how to create a business plan for real estate

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Writing a Business Plan

Writing a business plan may seem a daunting task as there are so many moving parts and concepts to address. Take it one step at a time and be sure to schedule regular review (quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) of your plan to be sure you on are track to meet your goals.

Why Write a Business Plan?

Making a business plan creates the foundation for your business. It provides an easy-to-understand framework and allows you to navigate the unexpected.

Quick Takeaways

• A good business plan not only creates a road map for your business, but helps you work through your goals and get them on paper
• Business plans come in many formats and contain many sections, but even the most basic should include a mission and vision statement, marketing plans, and a proposed management structure
• Business plans can help you get investors and new business partners

Source: Write Your Business Plan: United States Small Business Association

Writing a business plan is imperative to getting your business of the ground. While every plan is different – and most likely depends on the type and size of your business – there are some basic elements you don’t want to ignore.

NAR Library & Archives has already done the research for you. References (formerly Field Guides) offer links to articles, eBooks, websites, statistics, and more to provide a comprehensive overview of perspectives. EBSCO articles ( E ) are available only to NAR members and require the member's nar.realtor login.

Defining Your Mis​sion & Vision

Writing a business plan begins by defining your business’s mission and vision statement. Though creating such a statement may seem like fluff, it is an important exercise. The mission and vision statement sets the foundation upon which to launch your business. It is difficult to move forward successfully without first defining your business and the ideals under which your business operates. A company description should be included as a part of the mission and vision statement. Some questions you should ask yourself include: 

• What type of real estate do you sell?
• Where is your business located?
• Who founded your business?
• What sets your business apart from your competitors?

What is a Vision Statement ( Business News Daily , Jan. 16, 2024)

How to Write a Mission Statement ( The Balance , Jan. 2, 2020)

How to Write a Mission Statement pdf ( Janel M. Radtke , 1998)

Using a SWOT Analysis to Structure Your Business Plan

Once you’ve created a mission and vision statement, the next step is to develop a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.” It is difficult to set goals for your business without first enumerating your business’s strengths and weaknesses, and the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Evaluate by using the following questions:

• Do you offer superior customer service as compared with your competitors?
• Do you specialize in a niche market? What experiences do you have that set you apart from your competitors?
• What are your competitors’ strengths?
• Where do you see the market already saturated, and where are there opportunities for expansion and growth?

Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) ( Investopedia , Oct. 30, 2023)

How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis for Your Small Business ( SCORE , Apr. 28, 2022)

SWOT Analysis Toolbox ( University of Washington )

Setting ​Business Goals

Next, translate your mission and vision into tangible goals. For instance, if your mission statement is to make every client feel like your most important client, think about the following:

• How specifically will you implement this?
• Do you want to grow your business?
• Is this growth measured by gross revenue, profit, personnel, or physical office space?
• How much growth do you aim for annually?
• What specific targets will you strive to hit annually in the next few years?

Setting Business Goals & Objectives: 4 Considerations ( Harvard Business School , Oct. 31, 2023)

What are Business Goals? Definition, How To Set Business Goals and Examples ( Indeed , Jul. 31, 2023)

Establishing a Format

Most businesses either follow a traditional business plan format or a lean startup plan.

Traditional Business Plan

A traditional business plan is detailed and comprehensive. Writing this business plan takes more time. A traditional business plan typically contains the following elements:

• Executive Summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Service or product line
• Marketing and sales
• Funding request
• Financial projections

Lean Startup Plan

A lean startup plan requires high-level focus but is easier to write, with an emphasis on key elements. A lean startup plan typically contains the following elements:

• Key partnerships
• Key activities
• Key resources
• Value proposition
• Customer relationships
• Customer segments
• Cost structure
• Revenue stream

Creating a Marketing Plan

You may wish to create a marketing plan as either a section of your business plan or as an addendum. The Marketing Mix concerns product , price , place and promotion .

• What is your product?
• How does your price distinguish you from your competitors—is it industry average, upper quartile, or lower quartile?
• How does your pricing strategy benefit your clients?
• How and where will you promote your services?
• What types of promotions will you advertise?
• Will you ask clients for referrals or use coupons?
• Which channels will you use to place your marketing message?

Your Guide to Creating a Small Business Marketing Plan ( Business.com , Feb. 2, 2024)

10 Questions You Need to Answer to Create a Powerful Marketing Plan ( The Balance , Jan. 16, 2020)

Developing a Marketing Plan pdf ( Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation )

Forming a Team

Ensuring the cooperation of all colleagues, supervisors, and supervisees involved in your plan is another important element to consider. Some questions to consider are:

• Is your business plan’s success contingent upon the cooperation of your colleagues?
• If so, what specifically do you need them to do?
• How will you evaluate their participation?
• Are they on-board with the role you have assigned them?
• How will you get “buy in” from these individuals?

How to Build a Real Estate Team + 7 Critical Mistakes to Avoid ( The Close , May 17, 2023)

Don’t Start a Real Estate Team Without Asking Yourself These 8 Questions ( Homelight , Jan. 21, 2020)

Implementing a Business Plan and Reviewing Regularly

Implementation and follow-up are frequently overlooked aspects to the business plan, yet vital to the success of the plan. Set dates (annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly) to review your business plans goals. Consider the following while reviewing:

• Are you on track?
• Are the goals reasonable to achieve, impossible, or too easy?
• How do you measure success—is it by revenue, profit, or number of transactions?

And lastly, think about overall goals.

• How do you plan to implement your business plan’s goals?
• When will you review and refine your business plan goals?
• What process will you use to review your goals?
• What types of quantitative and qualitative data will you collect and use to measure your success?

These items are only a few sections of a business plan. Depending on your business, you may want to include additional sections in your plan such as a:

• Cover letter stating the reasoning behind developing a business plan
• Non-disclosure statement
• Table of contents

How To Write a Business Proposal Letter (With Examples) ( Indeed , Jul. 18, 2023)

How To Implement Your Business Plan Objectives ( The Balance , Aug. 19, 2022)

The Bottom Line

Creating a business plan may seem daunting, but by understanding your business and market fully, you can create a plan that generates success (however you choose to define it).

Real Estate Business Plans – Samples, Instructional Guides, and Templates

9 Steps to Writing a Real Estate Business Plan + Templates ( The Close , Apr. 3, 2024)

How to Write a Real Estate Business Plan (+Free Template) ( Fit Small Business , Jun. 30, 2023)

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Real Estate Business Plan + Free Template ( Placester )

Write Your Business Plan ( U.S. Small Business Administration )

General Business Plans – Samples, Instructional Guides, and Templates

Business Plan Template for a Startup Business ( SCORE , Apr. 23, 2024)

Guide to Creating a Business Plan with Template (Business News Daily, Mar. 28, 2024)

Nine Lessons These Entrepreneurs Wish They Knew Before Writing Their First Business Plans ( Forbes , Jul. 25, 2021)

How to Write a Business Plan 101 ( Entrepreneur , Feb. 22, 2021)

Books, eBooks & Other Resources

Ebooks & other resources.

The following eBooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:

The Straightforward Business Plan (eBook)

Business Plan Checklist (eBook)

The SWOT Analysis (eBook)

The Business Plan Workbook (eBook)

Start-Up! A Beginner's Guide to Planning a 21st Century Business (eBook)

Complete Book of Business Plans (eBook)

How to Write a Business Plan (eBook)

The Easy Step by Step Guide to Writing a Business Plan and Making it Work (eBook)

Business Planning: 25 Keys to a Sound Business Plan (Audiobook)

Your First Business Plan, 5 th Edition (eBook)

Anatomy of a Business Plan (eBook)

Writing a Business Plan and Making it Work (Audiobook)

The Social Network Business Plan (eBook)

Books, Videos, Research Reports & More

As a member benefit, the following resources and more are available for loan through the NAR Library. Items will be mailed directly to you or made available for pickup at the REALTOR® Building in Chicago.

Writing an Effective Business Plan (Deloitte and Touche, 1999) HD 1375 D37w

Have an idea for a real estate topic? Send us your suggestions .

The inclusion of links on this page does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked in this page complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.

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Blog Business 5 Real Estate Business Plan Examples & How to Create One?

5 Real Estate Business Plan Examples & How to Create One?

Written by: Danesh Ramuthi Nov 28, 2023

Crafting a business plan is essential for any business and the real estate sector is no exception. In real estate, a comprehensive business plan serves as a roadmap, delineating a clear path towards business growth. 

It guides owners, agents and brokers through various critical aspects such as identifying target markets, devising effective marketing strategies, planning finances and managing client relationships.

For real estate businesses, a well-written plan is crucial in attracting potential investors, showcasing the company’s mission statement, business model and long-term income goals.

So, how can you write one?

Leveraging tools like Venngage Business Plan Make r with their Business Plan Templates to create your own real estate business plan can be transformative.

They offer a lot of real estate business plan examples and templates, streamlining the process of crafting a comprehensive plan.

Click to jump ahead: 

• 5 real estate business plan examples

How to write a real estate business plan?

• Wrapping Up

5 Real estate business plan examples

As I have said before, a well-crafted business plan is a key to success. Whether you’re a seasoned agent or just starting out, examples of effective real estate business plans can offer invaluable insights. Along with a solid business plan, incorporating innovative real estate marketing ideas is crucial for standing out in this competitive market.

These examples showcase a range of strategies and approaches tailored to various aspects of the real estate market. They serve as guides to structuring a plan that addresses key components like market analysis, marketing strategies, financial planning and client management, ensuring a solid foundation for any real estate venture.

Real estate business plan example

There are various elements in a real estate business plan that must be integrated. Incorporating these elements into a real estate business plan ensures a comprehensive approach to launching and growing a successful real estate business. 

What are they?

• Executive summary: The executive summary is a concise overview of the real estate business plan. It highlights the mission statement, outlines the business goals and provides a snapshot of the overall strategy. 
• Company overview: An overview on the history and structure of the real estate business. It includes the company’s mission and vision statements, information about the founding team and the legal structure of the business. 
• Service: Here, the business plan details the specific services offered by the real estate agency. This could range from residential property sales and leasing to commercial real estate services. The section should clearly articulate how these services meet the needs of the target client and how they stand out from competitors.
• Strategies: A very crucial part of the plan outlines the strategies for achieving business goals. It covers marketing strategies to generate leads, pricing strategies for services, and tactics for effective client relationship management. Strategies for navigating market shifts, identifying key market trends and leveraging online resources for property listings and real estate listing presentations to help with lead generation are also included.
• Financial plan: The financial plan is a comprehensive section detailing the financial projections of the business. It includes income statements, cash flow statements , break-even analysis and financial goals. Besides, a financial plan section also outlines how resources will be allocated to different areas of the business and the approach to managing the financial aspects of the real estate market, such as average sales price and housing market trends.

Read Also: 7 Best Business Plan Software for 2023

Real estate investment business plan example

A real estate investment business plan is a comprehensive blueprint that outlines the goals and strategies of a real estate investment venture. It serves as a roadmap, ensuring that all facets of real estate investment are meticulously considered.

Creating a business plan for real estate investment is a critical step for any investor, regardless of their experience level Typically, these plans span one to five years, offering a detailed strategy for future company objectives and the steps required to achieve them.

Key components:

• Executive summary: Snapshot of the business, outlining its mission statement, target market, and core strategies. It should be compelling enough to attract potential investors and partners.
• Market analysis: A thorough analysis of the real estate market, including current trends, average sales prices and potential market shifts.
• Financial projections: Detailed financial plans, including income statements, cash flow analysis, and break-even analysis.
• Strategy & implementation: Outlines how the business plans to achieve its goals. This includes marketing efforts to generate leads, pricing strategies, client relationship management techniques, and the integration of effective real estate digital marketing agency initiatives.
• Legal structure & resource allocation: Details the legal structure of the business and how resources will be allocated across various operations, including property acquisitions, renovations and management.

Real estate agent business plan example

A real estate agent business plan is a strategic document that outlines the operations and goals of a real estate agent or agency. It is a crucial tool for communicating with potential lenders, partners or shareholders about the nature of the business and its potential for profitability.

A well-crafted real estate agent business plan will include

• Where you are today: A clear understanding of your current position in the market, including strengths, weaknesses and market standing.
• Where you aim to be: Sets specific, measurable goals for future growth, whether it’s expanding the client base, entering new markets or increasing sales.
• How can you get there: Outlines the strategies and action plans to achieve these goals, including marketing campaigns, client acquisition strategies and business development initiatives.
• Measuring your performance: Defines the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to assess progress towards the set goals, such as sales figures, client satisfaction rates and market share.
• Course correction: Establishes a process for regular review and adjustment of the plan, ensuring flexibility to adapt to market changes, shifts in client needs and other external factors.

For real estate agents, a comprehensive business plan is not just a roadmap to success; it is a dynamic tool that keeps them accountable and adaptable to market changes.

Realtor business plan example

A realtor business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the strategic direction and goals of a real estate business. It’s an essential tool for realtors looking to either launch or expand their business in the competitive real estate market. The plan typically includes details about the company’s mission, objectives, target market and strategies for achieving its goals.

Benefits of a realtor business plan and applications:

• For launching or expanding businesses: The plan helps real estate agents to structure their approach to entering new markets or growing in existing ones, providing a clear path to follow.
• Securing loans and investments: A well-drafted business plan is crucial for securing financing for real estate projects, such as purchasing new properties or renovating existing ones.
• Guideline for goal achievement: The plan serves as a guideline to stay on track with sales and profitability goals, allowing realtors to make informed decisions and adjust strategies as needed.
• Valuable for real estate investors: Investors can use the template to evaluate potential real estate businesses and properties for purchase, ensuring they align with their investment goals.
• Improving business performance: By filling out a realtor business plan template , realtors can gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their business, using this information to enhance profitability and operational efficiency.

A realtor business plan is more than just a document; it’s a roadmap for success in the real estate industry. 

Writing a real estate business plan is a comprehensive process that involves several key steps. Here’s a detailed guide to help you craft an effective business plan :

• Tell your story : Start with a self-evaluation. Define who you are as a real estate agent, why you are in this business and what you do. Develop your mission statement, vision statement and an executive summary​​.
• Analyze your target real estate market : Focus on local market trends rather than national or state-wide levels. Examine general trends, market opportunities, saturations, and local competition. This step requires thorough research into the real estate market you plan to operate in​​.
• Identify your target client : After understanding your market, identify the niche you aim to serve and the type of clients you want to target. Create a client persona that reflects their specific needs and concerns​​.
• Conduct a SWOT analysis : Analyze your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This should reflect a combination of personal attributes and external market conditions​​​​.
• Establish your SMART goals : Set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals. These goals could be financial, expansion-related or based on other business metrics​​​​.
• Create your financial plan : Account for all operating expenses, including marketing and lead generation costs. Calculate the number of transactions needed to meet your financial goals. Remember to separate personal and business finances​​.
• Revisit your business plan to monitor & evaluate : Treat your business plan as a living document. Plan periodic reviews (quarterly, semi-annually or annually) to check if your strategies are advancing you toward your goals​​​​.
• Defining your mission & vision : Include a clear mission and vision statement. Describe your business type, location, founding principles and what sets you apart from competitors​​.
• Creating a marketing plan : Develop a marketing plan that addresses the product, price, place and promotion of your services. Determine your pricing strategy, promotional methods and marketing channels​​. If you’re unsure what marketing activities to choose, consider this guide on how to market yourself as a realtor .
• Forming a team : Ensure the cooperation of colleagues, supervisors and supervisees involved in your plan. Clarify their roles and how their participation will be evaluated​​.

Related: 15+ Business Plan Examples to Win Your Next Round of Funding

Wrapping up

The journey to a successful real estate venture is intricately linked to the quality and depth of your business plan. From understanding the nuances of the real estate market to setting strategic goals, a well-crafted business plan acts as the backbone of any thriving real estate business. Whether you’re developing a general real estate business plan, focusing on investment, working as an agent, or operating as a realtor, each plan type serves its unique purpose and addresses specific aspects of the real estate world.

The examples and insights provided in this article serve as a guide to help you navigate the complexities of the real estate industry. Remember, a real estate business plan is not a static document but a dynamic blueprint that evolves with your business and the ever-changing market trends.

Crafting a strategic real estate business plan is a crucial step towards achieving your business goals. So, start shaping your vision today with Venngage.

Explore venngage business plan maker & our business plan templates and begin your journey to a successful real estate business now!

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How to Plan, Start, & Grow a Real Estate Business: 27 Essential Tips

Updated: February 21, 2024

Published: June 27, 2018

Starting a real estate business isn’t for the faint of heart, but there’s hope for 2024. It’s expected that housing prices will soften in certain parts of the country , and despite what we’re hearing, experts are not predicting a housing market crash .

If the real estate world is calling you, don’t be put off. Here’s a down-to-earth look at how to start your own real estate business, plus advice for avoiding mistakes that hijack momentum as you grow.

In this article:

It’s Never Too Late to Start Your Business

How to start a real estate business, how to start in real estate, how to grow your real estate business, common professional pitfalls (and how to avoid them).

For many new real estate agents , real estate is their second, third, or even fourth career.

Whether you’re a solo agent or new to a team, if you have dreams of outperforming the average real estate agent salar y ($44,507 per year), you need to start thinking like a business owner — and that means planning.

Free Real Estate Planning Template

Use this free template to plan the marketing, sales, and growth for your real estate business.

• Company Overview
• Territory Overview
• Market Penetration Strategy

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

• Craft your ideal personal plan.
• Write a real estate business plan.
• Build a consistent marketing plan.
• Get a website.
• Prospect consistently.
• Nurture leads.
• Have good time management.

1. Get a CRM.

Barry Jenkins is the broker-owner of the #2 Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Team in the United States. He’s also a guy who hates inefficiency. “I, to a fault, like to make things easy. The reason my business is so successful is that it was built on the core principle of leverage.”

In order to bring that principle to life, Barry uses his CRM as a true lead conversion machine . A CRM is a Customer Relationship Management system that helps you organize your contacts and come up with actionable insights. With it, you can walk leads through relevant nurture campaigns based on lead source or automate the entire transaction process.

Get HubSpot's Free CRM for Your Real Estate Business

This is incredibly useful in real estate because the home buying process is so long with many different steps, multiplied across many agents and even more leads and customers.

Using a CRM to achieve boss-level organization is how Barry and his team sold 240 homes in a year. And it’s not all about the front end, either. Barry also uses his CRM to send automated onboarding drips to new team members and keep the business admin completely streamlined so that nothing important ever falls through the cracks.

2. Craft your ideal personal plan.

Before you set the right financial goals for your business, you need clear financial goals for your life.

Commissions are great, but — let's face it — we all came into this business wanting something bigger and better than what we had.

Consider the following questions:

• What time do you want to start work?
• What time do you want to finish?
• How do you want to feel each day?
• How much money do you want to make?

Top tip for defining your personal plan: Think about the real why. Running a successful real estate business is more about the impact on our lives or our families' lives and less about earning cash. Get to the real motivator behind work.

3. Write a real estate business plan.

Start writing your real estate business plan, paying special attention to the things that set you apart from other businesses in your area. Give it some real thought. This is where your personal and business identities can really come together to make profit-driving magic.

Start with these questions:

• How does selling real estate make a meaningful difference for you, your prospects, and even the world?
• What are the values and principles that drive your real estate business?
• How are those different from the real estate business next door?
• What are the three to five things you are going to own completely in the business?
• Who will take care of the rest?

Even if you’re just looking to take administrative work off your plate by hiring your first virtual assistant, it's critical to create that big-picture vision to keep your team inspired and avoid repeating unproductive patterns.

Top tip for writing your business plan: While creating that big-picture plan, make sure you also pay attention to the details. Writing your plan is an opportunity for you to explore ideas and see what’s feasible.

Featured Resource: Free Business Plan Template

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4. Build a consistent marketing plan.

In the beginning, it was all about passing your licensing exam, selecting your best-fit brokerage, and building up your database without coming across as “ sales-y ” to the friends and family in your sphere of influence (SOI).

However, kicking back and coasting as soon as the referrals start rolling in is one of the biggest mistakes growing agents make. Whether your dream is to become the next Facebook ads guru or a master of Zillow conversions, the only thing you really need to know about marketing is that it’s the one part of your business that never sleeps.

Let these questions guide your marketing plan:

• What does your unique approach and personality bring to the table for your prospects?
• What can you offer that no one else can?
• What are the latest buying, selling, and pricing trends in your market?
• What are some creative ways to discuss these trends (including the numbers) with prospects?

First, nail down your unique value proposition. This will drive all your future marketing.

Top tip for marketing: You’re better off covering fewer channels consistently than trying to do it all. Marketing is a lot. Focus on quality and not quantity.

Featured Resource: Free Marketing Plan Template

5. Get a website.

97% of all buyers now use the internet as part of their home search.

This means that no matter how much local marketing you do, you need a web presence to attract and engage online leads. It may cost a little money upfront, but a solid, SEO-focused website is essential to success.

Your site should allow you to integrate internet data exchange (IDX) listings and usher those leads right into your CRM.

Once you have this asset in place, you can start moving toward a consistent blogging and social media strategy to generate more leads.

Top tip for your website: Track data and traffic on your site as soon as you can. Analytical tools like G4 are free.

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6. Prospect consistently.

The most consistent agent always wins, so choose your prospecting system and stick to it.

In the early days, it was never a bad idea to optimize your SOI. In fact, the Atlanta-based Graham Seeby Group transformed a list of just 279 contacts into $90 million in home sales in just four years by consistently marketing to their past clients and sphere.

“We focused on the ‘mets’ in our database, and it was amazing the volume of transactions we started doing right out of the gate,” says co-founder Justin Seeby.

For example, he recounts, his team did $2 million worth of sales from one couple he hadn’t talked to in 13 years.

“I mailed them a postcard, because I was afraid to pick up the phone and call them. I didn’t know if they’d know who I was. When they got the postcard, they called me. They ended up spending $1.2 million on a new house and selling an $800,000 house,” Seeby said.

Justin’s prospecting strategy was based on a simple schedule of mailers, emails, and phone calls. A winning system doesn’t have to be complicated, but it absolutely must be consistent.

Top tip for prospecting: Don’t stop when you get busy.

7. Nurture leads.

If a lead contacts you, they expect to hear from you.

Mike Pannell is a master lead generator and the leader behind Nu Home Source Realty . According to Mike, a follow-up system is crucial to long-term lead conversion.

“I tell my agents that 70% of people are not going to buy for 180.5 days. If you’re waiting on those new leads to buy, you’re only going to close 3%,” he says. “That will make you enough money to survive, but your goal is six months and beyond. You’ve got to follow up to get to those; you’ve got to build that pipeline to get to those people.”

In addition to avid blogging and website optimization, Mike also checks up on the competition to see what's happening on the ground.

“I sign up on a lot of different websites out there. I don’t give them a real name, but I give them a real phone number,” he says. “And I can tell you what, I don’t get a lot of calls."

Be the agent who’s always there, and you’ll automatically beat the herd.

8. Have good time management.

If you’re like most of us, a big part of the dream is to have more time and energy for the things that really light you up.

But most agents who set out to build a real estate business haven’t built that into the plan. They end up with a revolving door of team members and have to outwork the business problem du jour. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

For experts in automation, a motivating factor is saving time. By eliminating manual work through automation, you can free up time to focus on the activities that actually drive revenue.

The ability to do marketing automation further underscores your need for a CRM, which ends up acting as the engine that supports your efforts.

Top tip for introducing automation: Start with low-risk tasks that you don’t want to handle.

• Get a real estate license.
• Find a brokerage.
• Join the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
• Pay your dues.
• Find a mentor.
• Get crystal clear on who your ideal customer is.
• Build your personal brand.

Once you‘ve created your personal vision, business plan, and unique value prop, it’s time to get down to brass tacks.

How do you enter the real estate field and develop as a real estate professional? Here's what you’ll need to do.

1. Get a real estate license.

Obtaining a real estate license is an important first step in your real estate career. The timeline, qualifications, and costs of getting your real estate license are different from state to state, so consult your local real estate bureau to understand what’s required.

Many states require pre-licensing and renewal courses as well. Once you have your license, however, you can legally sell, broker, or rent real estate in the state in which you’ve obtained your license. There’s one caveat here: Most states require you to work with a brokerage for the first two to three years as an agent. So, let’s dive into what that means.

2. Find a brokerage.

A real estate brokerage is an agency where real estate agents work. You might choose to work for a national franchise like Keller Williams Realty or a local boutique brokerage in your area. There are also virtual brokerages popping up around the internet, so do a little digging and find out which option best aligns with your goals.

Consider company culture, commission structure, and possible mentorships when you’re selecting a brokerage. Choose where you’d feel you’d thrive, be fairly compensated, and be able to learn from skilled people.

3. Join the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Want to call yourself a REALTOR®? Until you join the National Association of Realtors , you can’t. A NAR membership will also earn you access to the Multiple Listing Services (MLS), where you’ll be able to search through all of the listings in the network.

4. Pay your dues.

Don’t expect to get your license, join a brokerage, and start selling million-dollar homes.

Digital marketing strategist Hillary Robert says , “New real estate agents need to know that building a business takes time, hard work, and effort. To build a sustainable career in real estate, they need to be willing to put in the elbow grease to build an audience and database of contacts. Then they need to learn how to work it, provide value, and be consistent.”

Prepare to roll up your sleeves, do the hard work networking and supporting more seasoned realtors for a few years, and don’t expect to be bringing in the big bucks right away.

5. Find a mentor.

Learn from those around you. Is there someone in your brokerage who specializes in for sale by owner (FSBOs) or has a knack for running Facebook ads?

Schedule time to grab coffee with them once a month, see if you can shadow them for a day, or offer to help with a project they’re spearheading.

Spend time and build relationships with people who are good at the things you’d like to be good at. It will pay dividends in the years to come.

6. Get crystal clear on who your ideal customer is.

Working with first-time home buyers is vastly different than working with retirees who are downsizing into an active adult community. Both of those groups are different from second-chance home buyers who are entering the market again after recovering from foreclosure.

Not only does each of these subsets require different considerations and industry knowledge, but they’re also different audiences. This means they do not share the same needs, concerns, or goals.

If you want to resonate with prospects, you must understand their pains, problems, desires, and triumphs. The first step toward doing that is to create a buyer persona.

This exercise can lead to information and perspective that will inform your marketing efforts, your messaging, and even how you present your personal brand.

7. Build your personal brand.

One thing that seasoned real estate agents know to be true is that real estate is a lead-generation business. You should always be building your personal brand and expanding your network.

You can do this by building a personal real estate website outside of the one you have on your brokerage’s site. Create a social media presence for your professional brand. And host happy hours and networking events that will get your name out in the community.

Read on for even more tips on building your personal brand and lead generation engine.

• Leverage your sphere of influence.
• Start networking.
• Learn how to use sites such as Zillow to your advantage.
• Check the cost for Google Ads in your area.
• Run Facebook ads.
• Optimize your website for organic search.
• Start blogging.

1. Leverage your sphere of influence.

When you’re just starting out, you won’t have much of a lead generation engine outside of your SOI, so make sure that your sphere knows that you’re in the industry if they need anything.

Many real estate agents worry about being too pushy with family, friends, and acquaintances, but if you avoid spamming and only work your profession into conversations organically, you won’t have an issue.

2. Start networking.

One way to widen your SOI is by going to networking events and interacting with other business owners in the community. After all, they might also be potential home buyers.

Just keep in mind the Law of Reciprocity, making sure to give in these situations just as much as you take. The more you interact and engage, the more your name will stick in their minds. You definitely want that in case they ever need you in the future.

3. Learn how to use sites such as Zillow to your advantage.

Zillow and similar sites have more authority and larger audiences than you, so it only makes sense to use them as tools for growing your business.

Many of these sites allow you to create an account, connect your listings, add contact information, and more. Should someone stumble on one of your listings or your profile, they’ll be able to connect with you.

4. Check the cost of Google Ads in your area.

Because real estate is such a competitive industry, especially in metro areas, Google Ads may not be a cost-effective strategy. However, it doesn’t hurt to check the cost of Google Ads.

Remember, people are going to Google at the beginning of their home-buying journey. Google Ads is one of the quickest ways to drive traffic to your website, so if the cost per click isn’t too high for your target keywords, it is a viable option.

Featured Resource: PPC Planning Kit & Templates

5. Run Facebook ads.

Sixty-nine percent of adults in the U.S. use Facebook. Chances are that your audience is on this platform. By running location-based ads, you can increase your brand awareness in your area and get highly targeted views on your ads.

Featured Resource: Facebook Ads Checklist

6. Optimize your website for organic search.

Search engine optimization takes a while to work, especially in competitive industries, but if you’re going to have a website, it should be optimized for search. Make sure that each page has a purpose, is crawlable by Google, and contains keywords you’d like to be found for.

7. Start blogging.

Since Google ranks pages, not websites, one way to get more search engine visibility is by blogging. Choose topics that your target audience wants to read, and be sure to also promote each post on social media.

Featured Resource: Blog Post Templates

Once you’ve leveraged business and marketing strategies to your advantage, you’ll begin to see the fruits of your efforts in the form of leads, sales, and revenue.

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1. Losing momentum.

You’ve put in the work. Early mornings and late nights following up on leads, arranging showings, and putting out purchase fires have yielded the desired result: consistent sales.

The problem? For many agents just starting their careers, it’s easy to get caught up in this initial rush of success and start resting on their laurels instead of pushing forward. While this may work for a few months or even a year, the loss of momentum can be devastating over time.

To keep sales flowing, it’s critical to keep your foot on the gas and keep looking for new leads.

2. Making social media mistakes.

Connecting with prospective clients means using social media. But the scale and scope of this platform mean that any faux pas — no matter how small — can negatively impact your reputation and your business.

To help reduce the risk of mistakes, follow these three rules.

First, be clear and concise. Don’t use 50 words when 10 will do. This limits the chance of a social media gaffe.

Next, only speak about what you know . This means that if you have a property that’s potentially coming up for sale, don’t post about it until you know for sure. This helps engender client trust and improves your reputation online.

Last but never least? Apologize if you get it wrong. Despite your best efforts, everyone eventually makes a mistake on social media. When it happens, don’t minimize it or pretend it never happened. Instead, own it, apologize, and move on.

3. Trying to do it all alone.

When you start your business, chances are you can handle the workload on your own. As you start to see success, however, you’ll want to scale — and this means bringing in help.

At first, this could be someone to help with sales and purchase documentation or to provide assistance finding and calling leads. Eventually, it may lead to hiring another real estate agent along with a larger complement of office staff.

The takeaway? As success scales, so does complexity: Get ahead of the challenges by bringing in help sooner rather than later.

4. Prioritizing paper.

Despite digital advancements, many real estate processes remain paper-based. But this doesn’t mean your business has to follow suit.

Here, robust CRM tools are a great way to ensure you’ve got access to the data you need, when you need it. While you’ll still have to handle paper reports, you can reduce the risk of lost or duplicate data by digitizing these documents and adding them to your database.

5. Thinking short-term.

Success in real estate means thinking about what comes next — the next client, the next sale, or the next purchase.

The problem? This can lead to short-term thinking that ignores what got you success in the first place: your clients.

As a result, it’s critical to forge a relationship with clients you’ve helped in the past. Not only does this increase the chances that they’ll come back to you if they choose to sell their current home or purchase a new one, but they may also refer you to their friends and family.

Get Ready to Put in the Work

Success in real estate is not simple. With the right approach to business planning, service marketing, and lead generation, however, it’s possible to build a real estate business that helps you achieve life goals and establish a firm financial future.

Best bet? Know why you’re getting into the industry, be prepared to put in the work, and learn from your mistakes.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Building a Solid Foundation: How to Create a Real Estate Business Plan That Works

A killer real estate business plan isn't just about setting a goal to hit 1 million in sales next year. (It would be a lot easier if it were!) 

A truly great real estate business plan defines exactly what drives your business, where you're headed, and how you'll navigate the market's unpredictable currents. It should be a razor-sharp action plan to scale your real estate empire. 

So, how do you craft this master blueprint without getting bogged down in the details? 

If you’re ready to join the cast of Million Dollar Listings—or if you just want to grow your modest real estate business—we can help.   

We’re going to break down how to create an actionable real estate business plan in just six steps. Your future self, with a thriving real estate portfolio, will thank you. 

What Should a Real Estate Business Plan Include?

A real estate business plan is a comprehensive document designed to help you navigate the ups and downs of the real estate industry and plan for long-term growth. 

TL:DR: A great business plan serves as a complete roadmap to help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. 

So, what should your real estate business plan include? The best plans include these eight sections: 

• Executive Summary: A concise introduction to your real estate venture. Highlight your primary goals, the niche you're targeting, and your unique value proposition in the real estate market.
• Business Description: Discuss the scope of your real estate operations—whether you're focusing on residential sales, commercial properties, rentals, or a mix. Also, mention the regions or neighborhoods you're targeting.
• Market Analysis: Delve into housing trends, regional property demand, and average property values in your selected areas. Study growth patterns and forecast potential shifts in the market.
• Marketing and Sales Strategies: Explain how you'll attract listings and buyers. This might include leveraging MLS, hosting open houses, using digital marketing tactics, or networking at community events.
• Service Offerings: Detail the range of services you plan to offer. This could include buying/selling, property management, consultation, or even staging homes for sale.
• Organizational Structure and Management: As a solo realtor, this might be about your role and responsibilities. If you have or plan to have a team or build a brokerage, describe team member roles, responsibilities, and expertise.
• Financial Projections and Strategy: Outline anticipated earnings from property sales or rentals, operational expenses, and commissions. Factor in marketing costs, licensing fees, and other industry-specific expenses.
• Growth Plan: Since real estate is as much about scaling and expansion as it is about individual sales, describe how you plan to grow—by expanding into new areas and niches, or by adding more agents to your team.

Keep in mind—these sections are suggested, not required. If some of these sections don’t make sense for your business, feel free to drop them. Maybe you want to add something else? If you’re not sure where the heck to start—that’s where this list comes in handy. 

Why Do I Need a Real Estate Business Plan?

Honestly—you don’t have to have a business plan. If you’re feeling good about your business and happy with your growth, feel free to click away. But, if you’re not closing as many deals as you’d like or if you’re just not feeling great about your business’s direction, you might want to stick around. 

In addition to increasing your sales, an effective business plan can help you: 

• Gain a Competitive Advantage : The world is full of real estate professionals. To succeed in this industry, you need an edge. A real estate business plan gives you an advantage in the market because so few competitors will create one. You'll know the exact steps to take to grow your business. Case in point: a well-crafted business plan can boost your chances of success by 12 percent .
• Mitigate Risk: Every new business venture is a risky proposition. Back in 1994, nobody thought Jeff Bezos could sell books online. Now, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, and Mr. Bezos has a cool net worth in the $150 billion range. While your real estate business plan might not help you hit the billion-dollar range, it will help you mitigate risk by helping you identify potential threats and weaknesses.  
• Gain a Deeper Understanding of Analytics: Drowning in data? A great business plan will outline your goals and campaigns, and help you track the metrics that really matter. You can look at your plan in a year and assess your progress toward your goals, and adjust your approach accordingly. This will help you eliminate poor tactics or destructive behaviors and double down on what works for your business.

A business real estate plan also gives you something to celebrate. When you hit the milestones in your plan, reward yourself with a fancy dinner or pop open a bottle of champagne. Treat yo’self. Then get back to selling! 

6 Steps to Create an Effective Real Estate Business Plan Fast 

Now you know what your real estate business plan should include and why they matter. Cool. Now it's time to actually create that killer plan that will help your business grow. Ready? Follow these step-by-step instructions to create a proven plan of action you can use to grow your business.

1. Start With Your Story

Who are you as a real estate professional? Are you a master of landing the right deal? Love helping families find their forever home? 

All good business plans start with a story that explains who the individual or company in question is, what they do, and the business goals they want to achieve.

To accomplish this, make sure your business plan includes:

• An executive summary: A sentence or two that summarizes what your business does.

Example: "I sell homes to middle-income buyers in the greater Denver area."

• Your mission statement: A few sentences that explain why you do what you do.

Example: "At Smith Real Estate Group, we strive to provide our clients with amazing experiences they'll remember for the rest of their lives. Buying a home is a monumental responsibility. Our goal is to make the process simple, fun, and stress-free for our clients so they're delighted with their purchases."

• Your vision for your business: A couple of sentences that illustrate what the world will look like once you've achieved your mission. 

Example: "Eventually, I want to be the most trusted name in Boise real estate, effectively serving a range of clients who come to me to get the highest possible price for their homes."

• The SMART goals you want to achieve: The individual objectives you'll work to accomplish, i.e., "Sell 15 homes next year," or "Make $150,000 annual salary." Remember, the best goals are SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. 

Example: "I'll start making $150k a year (or more) within 36 months. To accomplish this, I'll invest in new marketing techniques to promote my services so I can sell 15+ homes every year."

2. Research Your Target Market

Which area of the real estate market do you specialize in? Do you sell high end luxury condos? Help businesses find the right place to expand? Maybe you’re all about helping folks find tiny homes. 

To answer this question, I suggest a fair bit of research—especially if you're brand new and don't have an established client base. Look for sections of the market that are growing and ones that are slowing down.

It's important to look at data for the location you’re serving . Nation-wide trends are useful to a point. But you really need to know what's happening in your corner of the world.

Also, research your city's other agents, brokerages, etc., as you'll compete with them for potential clients. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to differentiate yourself and achieve your short and long-term goals in the real estate industry.

3. Identify Your Ideal Clientele

Now it's time to zero in on the specific people you sell to.

There are plenty of options. You could be a condo specialist and only engage new leads who want to buy condos in your area. Or focus on real estate listings for new home buyers. Or work in the top end of the market and help wealthy individuals settle into their second homes. You do you. 

The specific demographic you choose to serve should depend on the local market, your unique skill set, and your passions. Find a balance between these three things.

When you know your ideal clientele, take a moment to define buyer personas .

Not familiar with the term? Don’t worry—it's not as weird as it sounds. A buyer persona is a fictional person you invent to represent your real-world target market. Feel free to get weird with it—your persona could be Fred the Family Man, or Suzy the Soup Maker. Just be sure to include personal details, such as goals and pain points to make it useful. 

While it may seem silly, a buyer persona keeps you focused on your ideal clientele so you can ensure your marketing efforts always match the people who want to help. 

4. Perform a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis helps you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and find the opportunities and threats in your chosen real estate market. Think of it like a battle plan to help you conquer your real estate market. Here's a quick example:

• Strengths: Maybe you have amazing people skills, so you host open houses for your clients on a regular basis. This helps you meet potential buyers and sell clients' homes. It also acts as a terrific lead generation strategy . Or, maybe you’re really, really good at staging older homes. 
• Weaknesses: Maybe you hate social media, so you never use platforms like Facebook and Instagram—even though other agents use them to close deals . This would be a weakness, but it doesn’t mean you need to change things. Instead, acknowledge it and adjust your strategy accordingly. 
• Opportunities: If most of the real estate professionals in your town focus on low- to mid-priced real estate listings, you could target the small collection of luxury buyers in the area.
• Threats: Are there a ton of other real estate agents in your area? Maybe a nationwide brokerage is opening a new office and threatening to take your knees out with a bat. (Who knew real estate could be so brutal!) The point is: being aware of threats helps you target your services effectively so you can become a real player in the game. 

5. Set a Clear Marketing Strategy

You might run the best real estate brokerage in the United States. But if nobody knows about your real estate team's supreme skill set, you’re not likely to make many sales. Which won’t be an issue if you’re running a mob front—but if you actually want to make a profit, marketing is crucial. 

Fortunately, you've defined your target market, ideal clientele, and personal strengths and weaknesses. So, building an effective marketing strategy should be easy. 

Think about your target audience: how can you reach these people? Social media is probably your best bet if you serve young, first-time homebuyers. If you serve an older, more affluent crowd, in-person meetups and cold-calling techniques might be a good option.

Consider your competitors, too. What channels do they use to connect with new leads? Use another approach to differentiate your services better.

Finally, take a hard look at your abilities. Just because a marketing plan works for one person or company doesn't mean it will work for yours. Since you're building your business, you need to assess your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you implement strategies that suit your skills and disposition.  

6. Make a Financial Plan

Yes, we gotta talk about money. Adding financial details to your real estate business plan gives you a strong starting point to drive growth. 

How much will you spend on licensing, lead generation, and a real estate CRM ? Remember to budget for everyday expenses while working, like gasoline for your car and meals while traveling. (Just no two martini lunches!) 

You should also include the amount of money you want to make after expenses and taxes and the number of deals you'll need to close to make the numbers work together.

Most people shy away from their finances. Don’t make this mistake. You need to know what your operating expenses are to know what your cash flow is. If you don't know that, you won't know if you're on track to reach your short-term or long-term goals.

One more thing: make sure your financial plan is realistic . Dreaming of million-dollar closings might feel nice, but those numbers won't help you. Do your research and input proper cost estimates. 

3 Tips to Create a Real Estate Business Plan That’s Actually Useful 

BOOM! Now, you know how to create a business plan for your real estate business. Go you. But to make sure your plan is top-notch, keep these three best practices in mind:

KISS: Keep it Super Simple

It’s easy to get lost in the weeds and wind up overwhelmed. Don't overcomplicate the process.

Your real estate business plan doesn't need to be professionally designed unless it’s being shared with business partners or investors. You can write it in Word on your laptop computer. Or scribble it on a napkin while you sip a cocktail at the bar. Whatever feels good to you. 

The most important thing is that you actually create a plan for your real estate business . The way it looks is less crucial. Don't get caught up in the details. 

Differentiate Yourself

What makes you special? No, not just in the “My mom says I'm special!” way. Like, what really makes you stand out from the other real estate agents and brokers in your local area?

Ask yourself questions like " What can I do better than everybody else?", “Why would clients want to work with me over another agent?” or "What am I willing to do that my competitors aren't?"

Did you come up with a few things? Good, now add them to your real estate business plan.

Being average is boring—so figure out where you stand out. Then, infuse it into every aspect of your business, from your website to how you engage with clients. That way, people know what sets you apart.

Revisit Your Plan Regularly

One more thing: your real estate business plan should be a living document. In other words, you should revisit it regularly to make sure it's actually benefiting your business.

Did you choose the right market? Are you serving the right clientele? Is your marketing plan actually working? Assess your business quarterly to see what's working and what isn't. Then use the takeaways to adjust your approach. That way, you can “always be closing” more deals. 

Pro tip: when starting out, use a business plan template . This gives you a starting point and makes it easy to edit your plans at any point. 

Level Up Your Real Estate Business 

If you want to build a successful real estate business, you need a plan. Luckily, you’ve already got one. 

Once you create your plan, you'll have a clear vision you can implement systematically to grow your business faster.  

Know what else will help you succeed in this industry? A solid CRM software with proven contact management, cold calling, email marketing, and sales reporting features.

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Ultimate Guide: 11 Points to Writing a Real Estate Business Plan

29 min read

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Your business plan is the GPS for success. Instead of wandering, push towards your goals and objectives with clear direction. Developing a real estate business plan is critical to forming a healthy and sustainable business. 

A real estate business plan is an important step for any real estate agent looking to build a successful career in the industry. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are certain key elements that should be included in any plan. First and foremost, it is essential to set clear goals and objectives.

A study of 2,877 business owners found that companies are twice as likely to secure loans and funding if they have a business plan and 75% more likely to grow. Another study showed that 64% of companies who created a plan increased their businesses, compared to 43% of companies that hadn’t yet finished a plan. 

Your own business plan is an essential tool for any business, small or large. Real estate agents use business plans to map their marketing strategies, target their advertising, and track their progress. A business plan helps agents set goals and stay on track throughout the year. It is also a valuable reference point when meeting with clients and potential investors. 

While there are many different ways to create a real estate business plan, certain elements should be included in every scenario. These elements include an overview of the business, the company’s goals and objectives, a marketing strategy, and a financial analysis. By having these key components, companies can ensure that their real estate business plan is comprehensive and will help them achieve their desired results.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) stated that the chances of success rose by 12% for those that spent no longer than three months on their plan . With any longer proving futile. So, how do you write a business plan for your real estate business without getting bogged down in the details? In this post, we’ll look at actionable steps agents and brokers can take to outline, execute and measure the performance of a business plan.

As a real estate agent, you know that the housing market can be unpredictable. You need to be prepared for the ups and downs of the market, and one way to do that is to have a business plan. Your business plan will help you set goals and track your progress. It will also force you to think about the costs of running your business and how you will generate leads. There are many online resources that can help you write a business plan, but the most important thing is to get started. By taking the time to write a plan, you will ensure that your business is ready for whatever the housing market throws your way.

What is a real estate business plan?

A business plan is a written document that captures the future of your business. It details what you plan and how you plan to do it.

Real estate business plans are essential for two reasons. First, they provide a road map for agents to follow as they work to build their businesses. Second, they force agents to think through all the crucial aspects of their business, such as their marketing efforts, target market, and financial goals. 

By taking the time to write a Real Estate Business Plan, agents can ensure that they are taking all the necessary steps to build a successful business.

A Real Estate Business Plan is an essential tool for any business, whether you are just starting or have been in business for years. There are many benefits to creating a Real Estate Business Plan, including: 

• Having a Real Estate Business Plan forces you to take a step back and assess your business as a whole. It allows you to see where your business stands, and identify any areas that need improvement.
• A Real Estate Business Plan provides a roadmap for your business. It can help you to set goals and track your progress over time.
• A Real Estate Business Plan can help secure your business funding. If you seek investment from Venture Capitalists or Banks, they will often require a copy of your business plan before considering your request.
• A Real Estate Business Plan can help you to attract and retain top talent. If you are looking to hire employees or contractors, having a well-crafted business plan can be a significant selling point.
• A Real Estate Business Plan can be a valuable tool for managing day-to-day operations. A clear and concise plan can help you better decide where to allocate resources and how to utilize your team’s time and talents best.
• A Real Estate Business Plan can help you to measure and track your marketing efforts. By setting specific goals and objectives, you can more effectively gauge the success of your marketing campaigns and make necessary adjustments along the way.
• A Real Estate Business Plan can serve as a valuable sales tool. A professional business plan can give you a significant competitive advantage if you are looking to sell properties or convert leads into clients.
• A Real Estate Business Plan helps to keep you organized and on track. Trying to run a successful real estate business without a plan is like trying to drive from New York to Los Angeles without a map – chances are, you’ll get lost along the way!

Having a Real Estate Business Plan gives you credibility in the eyes of others. If you are working with other professionals such as lenders, appraisers, or title companies, having a well-developed business plan shows that you are serious about your business and increases the likelihood that they will want to work with you in the future.

Last but not least, creating a Real Estate Business Plan is empowering! Taking the time to develop a comprehensive plan shows that you believe in yourself and your business and sets the foundation for long-term success.        

Precisely, it conveys your business goals, the strategies and tactics you’ll use to achieve them, potential problems you may run into along the way and how to overcome them, roles and responsibilities, SWOT analysis, and measurement strategies.

What should a real estate business plan include?

Real estate business plans are different from traditional business plans. 

Real estate agents need to focus on their target market, their uniqueness, and how they will succeed against the competition. Real estate business plans should also include an analysis of the current market conditions and the potential for growth in the future. In addition, real estate agents should outline their marketing strategy and have a budget for advertising and promotions. By taking the time to create a comprehensive business plan, real estate agents can increase their chances of success in this competitive industry.

Real estate business plans vary in length and complexity, but all should include the following elements: 

• An overview of the real estate market 
• A description of the agent’s target market 
• A marketing plan 
• A financial plan 
• A discussion of the agent’s competitive advantages 

Real estate business plans provide a roadmap for agents to achieve their goals. They should include specific strategies for generating leads, marketing properties, and closing deals. The business plan should also outline the agent’s budget and target income. Additionally, the real estate business plan should set forth a schedule for prospecting, listing appointments, and open houses. By following a real estate business plan, agents can increase their chances of success in real estate.

How do you assemble a real estate business plan?

A business plan is essential for any real estate business, whether you’re just starting out or have been in the industry for years. It provides a roadmap for your business, laying out your goals and strategies for achieving them. But how do you go about assembling a business plan?

First, you’ll need to identify your target market. Who are you trying to reach with your real estate business? Once you know your target market, you can start developing your marketing strategy. What methods will you use to get potential clients? How will you differentiate yourself from other real estate businesses in your area?

Next, you’ll need to put together a financial plan. What are your revenue sources? How much money do you expect to bring in each month? What are your expenses? How much do you need to save for a rainy day? A clear financial picture will help you make sound decisions for your business.

Lastly, don’t forget to include a personal development plan. What skills do you need to improve to succeed in the real estate business? What classes or training programs can you take to close more deals and earn more commissions? A well-rounded business plan will help ensure your real estate business is booming.

Writing a Real Estate Business Plan in 11 Easy Steps

1. write a detailed business description.

There’s a story and context behind your business, and the business description is where that should shine. Write a brief overview of your Real Estate business. Include your business goals and how you plan on achieving them. Then create a description of your company, including its history, structure, and other relevant information.

The mission statement is part of the business description — which helps keep the rest on the track. Many mission statements follow a familiar format, like:

“To be the best, full-service Real Estate company in the Triangle and to enhance our quality of life through active community involvement.”.

In a microstudy of 200 mission statements, it was found that mission statements most often talk about the company’s dedication to customers (85%), shareholders (37%), employees (21%), and society (3%).

As well as a defined mission statement, make sure to include:

• When you were founded
• Where you are located
• Who the leaders are
• Special advantages/partnerships
• Market opportunities
• Legal structure

A very brief real estate business description example is:

“Norris & Company Real Estate is Vero Beach’s premier upscale real estate firm. They specialize in luxury waterfront homes and condominiums, particularly in Vero Beach and Indian River County, FL.”

2. Market Analysis

Research the Real Estate market in your area and identify any trends or opportunities. Include this information in your business plan.

Real estate agents must constantly be aware of the market conditions in their area to serve their clients best. Agents can provide expert guidance and advice by understanding the trends and opportunities.

When writing your Real Estate business plan, including a comprehensive analysis of the market conditions in your area. It will help you better understand your client’s needs and identify potential opportunities.

Your market analysis should include:

• An overview of the Real Estate market in your area
• Identification of any trends or opportunities
• An explanation of how you will address these trends or options in your business plan

By including this information in your Real Estate business plan, you will be able to show potential clients that you are knowledgeable and prepared to help them navigate the Real Estate market.

3. Perform a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is a technique used to identify and define several key characteristics that will impact your business: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Think of it this way:

Strengths and Weaknesses are internal. Threats and Opportunities are external.

An analysis can be as simple as making lists of items under each category.

For example, a strength could be a solid and experienced sales team, while a weakness might be that your business is expensive to run because you haven’t nurtured supplier relations.

It could be as simple as filling four sheets of paper with descriptions of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats — collaboratively or alone. To make the answers clearer and the exercise more manageable, you can use questions like:

• What do our competitors do better than us? Threat .
• What’s our unique selling point? Strength .
• Why have customers churned in the past? Weakness .
• Which markets are underserved in your territory? Opportunities .

4. List Your #1 SMART Goal

It’s great to be ambitious, but focusing on one goal makes it easier to stay motivated, track progress, and see the measurable effect of achieving it. Even better if that goal is a SMART Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timed – goal.

Examples of SMART goals you might set for your growing real estate business are:

• Build a new real estate website in the next three months
• Hire and onboard three new SDRs in the next six months
• Increase monthly leads by 50% by next year
• Sell ten houses in the Dallas metro area in the next 30 days.

Pick one at a time and focus on it! Sticking to an achievable goal with a time limit makes it more likely to come to fruition. And, even just writing it down makes you 42% more likely to attain it.

5. Identify Your Market Niche

Before setting out your facts and figures, it’s essential to spotlight your target market and how you’ll serve this niche. It helps you decide what’s realistic and feasible to achieve in your business plan.

Determining your market niche is a fancier way of saying: Who are your services best suited to? While honing in on a narrow target seems a little exclusionary, niche marketing can save you time, effort, and money on marketing.

One tool to help you define your market is a buyer persona. A persona is a fictional typification of your ideal customer, with information that enables you to steer your sales and marketing in the right direction.

It’s essential to assess your niche and ensure it is consistent with the market in your area.

For example, if you’ve decided to focus on first-time buyers, do some research to look at relevant stats and figures:

• What percentage of sales in your market were to first-time buyers in the last 12–14 months?
• What was the average sales price to first-time buyers?

Also, assess how competitive this market is:

• Are you the only agent catering to the young first-timer?
• Are you competing with well-known heavy hitters?

A competitive SEO audit can be a helpful starting point in finding your competitors in the online space, where almost all leads will turn at some point in the buying process.

6. Implementation Plan

Before you can begin implementing your real estate business plan, you must clearly understand your goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your business? Are you looking to buy and hold properties for long-term appreciation, or are you more interested in flipping houses for a quick profit? 

Once you have a good idea of your goals, you can start to put together a plan for how to achieve them. For example, if you’re interested in buying and holding properties, you’ll need to generate enough income from rentals to cover the mortgage and other expenses. If you’re more interested in flipping properties, you’ll need to find motivated sellers and then negotiate deals that provide you with a healthy profit margin. 

Regardless of your goals, careful planning is essential for success in the real estate business.

Breaking your goals into action steps makes them more tangible and ensures you’re making strides to fulfill them. Here are some keys to converting your real estate business plan into actual business practices.

7. Monitoring & Evaluation

Successful real estate businesses have a plan to monitor and evaluate their progress. This plan includes setting clear goals, measuring progress against those goals, and making adjustments as needed. Without this proactive approach, it can be challenging to identify areas of improvement or stagnation. 

Additionally, a well-executed monitoring and evaluation plan can help to keep employees focused and on track. By regularly assessing performance and goal progress, businesses can ensure that they are making the most of their resources and achieving their desired results. Ultimately, a sound monitoring and evaluation plan are crucial for any real estate business that wants to stay ahead of the competition.

8. Risk Management

Real estate investing comes with a certain amount of risk. But with a well-thought-out risk management strategy, you can minimize the potential for loss and maximize your chances for success.

One of the most critical aspects of risk management is diversification. Investing in various property types in different markets spreads your risk and increases your chances of finding a profitable investment.

Another critical element of risk management has a solid business plan. Thoughtfully consider each step of the real estate investing process, from finding deals to financing them to managing the properties. Have a clear exit strategy for each investment to know when to sell or refinance. And always remember to stay within your comfort level; don’t let greed or fear make decisions for you.

With careful planning and discipline, you can create a real estate investment portfolio that withstands market fluctuations and generates long-term wealth.

9. Financial Plan

Having a sound financial plan for your business is essential. To assist you, we’ve created spreadsheets you can use to estimate goals, income, and expenses. You will find specific instructions in the spreadsheets, but here are some guidelines for creating a financial plan:

To create your plan, determine what your expenses will be.

Here are three main areas your expenses may fall into:

• Licensing: These expenses will include training, state exam fees, etc.
• Personal: This can consist of your wardrobe, technology fees (like computer and phone), and car fees.
• Business: Business expenses include broker fees, website and MLS fees, marketing, advertising, etc.

Our template divides these expenses into the startup and yearly costs to help you discern which payments will recur and which are one-time-only. Here’s an example of what your startup expenses might look like.

Yearly expenses might include recurring costs like office rent, electricity bills, and annual license fees.

Estimating income is the biggest concern for most new agents. To do this, you must decide how much money you need to make in your first year and how much you would like that figure to grow. You will also need to research some basic statistics for your market, like the average sale price for homes.

Use our business plan template to help calculate these numbers.

Transactions and Leads 

To meet your income goals and cover expenses, you’ll need to conduct a certain number of transactions. And, to complete a certain number of transactions, you’ll need to work a set number of leads. There’s no need to work this figure out by hand. ‍

Our template will automatically calculate the number of transactions and leads you will probably need to meet your goals. Still, you will have to assess these figures to decide whether they are reasonable. For example, if you plan to work part-time as an agent in your first year but need to close 20 transactions to meet your goals, you are unlikely to have enough time.

10. Create a Personal Development Plan

A personal development plan is an essential tool for any real estate business. By taking the time to assess your strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and create a roadmap for success, you can ensure that your business is on track to reach its full potential. While it may seem daunting, creating a personal development plan is simple. 

Start by taking stock of your current situation. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your goals for the future? Once you clearly understand where you are starting, you can begin to map out a plan of action. Set realistic goals and create a timeline for achieving them. Put together a resources list and ensure you have everything you need to reach your goals. Finally, implement your plan and monitor your progress along the way.

Remember, your development plan should be flexible and adapt as your needs change over time. With some planning and effort, you can create a roadmap for success that will help you achieve your long-term goals in the real estate business.

11. Write an Executive Summary that Captures the Vision

Your executive summary is an anchor point you can use to understand the overall goals, cement the parameters of your target market, and make decisions aligned with your plan. It’s also a way to get inspired by your original vision.

For real estate, it would include points on:

• Target neighborhoods and price ranges
• Target clients and a brief description of the persona
• Brief marketing plan overview
• Market threats and opportunities

Think of the executive summary as the section of your business plan you would explain to a friend a football game when asked how you plan to make money as an agent or broker in your local town/ city or state.

Note: due to the specific details in the executive summary, this part of the business is typically one of the last completed items.

Real Estate Business Plan Template

If you’re considering starting a real estate business, you’ll need to create a business plan template. Here’s a basic template that you can use to get started. Remember that your business plan should be tailored to your specific business and industry.

• Executive Summary

The executive summary is a brief overview of your business plan. It should include your company’s mission statement and an overview of your products or services, target market, and growth strategy.

• Company Description

This section will provide an overview of your company, including its history, structure, and team. Be sure to include information on your company culture and values.

• Mission statement

In this section, you will summarize the reason for being and the guiding principles of your organization. For example: “We are a nonprofit that provides free legal aid to those in need.” You can also provide a brief overview of what we want them (the users) to come into contact with. 

Why should they care about our mission or message by telling them why it is vital to their lives now and later down the line?

• Company goals

This section will provide a high-level overview of your company’s top business goals for its first years in operation.

• Market Analysis

In this section, you will need to analyze your target market thoroughly. It should include information on your customers, your competition, and the overall industry.

• Product or Service

In this section, you will need to describe your product or service. Be sure to include information on your pricing strategy and any unique features or benefits your product or service offers.

• Marketing and Sales Strategy

In this section, you will need to outline your marketing and sales strategy. It should include information on how you plan to generate leads and convert them into customers.

• Operational Plan

This section will need to provide an overview of your business operations. It should include your production process and distribution and fulfillment strategy.

This section will briefly describe what your company offers to customers.

• Target customer

To effectively reach the people we want as customers, you must provide a clear overview of who they are and how your product or service can benefit them. In this section, I’ll go over some questions worth asking yourself when determining who your potential clients may be. 

• Best Practices

Write out your ideal practices for how you’ll deal with qualified leads versus unqualified leads, how quickly you’ll follow up with interested parties, your methods for helping a leader throughout the final steps of the sales process, and how you’ll stay in touch with customers after papers have been signed.

• Financial Plan

In this section, you will need to provide detailed financial information for your business. It should include your income, balance, and cash flow statements. The following will include startup expenses, assets, liabilities, capital, break-even analysis, and loan repayment.

• Exit Strategy

This section will need to provide an overview of your exit strategy. It should include information on how you plan to sell or exit your business in the future.

Individual Agent Real Estate Business Plan

Real estate agents need a business plan like any other entrepreneur. A real estate business plan outlines your goals, strategies, and how you plan on achieving them. It is essential to have a business plan because it will help you stay focused and on track. Real estate is a competitive industry, so you need to be able to stand out from the rest.

A business plan will also be helpful if you ever need to seek funding for your business. Investors and lenders will want to see that you have a well-thought-out plan before they give you money. 

Creating a Real Estate Business Plan is essential if you want to build a successful career in real estate. With our easy-to-use template, you can get started today and be on your way to achieving your long-term goals.

There are many benefits to creating a Real Estate Business Plan, including:

• Clarifying your goals and strategies
• Mapping out a clear road map for your business
• Identifying potential obstacles and solutions
• Helping you stay organized and on track
• Increasing your chances of success

So, if you are considering starting a real estate business, sit down and write a business plan. It will be worth it in the long run!

Real Estate Team Business Plan

Before you start your real estate team, it’s essential to have a business plan in place. It will help you define your goals, map your strategies, and track your progress over time. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a business plan, certain key elements should be included. Here are a few of the most important things to keep in mind:

• Your team’s mission statement: What sets your team apart from the competition? Why do you exist?
• Your target market: Who are you trying to reach with your services? What needs do they have that you can address?
• Your marketing strategy: How will you get your target market and communicate the benefits of working with your team?
• Your financial goals: How much revenue do you hope to generate? What are your expenses? How will you fund your business?

By thoughtfully developing your real estate team business plan, you’ll increase your chances of success in an increasingly competitive industry.

Real Estate Brokerage Business Plan

A real estate brokerage business plan is a document that outlines the goals, strategies, and financial projections of a real estate brokerage business . It should include an executive summary, market analysis, business model, operational plan, and financial plan. The executive summary should briefly describe the company, its target market, and its competitive advantages. The market analysis should assess the size and growth potential of the target market. 

The business model should describe how the real estate brokerage plans to generate revenue. The operational plan should outline the business’s day-to-day operations, including staffing and marketing initiatives. Finally, the financial plan should provide detailed information on the anticipated costs and revenues of the company. A well-crafted real estate brokerage business plan can be valuable for attracting investors and achieving long-term success.

Remember that your business plan is a living document that should be updated as your company grows and evolves. Regularly reviewing and revising your business plan ensures that your real estate brokerage is always moving in the right direction.

Ready. Set. Plan

Whether you’ve got a ready-to-execute business plan or it’s still being drafted, the most important thing is to start now — and fast.

At its core, a real estate business plan should outline the steps necessary to achieve specific goals, such as increasing sales or expanding into new markets. It should also identify potential obstacles preventing the business from achieving its objectives. By taking the time to create a comprehensive business plan, real estate businesses can increase their chances of weathering storms and coming out on top in the long run.

A business plan puts you on a clear track that makes your business 75% more likely to grow.

By following the above points, you’ll be well on writing a comprehensive Real Estate Business Plan.

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to create a real estate business plan

• Nirit Braun
• 12 min read

A real estate business plan is a strategic document that outlines the objectives, strategies and tactics a person or a team will employ when starting a business in the real estate industry. This comprehensive and clear plan not only defines the business' mission, vision and goals but also delineates the steps necessary to achieve them.

When starting a business, especially in a dynamic and competitive sector like real estate, a well-crafted business plan becomes an indispensable tool for success. Beyond helping business in their first steps to understanding how to start a service business , a business plan provides a structured framework that helps entrepreneurs make informed decisions, allocate resources effectively and stay focused on their objectives. By articulating the business' value proposition, rental business ideas , target market, competitive landscape and revenue streams, the plan offers a holistic understanding of the venture's potential and challenges.

Looking to kick off your real estate business? Create a business website today with Wix. These real estate agent websites can help you get started.

In this section, we'll break down the key components involved in crafting a successful real estate business plan in six steps.

Executive summary

Company and domain name

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise overview of your entire real estate business plan. It serves as a snapshot that captures the essence of your venture, highlighting its key components and objectives. A well-crafted executive summary should provide a clear understanding of your real estate business' purpose, market opportunity, strategies and potential for success. It's typically the first section of the business plan and should be written after the rest of the plan has been completed.

To write a clear executive summary for a real estate business, follow these steps:

Start with a brief introduction: Describe your business’ mission, vision and the services you intend to offer. Highlight what sets your business apart in the competitive real estate landscape.

Summarize the market demand: Explain what kind of opportunity you aim to address with this type of business . Mention key trends in the real estate industry that support the viability of your venture.

Identify your target audience: Whether it's first-time homebuyers, property investors or commercial clients, briefly describe their demographics and needs.

State the unique value you offer to clients: This could be exceptional customer service, a specialized focus or innovative technology solutions.

Outline your key real estate marketing strategies : Highlight how you plan to reach and engage your target market.

Provide a high-level overview of your projected financials: Include revenue projections, startup costs and funding requirements.

Introduce the key members of your team: Highlight how their skills contribute to the success of the real estate business.

Example of an executive summary for a real estate business: “ABC Realty is a dynamic real estate agency that specializes in helping first-time homebuyers navigate the complex property market. With a strong commitment to providing personalized guidance and support, we aim to simplify the buying process and empower our clients to make informed decisions. Our target market consists of young professionals and families looking for their dream homes in urban areas. Leveraging the latest technology and data analytics, we offer a seamless search experience that matches buyers with their ideal properties. Our marketing strategy involves a mix of social media engagement, local partnerships and educational workshops to establish our brand as a trusted resource in the real estate industry. Backed by a team of experienced agents and industry professionals, we are well-positioned to make homeownership dreams a reality while achieving sustainable growth and profitability. Our projected financials indicate a steady upward trajectory, with a goal of reaching profitability within the first two years.”

02. Company and domain name

Knowing how to name a business is crucial for a real estate venture and a key step before you register your business . It shapes your brand identity, influences client perceptions and establishes trust.

Additionally, selecting a suitable domain name for your real estate website is crucial for online visibility and accessibility. Your online presence should be in top form taking into account that 97% of homebuyers search for their homes online. Here's how to approach these decisions:

Company name

Should reflect your business' values and services

Keep it concise, memorable and easy to spell

Check for trademark conflicts to avoid legal issues

Consider using the free business name generator from Wix for inspiration

Be inspired by these real estate business name lists.

Domain name

Align it closely with your company name if possible

Choose a domain extension (.com, .net, .org) that's commonly recognized

Keep it short and free of complex words or hyphens

Ensure it's easy to pronounce and type

Learn more: How to make a website

03. Market analysis and research

Incorporating comprehensive market analysis and research into your business plan is essential for understanding the competitive landscape and formulating an effective business strategy. Conduct market research to identify trends, competitors and potential gaps in the market. Analyze your target audience's preferences, behaviors and pain points to tailor your services and marketing efforts accordingly.

Understanding the market dynamics allows you to position your real estate business strategically and offer unique value propositions that resonate with clients.

04. Operations plan

An operations plan outlines the logistical aspects of your real estate business, ensuring its smooth day-to-day functioning. This section should cover:

The physical location of your business office or headquarters

The size and layout of your office space

The equipment and technology required to run your real estate business

The roles, responsibilities and qualifications of your team members

05. Marketing and advertising plan

In the competitive real estate industry, a robust marketing and advertising plan is vital for attracting clients and establishing your brand presence. Your plan should encompass various marketing strategies , including:

Social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and online advertising

Creating valuable content like blog posts, videos and guides

Establishing partnerships with local businesses and industry associations

Hosting events and workshops that educate clients about real estate trends

You’ll also need to develop a suite of brand assets to use in your marketing efforts, starting with a company logo and real estate slogan . You can use a free logo maker or real estate logo maker to get a professional design in minutes. Learn how to make a real estate logo that suits your brand.

06. Financial plan

The average cost to start a real estate brokerage can range from $10,000 to $200,000 , so odds are you will need to secure financing. The financial plan outlines your real estate business' financial projections, funding requirements and path to profitability. It should include all your startup costs including starting an LLC , licensing, office setup, marketing materials and technology needs.

Next, estimate income based on property sales, commissions and other revenue sources. Alongside this outline ongoing operational costs, such as rent, salaries, marketing and utilities. Then take the time to specify how your business will be funded initially, whether through personal savings, loans or investor contributions. Finally, predict when your real estate business is expected to reach profitability based on your revenue and expense projections. You can include within this the exact ways to make money as a real estate agent .

Real estate business plan examples

Here are two templates for hypothetical real estate businesses, each including the main parts discussed in our how-to steps.

Real estate business plan template 1: ABC Realty

ABC Realty is a forward-thinking real estate brokerage focused on serving residential clients in urban areas. With a mission to simplify the home buying process for first-time buyers, we aim to provide personalized guidance and a seamless search experience. Our market research indicates a rising demand for affordable housing solutions and our team's expertise positions us well to address this need. Leveraging digital platforms and local partnerships, we're dedicated to establishing a brand known for trust, transparency and professionalism. Our financial projections show steady growth, with profitability projected within 18 months.

Company name: UrbanNest Realty

Domain name: www.urbannestrealty.com

Market analysis: Our research reveals a growing trend of Millennials seeking starter homes in urban areas.

Competitive landscape: Competitor analysis highlights the need for tailored customer service and simplified processes. We will tap into this by offering comprehensive support and leveraging technology to streamline transactions.

Location: A prime urban location with easy accessibility.

Premises: A modern office space designed for client consultations and agent collaboration.

Equipment: State-of-the-art computers, customer relationship management (CRM) software and virtual tour technology.

Staffing: Agents, property management experts and administrative staff.

Digital marketing: Social media campaigns, targeted online ads and search engine optimization.

Content marketing: Regular blog posts on home-buying tips, neighborhood insights and market trends.

Networking: Partnerships with local lenders, moving companies and interior designers to provide added value.

Events and workshops: Monthly homebuyer seminars and virtual property tours.

Startup costs: $60,000 (licenses, office setup, marketing materials)

Revenue projections (first year): $300,000

Revenue projections (section year): $500,000

Expenses: Monthly rent, salaries, marketing expenses and administrative costs

Funding: Personal savings and a small business loan

Profitability timeline: Projected within 18 months

Real estate business plan template 2: Empire Investments

Empire Investments is a dynamic real estate investment firm specializing in commercial properties. With an aim to provide high-value investment opportunities, we focus on acquiring and enhancing properties with substantial growth potential. Our strategy involves leveraging market trends, identifying undervalued assets and optimizing their value through strategic renovations and management. Our team of seasoned professionals ensures a comprehensive approach to portfolio management, driving investor returns. Our financial outlook is promising, with steady revenue growth projected over the next five years.

Company name: Empire Investments

Domain name: www.empireinvestmentsre.com

Market analysis: Our research highlights an increasing demand for mixed-use properties in urban areas.

Competitive landscape: Competitor analysis reveals a gap in the market for value-add properties. We'll focus on acquiring underperforming assets with the potential for repositioning and strong cash flow.

Location: Central business district for easy access to commercial properties.

Premises: A professional office space for meetings and deal analysis.

Equipment: Advanced financial analysis tools and property management software.

Staffing: Investment analysts, property managers, legal experts and administrative support.

Networking: Building relationships with commercial brokers, property managers and industry experts.

Content marketing: Thought leadership articles, market reports and investment guides.

Webinars and seminars: Monthly webinars on commercial real estate investment strategies.

Direct marketing: Targeted outreach to potential investors based on investment preferences.

Startup costs: $150,000 (licenses, office setup, due diligence expenses)

Revenue projections (first year): $1,000,000

Revenue projections (second year): $2,000,000

Expenses: Office overhead, salaries, marketing campaigns and property management costs

Funding: Combination of private equity, investor capital and personal investments

Profitability timeline: Positive cash flow projected within the first year, substantial returns expected over five years

Top benefits of writing a real estate business plan

Starting a business in real estate requires careful planning and a well-structured business plan offers a multitude of benefits that contribute to the venture's success. A business plan helps you in the following ways:

Attracting investors and funding: A well-developed business plan serves as a persuasive tool to attract potential investors and secure funding. It outlines the business's unique value proposition, market opportunities and growth strategies. By clearly articulating the revenue model and projected financials, entrepreneurs demonstrate their preparedness and potential returns, increasing the likelihood of obtaining an investment and raising money for a business .

Resource assessment: Writing a business plan helps entrepreneurs understand the resources, supplies and staff required to launch and operate the real estate business. This comprehensive assessment ensures that nothing is overlooked, from property acquisition and renovation costs to marketing expenses and administrative needs. By listing these requirements, entrepreneurs can plan for adequate funding and efficient resource allocation.

Strategic direction: A business plan outlines the business's short-term and long-term goals, providing a strategic direction for the real estate business. Entrepreneurs can define their target market, geographic focus and property types, enabling them to make informed decisions aligned with their objectives. This clarity prevents aimless pursuits and helps maintain focus on strategies that align with the business' vision.

Risk mitigation: A well-structured business plan anticipates potential challenges and outlines strategies to mitigate risks. Entrepreneurs can identify industry-specific challenges, such as market fluctuations or regulatory hurdles and devise contingency plans. By acknowledging these risks upfront, entrepreneurs can proactively address them and adapt their strategies as needed.

Operational efficiency: The business plan details the organizational structure, roles and responsibilities required to run the real estate business smoothly. Defining these elements helps entrepreneurs allocate tasks effectively and ensure that the right people are in place to execute the business strategies. This clarity enhances operational efficiency and minimizes the potential for confusion or overlaps.

Measurable progress: A business plan sets clear milestones and metrics to measure the real estate business' progress. Entrepreneurs can track key performance indicators (KPIs) against the projected goals, enabling them to assess their success and identify areas for improvement.

Real estate business plan FAQ

What is a business plan in real estate.

A real estate business plan is a document that outlines your goals and strategies for starting or growing a real estate business. It should include a market analysis, a business model, an operational plan and a financial plan.

Which real estate business is most profitable?

Can you become a millionaire from owning real estate, is it a good idea to start a real estate business, how do i organize my real estate business, want to create another type of business plan.

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The Business Plan Real Estate Professionals Need In 2024 

A guide to developing an actionable business plan that gets your new real estate company off the ground..

Not having a business plan is the quickest way for your new real estate company to fail. In fact, 25% of enterprises without a business plan fail within the first two years of operating.

However, a business plan entails much more than a mission statement, executive summary, and financial plan. A concrete plan encompasses all the aspects involved in running a successful real estate business.

Proper real estate business planning includes thinking beyond the first few clients you’ll acquire. Solid business plans incorporate considerations for building your real estate team, promoting your business, and competing in ever-changing markets.

In this article, we discuss three steps to develop a comprehensive business plan for your new real estate company so that you can achieve longevity and success.

Step One: Conduct Market Analysis

It’s likely that the market you’re entering into is crowded. Your business plan needs to outline how you will compete within your niche. To do this, you can conduct market analysis.

You need to answer the question: why would clients choose to buy or sell with me and not other companies?

It’s vital to look at what your competitors are doing on a regular basis. This allows you to find ideas that you can easily replicate and identify gaps in the market that you can fill.

➡️ Understand your target market

You’ll need in-depth knowledge of the real estate market to grow your brokerage. Keeping your finger on the pulse of this fast-moving industry requires regular research.

For example, you could check listings or read real estate newsletters several times a week. This will help you understand market trends and find new ways to generate leads for your own business.

When developing your business plan, you should research:

• The types of properties in your area.
• The average sales prices for these properties.
• The average time on the market.
• Typical commission rates for agents
• What potential buyers are looking for.
• The current property demand.

You should also research the market at a state or national level and not limit your real estate business to local opportunities. 

➡️ Analyze your competition

Analyzing the competition helps you see where the market is saturated and how you can carve out your own unique proposition. 

As a new brokerage, you will go up against industry giants operating nationally, established local players, and innovative companies offering a powerful proposition. There are lessons to be learned from these types of real estate companies that you can use in your business plan.

➡️ Get ideas from industry giants

Companies like RE/MAX and Coldwell Banker are household names, with thousands of agents and extensive resources. You might not be able to compete with them directly, but what you can do is cherry-pick ideas that are effective and easy to implement. 

You can also look at what they’re doing poorly, for example. See their shortcomings as opportunities to fill a gap in the market.

A good example is spotting customer pain points and addressing them in your business plan. Take note of what is being written on review sites about your competitors, and think about how you will address such issues within your own business.

Customer pain points are often easy to find on review sites like Yelp or the Facebook page of a real estate business. Type in the competitor’s name, and you’ll quickly find positive and negative reviews.

➡️ Find ways to compete with established local players

Your business plan must include how you will convince prospective clients that they should choose you instead of the other local players.

Find ways to differentiate your real estate business from the rest. There are two main approaches to doing this.

The first is to avoid competing directly. Look at your competitors’ listings and see which properties they are good at selling. You can then target a different kind of property or customer and begin building a niche for your business.

Alternatively, you can take competitors on in their own niche. This will be tough, and you’ll need to identify a tangible benefit you can offer to draw customers away, such as lower commission rates.

➡️ Get inspiration from innovative realtors

Some real estate brokerages make a name for themselves by disrupting their target market with innovative propositions. You need to do the same within your business plan.

Examples include undercutting the market with cheaper real estate agent rates, offering to buy houses below market value, and selling on the customer’s behalf.

For example, Rex’s unique proposition is based on savings for their clients. They offer a 2% commission and a 50% rebate of the buyer’s agent commission in certain circumstances.

This sets them apart from the standard 6% commission paid by the client to traditional agents.

When considering a unique angle, don’t just try to be different—also think about what your target market is looking for. A community already getting low real estate agent rates won’t be interested in a 1% reduction, so be smart about how you improve on your competitors’ offerings.

Step Two: Plan Your Real Estate Business Structure

The structure of your real estate business will define how it operates on a day-to-day basis. Your business plan is an opportunity to make crucial decisions about your structure.

Don’t forget to regularly review your initial business structure a few times per year—for example, when reporting quarterly figures. Regular reviews allow you to make changes to your structure without being stuck in one model for a full year.

The only exception is finding agents, which you should make time for every week, especially in the early days of your real estate brokerage. 

➡️ Choose between a franchise or an independent business model 

One of the first questions you must ask yourself is whether you want to be completely independent or buy into a franchise.

The real estate sector is home to many large and successful franchises. That’s because they can give brokers brand recognition and help them attract clients quickly.

Franchises also offer a range of advanced tools, including software for lead tracking, email marketing efforts, deal management, and commission calculating.

The downside is that you’ll give up a certain level of freedom and have to pay a license fee.

Well-known franchise RE/MAX provides extensive support options for its franchisees, including a toll-free line, a grand opening, online support, proprietary software, and a franchisee intranet platform.

However, these benefits don’t come cheap. According to Franchise Direct , RE/MAX’s total franchise fees can cost up to $239,500 . This is what the fees cover:

Some of these fees are optional and will not be relevant if you decide to operate remotely, for example. In this case, the license cost will decrease accordingly, and the initial investment could be as low as $43,000.

➡️ Choose between a remote or on-site office location

Your business plan must define how you and your team will work. You could decide to run a remote brokerage. This is more affordable to operate and allows you to sell properties almost anywhere.

To begin with, all you’ll need is a phone and laptop. In the long run, you’ll need the right software and technology to offer clients a great service.

For example, Matterport provides 3D technology that allows you to create virtual tours of properties. They simplify uploading videos to your site, and you can even include space measurements.  

On the other hand, a brick-and-mortar brokerage provides presence and visibility in busy areas. 

This means that people are more likely to think of you when it comes to selling their homes. You’ll also pick up passing trade and inquiries from people who want to deal with a real estate agent face-to-face.  

However, it also means covering overheads such as electricity and rent, which can significantly increase your operating costs.

We recommend that new brokerages start remotely and only open a brick-and-mortar office if they can afford it. 

➡️ Find great real estate agents

A real estate business cannot function without good agents. A top-tier real estate agent will generate leads that help grow your business and get your name out there.

When your real estate business starts out, it might not be possible to afford more experienced agents because they come with higher demands and commission expectations.

Therefore, finding a promising real estate agent still trying to make a name for themselves is a smart way to gain talent at a lower cost.

➡️ Network with local real estate agents

You’ll need to get out there and start networking to meet potential agents and understand what they are looking for. 

Attend local industry networking events, listen to agents’ concerns and frustrations, and figure out how you can provide them with a better offer.

Invite successful local agents for lunch and find out what would make them want to work for your real estate business. You can also ask them whether they know other agents looking to change brokerages.

➡️ Offer agents a better package

A good question to ask yourself is why these agents would switch to your brokerage and how you will retain this talent once you have it.

You need to offer an enticing commission structure that allows your real estate business to profit.

A great example of this is EXIT Realty . This real estate business is known for attracting top agents through a commission structure that rewards good performance. Agents who recruit other employees receive a bonus. Additionally, all their agents receive training to keep them updated with industry trends.

EXIT Realty is a large real estate business with extensive resources. However, you can apply the same underlying training and incentive principles to your recruitment strategy.

➡️ Consider your real estate agent commission structure

Your commission structure is the main factor in attracting agents, and it’s something you need to consider in your business plan.

While agent commission is typically between 5 and 6%, the way it is split between broker and real estate agent can be agreed upon in different ways. The three most common are:

• Traditional commission split: The total commission is divided between the agent and the broker. This offers the real estate agent a limited incentive.
• Commission threshold: The percentage the real estate agent pays the broker changes once they’ve passed an agreed-upon target. This is great motivation for agents and keeps real estate business profits growing.
• Flat-fee structure: The real estate agent keeps 100% of the commission but pays a regular flat fee to the brokerage. This is a better option for a brokerage with a high turnover.

➡️ Offer client incentives

Client incentives help your brokerage to stand out. You’ll need to ensure that your buyer and seller incentives fit your commission structure and niche. Your business plan needs to outline these before your first deal.

For example, offering a flat fee would not be an essential factor for sellers in the luxury property market and would limit your profits if you pay high commission rates.

 The most common incentives include:

• 1% fee: This is a lower fee than the average of 3%. You earn less per sale, which incentivizes sellers to choose your brokerage. 
• Flat-fee brokerage : Offering to work for a flat fee ensures the client knows exactly what they’re paying for, no matter the final sale price.
• Minimum-service flat fee: This model removes the agent, leaving the seller to find the buyer. For a flat fee, it offers minimal services, such as listing the property on a multiple listings service (MLS).
• Charitable donation: This involves donating a percentage of your commission to a charitable cause, an option that could impress clients without costing the brokerage much.
• Express sale: The brokerage gives the seller a fast cash offer to buy the property from them before the broker sells it.

Step Three: Planning for Your First Sale

When you start out, no one will have heard of your real estate business, so it’s essential to get your name out there and build a good reputation.

While developing your real estate business plan, you need to consider how you will market your business and build your brand.

Here are some ideas for your brokerage’s marketing plan:

➡️ Use your existing connections

The real estate industry is all about person-to-person interaction, so the easiest way to make your first sale is by networking and using your current connections.

To begin with, you should call your contacts in local real estate and ask whether there are any opportunities available. 

Regularly remind friends and family to keep their ears to the ground and recommend you to anyone looking to sell or buy property.

You can gradually reduce the frequency of using personal contacts as your brokerage grows and starts to draw business through marketing and word of mouth. 

➡️ Build an online presence

An easy-to-use website, social media presence, and video content will all help you make your first sale.

Different parts of your website will need to be revisited at different times. For example, you’ll want to update your blog at least monthly, while your “About us” section may only change every few years.

Many companies offer website packages with a listings template, and almost all brokerages use these platforms and focus on this feature.

Your website should highlight your expertise and explain how you can help them successfully buy or sell property.

The key elements to include in your website are:

• An overview of your brokerage: Explain your value proposition to buyers and sellers.
• An “About us” section: Introduce each real estate agent your clients will work with and highlight their experience, expertise, any big companies they have worked for, or awards they have won.
• Contact section: Ensure potential clients can speak to an agent instantly. Include an instant messenger option or chatbot to encourage them to get in touch immediately.
• A real estate blog: Ensure your brand appears in search engine results pages (SERPs) and provide clients with helpful information by regularly posting blog articles. 

➡️ Design for free

There are many easy-to-use website builders that allow you to design your website for free.

Most website builders will charge you for purchasing a domain name or accessing higher-level customization options.

We recommend designing your website in the free version and switching to the paid-for option once you start selling. This saves spending money on your website until it is published.

➡️ Get a good domain name

The domain name is the business card of your real estate business. A simple, easy-to-remember address that someone can type into their search bar is important.

A good domain name could include what your real estate business does, where it is based, who runs it, or all of the above.

➡️ Conduct search engine optimization (SEO)

Good search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for modern brokerages.

If your website isn’t appearing high enough on search engine results pages, it’s unlikely that people would discover your brand when they search for it. 

SEO is all about working to increase organic traffic to your site through online searches.

The ultimate aim is to get Google to list your website on the first page of results for specific relevant keywords—for example, “real estate agents in Spokane.”

Appearing on the first page of the SERPs is vital, as few people look further than that.

Good SEO is an ongoing process, and you’ll need to monitor your website’s ranking at least monthly to ensure that your content continues to perform well on the SERPs.

Spokane REALTORS® have done an excellent job at landing the number one spot in Google’s SERPs for the keyword “Spokane realtors”.

➡️ Do it yourself or find an expert

You can either optimize your website yourself or hire an agency to do it for you.

Doing it yourself is time-consuming and requires some specialist software—however, it is possible to succeed with DIY SEO. This beginner’s tutorial from Ahrefs provides a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your website.

Using an agency, on the other hand, will cost you more money but may achieve better results.

Local SEO is critical when starting out in real estate, as you’ll usually work with specific neighborhoods and communities. Here are a few ways to improve your local SEO:

➡️ Create quality local content

Populating your website with relevant content will help it rank in SERPs. Consider questions local buyers and sellers may ask and write content that speaks to them.

For example, suppose you want to target the search term: “what is the average property value in Spokane.” In this case, you may choose to write an article about the city’s property market and how sellers can maximize their asking price.

You could also write blog posts that link to local stories. For example, you could create hyperlocal content around property news or changes in the local real estate market.

It’s crucial to ensure that your blog posts are of high quality. The better they are, the greater your chances of ranking well. Quality is far more important than quantity, so your articles should be well researched, expertly written, and relevant. 

➡️ Get onto local business directories

Ensuring you’re on large sites like Yelp and smaller local directories helps people find you through another avenue. It may also boost your local SEO ranking.

Google uses these sites to verify the information listed in its index, so the more your real estate business shows up on other sites, the more value is placed on its listing.

➡️ Create a Google My Business Profile

Google My Business is a free online tool that helps you market your real estate business on Google’s search page. It is a crucial part of good local SEO and a cornerstone of any marketing plan.

Here’s an example of a Google My Business profile for Spokane REALTORS®:

It boosts your brokerage’s visibility by giving you a free profile that appears on popular products such as Google Maps and Google Search.

The first step is to sign up and create the card that appears on the right-hand side of Google when someone searches for your brokerage.

This holds critical information like your website, location, and contact details. This way, if someone is interested in your brokerage, they can contact you immediately.

If you add your address, Google My Business will highlight your real estate business on Google Maps. Clicking your location icon on the map brings up your card. This is helpful if someone searches for a real estate business near them. Watch this guide on how to set up a Google My Business profile for more information.

➡️ Create an email list

Email blasts and newsletters are highly effective marketing strategies that you shouldn’t leave out of your business plan. Unfortunately, most realtors don’t do email campaigns well.

Many customers repeatedly receive the same email content from several brokerages, each providing outdated listings and telling them that the market is “hot.”

A hot market might be great news for realtors who benefit from high demand; however, buyers struggling to find a home may be frustrated by this.

Email campaigns waste time and money if you’re not giving customers useful information.

Put yourself in the client’s position when creating email content—what will help them buy or sell their property?

Here are a couple of ideas to create useful marketing email content:

🏠 Buying and selling tips

Most people only buy or sell a property a handful of times in their lives. This means they might only have a basic understanding of how the market and processes work.

Providing buying and selling tips helps them understand the process and sets you up as a trusted partner who understands their challenges.

According to Campaign Monitor , research shows that the perfect newsletter text is a maximum of 200 words—which is far too short to include useful information.

Instead, publish your guides as blog posts on your website and link to them via an enticing email campaign.

You could publish these blog posts on a weekly basis and round them up in an email newsletter at the end of each month. 

🏠 Listing alerts

Many brokerages send out monthly roundups or listings that are usually outdated by the time that clients read them. You can provide a more valuable service by offering customers the chance to sign up for daily alerts. 

Scan your target market every morning. If a new property becomes available, let subscribers to your daily alert mailing list know immediately. This way, you become a reliable source of new opportunities for buyers who may be struggling.

📧 Setting up your email campaign

Setting up a newsletter or email campaign is simple. There are many software options, but the most trusted include MailChimp , Sendinblue , and Active Campaign .

All three offer a free plan and have varying levels of customization to meet your needs.

Each allows you to easily import your own images and content into a template. Alternatively, you can build your newsletter from scratch.

➡️ Cold calling

Cold calling isn’t fun but it’s an effective way to achieve your first sale. Data from the Keller Center into the effectiveness of real estate agent cold calls found significant positive outcomes for successful cold calls.

Additionally, cold calling isn’t just limited to finding clients. You’ll also need to regularly call top-producing real estate professionals in order to build relationships with them and entice them to come and work for you.

To begin with, you’ll have to make cold calls on a daily basis to sell your first property or get your first real estate agent on board. However, even after that, you’ll still need to make regular sales calls to ensure your real estate business continues growing. 

Here is our step-by-step guide to cold calling:

📞 Create a prospects list

To start off with, you’re going to need a list of prospects—people who may be interested in your services.

Building a list requires some research, and an excellent place to start is with expired listings. These will alert you to people who want to sell their homes but have failed with other agents.

Another source is “For Sale By Owners” listings on large property websites. These sellers may be apprehensive about working with a real estate agent, but the effort of selling a house could have turned into an inconvenience by the time you contact them, making you the perfect alternative.

📞 Develop a sales pipeline

Once you have your list, you need to start making phone calls. Your aim shouldn’t be to immediately get the person to buy or sell property with you—after all, you’ve just called out of nowhere, and they don’t know who you are.

Create a sales pipeline that lets you gradually develop trust with the prospect and get them to buy into your services. Instead of getting the person to buy or sell with you, you aim to move them along the sales pipeline.

Here’s an example of a simple real estate sales pipeline, which is a crucial element of your business plan:

• Awareness: Get on the client’s radar, introduce your real estate business, and understand their needs. Ask them to commit to a short, no-obligation meeting or phone call to discuss how you could help them. Remove any leads that are genuinely not interested from your list.
• Engage: Meet in person or hold a call. Ideally, view the seller’s property or ask buyers what they are looking for. Ensure you get all the information you need from the customer. Ask buyers to let you suggest suitable properties for sale. Provide sellers with a proposal explaining why they should sell with you.
• Make an offer: Provide buyers with various property options and ask them to choose two or three to view with you. Present your proposal to sellers and ask for their feedback. If the feedback is negative, adjust your offer. If it’s positive, ask the client to sell with you.
• Qualify: At this stage, the buyer or seller becomes your client. Your aim is to close a deal and have a happy, satisfied customer.
• Recommend: Ask your client to write a favorable review online and to recommend you to their friends and family. Ask whether you can get a quote from them to use in your marketing efforts and ask their permission to feature a photograph of them at their new home.

📞 Stay motivated

Cold calling is tough. You should change your script if you’re not succeeding after five calls. Try a new tactic, for example, one based on where clients lost interest during unsuccessful calls.

Researchers from the Keller Center found that motivation is critical for cold-calling agents. Focussing on keeping up the momentum and not becoming despondent improves outcomes when an unreceptive person answers the phone.

Boost Your New Business with Software for Real Estate Success

Developing a comprehensive business plan that considers all the factors above is a surefire way to achieve success in your new real estate venture. 

One crucial part of your business plan to consider is the tools and systems you’ll use to run your company effectively. An example of a tool that can take your new business to the next level is Paperless Pipeline .

Our software automates the entire real estate transaction process, which means you don’t have to spend valuable time trying to stay on top of your transactions. 

Instead, you can focus on growing your new business while letting Paperless Pipeline handle transactions, document management, compliance, and agent commissions.

If you’d like to try Paperless Pipeline out yourself for free, visit our website . We can’t wait to show you how successful your new real estate business can be with our software.

Related Articles:

How to Start a Real Estate Brokerage — The complete guide to starting your own successful real estate brokerage.

The Complete Real Estate Transaction Guide – Real estate transactions from start to finish. Learn about the people involved, what needs to happen, and how to make it simpler.

The Complete Guide to Recruiting Real Estate Agents – Learn how to successfully recruit and retain the very best real estate agents.

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Create a Real Estate Business Plan: Template, Tips & More

A real estate agent business plan is a document that outlines your comprehensive strategy to grow your real estate business. It outlines important milestones of your approach, identifying what your goals are and how you will achieve them.

Because of the nature of the real estate business, you can construct plans as a broker, agent, etc. There are several ways to focus your goals and tactics when you are writing a real estate business plan, and each specific role you have will change what you’re trying to achieve and how you will do it.

It’s fundamentally important to remember that in real estate, there are two things to keep on the top of your mind:

• You are your own boss and manage your own business.
• Being busy doesn’t always mean that you’re making money.

Combining these two important thoughts leads us to one conclusion — that having a written-out plan will help determine what you’re trying to accomplish and will help keep you committed to a specific plan of action. A business plan for real estate agents is sure to help you identify measurable goals while helping you stay on a predetermined route to reach your ambitions.

Additionally, a plan will identify prospective issues you expect to run into and how you plan to overcome them. The plan will assign roles and responsibilities, and allow you to measure your success as your business progresses.

It’s important to know that you’re not in this alone – we have an experienced team of coaches who can help you  create a real estate business plan that makes it simple and easy.

Why Create a Real Estate Business Plan?

Studies  have shown that creating a business plan for real estate can increase your chance of success by 12%. Additionally, it can raise your chances of success by 27% when you commit to writing a real estate business plan and combine it with other things like talking to prospective customers, making marketing materials, and getting yourself ready for business.

What’s more, you will be taken more seriously by potential business partners, brokers, and banks because you have dedicated time to sit down and devise a written plan that precisely outlines the actions you plan to take. This shows that you have placed significant personal investment in your business, and gives others peace of mind that they can join you in this venture.

A real estate business plan gives you a clear direction and an operational checklist for identifying your goals. Some questions it will answer are:

• Who is my prospective client?
• How much do I want to earn?
• What do my sales need to look like to reach my ideal take-home pay?
• How will I cover the expenses of my business?

A plan is not set in stone and allows for adjustments as situations arise – but should be thoroughly devised enough to help you overcome foreseeable challenges like identifying leads and finding funding money to get started.

How to Start

Executive summary.

The executive summary of a real estate business plan establishes your hopes and dreams, a broad overview of how you plan to accomplish them, and highlights from the research used to support your decisions.

It should identify who your potential clients are, the areas you plan to focus on, and any potential sales opportunities (for example, the average house in this area is $450k). If there are any competitive assessments, those are also important to note here.

In many ways, consider this your elevator pitch. Given 30 seconds, or the amount of time you were in an elevator with someone, how would you describe your ability to  be profitable in real estate ?

Write a Detailed Business Description

If you’ve ever seen the show, “Shark Tank,” you’d be familiar with how the business owner stands in front of the investors and shares their story about why they should invest in their product. This is the detailed business description of your plan, where you tell what inspired you to get involved in real estate.

The description will highlight the opportunity and how you plan to make the most of it, while answering ‘who, what, when, where, how, and why’. Who is your prospective client? What makes you different and what is your client looking for? When are they typically looking to buy or sell their property? How do they typically start their search or process of selling their home?  Questions like these  will help shape your detailed business description to answer questions that you might not think about at first.

Perform a SWOT Analysis

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “SWOT”, it stands for (S)trengths, (W)eaknesses, (O)pportunities, (T)hreats. When applying a SWOT analysis to writing a real estate business plan, the coined term helps you identify some of the core questions that arise when planning.

Strengths address what makes you different and a better choice than your competition. Will you be more knowledgeable? Have you lived in the area you’re targeting your whole life? Are you a well-known member of the area who already has created a personal brand that will go far in real estate?

Weaknesses address the exact opposite. What things are you lacking? What things do others do better? Naturally, if you’re breaking into real estate, one of the first things you’d note is experience. Having multiple weaknesses isn’t a  bad  thing. It means you’ve identified potential issues and how to overcome them. For example, a new agent with experienced coaches can quickly overcome the example weakness.

Creating a Strategic Real Estate Business Plan

Defining your marketing strategy.

As much as you would like to be the perfect fit for all clients, the reality is that you are going to have a specific type of client that’s going to work the best with you. Maybe it’s someone from a specific area of town, first-time homebuyers, those using specific types of financing options, or those in the Armed Forces.

Identifying your market niche isn’t going to limit you to a specific clientele, but it’s going to direct your marketing and branding so that you’re not throwing lots of things and hoping that something sticks. This means saving time and money by directing your marketing efforts to the most meaningful ways, giving you the biggest bang for your buck.

Understanding the marketing strategy aspect of your real estate business plan will help you know who your target is, what their defining characteristics are, what services they are seeking, and help you understand how to grow those specific relationships.

Understanding  how you will generate leads  is incredibly important in developing your plan. If you don’t have leads, you won’t have sales — which means you won’t make money. Because of the nature of the business, you’ll need to understand how prospective clients start the process (which is usually through looking at things online).

Creating a Financial Plan

An important aspect of writing your business plan will always include money. Here you will identify your expenses, income, and estimate your sales goals. It’s important to create realistic and well-thought-out measurements in this section, to understand how your plan will come together.

When looking at your expenses, consider all things that will change for you on a licensing, personal, and business level. Licensing may seem self-explanatory, but ongoing education, covering multiple states, and other things might pop up. Personal expenses are also easily overlooked — will you need to buy different clothes, will a new smartphone be important to your work, and will your cost of gas rise? Business expenses are things like your broker fees, advertising costs, and other things often charged directly from your office.

A true financial plan is not a rough collection of estimates or guesstimates. It’s a close look at the reality of the costs you will be facing when you choose to start on the endeavor, and a true understanding of what it will take to achieve your goals. One of the basic goals you will look at financially is the ability of real estate to keep you economically profitable in consideration of your time and resources.

Analyze Your Local Competition

In-depth research into your local competition will help you beyond your SWOT analysis. When you’re looking at other offices that might be competing with you, consider what sets you apart and makes you different. Also,  use this competitive insight to grow your brand  and sharpen the services that you offer to clients.

For example, if your focus is on first-time homebuyers, are there any competitors that also have this focus? What do they do that seems to work? What can you offer that they don’t? There are generally four areas that will set you apart in regards to your competition; the product (your brand and focus), the price (your commission and price you seek for your clients), the place (your ideal market you’ve chosen to focus on), and promotion (meaning the way you’ll choose to market to generate leads).

Understand Your Ideal Customer

Understanding your customer is critical in writing a real estate business plan. Without that important link, you won’t meet your goals, your marketing dollars will be wasted, and your time will be spent without result.

The important things to know about your customer are:

• How do you reach them? Will they respond better to emails, texts, or calls?
• What matters to your clients? Is it more space, interior luxury, or location?
• What brand does your client subscribe to? Will they value Walmart or Whole Foods more?
• What matters most to your prospective buyer? Is it space, price, or something else?
• What is your ideal demographic? This is age, sex, etc.

Having a firm grasp on these important things will help you develop your plan so that you can speak to what your market research is telling you. Perhaps your opportunity is in selling new homes in an up-and-coming area, or to military families who have been given new orders near a base. Referrals and leads will always attract outside of your ideal mindset, but this will help you focus your efforts.

Implementing Action Plans

An action plan is a carefully considered set of steps to take in  achieving a specific goal . For example, if your goal is to get ten new leads a month, an action plan will help you get there. An action plan establishes a clear goal and the different things that need to be done to reach your objective.

You might have different action plans for marketing, closing sales, ongoing education and personal development, social media goals, etc. All of these individual action plans will help carry your real estate business plan to fruition.

Evaluating and Revising Your Plan

Your business plan is sure to be a living document as time goes on. With a constantly evolving real estate market, it is critical to stay up to date with the latest news – not only for the industry, but also for the markets you specialize in. As you continue to meet and shake hands with individuals, new doors will open, offering you opportunities that you probably didn’t consider when you originally developed your plan.

For example, maybe you’ve met a developer who’s asked you to help list their properties. What you learn from your clients will be equally important to your plan – if things don’t matter, save time and resources by removing them. Additionally, if there are things missing (like virtual open houses, alternative social media focuses, etc), find a way to incorporate them into your plan.

There’s something to be said for pulling from the experience of others, and  having an experienced real estate coach look over and help develop your real estate business plan is a great way to jump past the typical pitfalls new agents face.  A new agent starting out , dreams of the financial freedom to spend more time with their family and friends. Skipping over the learning curve by having an experienced professional will only help you achieve your goals faster.

Lucas Grohn

Real Estate Business Plan: 7 Tips for Realtors

Looking to stay on top of market trends and stand out from the competition? Read on to learn how creating a real estate business plan can help you do just that.

How to Create a Real Estate Business Plan

Whether you work for a firm or run your own business, all real estate professionals are effectively business owners. From the marketing strategies you employ to the leads you generate to the reputation you forge in your community, your successes (and your shortcomings) come primarily down to you. For this reason,you should be sure to create a thoughtful real estate business plan. 

Keep reading for insights to learn why a real estate business plan matters and strategies to make your plan stand out from that of your competition.  

What is the Purpose of a Real Estate Business Plan? 

In many ways, your business plan is like a road map for a cross-country trip. Chances are before you embark you’ve pinned spots where you plan to stop and sleep, some roadside attractions you want to visit, and maybe a national park (or two) you’d like to get your picture taken in front of. Similar to this roadmap, a business plan helps log where real estate professionals are starting, where they want to go, and how they’re getting there, as well as the many indicators of success along the way. 

Like a roadmap, the drafting of a business plan can be almost as fulfilling as the trip itself. As you narrow down your goals and put them on paper, you also get a clearer idea of why you’re building the business in the first place. Is it to make ends meet? To finally build something from scratch? To provide for your family, or create generational wealth? Establishing your “Why” can be equal parts motivating and validating, and can help you recenter your focus when and if you encounter obstacles on your journey.    

Do You Need a Business Plan for Real Estate? 

The short answer is: No, you don’t need a business plan for your real estate business, in that it’s not required to legally incorporate your business. A business plan is, however, essential –– for all of the reasons listed above and for countless others. For starters, a business plan will help you determine how your business will be structured, managed, and grown in the real estate industry. It should also include information on both your market and your competition, allowing you to pinpoint what others are doing and how you can stand out. 

But perhaps the most important reason to create a real estate business plan is to fuel  your growth. Should your business scale to the point of being worthy of outside investment, your real estate business plan will act as reassurance that investors are investing in a sound product. Consider it as a second business card, only instead of appealing to aspiring homeowners, it’s meant to impress potential business partners. With that said, real estate professionals looking to grow to this size without a business plan are immediately faced with an uphill battle, and your business plan should be established long before you begin planning for your inevitable growth.  

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Building a real estate business plan from scratch: 7 steps   .

Now that you understand the importance of a real estate business plan, here’s how to create a real estate business plan from the ground up. 

1. Start with the 5 Ws

Your who, what, when, how, and why. To establish a strong foundation for your real estate business plan, begin by ironing out some of these details in the form of an executive summary, a clear mission statement, and a composite of your ideal clientele. Let’s break these elements down a bit further. 

Executive summary: Your executive summary should detail who you are with regard to your business and your goals, and can include a personal summary or a company description and a summary of your services. While this won’t necessarily be client-facing, it should offer all viewers a brief “you” overview.  

Mission statement: While your executive summary provides a brief overview of who you are, your mission statement should drill down into why it matters . This brief summary will help define the future of your business –– serving as a reminder to both you and your prospective clients of why you’re in the real estate business. 

Composite: Lastly, figure out who it is you plan to sell to. This composite should be three-dimensional, focusing on things like where your potential clients will be based and what their budgets might be but also the problems you hope to solve for them. (This will help determine your key differentiators in Step 3.)

2. Define Your Goals

Equipped with a better understanding of why you’re going into business, what you’ll be doing, who you’ll be serving, and how you’ll make a difference, you can begin working on a set of measurable goals. But don’t stop at simply defining these goals –– get to work on a rough idea of how these goals will be accomplished. Don’t worry too much about the nitty gritty; you can continue to refine your approach as you build your plan (and as initiatives succeed or fail.) For now, focus on measurable goals like your ideal closing rate and average monthly commission.  

3. Identify Your Competition (and How You’ll Stand Out) 

With an idea of what your goals are and what tactics you might use to accomplish them, you can begin to look at the real estate professionals you’re in direct competition with and possibly draft a competitive analysis. Take into consideration things like their years in business and the size of their office, and consult reviews and testimonials to see what they do well — as well as where they might fall short in the real estate industry. For example: If a common theme in client reviews is their chilly demeanor, you may be able to stand out by being accommodating and warm. 

But when it comes to established real estate offices, you can learn as much from their years in business as you can from these client reviews. If they have a strong social media presence and you notice they also have a full-time social media specialist on staff, you can begin to map out your own future from a personnel perspective. 

4. Determine the Facts and Figures 

As fun as it may be to dream about hitting major milestones and growing your business to levels you’ve only dreamt of, it’s equally important to determine how little your business can earn while still breaking even. If, right now, your business is just you, this baseline might be the expenses it takes to keep your mortgage current, your WiFi on, and your gas tank full. But if you’ve already got a small staff or an office space, this bar may be significantly higher. 

When establishing what figure will keep your business in the black, take the time to break this number down into metrics related to your goals, like your average monthly commission. If you’ve come out of pocket to get your business up and running, you might not break even month one.n this case, identify a date on the horizon when you aim to do so and do the work to get there.  

5. Know Your Market (Now, and Tomorrow) 

As a real estate professional, a keen understanding of the local and national market can be the closest thing to a crystal ball or a sixth sense. And while it’s important to know what the real estate market is doing (and when it is doing it), understanding why these shifts are occurring will help you optimize your approach. As a part of your real estate business plan, take the time to get to know your target market to the best of your ability, including the buyers who make up this market and the reasons for recent (or expected) shifts. 

A key element of this understanding will be the ability to identify real estate market trends, and how your business might adapt to these trends. For example: In recent years, when Amazon was searching for its second North American headquarters, real estate professionals in places like Arlington, VA and Long Island City, New York might have anticipated a rise in single, educated, first-time home buyers. When Arlington was ultimately chosen, the real estate agents who anticipated this shift undoubtedly benefitted. 

6. Identify Weaknesses 

In order to get better, it’s important to first understand what can be better . Upon starting your business, especially if you’re in the early days of your real estate career, you might not have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses yet. But as your business develops and you learn more about both your trade and yourself, you should begin identifying the weak points which might be setting your business back. If you’re new in town, you may be struggling with brand awareness among locals. This creates an opportunity for you to be a more active, visible component of your community. By all means, your successes as they come along! Just be sure to remain conscious of how your business could be better. 

7. Build a Marketing Strategy 

A significant part of business planning is drafting a marketing plan. Thanks to the vastness of the internet and constantly emerging social media platforms, there are more ways than ever to promote your real estate business. But just because realtors are using Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and the growing list of other platforms doesn’t mean your business needs to. 

When drafting your real estate business plan, be sure to incorporate a marketing strategy that will help you accomplish the above goals. Identify what platforms you intend to use, how you intend to use them, and what a potential budget might be for each (if necessary) to keep you on track as you execute your overall vision. Be sure to also draft ideas for what you want your marketing campaigns to look like, who your ideal client and target market is, etc. Need some innovative real estate marketing ideas? Discover more marketing ideas for realtors .    

Beyond the Plan: Launching (and Growing) Your Real Estate Business

As involved as this process may seem, drafting your real estate business plan is the easy part –– actually launching your business is the challenge. But growing your real estate business can be as rewarding as it is labor-intensive, and your rock-solid business plan will help you keep moving forward even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Outside of your plan, here are a few strategies to give your business the greatest odds of success. 

Leverage a CRM

CRMs, or customer relationship management systems, help you track leads as they move through the home-buying process. As a one-person real estate business, your CRM will help keep leads from falling through the cracks –– allowing you to maximize both your closing rate and your client service. Through integrated automations, you can even send follow-up messages at regular intervals without lifting a finger, keeping your business top of mind for clients who might be taking their time to make a purchase. 

Work on Your Web Presence

Your website can be one of your greatest tools as a business owner, but many real estate professionals have a “set it and forget it” approach to their site; they take the time to build their website and that’s the end of the story. This is sort of like securing a prime location for your real estate office, then blacking out the windows and not putting up a sign. Like an office on a busy commercial street, your office should cut through the noise and jump out to homebuyers. If you’re not working on improving your SEO, now is as good a time as any! 

Be Persistent

Compared to other sales fields, real estate has an especially long sales cycle. And for good reason: buying a home is a major purchase. For this reason, it can be exhausting to keep chasing leads who might take six months to a year to buy their home. But with some patience, persistence, and the help of a CRM, you might find yourself beating out your less patient competitors. Keep leads “warm” with automated messaging, and you’ll stay top-of-mind –– so when they’re ready to make this life-changing decision, you’ll be the agent they turn to. 

Manage Your Time Wisely

As a business owner, you set your own schedule. Of course, all the business owners reading this know that this actually means that your clients and customers set your schedule for you. And when your working hours are always , you run the risk of burning out unless you learn how to properly manage your time. Guided by your original business plan and the mission statement you created, create a hierarchy of importance in your day-to-day tasks. If your mission is one of being the most responsive real estate agent in town, a timely response to messages from clients will likely be a high priority. And if your success is in your in-person impressions, the hours each week trying to grow your social media presence might be of better use elsewhere. 

When the time comes that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day (and it will), it might be time to bring on some additional help to empower your growth. Not a bad problem to have! 

Differentiate from Your Competition

When shopping for the right realtor, some home buyers and sellers can quickly feel lost in a sea of sameness. And while this creates an opportunity to differentiate yourself by being more understanding, more empathetic, and more personable than your rivals, this still might not be enough. With that said, one way you can stand out from your competition is by offering different services altogether: Like being the only realtor in your market to specialize in brokering sale-leaseback transactions. 

Unlike traditional home sales, sale-leasebacks offer homeowners the opportunity to sell their home for equity, then pay a fair market rent to remain in the home for as long as they want –– as long as they keep up with payments. Offering a different service in addition to a full suite of realtor services will help you stand out while maximizing the variety of clients you’re able to take on. 

Empower Your Real Estate Business with More Tips from Truehold

Whether you’re in the early stages of developing your real estate business plan or you’re actively working to grow your business, this is an exciting time and we wish you the best of luck. To learn more about how you can empower your real estate business through lead generation and marketing strategies, visit the free Truehold resource library .

Further Reading

Truehold Expands to Jacksonville

September 26, 2024

Truehold Brings its Sell-and-Stay Transaction to Lakeland

Wayne's Story: Navigating Life’s Ups and Downs with Truehold’s Support

September 17, 2024

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How to make a real estate business plan

• December 6, 2023

Do the words “business plan” make you feel a little queasy? They don’t have to! Let’s be honest: you can accomplish a solid business plan by taking a look back at the previous year — its successes and failures — and then using your discoveries to map out a plan for what you’ll keep the same, what you’ll improve, and what you’ll focus on.

It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, either. We designed this workbook to give you thought-provoking exercises to help put you on the right path. Download your copy today to set yourself up for success in 2024 and beyond!

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10 Things Your Real Estate Business Plan Needs (FREE Template)

A real estate agent business plan is essential for success in today’s competitive market. It helps you set clear goals, define your vision, and outline the steps to achieve short-term and long-term objectives. As a real estate professional, having a well-crafted business plan can be the difference between being a top producer and struggling to make ends meet.

In your business plan, you’ll want to start by creating a vision statement that outlines the purpose of your real estate business and reflects your values. Setting firm goals will help you stay accountable and focused, allowing you to adapt to market changes or growth and remember that your business plan should be fluid and up-to-date to stay aligned with your ultimate objectives.

Your real estate agent business plan should be thorough, covering various aspects such as market analysis, organization structure, and marketing strategies. By having a comprehensive plan, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that come your way, ensuring your real estate business flourishes.

Understanding Your Target Market

Identifying your ideal client.

Understanding your target market is crucial to establish a successful real estate business plan. Begin by identifying your ideal client. Consider factors that may define your target clients, such as age, income level, family status, and property preferences. Reflect on your strengths as an agent and which clients you connect best with. This will help you focus your marketing efforts and create tailored strategies for your target audience.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation divides your target market into smaller, more specific groups based on shared characteristics. In real estate, you can segment your market into categories such as:

• First-time homebuyers
• Empty nesters

By segmenting your market, you can tailor your services and communication strategies according to the unique needs of each group. This will lead to more effective marketing efforts and a better understanding of your potential clientele.

Analyzing Local Market Trends and Opportunities

Gather data on your local real estate market to identify trends and opportunities for your business. Analyze factors like:

• Market growth
• Market saturation
• Local property values
• Employment rates
• Infrastructure development
• Population demographics

By analyzing local market trends, you can identify areas with potential growth or areas that are becoming overly saturated. Use this information to adapt your services and expertise to market conditions, helping you stand out among competitors and position yourself as an expert in your niche.

Remember, a comprehensive understanding of your target market is essential for shaping your real estate agent business plan. By identifying your ideal clients, segmenting the market, and analyzing local market trends and opportunities, you’ll be better equipped to create tailored marketing strategies and make informed business decisions. This will ultimately contribute to the success and growth of your real estate business.

Lead Generation Strategies

Building an online presence.

To create a robust lead generation plan, build a strong online presence. A real estate agent must have a well-designed and user-friendly website to capture leads. Keep these factors in mind:

• Make sure your website reflects your branding and expertise
• Optimize your site for search engines to enhance its visibility in search results
• Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs), so potential clients can easily contact you
• Utilize high-quality images and videos to showcase properties
• Share helpful and informative content through a blog or resources section

You can also leverage social media channels to expand your reach and showcase your expertise in the industry. Focus on the platforms most relevant to your target audience and share valuable content related to real estate, local events, or home improvement tips.

Networking and Referrals

Building a strong professional network is essential for generating quality leads. Here are some strategies to boost your referral pipeline:

• Attend networking events, conferences, or workshops in your area. Engage with professionals in real estate or related industries
• Establish relationships with local businesses and community organizations
• Hold open houses or host educational seminars to engage potential clients in person
• Develop relationships with past clients and ensure you stay top of mind so they recommend you to their connections

Additionally, create a referral program that rewards clients and other referrers for sharing your services with their network. This will incentivize them to talk about you and help expand your reach.

Traditional Marketing Methods

Despite the increasing importance of digital marketing, traditional methods still have their place in generating leads for real estate agents:

• Send direct mail campaigns, like newsletters or postcards, to targeted neighborhoods, highlighting your strengths and successes
• Advertise in local print media, such as newspapers or specialized real estate publications
• List your services and properties in industry-specific directories, both online and offline
• Design and distribute eye-catching flyers, brochures, and business cards
• Participate in community events or sponsor local charities to enhance your company’s reputation and visibility

Make sure to keep track of the effectiveness of each lead generation method and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. This will help refine and improve your overall marketing strategy and ensure you invest resources into the most productive channels.

Lead Conversion Techniques

Building rapport and trust.

To build rapport and trust, focus on the following:

• Be genuine and authentic with your prospects, showcasing your expertise and knowledge.
• Listen actively, taking the time to understand their concerns and needs.
• Display empathy towards their situation, offering tailored solutions for their specific problems.
• Stay engaged through the entire process, from the first interaction to closing.

Qualifying Leads

When it comes to qualifying leads:

• Ask open-ended questions to gauge their needs, timeline, and motivation for buying or selling
• Inquire about their financial situation and any potential barriers they may have
• Learn more about their preferred neighborhoods, housing type, and other preferences
• Prioritize leads based on their level of interest and readiness to move forward

Effective Communication and Follow-Up Strategies

For better communication and follow-up:

• Establish a consistent schedule for checking in on leads, such as every few days or weekly
• Personalize your communication, tailoring messages to each lead’s unique situation and preferences
• Practice active listening and respond thoughtfully to their questions or concerns
• Utilize several communication channels, including email, phone calls, text messages, and social media

Utilizing CRM Systems for Lead Management

Leveraging CRM systems can help you organize and optimize your lead management process:

• Track important lead information and interaction history in a centralized location
• Set reminders for follow-up tasks, appointments, or important milestones
• Analyze your leads’ behavior to understand their needs better and provide personalized service
• Create targeted marketing campaigns to engage your leads and nurture them toward conversion

By implementing these techniques and focusing on leads, marketing strategies, and communication, you’ll be well on your way to creating a thriving real estate agent business.

Closing Deals and Earning Commissions

Negotiation tactics.

When closing deals, it’s crucial to employ effective negotiation tactics to help both you and your client reach a favorable outcome. Some negotiation tactics include:

• Understanding the market: Know the local market trends and use this information when discussing price adjustments or concessions.
• Compromise: Find common ground and offer reasonable solutions to meet both parties’ needs.
• Leverage: Use your expertise in the real estate industry to highlight your client’s strengths and make convincing arguments.

Handling Objections and Overcoming Challenges

As a real estate agent, you’ll encounter objections and challenges in closing deals. To address them efficiently, consider the following points:

• Listen to the client’s concerns and empathize with their situation.
• Identify the objection: Determine the root cause of the objection and respond with a compelling solution.
• Maintain professionalism: Stay calm and composed, avoiding confrontational behavior.

Preparing and Presenting Offers

Presenting a well-prepared offer is vital to increasing the chances of closing a deal. Keep in mind:

• Research: Analyze comparable properties in the area to establish a competitive price for the offer.
• Documentation: Ensure that all necessary documents, such as pre-approval letters and proof of funds, are in order.
• Presentation: Employ clear and concise communication when presenting the offer, highlighting its benefits to the seller.

Managing the Transaction Process and Paperwork

Effectively managing the transaction process and paperwork helps keep the deal on track, which includes:

• Organization: Maintain an organized system for tracking important deadlines and required documents.
• Communication: Regularly update all parties involved in the transaction, ensuring they know the progress and address any concerns.
• Attention to detail: Ensure all forms, contracts, and other documents are accurate and complete.

By successfully closing deals, you’ll earn commissions based on your agreed split with your broker. For instance, if you close a deal worth $350,000 with a 6% commission rate, the gross commission income will be $21,000. If your commission split with your broker is 70/30, you’ll earn $14,700 while your broker receives $6,300. Utilizing the strategies discussed in this section will help you maximize your commission income and prove beneficial to your real estate business plan.

Client Retention and Building Repeat Business

Maintaining client relationships after closing.

Building lasting relationships with your clients is essential for repeat business and referrals. After closing a deal, continue to provide value by offering support with any post-closing issues, such as paperwork or maintenance concerns. Keep in touch with your clients and remember important milestones, such as anniversaries or birthdays. Show appreciation for their trust in you by sending thoughtful gifts or cards or simply checking in periodically.

Asking for Referrals and Testimonials

Word-of-mouth marketing is an incredibly powerful tool in the real estate industry. Encourage your satisfied clients to share their positive experiences with friends and family. To achieve this, be proactive in asking for testimonials and reviews, which you can later showcase on your website, social media, and other marketing materials. Here are some strategies to obtain them:

• Reach out via email or phone, and kindly request a testimonial or referral
• Provide a simple template to make it easy for clients to write a review
• Offer incentives, such as discounts on future services or gift cards, to show gratitude for their time and effort

Staying Top-of-Mind Through Regular Communication and Updates

Establish regular communication with your past clients to stay top-of-mind and generate repeat business. Keep them informed about the latest market trends, neighborhood developments, or listings that interest them. Here are some communication tactics you can employ:

• Send personalized monthly or quarterly e-newsletters
• Share relevant content, such as articles or videos, on your social media platforms
• Organize events, like client appreciation parties or educational seminars, to maintain connections and foster new ones

Maintaining client relationships, requesting referrals, and staying top-of-mind through regular updates will strengthen your real estate business with repeat clients and new prospects. Remember, satisfied customers are the key to long-term success in the real estate industry.

Measuring Success and Adjusting Your Strategies

Setting goals and key performance indicators (kpis).

To measure the success of your real estate agent business plan, start by setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). These can serve as benchmarks for success and provide direction on areas to focus your efforts. Consider setting goals for various aspects of your business, such as sales volume, new client acquisition, and customer satisfaction.

In addition to your goals, establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your progress. KPIs are quantifiable metrics that help you evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies. Examples of KPIs for a real estate agent business plan include:

• Number of new leads generated per month
• The conversion rate of leads to clients
• Average days on market for properties
• Percentage of listings sold

Tracking and Analyzing Results

With your goals and KPIs established, continually collect and analyze data to track your progress. Regularly monitoring your results allows you to identify trends, spot potential problems, and evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Some methods to track your data include:

• Using a CRM system to manage client relationships and interactions
• Employing analytics tools to evaluate the success of digital marketing campaigns
• Conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to identify areas where you excel or need improvement

Pay close attention to competitor performance and market trends to better understand how your strategies compare and identify any gaps you may need to address.

Adapting and Optimizing Your Strategies Based on Data

Once you’ve gathered and analyzed your data, use insights to adapt and optimize your strategies. Make data-driven decisions to improve your marketing efforts, streamline processes, and better allocate resources. Some steps you can take include:

• Adjusting your marketing budget and tactics based on your marketing ROI
• Revisiting your goals and KPIs to ensure they still align with your overall business objectives
• Fine-tuning your pricing strategies or the type of properties you focus on to meet market demand better

Maintaining a proactive approach to adjusting your strategies will keep your business plan agile and responsive to the changing real estate market. This will go a long way in helping you achieve the success you envision for your real estate agent business.

Time Management and Organization

Prioritizing tasks and setting a daily schedule.

In your real estate agent business plan, it’s crucial to have a time management and organization strategy. Start by prioritizing tasks that align with your [business goals]. Break down tasks into daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Then, create a daily schedule following the block scheduling method:

• List your key tasks for the day.
• Assign specific time blocks for each task.
• Stick to the schedule and avoid multitasking.

You’ll notice increased productivity and improved time management with this approach.

Using Productivity Tools and Apps

Take advantage of productivity tools and apps to help you stay organized and manage your time efficiently. Some popular tools for real estate agents include:

• Calendars: Apps like Google Calendar or Outlook can help schedule appointments and manage deadlines.
• Task Managers: Utilize tools like Trello, Asana, or Todoist to manage your projects and collaborate with your team.
• Time Tracking: Apps such as Toggl or Harvest provide insights into your work habits, helping you identify areas for improvement.

Remember to limit the number of tools you use to avoid digital clutter and duplicate information.

Delegating and Outsourcing Tasks When Necessary

As a real estate agent, delegating and outsourcing non-core tasks is essential to focus on your primary responsibilities. Here are some tasks you can consider delegating:

Identify areas where your expertise may not be as strong or where your time can be better spent, and consider outsourcing those tasks to professionals. This approach will help you manage your workload and improve the quality of your services.

Ongoing Education and Professional Development

Staying up-to-date with industry trends and changes.

To stay competitive in the real estate market, you must keep up with industry trends and changes. By monitoring resources like the National Association of Realtors (NAR), California Association of Realtors (CAR), and multiple listing services (MLS), you can stay informed about the latest developments in your field. Set aside time to read industry publications, attend webinars, listen to podcasts, and follow industry-leading professionals on social media.

Pursuing Relevant Certifications and Designations

Continuing education is crucial for staying current in the fast-paced real estate industry. Pursue relevant certifications and designations to add credibility and value to your practice. Organizations like NAR and CAR offer various designations demonstrating your expertise and commitment to professionalism to clients and colleagues.

Examples of real estate certifications and designations include:

• Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR)
• Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)
• Green Designation (Green)
• Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)

To obtain these certifications, you must complete specific coursework, pass exams, and maintain membership in the relevant organizations.

Participating in Networking and Learning Events

Engaging in networking and learning events within the real estate community can help you build relationships, share ideas, and learn from the experiences of others. Attend conferences, workshops, and local meetups relevant to your niche, region, or areas of interest. Not only will this enhance your industry knowledge and skills, but it can also be an opportunity to form valuable connections that will benefit your business growth.

In summary, staying up-to-date with industry trends, pursuing certifications and designations, and participating in networking events can help you maintain and develop your skills as a real estate professional. Committing to continuous learning and professional development is essential to ensure your long-term success in the real estate business.

A well-structured business plan is essential for success as a new real estate agent. With a solid plan, you can set your goals, identify your target market, and analyze your competition. A comprehensive business plan lets you plan your marketing strategies, map your operating expenses, and create revenue projections.

To get started, consider using a business plan template tailored to real estate agents’ needs. This will give you a framework to follow as you develop your plan.

Developing a business plan is just the first step in the process. You need to take action and implement your strategies to realize your goals and achieve success. Revise your plan regularly, adapting and updating it as needed. This will ensure you stay on track with your goals and remain competitive in the ever-changing real estate market.

As a new real estate agent, taking bold steps toward your objectives may feel intimidating. However, trust your plan, apply your outlined strategies, and stay persistent. Your dedication will pay off in the long run.

Starting a career in real estate can be challenging, but you don’t have to face the journey alone. There are numerous resources and support networks available to help new real estate agents excel:

• Professional networks : Join local real estate associations and online forums to connect with experienced agents, ask questions, and expand your knowledge.
• Mentors : Seek accomplished real estate agents who can offer guidance, share valuable experiences, and provide personalized advice.
• Training and education : Keep your skills fresh by attending workshops, participating in webinars, and pursuing continuing education courses relevant to your field.

By leveraging these resources and committing to your business plan, you are setting yourself up for a successful career in real estate. Don’t forget to celebrate your achievements along the way and take pride in your progress. Now is the time to take action; you will surely achieve your goals with determination and hard work.

Would You Like To Partner With Me?

I’ve helped hundreds of real estate agents, team leaders, & brokers all over the country increase their sales, online presence, and create scalable systems. I would love the opportunity to work with you. Together , we can make this year your best yet!

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The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan

Do you have your own real estate agent business plan?

Let’s be honest, starting a career in real estate is like launching a new business. As an agent, you are your own brand. You have to find your own leads and nurture your own clients. And ultimately, you’re responsible for the production and financial success of your business.

The problem is that standard real estate courses don’t teach agents how to be business owners. Did your real estate courses help you craft your own real estate agent business plan? Mine certainly didn’t!

And that’s a real shame because business planning is key to being a successful real estate agent! This isn’t an industry you can muddle your way through. You need to create a roadmap to success. A path to show you the way forward when business gets tough.

And that’s what this post is all about: creating The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan to help your real estate business succeed!

Quick note: this article was originally published in 2019; this is the new, updated version.

Before You Jump Into Your Real Estate Agent Business Plan

Before we get started, you should decide how you’re going to document your real estate agent business plan.

• A physical notebook: Putting pen to paper can be a powerful motivator! If you’re a notebook-keeper, grab that notebook and start writing.
• A doc: Of course some of us prefer the paperless route. You can just open a blank Google Doc or Word Doc and start typing.
• A ready-to-use template: You can find inexpensive business plan templates on Etsy. If you’re looking for a template that perfectly mirrors the steps in this post, check out The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan by Key Real Estate Designs .

There’s no right or wrong way to document your real estate agent business plan. The important thing is to pick whatever method feels natural to you so that you can complete this critical business planning process.

Word of warning: this is going to be a longgggggggggggg post! We have a whole lot of ground to cover. For easy reference, here is an outline of what to include in a real estate agent business plan:

Branding Know Your Client Get Clear on Your Offer Transform Your Offer into a Vision Finance Performance from the Past Year Projections for the Upcoming Year Income Goal Tracking Long-Term Planning Marketing Know Where Your Leads are Coming from Schedule Your Marketing Activities Add New Marketing Activities Each Year Track Your Results Operations Services Supplies and Vendors Your Team Lead Follow-up Building Referrals

Let’s get to it!

1. Branding

The branding chapter of your real estate agent business plan consists of three main sections:

• Knowing Your Client
• Getting Clear on Your Offer
• Transforming Your Offer into a Vision

1. Know Your Client

Step Number One is all about knowing your audience. Starting the branding process from your clients’ perspective will help keep your real estate agent branding focused on your clients’ needs. So let’s pinpoint your ideal client first, and then we’ll figure out how to attract them with branding.

Choose Your Niche

Don’t be that agent who tries to appeal to all buyers and sellers in your area. By trying to appeal to everyone, you’ll never stand out to anyone. You need to niche down so that you are a perfect fit for the clients you most want to attract.

Many agents are hesitant to choose a niche because they don’t want to leave potential clients on the table. But there’s a big problem with being open to all clients: you’re competing with all agents.

But, if you niche down, you’re only competing with a handful of other agents in your niche. Yes, the pool of potential clients is smaller, but the odds of securing those clients are far greater. Would you rather catch 1% of 1,000 fish or 25% of 250 fish? Go for the higher conversion rates by sticking to a niche and becoming the go-to agent for that group.

To be clear, choosing a niche doesn’t mean you don’t work with other clients; it just means you’re targeting your marketing efforts to resonate with a specific group. If a lead outside your niche falls into your lap, by all means, convert that lead into a client and closing!

There are lots of ways to niche down, and you can combine several of them to carve out your unique niche. As you consider niches, ask yourself what type of client you most enjoy working with. Here are a few ways to niche down:

• Buyer or Sellers: You should specialize in one or the other, but stay flexible when your sellers are also looking to buy and vice versa. By the way, buyer/seller is not a niche by itself; it’s just the starting point of focusing on your niche.
• Specific Neighborhoods: If you have a geographic farm, that’s your niche.
• Specific Price Points: Do you focus on luxury estates, starters/fixer-uppers, or somewhere in between?
• Life Events: You could help first-time buyers, downsizers, or people looking for their “forever home”.
• Occupations: If you have a military base nearby or a large employer in town, you could specialize in helping those members/workers get settled in a new home.
• Property Type: How about focusing on agricultural land, condos, or multifamily?

Not sure which direction to go? Learn more by exploring 5 profitable niches for real estate agents .

This goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: protected classes are not niches. It’s never acceptable to niche by race, religion, age, etc.

Create Your Client Avatar

Once you determine your ideal niche (like first-time military vet buyers, for example), you want to learn everything you possibly can about that group. Remember, these aren’t just clients. They’re real people with very real dreams, fears, preferences, and motivations.

Creating an avatar (an imaginary persona of your typical client) forces you to focus on what your ideal clients need from you and how you can best serve them. This will also help you understand how to appeal to them through your real estate agent branding.

There are lots of factors to consider when creating your client avatar. Here are some of the most important:

• Goals (by the way, buying or selling are never the goals; consider why they want to buy or sell)
• How much your clients know about real estate (transactions in general, and the local market in particular)
• General demographics (age, gender, familial status, profession, annual income, formal education, etc. – again, you’re not filtering clients by any protected class, but you do need to have an idea of your average client’s demographics because that will factor into some of your real estate agent branding decisions)
• Where your client hangs out, online and offline

Just to reiterate, saying that your client avatar is a 30-year-old, unmarried female buyer doesn’t mean you’d ever discriminate against families with children. This avatar is simply an amalgamation of your typical client for the purpose of appealing to your target market with your branding efforts.

2. Get Clear on Your Offer

With your client clear in your mind, you can start to clarify your image, tailoring it to meet the needs of your client avatar.

Your Origin Story

We all know real estate agents are just superheroes without capes. And every good superhero has a solid origin story. What’s yours?

How did you come to be a real estate agent? What hurdles have you overcome to get to this point in your life? Which accomplishments are you most proud of? And how does that fit your client avatar’s expectations?

If you’re a native local, great! Part of your origin story is that you were born and raised in the area, so you know everything and everyone.

If you’re a transplant, great! San Diegan by birth, Angelino by choice. Still a great start to your story.

Write down your origin story. It’ll make a great addition to your professional bio !

Your Mission

Why are you doing what you’re doing? What drives you to hustle every day? And, again, how does that fit your client avatar’s expectations? Your personal mission should be meaningful to your clients.

Your Differentiator

Now’s the hard part: verbalizing your uniqueness.

Which of your prospective clients’ needs can you meet better than your competitors? That’s your differentiator.

Here are a few differentiator ideas:

• Best list-to-price ratio in your niche
• Best online presence
• Biggest professional network of investors
• Most experience with VA loans
• Only local agent who speaks Spanish

And if you’re really struggling to find your differentiator, how about offering something no one else is offering? Consider offering services like:

• Professional staging for all sellers,
• New home photo shoots for all buyers, or
• Complimentary annual property tax reviews to make sure your clients are never over-taxed (and if they are, you can offer your property tax appeal services on a contingency fee basis!).

There are a million ways to differentiate yourself. Figure out what’s going to make the biggest difference to your prospective clients.

Your 5 Magic Words

To fully cement your professional image, choose five magic words that best describe you and your brand. These magic words will guide all your real estate agent branding. If you look at your business cards, website, or marketing materials, and they don’t SCREAM these five words, then you’ll know something needs to be changed.

Your differentiator may immediately bring a word or two to mind. So might your client avatar.

Then you’re looking for words that convey an idea or emotion you want to resonate with your target audience.

These are going to be your five magic words. So own them and live them!

3. Transform Your Offer into a Vision

Now that you have a better understanding of your offer, you can turn it into a vision.

In this step, your unique real estate agent branding will really start to take shape!

Choose Your Brand’s Name and Tagline

Naming your brand is harder than most agents expect, mostly because many of the best names are already taken. You need a name that you can “.com” for your website, but that name also has to be available across all social media platforms. Here are a few pointers to simplify the process:

• Keep it under 15 characters. Otherwise, you’ll have to abbreviate your X (formerly Twitter) handle, which dilutes your branding.
• Think lifestyle and location .  MB Luxury, Venice Living, or Living in the OC for example. These all focus on the lifestyle of your target audience.
• Never incorporate your Broker’s name. Because 1) it’s probably trademarked and 2) you don’t want to tie your brand to your broker because that creates complications if or when you decide to part ways.
• Check to see if the domain name is available for your website. If you type your idea into Bluehost’s domain search , it will tell you if the name is available.
• Then check to see if the name is available on social media platforms. Is there already an @VeniceLiving on Insta?

If you’re struggling with this step, don’t let it prevent you from moving forward. When in doubt, use your name. If you have a unique name, it could be your brand name by itself. Otherwise, you could incorporate your name with your lifestyle or location. OC Estates by Sarah, Sean Sells Santee, or Lilly’s Life in LB.

Then you can craft your tagline. Skip the cheesy rhyming taglines of the last century. Instead, explain your differentiator in just a few words. That’s a much more powerful tagline.

Create a Mood Board

The best way to start visualizing your brand is to create a mood board. A mood board is basically just a collage of images with a cohesive look that reflects your idea of your brand. These could be patterns, lifestyle photos, design elements, and color swatches.

Here are a few examples:

Your mood board should be a visual reflection of your offer. If you offer fun and fresh service for first-time buyers, your mood board should scream fun and fresh with bright colors and trendy designs. And if you offer home-grown expertise in agricultural properties, your mood board should whisper farmhouse chic with natural colors and materials.

Want a shortcut?

If you don’t have time to scour the Internet looking for mood board images, just enter “Mood Board” or “Branding Board” on Pinterest. You’ll find tons of professionally curated boards to inspire your personal mood board.

But one quick word of caution: you could get stuck at this stage for weeks because there are so many engaging boards to see. My recommendation is to set a timer for 20 minutes. Browse away, pinning the images that really speak to you. Then use 10 additional minutes to narrow down your selections until you have a brand board you love.

Choose Your Official Brand Colors

One of the reasons I love the Mood and Branding Boards on Pinterest is that they usually come with a beautifully coordinated color palate.

Choosing colors is difficult for most of us because there are so many shades and it’s hard to know which colors best complement each other. Using the colors from a professionally designed board ensures that your colors all work together perfectly.

If you see a color you love, but can’t figure out exactly what color it is, here’s a quick and easy way to find out:

1. Save the image to your computer.

2. Upload that image to imagecolorpicker.com .

3. Click anywhere on the image to get the details for the color you want from the image.

You’ll be able to use the HTML code or the RGM code to get your colors just right on your website, marketing materials, and social media posts.

So you’ll always have perfectly matched brand colors!

Decide on Your Font(s) and Any Design Elements

It’s generally best to stick with two fonts: one bold, and one for easy readability. Your bold font will go on your headers, titles, and logo, and your readability font will be everything else.

Like with colors, you want your fonts to complement each other. There are lots of resources online to find font pairings. Here’s an example of some front combinations from Inkbotdesign.com :

Just make sure you have access to your chosen fonts on all the platforms you use (your website, your marketing design software, etc) as some platforms only offer limited font selections.

If you’re going to have any custom design elements (stripes, brush strokes, patterns, etc), now is also the time to select those.

Create Your Logo

Finally, it’s time to choose your logo.

This is another step that stalls lots of agents. But we have a shortcut to help you get this done quickly and easily.

Head to Etsy . They have lots of personalized logo packs at great rates.

Some Etsy sellers even offer custom-designed logos. If you don’t see an existing logo pack, you can just contact those sellers with your fonts, colors, brand name, and any of your unique design ideas, and they’ll get you set up in no time.

Before long, your target audience will start to recognize your unique real estate agent branding. They’ll know what you and your brand stand for. And they’ll know how to reach you when they’re ready to buy or sell!

The finance chapter of your real estate agent business plan consists of the following sections:

• Performance from the Past Year
• Projections for the Upcoming Year

Income Goal

• Long-Term Planning

1. Review Your Performance from the Past Year

To know where you’re going, it helps to know where you’re coming from.

Reviewing your financial performance from the past year will give you an idea of what to expect (in terms of income and expenses) for the coming year.

A quick note about expenses: As an independent contractor, you have more than just personal expenses to consider. You also need to consider business expenses. We’ll discuss both.

If this is your first year in real estate, your prior year’s data won’t include relevant business expenses or reliable income figures. You’ll just need to spend more time researching average income and expense data in Step 2. But you will still benefit from reviewing last year’s personal expenses so you’ll know how much to budget in those categories for the coming year.

Most agents find it helpful to look at the expenses first when reviewing their financials. When your income is uncertain, starting with your expenses lets you know exactly how much income you need to make to cover all your needs. So we’re going to follow that method by listing expenses first.

Now, I like to start with personal expenses since many of these are essential to your life, regardless of the current state of your business.

Personal expenses include:

• Personal Vehicle
• Personal Care
• Debt Payments
• Savings and Investments
• Charitable Giving

All you need to do is list all your personal expenses and assign an amount to each. You may find it helpful to list both the annual total amounts and the average monthly amounts .

Then you can move on to your business expenses.

Business expenses include:

• Work Vehicle
• Work Cell Phone
• Office Space (if not covered by your Broker)
• Website Hosting
• Membership Dues
• Client Gifts
• Federal and State Income Taxes

If you’re new to real estate, you’ll need to account for a few start-up costs as well:

• Licensing fees
• A real estate website ( a must for today’s serious agents )
• Any onboarding fees charged by your broker
• Business cards
• Initial self-promotional marketing

Do you feel like your expenses are too high in any category? Ask yourself if it’s reasonable to cut back on that expense in the coming year. If so, great! And if not, at least you’ll know to budget enough for that category in the coming year.

The bulk of your income will, in all likelihood, come from real estate transactions. But this shouldn’t be your only source of income.

Savvy agents are diversifying their income streams to recession-proof their businesses and reach financial independence. Check out our massive list of 55 Ways to Make Money in Real Estate for some income ideas that will complement your real estate business.

Just like you did with your expenses, list your income sources from this past year and the amounts earned from each source.

Your income minus your business expenses equals your profit.

How did you do last year? Are you satisfied with last year’s profit? Or do you need to lower your business expenses, increase your income, or both to reach a profit you’re happy with in the coming year?

Your income minus your total expenses (personal and business) is your cash flow. This shows how much more money you make than you spend.

As long as you’re including savings and investments in your expenses (which you absolutely should be, otherwise those will end up neglected!), your cash flow number doesn’t need to be large. You just want to be sure you’re making more than you’re spending.

If there’s anything you don’t love about your financials from the past year, don’t panic. Instead, focus on what you want to do differently in the next 12 months. That’s what we’ll do in Step 2.

2. Plan Your Financials for the Coming Year

Now it’s time to create your real estate agent financial plan for this coming year.

• How much do you plan to spend?
• And how much do you plan to earn?

Using last year’s expenses as a guide, write down your estimated expenses in each category for the coming year. You may have to do a little research to get estimates on some figures if this will be your first year incurring that particular expense.

The most important thing when estimating your expenses is to be as accurate as possible. Many of us have a tendency to think our numbers should be lower, so we underestimate our expenses, and subsequently end up breaking our budget.

A good rule of thumb is to budget high. If you come in under budget, great! You’ll have more money at the end of the year to invest in business expansion.

With your expenses calculated, you now know exactly how much money you need to make this year to cover all your expenses.

How does that number line up with last year’s income?

Do you expect this year’s income to be similar?

Again, accuracy is key. Your income goal should be achievable , but it should also be difficult enough to really make you work.

By the way, in the next step, we’ll create a plan to make your income goal a reality. That step will be a good litmus test to see if your income goal is reasonable.

Assuming you hit your planned expense and income figures this year, what will your profit be? Again, it’s just income minus business expenses.

How does this projected profit compare to last year’s profit? Are you happy with this profit? If not, now’s the time to review your projected expenses and income to see if you need to make any adjustments.

When you subtract your total expenses from your projected income, are you still at a positive number? Because you need to be!

3. Create a Plan to Meet Your Income Goal

Now that you have an income goal in mind, we need to create a bulletproof plan to hit that goal.

To do this, we need to answer two questions:

• How many homes do you need to sell this year to meet your income goal?
• How many leads do you need to reach to sell that many homes?

Let’s look at each question in turn.

How Many Homes Do You Need to Sell?

Here’s the formula to calculate the number of homes you need to sell:

————————————————————————————————

(Average Home Price x Your Average Commission Percentage x Your Commission Split)

For anyone not algebraically inclined: we’re just figuring out your after-broker commission from an average sale, and then dividing your income goal by that number.

As an example:

If the average home price in your niche is $250,000, the average commission per agent is 3%, and your split with your broker is 50%, you would need to sell 27 average homes to generate $100,000 in gross income. ($250,000 times 3% = $7,500 x 50% = $3,750. So you make $3,750 on each average transaction. And $100,000 divided by $3,750 is 26.666 houses, rounded to 27.)

So, what’s your magic number?

Now, how are you going to meet that sales goal?

How Many Leads Do You Need to Reach?

First, let’s break down your home sale goal by month so it’s less daunting. Divide your magic number by 12 to figure out how many homes you need to sell each month on average.

Now, how many leads do you need to reach each month to sell that many homes?

To figure this out, you need to know your conversion rate. How many leads does it take on average to close a single deal? For seasoned agents, this is a matter of tracking your leads and your closed deals to know your personal conversion rate. For new agents, 100 leads for every 1 closed deal is a safe estimate in most markets. This number will improve as you gain sales experience and establish yourself in the market.

Here’s the formula for calculating your monthly lead requirements:

number of deals needed x number of leads required to make one sale

That number may seem high. But let’s make it more manageable by figuring out how many leads you need to generate each day. To do that, divide your required leads per month by 16. Why 16? Because life happens, and you can’t reasonably expect to prospect every single day of every month. So we’re figuring 4 workdays for 4 weeks per month.

As long as you commit to hitting your prospecting target 4 days per week, there’s no reason you shouldn’t hit your income goal!

4. Tracking Your Finances

This is one of the most often ignored steps in creating a real estate agent financial plan: tracking.

How will you know if you’re on track to stay on budget and meet your income goal if you don’t track your finances through the year?

Unexpected expenses and sales droughts can completely derail your financial plan. It’s important to catch these in real-time so you can adjust your plan as needed to get back on track as quickly as possible.

Keep a monthly log for expenses, and one for income. And actually use them! That’s the tricky part. It’s a good idea to schedule 15-30 minutes each week specifically to log your income and expenses from the previous week. Put this recurring appointment in your calendar to remind you to build this financial habit.

5. Long-Term Planning and Tracking

The final step to creating your bullet-proof real estate agent financial plan is to create a long-term financial plan.

Long-term financial planning is difficult for real estate agents. It’s hard enough to plan for a single year. How are you supposed to plan 5-10 years (or more!) into the future?

No one expects you to accurately forecast your income and expenses for the next 10 years. But there are some long-term financial plans that wise agents track. Btw, if you want to learn more on this topic, check out Financial Planning for Real Estate Agents for a comprehensive overview.

Planning to retire as a real estate agent is tough. You don’t have a 401(k) or a pension plan. So you have to plan for retirement on your own.

A Solo 401(k) is a great option because it allows you to contribute more each year than IRAs.

The key to retirement savings is to start early and save consistently. Compound interest will work its magic from there.

Aim to set aside a full 10% of your gross income for retirement. But start slowly if 10% sounds like too much for you to spare. Start with 3% of every transaction for the first year. Then 5% the next year. And keep increasing until you hit 10%. If you’re starting retirement savings later in life, you may need to save more. If you have other income-generating assets, like rental properties, you may be able to save less. Talk to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) if you need help figuring out your retirement plan.

Your Dreams

It’s sad that most of us put such a low priority on our dreams.

How many of us desperately want to travel or open our own brokerages or start a non-profit for the community? And how many of us never do these things because we just don’t have the money?

Make your dreams a priority by building them into your financial plan every year. And tracking your Dream Fund finances over the long term.

Your Legacy

What do you want to leave for the next generation?

You certainly don’t need to leave an inheritance for your children, but you may want to help your children and/or grandchildren with education expenses as your legacy. Maybe you want to create a family business to leave behind? Or build a community park for future generations to enjoy. Or establish a non-profit to assist those who come after you.

If you want to leave a legacy like these, you’ll need to include them in your long-term financial planning.

Your Net Worth

Tracking net worth year-over-year is one of the most rewarding financial exercises you can do!

Net worth is the best indicator of overall financial health. It’s a comparison of your debts to your assets. Think of it like this: if you sold everything you owned and paid off all your debts today, how much would you have left?

To calculate your net worth, start by listing all your assets and their present-day values:

• Checking Accounts
• Savings Accounts
• Retirement Accounts
• Investment Accounts
• Real Estate Holdings
• Collectibles

Now, list all the current balances on all your debts:

• Student Loans
• Credit Cards
• Business Loans
• Personal Loans

And finally, subtract the debts from the assets. The result is your current net worth.

The more assets you accumulate, the more your net worth will skyrocket. Especially if you acquire assets that appreciate, like real estate and financial investments (stocks and bonds).

Invest the time in calculating your net worth just once or twice per year. The motivation to improve your finances lasts long after you complete this small task. And as your net worth grows, you’ll find that you’re actually excited to calculate your new net worth and see how much your financial health has improved since the last check.

3. Marketing

Marketing builds on some of the foundation work you did in the branding and finance sections of your real estate agent business plan. With your financial goals and target market in mind, you can build a marketing plan to suit your audience and earn you enough leads to hit your goal.

The marketing chapter of your real estate agent business plan consists of:

• Knowing Where Your Leads are Coming from
• Scheduling Your Marketing Activities
• Adding New Marketing Activities Each Year
• Tracking Your Results

1. Know Where Your Leads Are Coming From

Do you know where your leads are coming from?

Online? Geo-farming? Cold-calling the Expireds? Somewhere else?

To know where your marketing dollars are making the most bang, you need to know which marketing methods are working for you.

If you don’t have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system that automatically tracks the return on investment for your leads, you can create a basic spreadsheet to handle this task. Just list your marketing methods in a column on the far left, then add columns for the:

• annual cost of each marketing method
• number of leads generated every year by each method
• cost per lead (annual cost divided by the number of leads generated)
• number of closed deals
• net profit from those closed deals
• ROI of each method (net profit divided by the annual cost)

(By the way, The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan on Etsy includes a ready-made template for you.)

If you’re brand new to the business and don’t yet have any data to analyze, don’t worry. Start your marketing strategy with three to five cost-effective marketing methods. My recommendations for most new agents in most markets are:

• Social Media Marketing.  You can create professional profiles and post for free (check out How to Create a Lead-Generating Social Media Calendar for tips). And if you don’t have the time or design skill to create your own social media posts, sign up for DRIP by Key Real Estate Resources.  You’ll get fresh social media posts and a new social media calendar delivered to you each month!
• Content Marketing.  Add blog posts to your website to boost your search engine rankings so buyers and sellers can find you online.
• Calling FSBOs and Expireds. T hese people are actively trying to sell! Get out there and talk to them. In fact, consider hosting a FSBO seminar where you give  real information about the home selling process. When sellers see what’s required to get top-dollar, they’ll probably list. And they’ll choose the agent who gave them the real info they were looking for! No time for a seminar? Offer a free FSBO guide instead.
• Mailers. Mailers may be old school, but they’re still a low-cost way to generate leads in many markets.
• Open Houses. While open houses aren’t effective for selling in all markets, they’re often effective at generating new leads .

2. Schedule Your Marketing Activities

Armed with your chosen marketing methods, it’s time to decide exactly when you’re going to take action.

You know that if it isn’t on your calendar, it won’t get done. Other tasks, like showings and inspections, will inevitably take priority because they are more urgent. Don’t let the urgent tasks keep you from the important tasks. And since your business doesn’t exist without a client pipeline, marketing is possibly the single most important task you can complete to keep your business growing. So schedule it!

Grab your calendar now and decide when you’ll:

• Launch your website (if you don’t already have one)
• Write and publish your blog posts (one per week is ideal)
• Post to social media (several times per week on your focus platforms, and at least once per week on the other major platforms). By the way, if you don’t have time to create your social media content, consider a service that creates the posts for you. DRIP by Key Real Estate Resources offers plans starting at just $9/mo.
• Call Expireds and FSBOs (daily! – so what time will you carve out every day for distraction-free phone marketing?)
• Send mailers (at least quarterly)
• Attend networking events
• Order any print media ads
• Launch any social media ad campaigns
• Etc, etc, etc

3. Add a New Marketing Activity Every Year

The real estate industry is always changing. What works one year might not work so well the next. And next year, you may find new marketing opportunities you weren’t even aware of this year.

Innovative agents experiment with new marketing technologies to keep their businesses growing.

In a hot market, you want to target FSBOs. When homes sell quickly, people think they can save on commission by selling themselves. So you need to show them what it takes to sell for top dollar.

And in a down market, you have a few options. One effective marketing activity to add in a down-market is to target renters. Home prices are lower than average, interest rates are favorable, and rents are increasing. Show these renters how to get a low down payment FHA or VA loan so they can use the market to their advantage! To really boost your leads, try creating your own Renter-to-Homeowner Program .

Another great example (albeit a more ambitious one!) of a new marketing plan for a down-market is to expand your services to include the property tax appeals service we mentioned in our discussion about your Differentiator. Most agents don’t even know this service exists, but it can provide you with a whole new income stream while simultaneously generating new leads and nurturing your relationship with past clients. And it’s far easier than you might imagine!

All you have to do is explain to the county that your client’s home is worth less than the value on their tax bill (which is  very often the case in a down market). You do this by running comps, like you already know how to do. If the county agrees, they’ll lower your client’s property taxes, and you get a cut of that reduction. You’ll be able to pitch this service to all homeowners in your niche and gain some serious exposure for your real estate business! Learn more by reading How to Make Money With Property Tax Appeals .

There are tons of creative marketing strategies that most agents never consider. Trying a new marketing activity each year will keep your business growing in any market!

4. Track Your Results

To know what works you need to track your results.

Back in Step 3, we looked at where your leads are currently coming from, as well as the return on investment for each marketing method. Without tracking your leads, you’ll never have this valuable data to help guide your next marketing move.

Every time a new lead comes in, record the marketing source that drove them. If you have a fancy CRM database, you can record the information there. If you’re just keeping your leads in a simple spreadsheet, no problem! Just make sure you have a column to record the source. And if you don’t currently have a system, consider spending a few bucks on a done-for-you CRM template .

4. Operations

Last section! The operations chapter of your real estate agent business plan consists of five parts:

• Supplies and Vendors
• Lead Follow-up
• Building Referrals

Let’s take a closer look at each…

1. Services

Here’s a question most agents never think to ask themselves: What services should I offer?

Most agents think the answer is obvious. You sell real estate, right? What’s to ask?

This is a HUGE missed opportunity.

There’s so much more to real estate than sales. What other services could you offer to 1) diversify your income, 2) recession-proof your real estate business, and 3) best serve your clients?

Not sure what I mean? Here are a few examples of services that would complement your existing real estate practice:

Property Tax Appeals

We’ve mentioned property tax appeals a few times already. It’s just such a perfect fit for real estate agents (who already have about 95% of the knowledge and skills required to make money in property tax appeals), but surprisingly few agents are capitalizing on this homeowner need! Again, to learn more, check out How to Make Money With Property Tax Appeals

New Home Photo Shoots

If it isn’t on Instagram, it didn’t happen. Millennials and beyond want to show off their new home on social media. And they’re willing to pay for quality photos of themselves in their new place.

If you have photography skills (or you partner with a professional photographer for your listing photos), you can easily add this service to your real estate business.

Offer photoshoot packages to your buyer clients. But don’t stop there. Ask your colleagues if you can reach out to their buyers as well. Then promote your photoshoot services online. Before you know it, you’ll have a healthy new income stream!

And the best part: your clients’ social media pics become free advertising for you. Not only will this boost your photography services, but it can also bring you new buyers and sellers!

Read more about the benefits of offering new home photoshoots .

Property Management

If you want to land more investor clients (and wow them with your services!), offer property management services.

You know, tenant screenings, rent collection, maintenance requests, renewals, etc.

In most markets, property managers can command a 10-20% commission on the monthly rent for property management. It doesn’t take many units to add up to a substantial income stream.

Not interested in taking on ongoing property management work? Simply helping property owners screen new tenants can earn you a commission of around 50% of the first month’s rent, and then the day-to-day management can be handled by the property owner until they need new tenants. It’s an easy way to land a quick paycheck!

Other Services

There are tons of other ideas for additional income streams you can add to your real estate business. Check out 55 Ways to Make Money in Real Estate for more ideas!

2. Supplies and Vendors

Once you know what services you will offer, you can plan for your supply and vendor needs.

As a service business, your supplies should be minimal. Here are a few supplies to consider:

• Marketing Materials
• Software Subscriptions

Not much to it!

Depending on the services you offer, you may need to utilize the services of several vendors.

On the real estate sales side, you have the standard players:

• Escrow Officers
• Transaction Coordinators
• Marketing Publications

Then consider your other income streams. If you’re offering property tax appeals, you may want to hire a virtual assistant during appeal season to research assessed values and handle your data entry. If you’re offering new home photoshoots, you may want to partner with a professional photographer.

Ask yourself two key questions:

• Would a vendor boost the quality of my business?
• Is it worth paying someone to complete certain tasks so I can focus my energy where it will have the greatest impact?

If the answer to either question is yes , you should absolutely use a vendor.

3. Your Team

For many real estate agents, you’re a team of one! You do everything yourself. But many agents want to grow a larger team: admin, buyer’s agents, listing specialists, etc.

Technology has opened many opportunities to help you grow your team. For example, your first team addition might be an inexpensive virtual assistant. You can hire a real estate assistant to take care of all your data entry, social media engagement, appointment setting, and even blog writing! And you don’t have to pay a full-time salary or offer benefits to a freelancer.

Tech has also introduced new challenges. Managing a virtual admin is very different from having an assistant in your office. You don’t get the face-to-face communication, and you don’t have the level of control that you would have over a full-time, in-office employee.

What works best for you? You can always try hiring a freelance VA for a short time to see if you’re comfortable with that arrangement. And if not, you can post a job ad on Craig’s List for a part-time (or full-time!) in-office assistant. This position is generally paid hourly. Depending on your market, this could be a $12-$20 per hour position.

Then you can branch out into specialists. The order of your hires will depend on your personal strengths and preferences. If you love listing and you’re great at it, you don’t need a listing specialist; focus on getting a buyer’s agent, marketing coordinator, and operations manager instead.

Be honest with yourself about which tasks you just don’t enjoy, and which tasks you struggle with, then hire people with those as strengths!

Just remember to give yourself time to grow. You don’t need to go from 1 person to 10 people this year. It takes time to build an effective team. Give yourself 6-12 months between each hire to avoid the worst of the growing pains.

Here’s an example of an org chart for a full real estate team (the numbers indicate a recommended order of hire):

4. Lead Follow-Up

First, schedule time every day for your lead follow-up. Every workday, you’re going to sit down at a designated time, open your CRM (Customer Relationship Manager), and follow up with your leads. Statistically, the best times to reach people are 8-10 am and 4-6 pm. So for the best chances of success, your follow-up should take place during those hours.

Studies have repeatedly proven that you don’t convert a lead to an active client in a single follow-up. It typically takes 7-8 touches for a lead to become your client. But that’s just an average. If you really want to boost your production, you need to follow up with every lead until they become your exclusive client.

What if your lead ends up listing with another agent? They’re still a lead. Contact them every few weeks to make sure they’re satisfied with their agent’s performance. If that listing expires, who do you think is going to land the new listing?

Here are some tips to increase your conversion rates from leads to clients:

• Put every single lead in your CRM. Every seasoned agent has been surprised by a lead they thought was low-quality. If you don’t log the lead, you lose them.
• When a new lead comes in, aim to reply to them within five minutes. The sooner, the better! Auto-responders can buy you a little time.
• Schedule your next follow-up immediately after every follow-up.

5. Building a Referral Business

What is your plan for after the deal closes? Is your current plan resulting in repeat business and referrals? If not, it’s time to re-think your post-close plan.

Lucky for you, I have a tried-and-true plan, ready for you to implement today!

Here’s a simple 3-step process for building a referral business:

Step 1: Showing Genuine Gratitude

Some agents are bucking the trend of closing gifts. They have already provided quality service, so they don’t see the need to spend part of their hard-earned commission on a closing gift.

But failing to give a closing gift is a huge missed opportunity.

First, many clients expect a closing gift because of the tradition of closing gifts. And your goal is always to exceed expectations, never to disappoint your clients.

Then there’s also the fact that closing gifts give you the opportunity to express your appreciation for your clients’ business. Without their business, you don’t survive as a real estate agent. So cultivate that attitude of gratitude and show your thanks with a thoughtful closing gift.

Lastly, closing gifts are an opportunity to make a lasting impression. A thoughtful closing gift helps your clients remember you. And a carefully selected closing gift can even generate referrals! Check out our list of 20 affordable closing gifts guaranteed to impress your clients .

Step 2: Providing Ongoing Value

Most agents consider the job done when the deal closes. Savvy agents know that a little ongoing effort pays off HUGE in referral and repeat business.

How can you help your clients after the sale? First-time homeowners are pretty clueless when it comes to home maintenance. Maybe you can send them a friendly list of home maintenance issues to tackle each season.

Offering property tax appeal services is a great way to provide value to your clients every year! Surprise and delight your clients by conducting a “complimentary property tax assessment review” every year. All you have to do is compare the assessed taxable value to the market value.

• If the assessed taxable value is lower than the market value, you can send the client a letter to let them know that you’ve confirmed that their property taxes for the current year are fair and ready to be paid in full.
• If the assessed taxable value is higher than the market value, you can let your clients know that your calculations indicate they are being over-taxed, and you’re happy to file a property tax appeal on their behalf to try to lower the taxes for them. (you can download a done-for-you letter template from our post on property tax appeals).

You should also send custom value estimates to your clients every 6-12 months to let them know how much their home has increased in value (just in case they’re thinking of selling).

Step 3: Maintaining the Personal Relationship

Don’t just rely on blanket marketing to stay in touch with your former clients. Schedule some personal touches as well to make sure your personal relationship is maintained.

Here are a few examples of effective personal touches:

• Send a Happy Housiversary Card every year. And maybe a small gift for that first year (if you really want to wow your clients!)
• Host an annual appreciation event , and invite all your formal clients. A simple party at home is nice and personal. But it’s certainly not the only option. Hosting an outdoor movie night is perfect for families. Offering a “Hidden Gems” tour of your city is great for areas with lots of non-natives. And renting out a boat for a sunset cruise with drinks and live music would be ideal for luxury market clients.
• Check in out-of-the-blue. Send a quick text just to say, hey I was just thinking about you and wondering how you’re doing. Is anything new and exciting going on? These messages are great because there’s no agenda. You’re just reaching out to an old friend to see how they’re doing.

With these personal touches, you’re not just staying in front of clients, you’re building on your personal relationships with them!

Congrats on Completing Your Real Estate Agent Business Plan!

Whew…I know that was a long read (or a long scroll, anyway).

But if you follow the steps outlined in this post, you’re going to end up with a complete real estate agent business plan to provide direction and accountability to your real estate business.

You owe it to yourself to complete your real estate agent business plan and set yourself up for a career full of success.

All the best to you and your business!

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• Sample Business Plans
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Real Estate Business Plan

People would always need to find places. Be it for offices, homes, and whatnot.

Finding the ideal place irrespective of your needs and requirements is never a cakewalk, to begin with.

You can go through a number of real estates business plan templates before you write your plan.

Industry Overview

The market size, measured by revenue, of the Real Estate Sales and brokerage industry, is $156.2bn in 2021, and the industry is expected to increase by 0.4% in 2021.

Also, the market is changing at a rapid rate and the way people use spaces is changing at a rapid rate too.

Hence, to get on or stay on the higher end of the spectrum you’ll need to upskill and change the way you do business constantly.

But that is a fair trade for the amount of growth and profitability this industry has to offer.

Say goodbye to boring templates

Build your business plan faster and easier with AI

Plans starting from $7/month

Things to Consider Before Writing a Real Estate Business Plan

Be specific.

The real estate industry is broad when it comes to work and what you can do. It can either be a source of primary or passive income. At the same time, you might be involved in the industry as an investor, agent, or builder. Decide what you want to do and plan on that basis.

Do your research

The trends of the real estate business change constantly, hence doing your research and updating it constantly is a crucial part of your profession.

As your knowledge and expertise is your greatest asset in this industry, keep expanding it to stay at the top of things.

Build a team of skilled professionals

Having a team you can build your real estate business with is essential.

Select a group of individuals with a diverse set of talents ranging from good communication skills to brilliant analytical skills. Given the dynamics of the real estate business, you never know what skills might come in handy in your business journey.

Be ready for change

As we have constantly discussed, real estate is a dynamic industry. Change is the only constant you’ll have in this business.

Thus, it is important for everything from your plan and way of doing business to be change-friendly.

Sources of Funding for a Real Estate Business

Gaining funds is one of the major reasons for writing a business plan. And here are a few good funding options for your real estate business:

A traditional loan is one of the most basic options for getting funded. You can opt for this if you have a good credit score.

Non-bank mortgage lending

This is a good option if you don’t want to go through a lot of paperwork.

The asset-based mortgage

For this, the lenders look at the rental value of your property and provide a loan on that basis. It is a good option if you don’t want or can’t get a loan based on your personal assets or income.

Above all, it is essential to plan your business to figure out your funding requirements and the right way to fulfill the same.

Write Your Business Plan

If you have enough connections, and the ability to find places for people that have attributes they want and need then a real estate business can be a profitable one for you.

A business plan helps you get funded, explain your ideas to the stakeholders of your business, and make better decisions.

Hence, planning is an important aspect of starting or growing your business.

It has been created using Upmetrics online business plan software that helps you create dynamic and customizable plans anywhere and at any time.

Our sample real estate business plan can help you with writing a well-rounded business plan for your business. It can act as a guide and prevent you from getting stuck in a certain section for too long.

Real Estate Business Plan Outline

This is the standard real estate business plan outline which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Market Opportunity
• Demand for Housing
• Financing & Investment Forecast
• Introducing Kegan
• Business Model
• Short Term Goals
• Long Term Strategies
• Keys to Success
• Contemporary Living for the 21″ Century
• The Complete Package
• Pricing Strategy
• Implementation Strategy – Action Plan
• Target Market Overview
• Housing Shortage Overview in Saudi Arabia
• Housing Shortage Overview in Riyadh
• Housing Prices
• Kegan Home Prices
• Market Positioning & Brand
• Marketing Strategies
• Sales Strategies
• Sales Process
• Competitive Landscape
• Competitive Advantages
• Rashid Bin Said
• Director of Construction
• Member name
• Chief Accountant
• Director of Marketing & Sales
• Other Staff
• Independent Directors
• Solid Balance Sheet
• Impressive Cashflow
• Financial Summary
• Financial Assumptions
• Income Statement (Five-Year Projections)
• Balance Sheet (Five-Year Projections)
• Cash Flow Statement (Five-Year Projection)

After getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample real estate business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your real estate business plan pdf or doc file.

It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Download a sample real estate business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free real estate business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your real estate business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

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Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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How to Start a Real Estate Business

Did you know that approximately 25.8% of the $123.8 trillion net worth in the United States is held in real estate?

That means learning how to start a real estate business is one of the most crucial skills for entrepreneurs. Fortunately, we’ve talked to a lot of people about real estate.

We’ve talked to real estate business owners who collectively have hundreds of millions in property value and make millions per year to find out how they approach the real estate industry.

In this blog, we’ll share information about the real estate industry and explain how to start a real estate business. We’ll also analyze case studies and answer frequently asked questions about real estate.

You can either read straight through or click on any of the links below to jump to that section:

Learn About the Real Estate Industry

Successful real estate business examples, real estate business faq.

Let’s start by discussing the real estate industry.

You should familiarize yourself with the real estate market before you decide to start a real estate business. The information in this section comes from our business ideas database . Let’s look at some of the things you’ll want to know before you enter the industry.

How much does it cost to start a real estate business?

Most real estate businesses cost between $6K and $55K to start. However, some of the more advanced setups like real estate investment trusts cost up to $5.5M in initial costs.

These figures don’t include the costs of becoming a real estate agent or broker. Licensing varies by state and often requires on-the-job experience before you can start your own company or handle real estate transactions.

How much do real estate businesses make?

The average revenue for a real estate business averages between $41K for a real estate photography business to as high as $94M for real estate investment trusts.

The most common type of real estate business is a real estate agency. Those average around $191K per year.

Is real estate profitable?

Most companies in the real estate industry have profit margins of 7.6% to 22.3%. Exact profits will vary based on your niche.

Many real estate agents are licensed but don’t buy or sell any houses during a year. This can be for any number of reasons. They may be licensed to save on transactions or maintain the licensure required for property management.

Plus, there are also business brokerages and commercial leasing agents.

Do I need to be a real estate agent to start a real estate business?

No, you don’t have to be a real estate agent to start a real estate business, but it’s helpful to be at least an agent and preferably a broker. With these qualifications, you will be able to handle more of the legal aspects yourself.

What are some real estate business ideas?

There are numerous real estate business ideas that you might pursue. Some of the most common business ideas include:

• Investing in real estate
• Real estate photography services
• Mortgage loans
• Title companies
• Real estate agencies
• Flipping houses
• Real estate investment firms
• Real estate wholesaling
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• Property management companies
• Real estate software as a service
• Construction companies

You can learn more about these ideas in UpFlip Academy . Next, let’s look at some examples of successful real estate businesses.

The three entrepreneurs below had very different paths to building wealth through real estate. Check out their stories.

Aaron Amuchastegui

Aaron was building homes when the 2008 financial crisis hit and nobody was buying homes. That’s when he converted to buying foreclosures.

Since then, he’s bought more than 800 properties and created tools like Lead Propeller, Prophawk, and Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing. He also launched a masterclass about buying foreclosures. Aaron now earns more than $3.6 million annually.

Find out how this real estate business mogul runs his businesses:

Nicasa: Airbnb Property Management

Nicasa is a real estate business started by Sid Bahadur and Eva Xia. They run their Airbnb rental and property management company using strategies similar to hotels.

Their strategies have led to over $3 million in revenue while managing 22 properties. They share how they operate their successful real estate business in the video below:

Thach Real Estate Group: Real Estate Agents Becoming Investors

Thach Nguyen was a real estate agent when his mentor explained:

You can become rich as a real estate agent, but you have to buy real estate to become wealthy.

This insight helped him understand that just selling real estate isn’t enough. He started buying real estate and has now developed a portfolio of properties worth over $100M.

Find out how he approaches the real estate business:

As you can see, each of these real estate professionals took a different approach but still developed great wealth. You can become a real estate professional too.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know to make a real estate business profitable.

Real estate professionals and people in other industries can make a great living with a real estate business. It helps to have a strategy before you start your real estate business. You’ll want to follow a process similar to the one below:

• Conduct market research.
• Create a business plan.
• Determine startup costs.
• Create a financial plan.
• Build your brand.
• Create a sales plan.
• Obtain your real estate license.
• Choose a business structure.
• Get an EIN.
• Build a website.
• Get business insurance.
• Start networking.
• Join national associations.
• Find clients and tenants.
• Keep growing your business.

Find out how each of these steps will help you find success in the real estate industry.

Step #1. Conduct Market Research

The real estate industry is a huge market. There are plenty of ways to make money when you start your own real estate business. Learn about the different niches to figure out what part of the real estate market you want to enter.

Then look at the requirements to start a real estate business and determine who the major competitors are. From there, analyze the growth outlook. These details will all help you create an effective real estate business plan.

Step #2. Create a Real Estate Business Plan

Creating a real estate business plan is an essential step. Thach explained a really easy way to do it.

Second, what is the average rent in your location?

When you divide the two, you know exactly how many pieces of real estate you need to make the monthly income you want.

Alternatively, you can read our blog about how to create a formal business plan .

Step #3. Determine Start-Up Costs

While most real estate business owners spend between $6K to $55K to get into real estate, your business model will impact the actual costs. Even if you just want to buy a single-family residence to start a real estate business, you’ll still incur at least these baseline costs:

• Forming a limited liability company: under $1K
• Real estate license: $400 to $2.5K depending on state requirements
• Website: $100 monthly
• Customer relationship management: $0 to $1K monthly
• Property management software: $0 to $1K monthly
• Down payment on property: $45.8K to $157.4K
• Furniture (optional): $2K to $20K

There are also ways to start a real estate business without money like rental arbitrage or wholesale home sales.

Step #4. Create a Financial Plan

You’ll want to create a financial plan to help you figure out how you’re going to reach your goals. This may be a bit challenging because real estate markets fluctuate dramatically even over short periods.

In this financial plan, you’ll need to start with some assumptions:

• Number of properties owned
• Interest rates
• Changes in the housing market for buying new properties

Next, you’ll want to calculate approximate monthly and annual earnings. Include all the costs associated with running the business each month.

Here are the costs allowed by the Internal Revenue Service for Schedule E rental properties:

• Advertising
• Auto and travel
• Cleaning and maintenance
• Commissions
• Legal and other professional fees
• Management fees
• Mortgage interest paid to banks, etc.
• Other interest
• Depreciation expense or depletion

They don’t include the actual principal payments on the mortgage, but they do view depreciation as a non-cash expense. You should anticipate at least the following:

• Mortgage and property taxes: Variable based on home price
• Private mortgage insurance: Up to 1.5% of the mortgage
• Maintenance: 1% to 2% of the property value per year
• Homeowners insurance: $2,285 per year ( average )

You may also need to budget for utilities and homeowners association fees depending on the exact arrangement of your business.

Pro Tip: It’s best to set aside emergency funds in case you need to pay for unexpected costs such as legal fees or extensive cleaning.

Once you know your expected real estate income and expenses, calculate how much profit you’ll have left each month as well as cumulative profit. Each time you reach enough profit to pay 20% as a down payment, you have enough money to pay for another property.

There are also financial tools that let you borrow against equity to speed up the process of developing wealth. However, these come with additional risk, so you should make sure you fully understand how each loan product works.

Step #5. Build Your Brand

There are two ways to go about building your brand in real estate: personal brands or corporate brands. Depending on the business and your goals, you may want to build one or even both brands.

Corporate Brands

This is the type of brand you’ll want to build if you’re a company like CBRE Group, Inc., which manages commercial real estate properties. The same applies to RE/MAX for residential real estate.

You’ll want to create content that helps people understand what you do. If you’re also building a personal brand, try to include the same person or people in each piece of content.

Personal Brands

Realtors and real estate agents commonly use personal branding to find clients. This involves using your name in marketing to help people remember you as an individual. The goal here is to create a positive reputation as a real estate agent or other professional.

You might want to develop a reputation for:

• Commercial real estate
• Residential real estate
• Custom homes

You might also want people to describe you as:

• Informative
• Resourceful

Promoting what you do and how you do it will help people recommend your real estate business to others who could benefit from your services and personal qualities.

Step #6. Create a Sales Plan

Depending on your real estate business, you will need different strategies to find:

• Real estate agents
• Property owners

Look at what the top companies do and what actions you can take to differentiate yourself from competitors.

Step #7. Obtain Your Real Estate License

As a business owner, you’ll benefit from becoming a licensed real estate professional. This will normally require pre-licensing education, taking an exam, and passing a background check.

Each state has its own requirements for licensure. Some allow you to immediately become your own real estate brokerage and do almost anything involving real estate. Others have separate requirements for real estate agents, brokerages, property managers, and business brokers.

Make sure to check your state’s requirements.

Step #8. Choose a Business Structure

Some of the most common business structures for your own real estate business include limited liability companies (LLCs), sole proprietorships, S corporations, and trusts.

The majority of these structures separate personal and business liability, but a sole proprietorship does not. It’s ill advised to run a real estate business without liability protection.

We suggest talking to an expert in real estate law to establish the best structure for your real estate business model.

Step #9. Get an EIN

An employer identification number (EIN) is issued by the IRS. You absolutely need to have an EIN if you’re going to hire employees.

Step #10. Build a Website

You’ll want a real estate website to market your services and properties. At a minimum, you should have separate pages for your company information, properties, contact details, and terms and conditions.

You’ll also need a disclosure about how you use cookies and your site map. Find out more about how to build a website .

Step #11. Get Business Insurance

Real estate companies need to have insurance to protect their properties against damage and liability. This ensures you’re protected in case potential clients, visitors, or employees get hurt on properties that you own or manage.

We suggest using Simply Business to quickly get quotes from multiple insurance companies.

Step #12. Start Networking

You’ll want a marketing strategy to help you get your brand out to potential clients. There are numerous ways to do this:

• Making a professional website
• Attending networking events
• Marketing your business on social media
• Joining business directories through groups like the National Association of REALTORS®

For in-person marketing, you’ll need materials such as business cards and pamphlets to help potential clients understand how you can help them with their real estate needs.

Step #13. Join National Associations

Joining associations of real estate agents, investors, property managers, and other real estate professionals is a good way to improve your real estate career. It will also ensure you’re keeping up with industry trends and building your web presence.

The Library of Congress has a great list of real estate associations , including:

• American Bankers Association
• American Institute of Architects
• American Real Estate Society
• American Seniors Housing Association 
• Building Owners and Managers Association

Most of these organizations charge membership fees to join. In return, they normally offer industry education, certifications, admission to industry events, and discounts on suppliers.

Step #14. Find Clients and Tenants

Every real estate business needs clients, tenants, or both. We’ve already discussed many of the ways to meet industry professionals, but finding tenants requires slightly different marketing strategies.

One of the simplest methods is to list the property on relevant marketplaces. Some popular markets and platforms include the following:

• Airbnb: This is currently the leading short-term rental platform.
• Vrbo: Vrbo is a main Airbnb competitor.
• Apartments.com: This site allows you to list apartments and home rentals.
• Facebook Marketplace: Whether you’re selling or leasing, Facebook can help you reach your local community.
• Zillow: You can list properties for rent or sale on this real estate business site.
• HotPads: Use this site if you have a unique house and lots of photos.
• Redfin: This website offers 3D tours, help from local agents, and premium placements.
• HomeFinder: This listing tool lets you upload photos, share listings to social media, and pay for priority sorting.
• RealtyTrac: This platform specializes in foreclosures and defaulted properties.
• Century21: Century21 is one of the top brokerages.
• Movoto: Movoto is another licensed real estate brokerage if you want to sell without a broker’s license.

As a property manager, you’ll need to follow all applicable real estate laws in your local real estate market. That means you’ll either need to work with a trustworthy real estate professional or become one yourself.

Becoming a professional makes it easier to create contracts like rental agreements, perform background checks, accept payments, and pay suppliers. Plus, you may have to make court filings for evictions or tenant disputes.

You’ll also need a customer relationship management system to manage your real estate properties and routine tenant requests.

Step #15. Keep Growing Your Business

Once your new real estate business starts bringing in a profit, you’ll eventually want to expand. This will mean different things for different types of real estate companies.

A real estate broker or a house flipper might want to make more real estate sales. Meanwhile, a real estate investor or Airbnb owner might want to acquire more properties and rent them out. If you’re a property management company, expanding could involve finding more real estate business owners who need your services.

Growth may be slow at first, but as your profitable business increases the amount of cash you have on hand, you’ll be able to buy more properties at a faster rate.

Want to know more about real estate services? Check out some of the questions below.

How do beginners start real estate businesses?

Beginners can buy shares of a real estate investment trust to start earning profits from the real estate industry. REITs expose you to the market with low risk.

As you build wealth, you might want to consider more direct ownership. This could include buying rental properties, flipping houses, or starting a property management business.

Is it hard to start a real estate business?

Starting a successful real estate business is easier than you might think, but you’ll still need to put in the work. A new real estate business may require education and a significant investment of both time and money.

The key is to create a comprehensive business plan, network with your target audience, and keep pushing forward. There’s a reason why real estate is one of the largest segments of wealth for many Americans.

How to start a real estate business with little money

There are three main ways to start making money in your local real estate market when you don’t have much money:

• Wholesale real estate: With wholesale real estate , you’re contacting properties that aren’t listed for sale and offering to find potential buyers for a fee.
• Real estate investment trusts: This involves investing in a business entity that already owns many properties. You earn a share of the profits on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.
• Rental arbitrage: In rental arbitrage, you rent a property and sublease it. Many online property listings specifically ban this practice. However, it is legal as long as you negotiate the right to do so.

How do you start making money in real estate?

There are so many ways to start making money by offering real estate services. You should consider the following factors:

• Personal involvement: Real estate brokers and property managers have the most active involvement. Meanwhile, REITs allow you to invest in other real estate businesses and collect profits.
• Interest in sales: Real estate agents and brokers are self-employed business owners who are legally allowed to sell real estate to their target markets.
• Construction knowledge: Many real estate businesses focus on buying homes, fixing them up, and selling them for a profit. Alternatively, you can rent out the property once it’s renovated.

As you can see, you’ll want to do market research to establish which business strategy fits best with your lifestyle and professional goals.

How to start a real estate business with no money

Setting up an LLC and obtaining a business license cost money, so you can’t legally start a real estate business with no money. However, you can start a rental business through home hacking (i.e., renting out rooms in your home), real estate wholesaling, or rental arbitrage.

You’ll be taking on significant personal risk if you run these businesses without an LLC and insurance, so be careful.

How to start a real estate business from home

Many people with a real estate broker’s license run their business from home. It’s a cost-effective way to start selling real estate. In addition, most or all real estate investors run their businesses from home.

As long as you don’t have lots of people coming to your house, you should be allowed to run your own business from home. Some of the main benefits between a home-based real estate business and other real estate brokerages are:

• Lower business costs
• Being able to claim part of your home expenses as business expenses

At the same time, you may want to rent a space in a coworking facility for client meetings or other professional activities.

Can you start your own real estate company?

Depending on what you’ll be doing in real estate, you may need to hire a licensed real estate agent or real estate broker to oversee transactions if you aren’t one yourself.

Many other types of real estate companies don’t require special licensing to perform the work.

We started by discussing the opportunities available in the real estate industry. Next, we established how three real estate business owners discovered their target markets and created their own successful real estate businesses.

From there, we explained how to start your own real estate business and answered frequently asked questions about the industry.

What kind of real estate business are you thinking about starting?

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Every real estate practice needs a business plan . The plan defines your values and strengths, your business goals, and clarifies where you excel as an agent and what kind of practice you intend to operate both near-term and long-term. Your business plan creates a roadmap that also determines your marketing plan and budget , and its goals and intentions help you focus, define, and measure your marketing efficacy.

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Define your mission and vision. A vision statement is a broad view of how you want to leave an impact on customers and the greater community, whereas a mission statement is a clear, concise declaration about your business strategy. Ask yourself these questions:

• What are your values and promises to customers?
• Do you want to work with buyers or sellers? Or both?
• Do you want to define your practice by specializing in particular types of property inventory, such as luxury real estate, sustainable architecture, in-city properties, fixers, new construction developments or condos?

Set goals and objectives. What are your business goals, in quantified terms? What steps do you need to take to complete these goals? Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely —in other words, SMART . Once your business goals are SMART, break down each goal into objectives, which are the specific set of tasks and activities you need to do to accomplish the goal. Example goals:

• Rank in the top 10 of listing agents for buyers in Smithtown.
• Get reviews from 70 percent of my clients.
• Make five prospecting calls every day.

Complete a SWOT analysis. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a strategic planning method that can help you understand the viability of your business goals. Completing a SWOT analysis against an objective (doubling listings, closing more transactions in a given time period) can help you understand if you’re positioned to succeed — or if you need to adjust your approach.

• Strengths : Do you have special skills, credentials, referrals, or connections to a particular population that, together, position you as a leader or obvious choice for target clients?
• Weaknesses : What do competitors do better? Do you need to gain new credentials or skills, communicate across new media, or hire an assistant to free up your schedule?
• Opportunities : Where’s the market headed, and how can you participate? What can you do today versus over time to take advantage of the environment?
• Threats : What could happen that is beyond your control, and how can you prepare? For example, local or national economic shocks like layoffs at a major employer, natural disasters, or challenges with shifting property inventory.

Create a targeted marketing plan. A good marketing plan can set you up for success, identifying the right tools and messages to effectively reach your audience, better service your clients and differentiate yourself from the competition. Who is your target customer and what is their real estate story? What is your plan to attract them and convert them to clients? How will you know how effective your marketing methods are or if you need to make a course correction? Key marketing plan components include:

• Ideal customer. Will you serve buyers, sellers, first-timer buyers, investors, clients looking to downsize?
• Differentiators and branding promise. What makes your work unique? If you had a tagline, what would it be?
• Product/service mix and pricing. What are your offerings and commission structure?
• Marketing materials. How will you communicate your services and at what frequency? Aside from business cards and a sign on your vehicle, will you blog daily, send direct mail quarterly, or host an annual party?
• Online marketing. How will you advertise and present yourself online?
• Lead generation, management, and conversion approach. How will you engage prospective clients who visit open houses, your website or online listings, or who connect with you in other ways? Will you use drip email to remain top of mind? Will you require web registration to view your online listings?
• Marketing budget. How much will you spend monthly and yearly? How will you track your expenses versus actual results?

Measure your business performance. A fundamental component of every real estate business plan and marketing budget is calculating the ROI (return on investment) of your marketing and advertising expenditures. ROI is the ratio of your profit to your costs. The more expensive your marketing efforts, the more income you need to generate to justify the expense — or the more time you’ll need to give to your marketing efforts to produce your desired effect.

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• 76 marketing tools to build your brand

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Creating a comprehensive business plan is essential for real estate agents who want to stay organized, maximize productivity and win market share. Here are 9 steps an agent should take to design a dynamic strategic plan.

1. Define Your Mission Statement

Take some time to reflect on why you are in this business. What are your primary reasons? What benefits will you provide to your potential clients? What do you hope to accomplish by taking on this responsibility?   

2. Define Your Target Audience or Niche Think about what types of clients you want to work with. It could be a category of people (such as new homeowners) or a specific niche (such as retirement communities). Will extra resources or measures be needed to reach them?

3. Evaluate Your Resources

Will you be working by yourself? Determine if it would make sense to hire an assistant or another agent to help manage lead generation. If you have a team, create a flow chart with each member’s responsibilities. That will help you to see who is doing what and identify any gaps to fill.

4. Set Clear Goals

A great model to follow is SMART goals : specific, measurable, achievable, relevant.

Include both short- and long-term objectives, such as annual income targets and the number of transactions you aim to complete.

5. Establish Budget and Financial Projections

Create a detailed budget that accounts for business expenses, such as licensing fees, marketing and advertising, office space and transportation.

Lead generation is your most important priority. A comprehensive, well-designed, multi-faceted marketing campaign is crucial for your business to succeed. As part of your budgeting step, be sure to include this important category and analyze if it makes sense to do in-house or to off source.  

6. Create Strategic Action Steps  

A great customer relationship management (CRM) system will help you run your business with maximum productivity.

• It allows you to organize all your contacts and their detailed information in one place. It also lets you rank contacts by importance and informs you when and how those clients and leads should be contacted.
• It has functionality that creates detailed reports so you can track your transactions and expenses. It should also be able to generate reports, so you know if you are on target to meet your financial goals and what to do to reach them.   
• It helps you stay aligned with your goals, to-do lists and calendars. A CRM can also create action steps based on your goals and current progress and can generate your priority list.

7. Create a Plan for Evaluation and Review

Regularly review your progress and adjust your business plan as needed. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to see if you are hitting your benchmarks and if you need to adjust your plan.

8. Consider Support and Accountability

Consider working with a real estate coach to help you strategize and implement measures so you can reach your goals. A coach will also help you deal with issues head on to keep you accountable and on task.

9.  Commit to Continuous Learning

Commit to ongoing professional development by attending training seminars and staying updated on industry trends.

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How to Start a Real Estate Business: A Complete Guide

Starting a real estate business involves much more than passing a licensing exam and choosing a brokerage. To thrive in the competitive world of real estate, you need to develop a comprehensive plan that covers everything from customer relationship management (CRM) systems to consistent prospecting. Here’s how to start a real estate business and navigate this exciting journey.

How to Start a Real Estate Business in 10 Steps

1. get a crm.

The foundation of a successful real estate business is efficient lead and contact management. A CRM, or Customer Relationship Management system, is essential for organizing contacts and streamlining processes. You can automate tasks, track interactions, and nurture leads by leveraging a CRM. This tool helps you stay organized, ensuring that no potential client slips through the cracks. A well-implemented CRM can transform your business by improving your ability to convert leads into clients.

John Cheney | MSN | A Customer Relationship Management system is essential for organizing contacts and streamlining processes.

2. Craft Your Ideal Personal Plan

Consider what you want your daily routine to look like, how much income you aim to generate, and the lifestyle you desire. These personal aspirations will guide your business decisions and help you stay motivated. Clarifying your personal goals ensures that your business efforts align with your life objectives, providing a solid foundation for success.

3. Write a Real Estate Business Plan

A detailed business plan is a roadmap for your real estate business. This plan should outline your mission, vision, and unique value propositions. Identify what sets you apart from competitors and articulate the core values driving your business. Determine the specific roles within your team and establish clear responsibilities. A robust business plan helps you stay focused and provides a strategic framework for achieving your goals.

4. Build a Consistent Marketing Plan

Marketing is the lifeblood of any real estate business. You need a consistent and effective marketing plan to build a solid client base. Define your target audience and tailor your marketing strategies to their needs and preferences. Utilize a mix of online and offline marketing channels to reach a broader audience. Focus on building a strong brand presence through social media, email marketing, and local advertising. Remember, consistency is vital to keeping your business top-of-mind for potential clients.

5. Get a Website

In today's digital age, a professional website is non-negotiable. Your website is often the first point of contact for potential clients, so it needs to make a strong impression. Ensure your site is SEO-optimized and integrates seamlessly with your CRM system. To attract and engage visitors, provide valuable content, such as blog posts and property listings. A well-designed website not only enhances your credibility but also serves as a powerful lead-generation tool.

6. Prospect Consistently

Consistent prospecting is essential for maintaining a steady flow of clients. Develop a prospecting system that works for you, whether it involves cold calling, networking events, or direct mail campaigns. Stay organized by keeping track of your interactions and follow-ups in your CRM. The most successful agents prospect regularly, regardless of their current workload. A consistent approach ensures a continuous pipeline of potential clients.

Cynthia Measom | MSN | Consistent prospecting is essential for maintaining a steady flow of clients.

7. Nurture Leads

Effective lead nurturing separates successful agents from the rest. Implement a follow-up system to stay in touch with leads over time. To build relationships, utilize automated email campaigns, personalized messages, and regular check-ins. Understand that most leads may not convert immediately, so patience and persistence are crucial. By nurturing your leads, you increase the likelihood of converting them into loyal clients.

8. Have Good Time Management

Time management is a critical skill for real estate professionals. With numerous tasks and responsibilities, it's easy to become overwhelmed. Prioritize your activities and allocate time to high-impact tasks that drive revenue. Utilize automation tools to handle repetitive tasks, freeing up more time for client interactions and business development. Efficient time management allows you to maintain a healthy work-life balance and ensures sustained productivity.

9. Stay Updated on Market Trends

The real estate market is dynamic, with trends and conditions constantly evolving. Stay informed about the latest market trends, property values, and economic indicators. Regularly research your local market and adapt your strategies accordingly. By staying updated, you can provide valuable insights to your clients and make informed business decisions. This knowledge positions you as a trusted expert in your field.

10. Build a Strong Network

Networking is a powerful tool for growing your real estate business. Establish relationships with other real estate professionals, potential clients, and community members. Attend industry events, join local real estate associations, and participate in community activities. A strong network can provide valuable referrals, support, and opportunities for collaboration. Building and nurturing your network is an ongoing effort that pays off in the long run.

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How to Write a Real Estate Investment Business Plan: Complete Guide

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Last updated on September 19, 2024

Building an investing business without a real estate investment business plan is sort of like riding a bike without handlebars. 

You might be able to do it… but why would you? 

It’s far easier and more practical to set out on your venture with a business plan that outlines things like your lead-flow, where you’ll find funding, and which market(s) you’ll operate. 

Plus, according to Entrepreneur, having a business plan increases your chances of growth by 30%. 

Download Now: Free marketing plan video and a downloadable guide

So don’t skip this critical first step. 

Here’s how to do it. 

Real Estate Investment Business Plan Guide

In this article we’re going to discuss:

• What is a real estate investment business plan?
• Create your mission and vision
• Run market analysis
• Choose your business model(s)
• Determine your business goals
• Find funding / Cash buyers
• Identify lead-flow source
• Gather property analysis information
• Create your brand
• Set growth milestones
• Plan to Delegate

What is a Real Estate Investment Business Plan and Why Does it Matter?

A real estate investment business plan is a document that outlines your goals, your vision, and your plan for growing the business . 

It should detail the real estate business model you’re going to pursue, your chosen method for lead-gen, how you’ll find funding, and how you plan to close deals. 

The kit and caboodle. 

It shouldn’t be overly complicated. 

Whether this real estate investment business plan is only for your personal use or to present to someone else, simplicity is best. Be thorough, be clear, but don’t over-explain what you’re going to do. 

As far as why you should have a business plan , consider that it gives you a 30% better chance of growing your business. 

Also, consider that setting out  without  a plan would be like — full of unexpected twists and turns — is that something you want to do? 

Probably not. 

It’s worth taking a few days or weeks to put together a business plan, even if it’s just for your own sake. By the time you’re complete, you’ll have greater confidence in the business you’re setting out to build. 

And an entrepreneur’s confidence is everything. 

How to Create Your Real Estate Investment Business Plan

Now we get into the nitty-gritty. 

How do you create your real estate investment business plan? Here are the 10 steps!

1. Create Your Mission & Vision

This can be considered your “summary” section. You might not think that you need a mission statement or vision for your real estate business. 

And you don’t. 

We know a lot of real estate investors (many of our members, in fact) don’t have a clear mission or vision that they’ve outlined — and they’re successful regardless. 

But if you’re just getting started…

Then we think it’s a worthwhile use of your time. 

Because if you don’t know why you’re going to build your real estate investing business, if you don’t see what purpose it serves on a personal and professional level, then it’s not going to be very exciting to you. 

You can either use this time to create a mission for your business… or a mission statement for you as it relates to growing your business (depending on your goals).

For instance…

• Our mission is to create affordable house opportunities in the Roseburg, Oregon community. 
• Our mission is to provide homeowners with an exceptional experience when selling their properties for cash. 

Or you could go a more personal route…

• My mission is to create a business that supports my family. 
• My mission is to build a company that gives me more time for what matters most to me.

Or you could do both…

• My mission is to create a business that supports my family, and my business’ mission is to provide homeowners with an exceptional experience when selling their properties for cash. 

Either way, it’s good to think about this before getting started. 

Because if you know why you’re going to build your business — and if, ideally, that reason resonates with you — then you’ll be more excited and determined to work hard toward your goals. 

It is also an excellent opportunity to outline the core values you’ll adhere to within your business as Brian Rockwell does on his website …

With this information in hand, you’re ready to move on to the next step. 

2. Run Competitive Market Analysis

Which market are you going to operate in? 

That might be an easy question to answer — if you’re just going to operate in the town where you live, fair enough. 

But it’s worth keeping in mind that today’s technology has made it possible to become a real estate investor in any market from pretty much any location (remotely). 

So if the market you’re in is lacking in opportunity, then you might consider investing elsewhere. 

How do you know which market to choose? 

Here are the 10 top real estate markets for investors, according to our own Carrot member data of over 7000 accounts, based on lead volume…

• Atlanta, GA
• Houston, TX
• Chicago, IL
• Charlotte, NC
• New York, NY
• Los Angeles, CA
• Orlando, FL
• Philadelphia, PA
• Phoenix, AZ

And here are the top 20 states…

• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Oregon 

That’ll give you some ideas. 

But what makes a market good or bad for real estate investors? Here are some metrics to pay attention to when you’re doing your research. 

• Median Home Value — This will tell you how much the average home sells for in the market, which will impact whether you’ll be willing to operate there. Because obviously, you want to play with numbers that feel reasonable to you. 
• Median Home Value Increase Year Over Year — Ideally, you want to invest in a market where homes are appreciating every year. And a positive increase in this metric is a good sign that the properties you invest in will continue to increase in value. 
• Occupied Housing Rate — A high housing occupancy rate means it’s easy to find tenants, and there’s a healthy demand for housing. That’s a good sign. 
• Median Rent — This is the average cost of rent in the market and will give you a good idea of how much you’ll be able to charge on any rentals you own. 
• Median Rent Increase Year Over Year — If you’re going to buy rentals, it’s a good sign if rental costs increase every year.
• Population Growth — When the population grows, it creates demand for housing, both rentals and on the MLS. That’s a good sign for a real estate investor. 
• Job Growth — Job growth is a sign of a healthy economy and indicates that you’ll have an easier time capitalizing on your real estate investments. 

Fortunately, all of this research is super easy to do on Google. 

You can just type in the market and the metric in Google and you’ll get meaningful results. 

Thank god for technology. 

Want more freedom & impact?

From Mindset to Marketing, join our CEO as he unlocks the best stories, tactics, and strategies from America’s top investors and agents on the CarrotCast . If you want to grow your business, you need to check it out!

3. Choose Your Business Model(s)

There’s not just one real estate business model . 

There are many. 

And the market you’re in — as well as your business goals — will determine which business model you choose. 

Here’s a brief overview of each…

• Wholesaling — Is a prevalent business model in the real estate world. Wholesalers find deals and flip them to other cash buyers for an assignment fee, typically somewhere between $5,000 to $10,000. It’s low risk and requires little capital upfront (you can get started with as little as $2,000). 
• Wholetailing — Wholetailing is a mix between wholesaling and house flipping. A wholetailer will find a deal, do some very minor repairs (if any), and sell the house on the MLS themselves. It results in large profits with far less work. But wholetail deals are hard to come by. 
• BRRRR — This stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. It’s a long-term process for buying and holding rental properties. It’s a great way to build net worth and create generational wealth. 
• Flipping — House flipping is the most popularized real estate investing method. It consists of purchasing distressed properties, fixing them up, and selling them at a good profit on the MLS, often making upwards of $100,000 per deal. However, this method involves much more risk than the other methods and each deal takes a lot longer to complete. 

If you’re just getting started, then we recommend choosing just one business model and doing that until you’ve mastered it. 

Down the road, you will likely want to use multiple business models. 

We know the most successful real estate investors are wholesalers, wholesalers, flippers,  and  they own some rental properties. 

That allows them to make the most of every opportunity that comes their way. 

But again… to start, just choose one. 

4. Determine Your Business Goals

At this point, you should have a pretty clear idea of why you’re going to build your real estate investing business. 

Are you going to build it because you want to make an impact in your community? Because you want more financial freedom? Because you want more time freedom? 

All of the above? 

Whatever the case, now it’s time to set some goals related to your mission for the business. 

Remember the SMART acronym for goal setting…

Start by thinking about how much money you’d like to make per month — this should be the first income threshold that you’re excited to hit.

Let’s pretend you said $10,000 per month. 

Okay, now take a look at your business model. How many properties do you need to have cash-flowing to hit that number? How many deals do you have to do per month? How many flips? 

Try to be as realistic with your numbers as possible. 

Here are some baselines to consider for the different business models at the $10k/month threshold…

• Wholesaling – 2-3 Deals Per Month
• Wholetailing – 2-3 Deals Per Month
• BRRRR – $1 Million in Assets
• Flipping – 1-2 Flips Per Year

Now you have a general idea of the results you’ll need to hit your first income threshold. 

But we haven’t talked about overhead costs. 

How much will you need to spend to get those results? 

Your answer to that question will be influenced by the market analysis you already did. But it’s pretty standard for the price of finding a deal to hover around $2,000 for a real estate investor (if you’re doing your own advertising). 

So now you’re spending $2,000 per deal, or whatever your specific number is. That’s going to have an impact on how much money you’re making. So now we can adjust your goals to be more realistic for hitting that $10k per month marker…

• Wholesaling – 4-5 Deals Per Month
• Wholetailing – 4-5 Deals Per Month
• BRRRR – $1.5 Million in Assets
• Flipping – 2-3 Flips Per Year

The idea here is to figure out how many deals you’ll have to do per month to hit your income goals. 

Then work that back into figuring out how much you’ll need to spend every month to realistically and predictably hit your goals. 

At $2k per deal and intending to hit $10k/month, here’s what your deal-finding costs might look like…

• Wholesaling – 4-5 Deals Per Month – $8k-$10k/month
• Wholetailing – 4-5 Deals Per Month – $8k-$10k/month
• BRRRR – $1.5 Million in Assets – $6k-$8k/month
• Flipping – 2-3 Flips Per Year – $4k-$6k/month

That should give you a baseline. 

How do those numbers look? 

If they feel too high for you right now, lower your initial goal — you want to make your first goal something that you know you can accomplish. 

Then, as you gain experience, you can increase your goals and make more money down the road. 

Free Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

Take our short survey to find out where you struggle most with your online marketing strategy. Generate your free marketing plan video and downloadable guide to increase lead generation and conversion, gain momentum, and stand out in your market:

Download your marketing plan template here.

5. Find Funding / Cash Buyers

Are you going to fund your own deals or find private investors ? Or maybe you’re going to get a business loan from a bank? 

If you’re just starting as a wholesaler or wholetailer, then it’s recommended funding your own first few deals — that should only cost $2,000 to $5,000… and why overcomplicate things in the beginning when you’re still trying to learn the ropes? 

However, as a wholesaler or wholetailer, you’ll still need to find some cash buyers. 

Here’s a great video that’ll teach you how to do that…

To consistently grow your cash buyer list (which is an important part of the wholesaling and wholestailing business model), we also recommend creating a buyer website like this…

Learn more about creating your cash buyer website with Carrot over here . 

To scale, you might seek out other sources of funding. 

Here are some options…

• Bank Loan — Getting a loan from a bank might be the most straightforward strategy if you’re just getting started. But keep in mind that the requirements for a loan on an investment property will be more stringent than the requirements were for your primary residence mortgage. And the interest rate will likely be higher as well. For that reason, you might seek out some of the other options. 
• Hard Money — Hard money loans come from companies that specifically serve real estate investors. They are easier and faster to secure than a bank loan and hard money lenders typically base their approval of the loan on the quality of the investment property rather than the investor’s financial standing. 
• Private Money — Whereas a hard money loan comes from a company; a private money loan comes from an individual with a good chunk of capital they’re looking to invest. That could be a friend, family member, coworker, and acquaintance. Interest rates and terms on these loans are typically very flexible and the interest rate is usually quite good. Private money is an excellent option for real estate investors looking to scale their business. 

But before you seek out funding from those sources, get clear on what exactly you’re going to use those funds for. 

Finding funding is even more critical. In fact — if you’re flipping properties or using the BRRRR method. 

(It’s a key part of the BRRRR method)

You’ll likely want to use hard money or private money to fund your deals as you grow your business.

But how do you find and secure those loans? 

Hard money lenders are easy to find — just Google for hard money lenders in your area and call the companies that pop up to get more details. 

Private money (which usually has more favorable terms than hard money) is a bit trickier to find but not at all impossible. 

To find private money lenders, you can…

• Tell Friends & Family — This should be the first thing you do. Tell everyone you can about the business you’re building and the returns you can offer investors. Then ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in investing. 
• Network — After you’ve exhausted all your friends and family, make a point of getting to know people everywhere you go. The easiest way to do this is to wear branded clothing so people ask about what you do. Talk to people at coffee shops, grocery stores, movie theaters, and anywhere else that you frequent. You never know who you might meet. 
• Attend Foreclosure Auctions — Foreclosure auctions are jam-packed with people who have cash-on-hand to buy properties. These people might also be interested in investing in your real estate endeavors. Or they might know where to find private money. Either way, it’s in your interest to build relationships with these people. Attend foreclosure auctions and bring some business cards. 

Here are some tips on finding private money lenders…

6. Identify Lead-Flow Source

Now let’s talk about how you will generate a consistent flow of motivated leads for your business. 

Because no matter which of the business models you’ve chosen… you’re going to need to find motivated sellers.

And you’re going to need to find those people every single month. 

There are essentially two parts to a successful lead generation strategy for real estate investing business. 

Both pieces are critical… 

• The Short Term — We call this “hamster-wheel marketing” because it requires you to  keep working  and  spending money  to generate leads. Examples include Facebook ads, direct mail, bandit signs, cold calling, driving for dollars, and other tit-for-tat strategies that will burn you out if you’re not careful.
• The Long Term — We call this “evergreen marketing” because it requires an upfront investment… but that investment pays off for years and years to come. Examples include increasing brand awareness for your business in your target market(s) and improving your website’s SEO , so that motivated sellers find you . 

Short-term tactics are critical when you’re first starting — in fact, they are likely going to be your only source of leads for at least the first few months. 

Here are some more details on the most popular and effective methods… 

• Tax default mailing lists
• Vacant house lists
• Expired listing lists
• Pre-foreclosure lists
• Out-of-state landlord lists
• Cold Calling — This might be more uncomfortable than stubbing your toe on a piece of furniture, but it can still be effective for finding motivated sellers. We have an article all about colding calling — it even has scripts for you to use. 
• Facebook Ads — Facebook ads is another excellent method for generating leads so long as you have a high-converting website to send them to . If you don’t, get yourself a Carrot website . Each Carrot site is built to convert. Here are some more details about running successful ads on Facebook for your real estate investing business.
• Google Ads — Google Ads is one of the most popular platforms for real estate professionals needing to provide quick results with a minimal to high investment depending on markets.

But over time, the goal is to invest in more long-term evergreen marketing tactics so that you can get off the hamster wheel and build a more sustainable business. 

Check out the video below to learn more about the critical distinction between short-term and long-term marketing. 

At Carrot, we’ve created an online marketing system that makes generating leads super easy and simple for real estate investors. 

And it’s 100% evergreen. 

Here’s an example of one of our members’ websites that converts like crazy…

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here.

7. Gather Property Analysis Information

We just talked about how you can generate leads.

But once someone calls you, once you’re checking out a property… How will you  know  if the property is a good fit for your chosen business model? 

After all, not every property will be a fit. 

First, ask the following questions when the seller calls…

• What is the address of the house you want to sell?
• How many bedrooms, bathrooms does it have?
• Does it have a garage, basement, or pool?
• If you were going to list it with a Realtor, what repairs and/or updating would you say would be needed?
• How much is owed on the house?
• Do you have an asking price in mind?
• Is the house behind on payments?
• If I come out and look at the property and make you a cash offer to buy it ‘As-Is’ and close as soon as you want, what would be the least you would be willing to take?

That will provide you with a lot of critical information about what you’re dealing with. 

Next, once you’re off the phone, do a bit of due diligence and look at what nearby properties of similar size have sold for in the last 90 days or so — that should give you a ballpark idea for the after-repair value of the property. 

If you decide that the property sounds promising, you’ll want to walk through it and take pictures of anything and everything that’ll need to be repaired. 

Back at the office, estimate the cost of those repairs — here’s a great resource from REISift that’ll help you estimate rehab costs . 

You’ll need to go through this entire process regardless of your business model so that you understand your max offer on the property. 

So how do you calculate your max offer? 

Use the 75% rule — check out this video from Ryan Dossey…

With that, you’ll know how much to pay for the property, how much to spend on repairs, and how much it’ll sell for. 

The more you streamline this part of the process, the better. 

8. Create Your Brand

Building a company is one thing. 

Building an easily recognizable brand and known to be reputable in your marketplace is quite another.

But that’s an integral part of the process. Consider some of these statistics…

• Using a signature color can increase brand recognition by 80 percent.
• It takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for people to form an opinion about your website.
• Consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33 percent.
• 66 percent of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities in a brand.

When it comes to building a real estate investing brand, your goals are to…

• Establish Rapport 
• Create Easy Recognizability
• Dominate The Conversation

The first step in this process is building an online presence – that means creating a high-converting website (i.e., one that systematically turns visitors into leads by capturing their contact information), running advertisements, and ranking in Google for important keywords. 

That’s what we can help you with at Carrot . 

Out of the box, our website templates are built to convert visitors into leads – and you can customize them however you want with your branding materials…

You’ll even receive immediate text notifications when someone signs up to be a lead so that you can contact them right away (speed is the name of the game!). 

Having a high-converting website is ground zero for brand-building success. If you don’t have a website that systematically converts visitors into leads, then every dollar you spend on advertising is going to be wasted. 

So that’s where we start. 

Once you’ve got your website up and running, then – if you’re a Carrot Member and subscribe to the Content Tools add-on – we’ll provide you with blog posts every single month that are written to rank in Google for high-value keywords relevant to your specific market …

You just upload, make some minor tweaks, and publish – and the more you publish, the more traffic you’ll drive. 

To help you become a true authority in your market, we also have the following tools…

• Keyword Ranking Tracker
• SEO Tool For Optimizing All Pages
• Text Notifications For Leads
• World-Class Support
• Campaign Tracking Links
• Coaching Calls

We want to make generating leads as easy as possible for you… so you can focus on closing deals and growing your business. 

You can try us here risk-free for 30 days. 

If you get yourself a Carrot website, that’ll take care of the “Dominate The Conversation” part of the branding process.

But what about these parts? 

Super easy. 

Establishing rapport is simply a matter of putting testimonials and case studies on your website. The more of these you have, the more people will trust your brand when they arrive on your website for the first time. 

As for creating an easily recognizable brand, create a simple branding package…

• Brand Colors

And then be consistent across all platforms. Use the same colors, font, logo, and brand name on everything – online and offline. 

That’ll make it feel like you’re everywhere – which is what you want. 

So there you go. 

That’s how you create a brand identity as a real estate investor. You’ll know you’ve done it right if people are coming to you out of nowhere – because a friend of a friend told them about you. 

And if you want a brand that dominates your market without all of the footwork, we’ve got just the thing – it’s called the Authority Leader Plan … and we’ll do everything for you. 

9. Set Growth Milestones

Okay – let’s pretend that you’ve taken all of the steps above. 

You’ve got yourself a functioning business and brand with funding, you’ve got consistent lead-flow, and you’re even closing some deals. 

Now what? 

Well… you want to grow, of course!

You don’t just want to do one deal per month… you want to do three, five, or even ten deals per month.

You want to make more money, increase your net worth, grow your business, and have a significant impact. 

How do you do that? 

First, you set new goals and milestones for your business’ growth – how many deals do you want to be doing per month in 6 months? In a year? 

Then break those goals down by quarter – and turn them into actionable to-dos. 

For example, if you’re currently doing one deal per month and you want to be doing five deals per month by the end of Q2, here’s what your goals might look like…

• Send 10,000 Mailers Per Month
• Spend $5,000 on Facebook Ads Per Month
• Hire Salesperson To Answer Phone
• Hire Acquisition Manager
• Create Workflow Process

Or maybe it’ll look a bit different. Make your to-dos as realistic as possible so that if you do those things … you’re virtually guaranteed to hit your goals. 

After all, what’s the point of having goals if you’re not going to hit them? 

All in all…

Set milestone goals to grow your business, turn those into to-dos and break them down by quarter. The next and final step of your real estate investment business plan might be even more important… 

10. Plan To Delegate

At some point, every real estate investor has to come to terms with a straightforward fact…

You can’t build the business of your dreams on your own . You need to delegate .

You’ve got to partner with other people, build critical relationships, hire people, manage people, create systems and processes to streamline your team’s workflow, and lots more. 

One of the most important areas that deserve a highlight is your client communications and satisfaction. Consider setting up a robust cloud contact center software to manage all the communications that will lead to long-term partnerships.

Building a business isn’t so much about hustling and bustling as it is about putting the right pieces in the right place. 

How do you scale your business? 

The answer is quite simple: you do the same things you’re doing now… but at scale – that means hiring people, training people, and creating clean-cut systems. 

That’s how you grow your business. 

Automate, delegate, and step outside of your business as much as possible to build a real estate investment company that serves you rather than enslaves you. 

Final Thoughts on Real Estate Investment Business Plan

What more is there? 

You know how to create a mission and vision statement, run market analysis, choose an REI business model, set goals, find funding, generate leads, analyze properties, create a brand, set long-term growth milestones, and delegate. 

All that’s left is action. 

And reach out anytime with questions – we’re always here to help!

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How to Start a Real Estate Business

Candice Landau

15 min. read

Updated March 18, 2024

Free Download:  Sample Real Estate Business Plan Templates

If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance you love talking to others, building connections, and helping out—you’re a people person. And in terms of profitability, real estate is a solid bet for many who are looking for passive investment streams, or to build a service that’s in high demand in many parts of the US.

A little bit about the sources in this article:

I interviewed more than 13 real estate agents for this article! Unsurprisingly, there’s some feedback that seems to hold true across the board, including the importance of having a good online presence, a solid understanding of SEO, a niche or a well-defined target audience , brilliant people skills, and the ability to manage your contacts and connections.

• 1. Planning

Whether you’re starting a real estate business, a corner coffee shop, or a company that manufactures rocket parts, it’s a good idea to write a business plan . Business planning makes you more successful— it’s been scientifically proven !

Not only will working through the planning process prompt you to think about important things like how you’re positioned to compete with similar businesses, and how much cash you’ll need to actually get started ,  it will also help you validate your idea and get into a habit of setting goals and milestones .

According to real estate investor Eric Bowlin , the purpose of a business plan is twofold.  He says, “First, it gives you a way to formalize your goals and direction. More importantly, it is a document that you can provide to lenders or investors to clearly illustrate not only your direction but where you are and how you got there.” During the planning process, Eric got a lot of great advice from a local Small Business Development Center .

If you haven’t had any experience in the real estate industry, it’s a good idea to get advice from someone who has. Real estate agent Jamal Asskoumi of Castle Smart says, “If you yourself are not directly involved in real estate, then it’s best to find someone who is, at the planning stage. They’ll know a lot more of the do’s and don’ts.”

Of course, you could always go down the route of taking formal courses on the topic, or reading the right books (see the resources section at the end of this article).

Take a look at some of our free sample real estate business plans for additional guidance.

• 2. Market research and idea validation

How do you know you’ve got an idea that will work? How do you know you’ve picked a niche in the real estate market that actually has a target audience? How do you figure out how to position yourself within this niche?

These questions and many more like them can be answered in the initial market research phase. By conducting both primary and secondary market research , you give yourself a broader idea of whether or not the target market you’ve picked is valuable enough to pursue.

Of course, there’s no one-fits-all approach to figuring out what niche you’re best served to help—and the variety of responses we got from real estate agents across the United States is proof of that.

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Do market research early

Taking the time to do your market research early will also save you both time and money. Michelle Stansbury , a realtor at Bluegrass Partners Trust Realty says, “My first year was a lot of fumbling around figuring out what didn’t work. My second year I tripled my business.”

Do market research to assess your own skills

Brad Pauly, the owner of Pauly Presley Realty , took the same trial and error approach but for him, it was a good way to figure out his own strengths and weaknesses. “I figured out my target market through trial and error,” he says. “When I started in the industry, I wouldn’t turn away any business! Once I realized my strong suits, I focused on them. Four years after I was licensed, I obtained my broker’s license and created the company we have today.”

If you’re not sure of your own strengths and weaknesses, conducting a SWOT analysis can help you figure them out.

Get some real-world experience or find a mentor

If you’re a doer first, another route to market research is to simply get in there and start doing things. Most people don’t have the additional time or money to do this, but if you do, good for you, it’s as valid a method as any. Morgan Franklin , a licensed real estate agent based out of Lexington, Kentucky, says, “I was confident [my idea] was going to work because I had already developed enough business to pay all of my startup expenses before I took my real estate exam.”

However, Morgan did spend some time working for a real estate attorney so he had a bit of know-how before diving in. “If you have no experience, I would strongly urge a new agent to find a mentor to work with for the first year or two,” he suggests. If you haven’t had much exposure to the industry, going the “mentor” route is a good idea.

That said, Morgan did do a fair bit of research himself. When asked how he figured out who his target market was, he responded, “I looked at the volume of sales in my city, from the property valuation administrator, and then looked for the ‘sweet spot.’ That is where the bulk of the volume of transactions was occurring. From there, I aimed for the upper end of that group.”

Cheryl Julcher , the Managing Broker at Yellow Brick Properties, did her market research, but also chose to start in an area she felt passionate about. “Here at Yellow Brick, we are all about healthy, safe, comfortable, and smart homes—eco-conscious and sustainable housing,” she explains.

“We went with our passion, and that is what I would advise anyone to do,” says Cheryl. “Go with the market sector —millennials, empty nesters, etc.—that you care about the most and are most knowledgeable about.”

If you have strong feelings about a particular sector, chances are it’s a good place to at least start doing your market research.

• 3. Branding

Branding is important for businesses of every size. If you’ve got a memorable brand, it’s easier to build credibility, look bigger than you are, attract customers, and in general be the first person or company people think of.

According to branding expert Sara Conte of Brand Genie, “Although you can influence your brand through well-designed logos, hilarious ad campaigns, carefully crafted press releases, or super-friendly service, ultimately, your brand is what the outside world says it is.”

Essentially, your reputation is your brand.

Branding tip #1: Your reputation is all down to your relationships

Real estate agent Jamal Asskoumi, of Castle Smart , knows this well; not only does he believe in the importance of setting yourself apart from the competition, but also in the importance of your relationships with your clients.

“When branding in real estate, try to make it as personal as possible. This is a business which relies heavily on interaction and building relationships. Ensure your business exudes the same welcoming smile you have.”

Be someone people want to align themselves with. You are the brand , after all.

Realtor Tim Frie takes this idea a step further. He says, “Building a reputation is more important than building a brand in real estate…plus, building a reputation is a lot easier than constructing a brand.”

Branding tip #2: Provide value and give people what they need

Reputation and authenticity seem to go hand in hand in real estate. Michael Kelczewski a real estate agent for Brandywine Fine Properties Sotheby’s International, feels that people can sense non-verbal cues and behavior patterns. As a result, there’s much less that can go wrong if you behave authentically.

Real estate investor, Eric Bowlin , holds the same belief. “Real estate is actually about people more than the land,” he says. “As a small business in real estate, I think it’s more about branding yourself than branding the business. Make people want to work with you.”

Branding tip #3: Creatively create your own space

If, however, you take pride in having the creative chops to brand something that stands out because it’s new and innovative, you have a unique opportunity.

Cheryl Julcher of Yellow Brick Properties differentiated her brand from competitors by developing a brand of homes called Zoetic Homes™. “Each home comes with a nutrition label, is quality verified by an independent third party, and is guaranteed to have a design that matches actual performance.”

Branding tip #4: Be the go-to expert

Being an expert in your industry is another great way to set yourself apart. For Morgan Franklin , the secret ingredients were video and an active social media presence.

“I have branded myself as a local expert and have differentiated myself through the use of social media, and more specifically, video,” says Morgan. “I host a weekly real estate show that is published to YouTube and Facebook. This has been huge as it has associated my brand with higher-end properties even though I haven’t had those listings.”

On the flipside, if you’re young and inexperienced, you might have as good an opportunity to sell yourself. “Sell your inexperience (and youth if that applies to you) as an asset,” says agent Michelle Stansbury. “You will be hungry to succeed and are more likely to work harder to get homes sold than the agents who have already ‘made it.’ Inexperience isn’t a total weakness and don’t let anyone convince you that it is.”

• 4. Making it legal

One of the best things about getting into real estate is that for most states, there’s really only one exam you need to pass. Study hard, and you might be able to do it in a couple of months. Naturally, this differs slightly from state to state, so make sure to check in with your own state about regulations and rules.

In Florida, for example, you don’t need to be a real estate agent or a broker in order to open up a real estate company. According to Tim Frie , “You just need a broker-of-record who is an officer or manager of the company who is responsible for overseeing the actions and transactions of the sales associates.”

The Real Estate Prep Guide website is a great place to find test prep materials or to get a taste of what the real estate exam in your state looks like.

Of course, real estate qualifications aside, there are some things that you can do pretty early on, including figuring out a name for your business, registering said name ,  applying for a Federal Tax ID , and obtaining any necessary business licenses and permits .

For Tim, choosing a company name was a strategic action. “My partners and I decided on something very close to home: a combination of two of our names. A lot of notable real estate companies are named like this: Coldwell Banker, Keller William, Engel & Volkers, Long, and Foster. Not only did we want to emulate what was already proven in the industry, but through the way that we provide service, we wanted something very deep to leave behind as a legacy that was a result of our hard work and dedication.”

Many other real estate agents also simply go with their own name, as it’s a great way to attach your business to your personal brand.

Providing you know what things you need to get done to start , the process of actually getting started isn’t all that hard. “Create a corporation, register your DBA, make sure you are in good standing with all boards and commissions,” says Brad Pauly owner of Pauly Presley Realty , listing some key things you need to do to get started. He also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to look into getting liability insurance. That’s key!

If you’re still worried about where to start and how to make it “legal,” real estate broker James Brooks advises consulting an attorney who specializes in real estate law.

• 5. Getting financed

One of the great things about getting started in the real estate industry is that having a huge amount of cash on hand isn’t always necessary.

It’s also a business that you can start part-time while you’re still holding down a day job (though of course, you may need a flexible employer so that you duck aside to occasionally take phone calls).

Joshua Jarvis, the owner of Jarvis Team Realty , says, “The startup cost to launch in real estate is very low. I used the savings I had and for less than $1,000 I was able to start. Now my monthly budget is 10 times this, but you don’t really need any money to start—or so most think.”

The real thing to think about, according to Joshua, is cash flow . “Don’t just calculate the startup cost, calculate ‘carrying cost,’” he says. “As in, how many months it will take you to start cash flowing. In real estate, there are a good 60 days or more before you could get paid.”

For Hollywood real estate agent, Gwen Banta , getting the finances to take the job seriously had a lot to do with other revenue streams to begin with, including her work as an actress and writer.

If you do find that you need  investor funding or a bank loan , writing a business plan is a solid first step.

Real estate agent Jamal Asskoumi, took the finances for his business from personal savings. “If you cannot fund the project yourself, ensure you know how and where to find investors,” he says. “Also, create a flawless business plan to present to them.”

If you’re wondering what a real estate business plan looks like, take a look at some of our free sample real estate business plans . They’ll give you a great idea of how to structure your own plan. Also, be sure to check out the resources below, including our guides on funding and pitching , which will help you when it comes time to present to an investor or a bank.

• 6. Setting up shop

For most people getting started in real estate, an office location isn’t necessary. At this beginning phase, the focus is really more on building a reputation within your chosen niche.

Real estate investor  Eric Bowlin says, “The vast majority of people I know who work in real estate have started in their own home. It’s more important to choose a target market than to worry about a location for your storefront. At startup, you need to be flexible and able to rapidly adjust your plan if it’s not working. A physical location will tie you down to that market and make you less flexible while simultaneously adding expenses.”

Of course, there may come a time when you do want to find a business location ,  hire employees , and get set up with the right technology. Then again, hiring employees isn’t for everyone. Eric says, “I’ve had employees in the past and I will never hire an employee again. The government regulations for employees is far too burdensome and expensive. Instead, everyone I work with is treated like a contractor and given a 1099.”

When it comes to technology, great customer relationship management software and a shared inbox solution seems to be the real estate agent’s prized possession. Cheryl Julcher doesn’t mince her words: “Our essential technology is our CRM, and the ability to work from anywhere 24/7.”

And she’s not the only one who advises using a tool that helps you manage your contacts. For owner Joshua Jarvis , a good CRM is practically indispensable, and it’s something many real estate agents overlook. “The only real piece of technology that might not be common sense is a database. Whether it’s an advanced CRM or simply Outlook, this is huge. Your database is your business.”

If you haven’t already been convinced, doing well in real estate boils down to those personal connections you make, whether or not you’ve got a real-life office location. If you do hire employees, make sure they’re a good fit with your values and your brand first. After all, you don’t want to damage the great reputation you’ve spent so much time building.

• 7. Marketing and launching

Ask any real estate agent how they market their business, and you’ll find that “SEO” and “a good web presence” are common responses. Beyond the required networking you’ll need to do, maintaining an online presence in your real estate niche is key to your success.

Again, we go back to the importance of your personal relationships with people. Getting business is all about seeing people, wherever they are, though it’s equally important to have an online presence so that people can find you themselves!

Tim Frie says, “A lot of real estate marketing is based on forming relationships, and you can do that most efficiently by blending an online strategy with a traditional outreach and connection strategy.”

If you don’t have any customers, a good place to start is to reach out to people in your existing network. “Tell them about what you’re doing,” Tim says. “Ask if they know anyone who you can provide value to. If you’re new and starting out, you need to put yourself in situations that allow you to create new connections, meet new people, and provide value just by being yourself. Once people like you, they’ll correlate your name with ‘real estate’ when they themselves or someone they know want to buy or sell a house.”

Candice Landau is a marketing consultant with a background in web design and copywriting. She specializes in content strategy, copywriting, website design, and digital marketing for a wide-range of clients including digital marketing agencies and nonprofits.

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How to Create a Successful Real Estate Marketing Plan: Tips and Strategies

In the competitive world of real estate, having a solid marketing plan isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential. A well-crafted strategy can mean the difference between a property that sits on the market for months and one that sells quickly at a premium price. Whether you’re a seasoned realtor or just starting out, understanding the fundamentals of a real estate marketing plan can elevate your business to new heights.

From leveraging social media to creating compelling property listings, the right approach can attract more potential buyers and sellers. This article will delve into the key components of an effective real estate marketing plan, offering insights and tips to help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Table of Contents

Understanding a Real Estate Marketing Plan

A real estate marketing plan is essential for achieving success in property sales. It outlines the strategies and actions necessary to market properties effectively. Without a clear plan, real estate agents may struggle to attract buyers or sellers.

Key Components

Market Analysis : This involves examining the local real estate market to identify trends and opportunities. Agents can use tools like MLS data and market reports.

Target Audience : Identifying the ideal buyers or sellers for a property helps in tailoring marketing efforts. Segmentation can be based on demographics, preferences, or buying behaviors.

Marketing Channels : Different channels suit different audiences. These can include social media platforms, email campaigns, SEO, and traditional advertising.

Setting Goals

Effective plans set achievable and measurable goals. Examples: increasing property viewings by 20%, generating a specific number of leads per month, or reducing the average time a property spends on the market. Monitoring these goals helps in assessing the effectiveness of the marketing efforts.

Budget Allocation

Allocating a budget for marketing activities ensures that resources are used efficiently. This may include spending on online ads, content creation, professional photography, and virtual tours.

Regular Evaluation

Regularly evaluating the performance of the marketing plan helps in making necessary adjustments. Metrics such as lead conversion rates, engagement levels on social media, and return on investment (ROI) provide valuable insights.

Tools and Technologies

Various tools and technologies streamline marketing efforts. Examples: CRM systems for managing leads, analytics software for tracking campaign performance, and design tools for creating engaging content. Using these tools effectively can significantly boost the success of a real estate marketing plan.

Key Components of a Real Estate Marketing Plan

Effective real estate marketing plans consist of several critical elements, each contributing to the acceleration and success of property sales.

Market Research

Market research identifies current market conditions and trends. By analyzing local real estate data, one can understand property demand, average sale prices, and competition. Realtors often use tools like MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to gather this data and make informed decisions. This analysis is crucial for pricing properties competitively and identifying potential selling points.

Target Audience

Defining a target audience helps tailor marketing efforts to the right demographic. Factors like age, income level, family status, and lifestyle preferences help segment the market. For example, young professionals might prefer urban condos, while families might seek suburban homes with good schools. Knowing the audience enhances the effectiveness of advertisements and property listings.

Budget allocation ensures efficient use of marketing resources. A well-planned budget includes costs for online advertisements, print media, professional photography, and virtual tours. Allocating funds based on past campaign performance and expected ROI (Return on Investment) maximizes marketing effectiveness. Monitoring expenditures against the budget helps maintain financial control and adjust strategies as needed.

Effective Marketing Strategies for Real Estate

Implementing effective marketing strategies ensures properties attract the right buyers and sell quickly. Combining digital and traditional methods helps maximize reach and engagement.

Digital Marketing Techniques

Utilizing digital techniques enhances market reach. Realtors can leverage the following:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize property listings to rank higher on search engines using relevant keywords and high-quality content.
• Paid Search Advertising: Use pay-per-click (PPC) ads like Google Ads for targeted exposure.
• Email Marketing: Send newsletters and property updates to a segmented audience to maintain engagement and nurture leads.
• Virtual Tours: Provide 360-degree tours to allow potential buyers to explore properties remotely.

Traditional Marketing Methods

Despite the rise of digital marketing, traditional methods remain effective. Real estate agents can employ these tactics:

• Print Advertising: Utilize newspapers, magazines, and brochures to reach a local audience.
• Direct Mail Campaigns: Send postcards and flyers to targeted neighborhoods.
• Open Houses: Host events to allow prospective buyers to view properties in person.
• Networking: Participate in community events and local sponsorships to build a strong reputation.

Social Media Engagement

Social media platforms offer powerful tools for real estate marketing. Agents can increase visibility through:

• Content Creation: Share high-quality images, videos, and blog posts about properties and market trends.
• Platform Utilization: Use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach diverse audiences.
• Live Streams: Host live virtual tours and Q&A sessions to engage followers in real-time.
• Advertisements: Leverage social media ads to target specific demographics and interests.

Combining these strategies ensures a comprehensive and effective real estate marketing plan, addressing the needs of various buyers and sellers.

Tools and Resources for Creating Your Marketing Plan

Selecting the right tools streamlines efforts and boosts the efficacy of a real estate marketing plan. Various software and analytical tools provide essential insights and automation capabilities, enhancing overall performance.

Marketing Software

Marketing software automates repetitive tasks and optimizes marketing strategies. Examples include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce, which track client interactions, manage leads, and store important data. Email marketing tools such as Mailchimp help create, send, and analyze email campaigns, ensuring targeted communication with prospects. Social media management platforms like Hootsuite schedule posts, monitor engagement, and provide analytics, enabling consistent and effective social presence maintenance. These tools collectively save time, enhance organization, and ensure more personalized client interactions.

Analytical Tools

Analytical tools provide critical data to evaluate and refine marketing efforts. Google Analytics tracks website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates, offering insights to optimize online presence. Heatmap tools like Hotjar visualize user interactions on web pages, helping identify areas requiring improvement. Real estate-specific analytics platforms such as Zillow Premier Agent provide market trends, performance metrics, and lead analysis, ensuring data-driven decision-making. Utilizing these tools helps measure campaign success and make informed adjustments for better results.

Measuring Success and Adjusting Your Plan

To ensure a real estate marketing plan is effective, measuring success and adjusting strategies is essential. Ongoing evaluation helps identify what works and where improvements are needed.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs serve as metrics to gauge the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Typical KPIs in real estate marketing include lead generation, conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI). For instance:

• Lead Generation : Tracks the number of leads generated through various marketing channels like social media or email campaigns.
• Conversion Rate : Measures the percentage of leads converted into clients or sales. It indicates how well a campaign attracts serious buyers.
• ROI : Compares the cost of marketing efforts to the revenue generated from sales, ensuring efficient use of the marketing budget.

By regularly monitoring these KPIs, real estate professionals can determine which strategies are most effective and make data-driven decisions to optimize their marketing efforts.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement involves regularly updating and refining the marketing plan. If a strategy isn’t delivering the expected results, it’s crucial to pivot and test new approaches. Steps for continuous improvement include:

• Regular Analysis : Conducting frequent reviews of marketing performance data helps identify trends and patterns.
• Feedback Loop : Gathering client feedback provides insights into customer experiences and areas for enhancement.
• A/B Testing : Running A/B tests on marketing materials like email subject lines or ad creatives helps identify the most effective elements.

Real estate professionals enhance their marketing success by embracing a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring their strategies remain effective and relevant.

A well-crafted real estate marketing plan is indispensable for thriving in today’s competitive market. By understanding market trends, knowing the target audience, and leveraging both digital and traditional marketing methods, real estate professionals can enhance their reach and effectiveness. Utilizing the right tools and regularly evaluating performance through KPIs ensures continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making. With these strategies in place, realtors can achieve better results, sell properties faster, and maximize their returns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is a marketing plan important in real estate.

A marketing plan is crucial in real estate because it can significantly impact how quickly and at what price a property sells. It provides a structured approach to promoting properties, ensuring that efforts are targeted and effective.

What are the key components of an effective real estate marketing plan?

Key components of an effective plan include market analysis, understanding the target audience, selecting appropriate marketing channels, setting achievable goals, allocating a budget, and regularly evaluating performance.

How does market research benefit a real estate marketing plan?

Market research helps identify current market conditions and trends, which are essential for pricing properties competitively and highlighting their selling points. It ensures marketing efforts are based on accurate, up-to-date information.

Why is understanding the target audience important in real estate marketing?

Understanding the target audience allows realtors to tailor marketing efforts to specific demographics, making advertisements and property listings more effective and appealing to potential buyers.

What digital marketing techniques are effective in real estate?

Effective digital marketing techniques include SEO, paid search advertising, email marketing, virtual tours, and social media engagement. These methods help enhance market reach and attract prospective buyers.

Are traditional marketing methods still relevant in real estate?

Yes, traditional methods like print advertising, direct mail campaigns, open houses, and networking remain valuable tools. They complement digital strategies and help reach a broader audience.

How can social media engagement benefit real estate professionals?

Social media allows real estate professionals to create engaging content, host live streams, run targeted ads, and interact directly with potential buyers, boosting visibility and engagement.

What tools and resources are essential for a real estate marketing plan?

Essential tools include CRM systems, email marketing platforms, social media management tools, and analytics software. These tools streamline marketing tasks and provide critical data for evaluating performance.

How should real estate professionals measure the success of their marketing efforts?

Success can be measured using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as lead generation, conversion rates, and ROI. Regular monitoring and adjustment of strategies based on these metrics help ensure effectiveness.

Why is continuous improvement important in real estate marketing?

Continuous improvement, through regular performance analysis, client feedback, and A/B testing, ensures that marketing strategies remain effective, relevant, and optimized for better results.

Comprehensive Guide to Cary Estate Planning: Secure Your Assets and Peace of Mind

Why Hiring an Estate Planning Financial Advisor is Essential for Your Financial Future

Estate Planning Basics: Secure Your Future and Protect Your Loved Ones

• By Liam Edwards
• Last Updated September 29, 2024
• Supply Chain and Logistics

How Do I Start a Trucking Company: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re asking ‘how do I start a trucking company,’ you’re in the right place. This guide will take you through essential steps like creating a business plan, registering your company, obtaining licenses, and more, to help you launch and run a successful trucking business.

Table of Contents

Key takeaways.

Develop a comprehensive trucking business plan that includes market analysis, funding strategies, and competitive positioning.

Secure necessary licenses, permits, and insurance to ensure legal compliance and protect your business assets.

Implement effective financial management systems and consistently find profitable loads to sustain and grow your trucking company.

Create a Trucking Business Plan

A well-crafted trucking business plan is your roadmap to success. It outlines your company goals, operational strategies, and financial forecasts, providing a clear direction for your business. Start by conducting a thorough market analysis to understand industry trends and the competitive landscape. This demonstrates your awareness of market demands and helps in identifying opportunities and threats.

Next, detail your funding strategies. Outline how you plan to secure capital, whether through loans, investors, or personal savings. This section is crucial for attracting potential investors and ensuring you have the necessary funds to start and grow your business. Additionally, perform a competitive analysis to identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This will help you position your unique selling propositions effectively.

Remember, your business plan should evolve over time. As your business grows and the trucking industry changes, update your plan to reflect new goals and strategies. This adaptability can be a key factor in maintaining a successful trucking business.

Register Your Trucking Business

The first official step in starting your self owned trucking company is registering it with the appropriate authorities. Choose a business structure that offers legal protections and tax benefits, such as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a corporation. This decision will impact your business operations, liability, and tax obligations. Many trucking companies also consider these factors during their establishment.

Next, register your own trucking company with local or state governments to legally establish your trucking business. This process includes securing the necessary business licenses and permits relevant to your state. Depending on your location and the nature of your operations, you may need various permits, including those for international cargo.

Finally, obtain a Federal Tax ID, also known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is generally required for establishing a business and managing taxes. With your EIN in hand, you can open a business bank account and handle your business finances more efficiently.

Obtain Necessary Licenses and Permits

To legally operate your trucking business, you must secure several essential licenses and permits, including a business license and trucking authority. First, obtain a USDOT number. Then, get an MC authority number from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These numbers serve as unique identifiers for your company and are required for interstate commerce.

Additionally, you may need state-specific permits depending on the states you plan to operate in. For international operations, a Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is mandatory. This code facilitates government tracking and ensures compliance with cross-border regulations.

Furthermore, consider the International Registration Plan (IRP) and the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA). The IRP allows vehicles to operate across multiple states and provinces, with registration fees apportioned based on mileage, while the IFTA simplifies fuel tax payments for trucks traveling across state lines. These permits are crucial for maintaining legal compliance and smoothing out your operations.

Get a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)

A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) is essential for operating a trucking business. If you plan to drive your own truck, obtaining a CDL is a must. However, even if you don’t drive, you must hire drivers who possess a valid CDL. The process of obtaining a CDL involves application fees, providing proper identification, and passing both knowledge and vision tests.

The cost of obtaining a CDL can vary widely, ranging from $0 to $5,000. To apply for a CDL, drivers need to be at least 21 years old. This age requirement is mandatory. Additionally, certain types of equipment and cargo require special CDL endorsements, which may necessitate additional testing.

For those planning to operate combination tractor-trailers, a Class A CDL is specifically required. Research the proper licenses and business needs related to your trucking operations before starting the application process.

Purchase or Lease the Right Equipment

Deciding whether to purchase or lease your commercial truck is a significant decision with long-term implications for your trucking business. Buying a truck outright eliminates monthly payments and allows for built-in equity when trading it in. Additionally, owning a truck means you don’t face mileage limits, providing greater operational flexibility. Owning your truck also allows for personalization and modifications to meet your specific business needs. However, purchasing involves a higher upfront cost and ongoing maintenance expenses.

On the other hand, leasing a truck can be a more cost-effective option, especially for new businesses. Leasing involves lower upfront costs and offers the advantage of newer equipment with less maintenance required. A terminal rental adjustment clause lease can help reduce costs for commercial vehicles.

Consider your financial situation and business goals when deciding which option is best for you.

Secure Trucking Insurance

Insurance is a critical component of running a trucking business. Key types of insurance consist of auto liability and auto physical damage. Additionally, cargo and general liability insurance are also important. These coverages protect your business from various risks and ensure you can continue operations even in the event of an accident or loss.

For businesses that transport hazardous materials, higher liability coverage is required, which can be up to $5 million. Voluntary coverages, such as physical damage and non-trucking liability insurance, are also advisable to safeguard your trucks against various risks.

The average annual insurance cost for a trucking operation ranges from $3,000 to $12,000, depending on the type of authority held. Owner-operators leased to another company’s authority typically pay around $3,000 to $5,000 annually for insurance, while those with their own Motor Carrier authority pay around $9,000 to $12,000 annually.

Securing adequate business insurance is essential for protecting your investment and ensuring the longevity of your trucking business.

Open a Business Bank Account

Opening a business bank account is crucial for maintaining clear financial separation between personal and business funds. This helps limit personal liability, protecting your personal assets from business debts. Additionally, a dedicated business account enhances professionalism, especially when receiving payments through wire transfers or credit cards.

When selecting a bank, consider features like interest rates, minimum balance requirements, and customer service accessibility. It is advisable to choose banks that provide services convenient for truckers, such as mobile banking and extensive ATM networks. Common types of business bank accounts include checking, savings, credit cards, and merchant accounts, each serving different purposes.

Requirements for opening a business bank account typically include a photo ID, EIN, and company formation documents. By keeping your finances organized and separate, you can better manage your business operations and prepare for tax season.

Implement Financial Management Systems

Implementing effective financial management systems is essential for tracking income and expenses. Calculating business expenses accurately helps in managing costs effectively. Using separate accounts simplifies bookkeeping and tax preparation by keeping business expenses distinct.

Leasing can provide tax deductions on lease payments, which can be beneficial for cash flow management. Additionally, business accounts contribute to building a credit history for the company, facilitating access to loans and credit lines.

Consider all costs, including vehicle purchase or lease, maintenance, fuel, and operational expenses when estimating startup costs. Upkeep and operating costs, fees for licenses/permits, and investment in systems should be considered when estimating startup costs. Licenses, registrations, insurance, permits, and equipment affect the initial costs of starting a trucking business.

Find Profitable Loads

Finding profitable loads is crucial for the success of a trucking business. Load boards serve as online classified ads where brokers and shippers post available loads for truck drivers. Use these platforms to conveniently search for freight opportunities.

Freight brokers connect shippers with truck drivers, negotiating the highest rates for loads while taking a cut of the profit. Networking directly with shippers can lead to higher per-load revenue since no commission is paid to brokers. Building a strong network within the trucking community is essential for consistently finding profitable loads.

Dispatch services can also help find loads and provide additional administrative support for a fee. Using a dispatching service can reduce the stress of finding loads for a trucking business. By consistently finding profitable loads, you can ensure the growth and sustainability of your trucking business.

Maintain Compliance and Safety Standards

Safety compliance is crucial for ensuring legal adherence and avoiding penalties that could jeopardize your operations. Implement a robust safety plan that is regularly updated to align with changing regulations. Proactive internal audits can help identify compliance issues before official audits occur.

Management plays a key role in promoting safety compliance by establishing clear policies and providing training. By maintaining high safety standards, you can protect your drivers, cargo, and company reputation.

Starting a trucking company involves numerous steps, from creating a business plan to finding profitable loads. Each step is crucial for establishing and running a successful trucking business. By following this guide, you can navigate the process with confidence and set your business up for success.

Take the first step today and turn your dream of owning a trucking company into a reality. With dedication and careful planning, you can achieve your business goals and thrive in the trucking industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the first step in starting a trucking company.

The first step in starting a trucking company is to create a comprehensive business plan that details your goals, operations, and financial projections. This plan will serve as a roadmap for your business’s success.

Do I need a CDL to start a trucking business?

You do not need a CDL to start a trucking business; however, you must employ drivers who have a valid CDL to operate the vehicles legally.

What types of insurance do I need for my trucking business?

You need auto liability, auto physical damage, cargo, and general liability insurance for your trucking business to ensure comprehensive coverage. This combination protects you against various risks associated with your operations.

How do I find profitable loads for my trucking business?

To find profitable loads for your trucking business, utilize load boards, build direct relationships with shippers, and explore dispatch services. This approach will enhance your chances of securing lucrative opportunities.

What are the costs associated with starting a trucking business?

Starting a trucking business involves significant costs such as purchasing or leasing vehicles, maintenance, fuel, insurance, licenses, permits, and ongoing operational expenses. It’s essential to budget for all these factors to ensure a successful launch.

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B.C.’s housing issues far from fixed despite NDP progress

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When it comes to B.C.’s shortage of affordable housing, you can’t accuse the governing New Democratic Party of not trying. 

Since the BC NDP came into power in 2017, there has been a raft of new measures including the speculation and vacancy tax, housing targets for municipalities, short-term-rental rules, historic zoning changes and a forthcoming home-flipping tax, just to name a few.

But are the BC NDP’s measures working? 

“Despite countless measures and additional paperwork and other requirements, we’re exactly where we started,” said Andrey Pavlov, professor of finance at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. 

Just prior to the 2017 election, John Horgan announced a BC NDP plan to build 114,000 new units over 10 years. According to Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, 84,000 new homes have been added in B.C. since then via direct investment and policy. 

But the 114,000 units promised by the BC NDP are not enough, said Pavlov. For example, B.C.’s population grew by an estimated 162,729 from mid-2022 to mid-2023, according to BC Stats. Assuming an average household size of 2.4, the province would need about 68,000 new housing units just to keep up with one year’s population growth, let alone the accumulated shortage.

“We need at least 114,000 new housing units every year, not over a decade,” Pavlov said. The only way to come close to this level of new supply is to make it as easy and as safe as possible to invest in housing in B.C., he said. 

“A first step would be to eliminate the excessive regulation, taxes and red tape that increase the cost and risk of housing investment,” Pavlov said. “Measures like the speculation and vacancy tax, the flipping tax, the short-term-rental ban and many others sound good on paper, but in reality they increase the risk of housing investment and, consequently, only worsen our housing shortage.”

Asked whether the BC NDP’s initiatives have made a positive difference in the aggregate, Kahlon told BIV that the speculation and vacancy tax has freed up more than 20,000 homes, and that housing starts have doubled from a decade ago.

“We continue to break records across the country with our historic amount of investment in affordable housing, so I would respectfully disagree,” he said.

More industry consultation desired

Some in the real estate industry say the BC NDP has good intentions but sometimes misses the mark. This requires more consultation, they said, so that government policies lead to better results, no matter who wins in October.

The BC NDP sometimes takes a dogmatic view and does not carefully review the unintended consequences of its policies, said Trevor Hargreaves, senior vice-president of government relations, marketing and communications at the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA). 

“I want to give the NDP credit,” Hargreaves said. “They’ve been bold and made a lot of changes. The Eby administration has tried hard to move the dial on housing affordability. But good intentions and bad processes only go so far.”

There should be a “permanent housing roundtable” for the provincial government to consult before enacting any new real estate policies, he added. His organization and others have made this request to the NDP for over two years with no luck. 

“This is such a broad concern,” he said. “But they don’t want to be held to that degree of accountability. They want to be able to use housing policy for populist purposes and work out the details later.”

Kahlon says the challenge with a roundtable is deciding which stakeholders should or shouldn’t be included. “We engage with everyone, we have meetings with everyone and many of the policies are informed by that,” he said. “If you talk to most organizations, they’ll say that the engagement with them is thorough and often.”

As for his party’s perceived dogmatism and populism, Kahlon said the BC NDP’s record speaks for itself. “There is no jurisdiction in North America that is doing as much as us,” he said. “B.C. is leading when it comes to policy reform.”

 Construction industry seeks prompt payment law

Representatives of the construction industry, meanwhile, are hoping the next government enacts prompt payment legislation, the industry’s top priority.

The goal of prompt payment legislation is to increase the cash flow of contractors and subcontractors by legislating mandatory payment terms. The legislation includes aspects like invoice specifications, payment timelines and dispute resolution provisions. Similar legislation is already in force in other provinces.

“I’m confident that all of the parties are paying attention to the work we’ve done over the past number of years as a broad group of stakeholders in support of bringing in payment certainty to B.C.,” said Chris Atchison, president of the BC Construction Association (BCCA). 

At an industry event in August, Rustad “did not make a firm commitment to advance prompt payment legislation but did note that he is very interested in making sure that there is a process that goes forward that ensures people are getting paid for work,” reported industry publication SiteNews . 

The BC NDP is similarly non-committal. “Whether we would move forward [on this] is yet to be seen,” said Kahlon. “Certainly, the industry’s been making the case that something is needed, and we’re doing reviews.” 

With the legislature no longer in session, the construction industry, which accounts for 10.3 per cent of the province’s GDP, must now wait until after the election—if not longer.

Conservatives have announced few specifics 

To date, the BC Conservatives have not released key details of their housing platform. On their website, the party says it wants to “encourage a stable and predictable housing market. This means getting prices under control by promoting the development of new housing supply while cracking down on illegal money laundering that has inflated prices and facilitated criminal activity.”

So far, the party’s plan contains “a lot of what-ifs and not a lot of pre-defined policy,” said BCREA’s Hargreaves.

In a recent interview with BIV , Rustad criticized what he called the NDP’s “authoritarian” approach to zoning and densification. “The whole idea of densification is needed,” he said, “but Eby’s approach—with building multiple units on a single lot—doesn’t address parking, it doesn’t address traffic, it doesn’t address water and sewer, it doesn’t address everything else that needs to be done.”

Rustad also said that “pre-zoning” can help achieve “managed densification.” 

“We want to work with municipalities to actually do pre-zoning as part of their official community plan, so that the pre-zoning for densification is done,” said the BC Conservative leader. “When somebody wants to come in and build, let’s say a duplex or multiple-unit building, it fits within that already-planned-out densification, and they don’t have to then go through the process.”

Kahlon said that the BC Conservatives would take the province backward. “I think all of the housing changes are at risk,” he said. “It’s going to put housing back generations.”

Economy a challenge for BC NDP

The outcome of the election may have more to do with the state of the economy than any one policy or piece of legislation. 

“There’s ‘working’ and then there’s ‘good idea’,” said Thomas Davidoff, associate professor with the UBC Sauder School of Business. “It’s a little hard to tell if the NDP’s ideas are working because the economy is not conducive to the increase in supply that they have enabled.”

Davidoff, who has performed economic modelling for the Ministry of Housing, said elevated interest rates and a sluggish market for purchase have resulted in less construction. 

Regarding the centralization of zoning, for example, he said the NDP’s efforts may not necessarily pay dividends until later. “The municipalities have to be dragged kicking and screaming, which is the point, but in a slow supply environment you don’t see the change because a lot of deals are on hold,” he said.

Regardless of which party ultimately wins, the sheer scale of the housing problem will remain challenging for the next government. 

Vacancy rates in Vancouver have not improved, for example. Vancouver’s rental apartment vacancy rate was 0.9 per cent in October 2017, with an average rent of $1,308, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Six years later, in October 2023, Vancouver’s vacancy rate was again 0.9 per cent, with an average rent of $1,828. 

At the national level, the 2024 federal budget contains a strategy for 3.9 million new homes by 2031. SFU’s Pavlov told BIV that the federal goal will require $2 trillion plus the cost of land and infrastructure improvements. 

For a sense of magnitude, the federal government estimates a total of $449.2 billion in budgetary spending from 2024 to 2025. In other words, the required housing investment is more than four times the annual federal budget. 

Pavlov’s calculations assume a $500,000 construction cost per unit, a conservative estimate based on a $400-per-square-foot construction cost for a 1,250-square-foot unit. (Taller buildings and smaller units cost more, he noted.)

The ambitious federal goal will therefore require an enormous amount of capital from the private sector, which may be discouraged by an egalitarian agenda. 

“Where’s that investment going to come from?” said Pavlov. “I think that’s a point that’s frequently overlooked.”

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B.C. man seeks court help after buying house with friend who now won't sell it

The man alleges in a lawsuit that the plan was to split the proceeds on the Maple Ridge house after five years but now the friend won't answer his calls

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A man who agreed to pay half the mortgage for a Maple Ridge house his friend bought to live in — with the plan they could split the proceeds five years later — has filed a lawsuit after his friend refused to sell the house or answer his calls.

B.C. man seeks court help after buying house with friend who now won't sell it Back to video

Marc Lefebvre, a builder who specializes in outdoor furniture and home improvements, filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court asking to be declared half owner of the house as intended in an investment agreement he entered into with Hendrika Ross, a nurse, and her son, Kyle Post of Mission.

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Lefebvre is asking the court to order them to sell the property and give him his share.

Lefebvre alleges that Ross breached their 2016 investment agreement by failing to pay $250,000 as the down payment on the $545,000 property as she promised, according to the lawsuit.

He found out later she instead took out a mortgage for $770,000.

The lawsuit alleges “fraudulent misrepresentation” because Ross and Post used the mortgage not only for the house but for “their own personal benefit, the particulars which are not known.”

Lefebvre is also seeking damages for breach of trust, breach of the agreement and fraudulent misrepresentation.

Under the agreement, Ross — after her down payment of $250,000 and Lefebvre’s of $62,000 — was to have secured a $245,000 mortgage.

Lefebvre was to pay $2,500 a month, plus yearly lump sums to quickly pay down the principle, for a total of $250,000 for his share of the house.

And the plan was to pay off the $245,000 mortgage in five years and sell the property, according to the lawsuit.

In addition, Lefebvre completed a number of home improvements at Ross’ request, costing him $21,800 in materials — including a playhouse for Ross’ grandchildren, a perimeter fence, wooden sidewalk, a deck and barbecue shelter, gardening and landscaping, kitchen tiles and paint, cedar shingles and a concrete sidewalk — for which he seeks compensation.

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He also paid $8,000 for new furniture for the living room, dining room and bedroom in exchange for a promise he would be “reasonably compensated by Ross” when the house was sold. He also paid $14,000 over seven years for half the property taxes and insurance.

The contributions “were not intended as gifts,” the lawsuit said.

Lefebvre believed Ross’ proposal of co-buying the property was a good investment and would also provide accommodation for Ross, whom he had met when her daughter, and later her son, hired him for improvement projects and “whom he believed to be a genuine friend.”

He allowed her to apply for the mortgage on his behalf. She told him the bank said he didn’t qualify, but he would still own half the property even though he wasn’t on the title. He agreed to those terms.

Lefebvre later discovered Ross was registered as owning 99 per cent interest on the deed, and Post owned one per cent, the lawsuit said.

From 2016 to 2023, Lefebvre made the monthly payments, plus lump sums between $30,000 and $45,000 a year. In 2021 he asked, as agreed, for the property to be sold.

But Ross told him the sale couldn’t happen because the mortgage hadn’t been paid yet. He never asked to see monthly mortgage statements because he trusted Ross and “continued to believe Ross was a genuine friend” with whom he socialized every day and regularly had dinner.

After November 2023, when Ross agreed to sell the property in the summer or fall of 2024, she cut off communication.

Neither Ross nor Post could be reached for comment. Lefebvre said he is waiting for the case to be settled before commenting.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

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