she has gone from building a portfolio herself to running an established property business with more than 400 managed properties and a 23-strong team.

Sourced funds the next stage of franchisee growth

The acquisition demonstrates how Sourced’s support for franchisees can extend beyond helping them establish their businesses.

Sourced Living provides the training, systems, technology and ongoing support to help franchisees build and grow their lettings and property management businesses.

Through its wider property ecosystem and funding capabilities, Sourced can also support franchisees looking to accelerate growth through acquisitions.

For Sara, that has meant building her business organically before using an acquisition to take it to an entirely new level.

Sourced Founder and CEO Stephen Moss said:

“What’s exciting about Sara’s journey is that she has genuinely built this.

“She joined Sourced, developed her business, grew her portfolio organically and got to the point where she was ready for the next step.

“The acquisition then gave her the opportunity to make a huge leap forward, taking on an established business, four branches, an experienced team and 375 managed properties.

“That’s exactly the kind of journey we want to support – helping people build something of their own and then giving them the infrastructure and funding to take it to the next level.”

A growing opportunity in the agency market

The acquisition is also part of Sourced’s growing focus on agency acquisitions, creating opportunities for ambitious franchisees to expand while providing potential succession routes for established independent agency owners.

Stephen Moss said:

“We’re seeing a really interesting opportunity in the agency market.

“There are thousands of independent businesses whose owners have spent years building something successful and, at some point, have to think about succession and what happens next.

“On the other side, we’ve got ambitious entrepreneurs who want to grow and have the ability to take those businesses forward.

“We’ve built the infrastructure within Sourced to help bring those two sides together.”

The Complete Estate Agency acquisition will see all four branches continue trading under the existing brand, with the 23-strong team remaining in place.

For Sara, the deal marks the beginning of a new chapter – moving from building her own portfolio to leading an established property business managing more than 400 properties.

The acquisition represents another step in Sourced Living’s growth strategy, supporting franchisees not only to build successful lettings businesses from the ground up, but also to identify and fund opportunities to accelerate their growth through acquisition.

See how the Sourced Living letting agent franchise supports Partners to grow through acquisition.