How to Start a Real Estate Business

A very popular industry for people who want to be self-employed, always see the positive, and enjoy meeting new people is real estate! It’s perennially busy, and if you are a hard worker with excellent time management skills and are very good at networking, you can really excel.

Make Sure You Understand Your Market

Any new business needs a solid foundation to grow, and without doing proper research, your fledgling venture may struggle to get off the ground. Luckily, our tips are easy to follow and will help you get a long way towards opening the door to your first open house.

First of all, have you considered what, exactly, you will specialize in? Some people cover city zones, some decide to do office spaces, others are luxury short-term rental agents, while others work only in high-villa sales.

Whatever you choose, make sure it’s viable. That means looking at other real estate businesses in the area and trying to focus on underrepresented areas.

If you are selling land tracts in a high-demand area with lots of sales, you may have good business but also stiff competition. An up-and-coming neighborhood can be a good place to cut your teeth, as the places usually sell based on location alone, and the market will soon become hot, and you’ll have contacts there.

Is It A Profitable Idea?

As someone starting a business, you have the luxury of entering a ready-made market. You can find clients with money to spend and position yourself as an expert in those properties.

With real estate sale commissions often extremely lucrative, you’ll be able to comfortably live during lean times in the market — which there inevitably will be.

Alternatively, you can create your business based on an objective. For example, you can choose to only focus on green and eco-friendly properties. Thus, you have a wide array of options. This makes the real estate business inclusive, which is a plus.

Create A Solid Plan

A large part of your successful strategy from the very beginning will be your business plan. This needs to outline exactly how you will organize your company – where funding will come from, how you will market, and as many predictable costs and eventualities as you can imagine.

For some excellent tips that will help you map out the details, have a look here. Hugely important is how you will decide to register your business, as this will affect taxes and your protection from any liabilities.

Register Your Business Properly

The major business structures are sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and limited liability company. With the sole proprietorship structure, you will own and run your real estate as an individual. The partnership structure is an association between two or more individuals. You can choose to start your real estate company with a trusted friend or business associate.

Individuals and shareholders create a corporation. Your state will recognize your business as separate from its shareholders with this structure. Lastly, a limited liability company (LLC) has members who can be individuals, partners, or corporations. Thus, LLC can be considered a combination of a sole proprietorship partnership and a corporation.

It is a reliable structure to opt for when your business is established, as it can save you from high tax liabilities. If you’re interested in securing LLC services to help you with this process, our list of the best online LLC services will guide you in finding the most reliable help.

You need to determine your business structure early on, as this information will be required during registration. It also helps if you know the ideal way to run your business.

In addition, it would be best if you worked with specialists, including business experts and lawyers, to make the right calls.

Your Real Estate Business Deserves A Great Name

After researching and choosing your business idea, it’s time to come up with a brand name. Helpfully, you can get amazing ideas from our real estate business name generator. This tool can guide you in selecting a memorable name that informs clients about your company.

The generator is easy to use. You have to give it a set of starting keywords and let it do its magic.

You can use the generator as much as you want. It’s completely free and comes with no limitations.

Find An Office

After developing a business idea and name, you should find an office space. You can either rent an office or create a workstation at home. If you have a tight budget, it will be best to start at home. Once your business is reputable enough, you can move to an office building.

A Web Presence Is Crucial

If you’ve ever looked for a new apartment or even window-shopped for your dream home, you’ll know how convenient real estate web pages are. They allow you to find places on maps, check out neighborhoods, and even see pictures of homes, meaning you can narrow down your search quickly and without having to leave your sofa!

You’re not alone in doing this: many real estate buyers search for properties online before visiting physically. Thus, if you want to be noticed by potential clients, a professional website is paramount.

Developing a website doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out our list of the best website builders to help you find the one that you think will be the best for you.

Real estate business websites can be very useful: photos, locations, contact details, and up-and-coming open house information are all easy to update and exactly what people want to see.

Many sites have easy-to-use tools that allow your visitors to filter based on price, locations, amenities, etc. So make sure to take advantage of all the features at your disposal. If you need help setting everything up once, there are lots of pros who would be happy to assist.

Host it

Along with creating the site, you will also need to host it. You can find the right web hosting provider on our dedicated page, where we review some of the best web hosting companies in the world.

Get The Word Out About Your New Real Estate Business

Once you have created your website, you need to market it! Think about how you would like to begin, and remember to include traditional methods like bench advertisements, billboards, newspaper print campaigns, and networking in large events. These, coupled with a digital marketing strategy, will be your best chance at reaching the most potential clients.

Many digital marketing experts recommend starting with social media. Social media marketing can involve creating pages across several social media platforms to reach out to different demographics.

On your pages, post your listings and your website link. Always post high-quality, relevant images and videos. If possible, work with a professional photographer. Try to build a network of related local businesses and individuals online and in person.

Legal Requirements

In most states, you need to pass an exam to become a real estate agent. Only after you have qualified can you make your business legal. First, register your business name with your local authorities to operate in the city. Your local government’s recognition also allows you to apply for the Federal Tax ID.

Your certification will likely need to be kept up-to-date, so educate yourself beforehand to make sure you have your calendar marked with important dates — courses, re-application for certifications, conventions, and general industry events, among others — to stay on the top of your field!

Your Business Needs Money

You need to set money aside to get your business up and running — and to keep it going, especially in the beginning. If you don’t have startup money, there are several options you can explore. The most common one is taking a bank business loan.

There are several types of business loans available, and your best bet is to discuss this with your bank or local co-op for information. In particular, always ask about your loan’s interests and duration.

Angel investment is another funding option. Many people are willing to invest in promising start-ups for an equity share. They are referred to as angel investors.

The third way you can get finances for your business is through crowdfunding. This is similar to angel investment, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be equity-based. It is vital to pay back your supporters with a flat interest.

Moreover, after your business starts making money, you need to manage your finances to take your business to the next level. First, you don’t want to use your business finances for pleasure, which will lower your revenue. For this reason, you need to separate your business account from your personal one. Consequently, you will always get a detailed report of your business finances, allowing you to create successful business plans and reports.

Another strategy for planning your finances is using tools to manage and keep track of them. If you discover you have a negative cash flow, make changes to cut your costs.

Learn How To Monitor Your Success

There are several metrics that people can measure to help them determine positive trends in their business and areas for improvement. These are called key performance indicators (KPIs).

You can track sales price for square feet, rental numbers, the number of inquiries as a result of each type of advertisement, offers, etc. Moreover, with KPIs, it will be easy to set realistic goals and see tangible results.

Aside from the tangential effects of advertising, you also need to track your spending and income. You need a fully-formed picture of where your money comes in and where it goes.

Hire Employees

Another reason most entrepreneurs gravitate towards real estate is that it can be a one-person job — at least, initially. You don’t have to hire a workforce right away, particularly if you are working from home. This keeps startup costs low.

However, once you have become an established firm with many clients and have moved to professional office space, you will certainly need help. You can start by hiring an assistant and one or two agents, and from there, scaling up will be easy.

Furthermore, as the boss, you can ensure that you hire only skilled people who can help grow your business and, simultaneously, their careers. One way to do this is to work with a reputable recruiting company to avoid the hassle of conducting interviews and background checks. Once employees have been sent to you, the only thing you need to do is a brief interview and training.

You can also find qualified people on online platforms like Upwork. All you have to do is post your hiring request, and you will receive proposals. Analyze them and choose those whose qualities match your projects. Note that you can also decide to have remote employees. With the right communication channels, they will work efficiently.

Keep Detailed Records

Many people hire receptionists and accountants as their first employees, and for a good reason. These can be complex jobs that take up a lot of time and concentration, meaning that in order to do both these and also show real estate properties can quickly become too much for one person to do.

When you start working with clients, a lot of financial transactions will occur. Therefore, it would help if you analyzed them to make informed decisions about the future of your business.

The best way to do this is using efficient accounting software like Xero, which has tools to help you manage your day-to-day accounting activities. This software also simplifies tasks like paying bills and claiming expenses.

Since you can access the software on your mobile device, you can keep track of your business transactions anywhere. If you have employees, Xero will also help you with payroll. In addition, using accounting and bookkeeping software reduces paperwork and clutter in your office.

Conclusion

Starting a real estate business is beneficial as you don’t need an enormous budget to set it up. Regardless of cost, following our practical tips to establish a reputable brand will help you get off on the right foot.

As outlined above, you need extensive research, a real estate professional’s license, a clean website, a clear plan for your future, and the back-office and legal framework all put in place. It may also help you to work with experts, like attorneys, to make sure your real estate business is totally legal.

Additionally, ensure that you market your business to catch the attention of potential clients. From beachfront to high-rise, open fields to suburban paradise, you’ll be among the best of the best in no time.