As a rule, those who have already worked in this field, have experience and their own database, think about how to open a real estate agency. Demand for realtor services is growing, despite the difficult economic situation, and money for opening such a business does not need so much. This leads to the constant emergence of ever new real estate agencies. What awaits beginners? What does a real estate agency business plan include? How much money is needed and will the investment pay off? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article.
Register a business
A novice entrepreneur must register an IP (individual entrepreneurship) or LLC (limited liability company). When choosing an IP, you pay only a single fixed tax. And the fee for each contract concluded is an agency fee. OKVED (classification of types of activity) in this case 70.3 “Provision of intermediary services that are related to real estate”.
Once you receive a certificate of registration, you should register with the tax office. If you are a busy person and you do not have time to visit all instances, contact the intermediary, pay him, in a few days just get all the documents in your hands.
We develop a price list and other forms of documents
It is advisable to draw up a business plan for a real estate agency not independently, but with the support of experienced people who have been working for more than a year in this area. In order to have an undeniable competitive advantage, it is necessary not only to find an option suitable for the client, but to accompany it “from” and “to”.
This inspires confidence. As soon as you open your business, do not dump prices, that is, make them much lower than market prices. Consumers are beginning to think that this service is easy to implement, and your income is only going down. The client needs to clearly explain what is included in the service, what efforts it costs the realtor, etc.
Recruiting employees
Whoever helps you to draw up a business plan for a real estate agency, know that it is advisable to recruit employees only by acquaintance. If this is not possible, you will have to post an ad in specialized media, seek help from recruitment agencies.
By the way, there is a free website for a real estate agency (and not one), it’s nice to make yourself felt there, many realtors look at such resources in search of work. The number of employees is an individual matter. Sometimes one person with his database will replace a dozen "specialists."
In addition, you will have to hire both an accountant, and an editor of the site (if any), and a manager, and a driver, and a lawyer (not necessary, but desirable).
Rent an office
Of course, choosing a room is not in the industrial area of the city, but in a place with good transport interchange. The office should be spacious and comfortable enough to accommodate all employees and customers.
The latter should feel that here they will not be deceived and will not take anything superfluous from them. Therefore, make a good and stylish repair, but not artsy. Do not forget that you will need to purchase all the necessary equipment (tables, chairs, computers, fax, telephones, etc.)
Advertising for real estate agency
This is a fairly costly, but very important point. Real estate agency advertising should be placed in various newspapers, magazines, and specialized sites. If you are going to buy a place in the newspaper on the last page for your advertising, then it’s better not to do this at all.
What can a person think of the prestige of such a real estate agency that can not afford an announcement on the front page? Nothing good. It would also be nice to make outdoor advertising on the streets, transport, etc.
No one has canceled the so-called word of mouth. This is perhaps the best advertisement of all time, so do not forget about the worthy service of each client.
We form a database
From this begins the process of work of any real estate agency. To replenish the database of sellers and buyers, the so-called "pseudo-partial" ad placement method is used. What is its essence?
An ad is written like "A young family will rent / buy an apartment near the metro ..." and paste up wherever possible. Calls begin to arrive, your business is to put everything in the database. And since sellers do not have to pay anything to the agency, they willingly agree that the information be posted in the agency.
But creating a customer database is much more difficult. Here they use the phantom advertising method. Specialized newspapers advertise the sale of good apartments at incredibly low prices.
The main thing is to hook a potential buyer and establish contact with him. Of course, in the conversation the agent will say that this apartment, unfortunately, has been sold, but there are other options. A realtor will take a phone number, specify the necessary criteria for finding an apartment, that’s the whole secret.
Realtor Agency Business Plan. Financial part
So, we discussed the main points of expenses, now we will indicate more specific figures:
- office rental - 15,000-20000 rubles;
- purchase of necessary equipment - approximately 80,000-100,000 rubles;
- software - approximately 30,000 rubles;
- advertising - 5000-15000 rubles per month;
- utility bills - 5000 per month.
The work of agents, as a rule, is paid piece by piece. The remuneration is 30-60% of the entire commission for a successful transaction.
What about profit? The average cost of realtor services is 3-6% of the total transaction amount. If the company has 5 employees, then the income can be approximately 200,000 rubles per month. With a favorable combination of all circumstances, the business will pay off in 3-6 months.
What awaits a novice entrepreneur?
As statistics show, 2-3 transactions per month for one realtor is practically unattainable. The point is not the professionalism of the employee, but the fact that many transactions are not completed overnight, but last for months. This is another point on which the payback period of a business depends. A small company will pay off for the above period, and a large company may take even years.
You also have to face fierce competition. Today, there are a lot of not only real estate agencies, but also single realtors who do not want to work for anyone, but work independently (although not for long). For each client you have to wage a real fight, because people are more likely to contact the already promoted agencies, and you just have to earn a name for yourself. Therefore, we remind you once again - do not save on advertising, on signboards, etc.
Corporate culture
However, even if you are actively making all kinds of investments, this is not the key to success. An important task for the leader is to competently form a harmonious and friendly team. If you are lucky enough to assemble a team of experienced and high-class realtors, do not relax, they will still need to be able to keep.
It is no secret that there are a lot of cases (this applies to any business) when employees switch to the competition or register their own company. According to statistics, almost 80% of employees go to competitors because their management does not fulfill its promises (for example, does not pay bonuses) or does not value employees, naively believing that they will not go anywhere.
If a realtor decided to leave in order to start his own business, it is almost impossible to keep him.Try to raise the salary and increase it in the post. Make everyone in the team equal, let each employee know that he is valued, respected, that everyone is interested in his decision.
