As a rule, those people who have already worked in this area, have experience and their own database, think about how to open a real estate agency. Demand for the services of realtors is growing, despite the difficult economic situation, and not so much money is needed to open such a business. This leads to the constant emergence of more and more new real estate agencies. What's next for newcomers? What does a real estate agency business plan include? How much money will be needed, and will the investment pay off? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article.
Registering a business
A novice entrepreneur must register an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneurship) or LLC (limited liability company). When choosing an individual entrepreneur, you pay only a single fixed tax. And the fee for each concluded contract is an agency fee. OKVED (classification of activities) in this case 70.3 "Provision of intermediary services that are related to real estate."
Once you receive your registration certificate, you should register with the tax office. If you are a busy person and you do not have time to visit all instances, contact an intermediary, pay him, in a few days you will simply receive all the documents in your hands.
We develop a price list and other forms of documents
It is advisable to draw up a business plan for a real estate agency not on your own, but with the support of knowledgeable experienced people who have been working in this area for more than one year. In order to have an undeniable competitive advantage, it is necessary not only to find an option suitable for the client, but to accompany him "from" and "to".
This inspires confidence. As soon as you open your business, you should not dump prices, that is, make them much lower than the market ones. Consumers begin to think that this service is easy to implement, and your income only goes down. The client needs to clearly explain what is included in the service, how much effort it costs the realtor, etc.
Recruiting employees
Whoever helps you draw up a business plan for a real estate agency, you should know that it is advisable to recruit employees only by acquaintance. If this is not possible, you will have to place an ad in specialized media, seek help from recruitment agencies.
By the way, there is a free site for a real estate agency (and not one), it’s not bad to make yourself known there, many realtors look through such resources in search of work. The number of employees is an individual matter. Sometimes one person with his database will replace a dozen "specialists".
In addition, you will have to hire an accountant, and a site editor (if there is one), and a manager, and a driver, and a lawyer (not necessary, but desirable).
We rent an office
Of course, you should choose a room not in the industrial area of the city, but in a place with good transport interchange. The office should be spacious and comfortable enough to accommodate all employees and clients.
The latter must feel that here they will not be deceived and will not take too much from them. Therefore, make a good and stylish renovation, but not pretentious. Do not forget that you will need to purchase all the necessary equipment (tables, chairs, computers, fax machines, telephones, etc.)
Advertising for a real estate agency
This is quite expensive, but a very important point. Advertising of a real estate agency should be placed in all kinds of newspapers, magazines, specialized sites. If you're going to buy front page space for your ad in a newspaper, it's best not to do that at all.
What can a person think about the prestige of such a real estate agency that cannot afford a front page ad? Nothing good. It would also be nice to make outdoor advertising on the streets, transport, etc.
Nobody canceled the so-called word of mouth. This is perhaps the best advertisement of all time, so do not forget about the decent service for each client.
Forming a database
This is the beginning of the process of any real estate agency. To replenish the base of sellers and buyers, the method of the so-called "pseudo-private" placement of ads is used. What is its essence?
An ad like “A young family will rent/buy an apartment near the subway…” is written and pasted wherever possible. Calls begin to arrive, your job is to enter everything into the database. And since the sellers do not have to pay anything to the agency, they willingly agree that the information be placed in the agency.
But building a database of buyers is much more difficult. Here we use the phantom advertising method. In specialized newspapers, advertisements are placed for the sale of good apartments at incredibly low prices.
The main thing is to hook a potential buyer and establish contact with him. Of course, in a conversation, the agent will say that this particular apartment, unfortunately, has been sold, but there are other options. The realtor will take the phone number, specify the necessary criteria for finding an apartment, that's the whole secret.
real estate agency business plan. Financial part
So, we discussed the main points of expenses, now we will indicate more specific numbers:
- office rent - 15,000-20,000 rubles;
- purchase of the necessary equipment - approximately 80,000-100,000 rubles;
- software - approximately 30,000 rubles;
- advertising - 5000-15000 rubles per month;
- utility bills - 5000 per month.
The work of agents, as a rule, is paid by the piece. The reward is 30-60% of the total commission for a successfully completed transaction.
What about profit? The average cost of realtor services is 3-6% of the total transaction amount. If the company has 5 employees, then the income can be approximately 200,000 rubles per month. With a favorable combination of all circumstances, the business will pay off in 3-6 months.
What's next for a budding entrepreneur?
As statistics show, 2-3 transactions per month for one realtor is practically unattainable. The point is not the professionalism of the employee, but the fact that many transactions are not made overnight, but last for months. This is another point on which the payback period of a business depends. A small company will pay off in the above period, and a large one may take even years.