Why Letting Agents Need Dedicated Viewing Software
Most letting agents manage viewings through a combination of email, spreadsheets, and their CRM diary. It works - until it does not.
A missed enquiry here, a double booking there, a tenant who was not given proper notice. These are not just inconveniences. They cost you lets, damage landlord relationships, and create legal risk.
Property viewing software exists to solve these problems. But not all solutions are equal, and choosing the wrong one can create more work than it saves.
What Good Viewing Software Should Do
At a minimum, property viewing software for letting agents should handle:
- Automatic enquiry capture - pulling in leads from Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket, and your website without manual forwarding
- Diary management - showing available slots, preventing double bookings, and accounting for travel time between properties
- Applicant communication - sending booking confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups automatically
- Tenant notice management - for tenanted properties, ensuring you give the correct notice period before a viewing
- Reporting - tracking enquiry-to-viewing and viewing-to-let conversion rates
The Three Types of Viewing Software
1. Calendar/Scheduling Tools
Generic tools like Calendly or Acuity. They let applicants self-book, but they know nothing about your properties, tenancy status, or lettings compliance. Fine for simple use cases, but they do not understand the lettings workflow.
2. CRM Add-Ons
Modules within existing letting agent CRMs like Reapit, Arthur, or Apex27. They integrate with your data but often require manual processing. The automation is limited to templates and reminders.
3. AI-Powered Viewing Automation
Newer tools like Autoprop that use AI to handle the entire viewing process. They read enquiries, check availability, respond to applicants, and book viewings without human intervention. This is the fastest-growing category.
Key Questions to Ask Before Choosing
- Does it integrate with your portal feeds? If you have to manually forward Rightmove emails, you have added a step instead of removing one
- Does it handle tenanted properties? Most viewings in lettings involve tenanted properties. The software must understand notice periods
- How does it handle out-of-hours enquiries? If it only works during office hours, you are still missing evening and weekend leads
- What is the pricing model? Per-lead pricing punishes growth. Flat monthly fees let you scale without worrying about costs
- How long is the setup? If implementation takes weeks, the cost of delayed adoption adds up quickly
Making the Decision
The right viewing software depends on your agency's size and priorities. If you process fewer than 10 viewing requests a week, a CRM add-on may be sufficient. If you handle dozens daily and speed is critical, AI-powered automation will deliver the biggest return.
The key metric to watch is response time. If your average response to a portal enquiry is measured in hours, you are losing leads to faster competitors. The right software brings that down to seconds.
Autoprop is AI-powered viewing automation built for UK letting agents. See how it works, check the pricing, or read about automating tenant viewings in practice.