Looking from the top of the Olympus of real estate at our past selves, we remember how difficult those first steps were. When you are just starting to break into the market, where besides you there are dozens of newbies and more successful players, it is difficult not to get confused. Where to start on your path to success if you are thinking of opening your own real estate agency? We are unlikely to be able to lead you by the hand, but it is easy to give sound advice and instructions!
6 steps to opening a real estate agency
Recipes of our favorite dishes are often laid out on step-by-step instructions. We offer you a short step-by-step recipe for success in the real estate market.
- Study an unfamiliar field. Before making serious decisions about opening a company, you should study the market to understand which one real estate segment it is worth choosing which services to emphasize and which objects to consider presentable. Also worth it evaluate prospects, to understand how relevant your work will be in a few years.
- Determine the correct legal form to start your business. You have a choice of sole proprietorship (IP) and limited liability company (LLC). There is no significant difference that affects the development of the company, so feel free to choose any form. Most often, preference is given to the first option, since it is simpler and cheaper to design. It will not be superfluous to consult with a lawyer to determine exactly the form that corresponds to your plans.
- Do not forget to register your activity and complete all documents. Also consider tax reporting and bookkeeping. Many people turn to the services of freelance accountants for this. They will help you keep things in order and approach business responsibly.
- Find the right workplace and get a set of furniture and equipment necessary at the start-up stage of the activity. To begin with, you can choose a modest room or a remote work format. As for the equipment, computers and special software will be needed to interact with clients and object databases.
- As long as your agency doesn't have a large client base, you can handle the entire workflow yourself, but you won't last long. Assemble your team and grow as your business grows. The selection of employees must be approached extremely responsibly, because one unqualified or rude expert can spoil the reputation of the entire agency.
- In order to find out about you, you need to tell about yourself. A huge part of development, especially in the beginning, is advertising and marketing. You must introduce yourself to potential clients, show them professionalism and reliability even before the start of cooperation. First of all, create a website, but you should not forget about the presence in social networks. You should choose social networks based on audience analysis so that your content is seen by those who can really benefit from it.
There is no good without disaster and vice versa: pros and cons of a real estate agency
Let's start with the positive. Opening a real estate agency has a number of advantages compared to other businesses and startups. Yes, the main advantages of this type of activity are:
- in demand! We have already repeatedly written about fraudsters, dishonest people developers, and simply sellers, who want to hide the shortcomings of their objects from you and are not averse to all kinds of tricks. Risks in buying, selling and renting are often hidden. Most investors, landlords and tenants have long since accepted that greed will get them down, so once is better. enlist the help of professionals, than to lose time and money in an attempt to save them;
- low entry threshold or minimal investment. You don't need to develop a product, buy expensive equipment and do all the rest. To start work, one presentable office is enough, or you can resort to a remote format altogether. The main thing is not the outer cover, but the professionalism hidden behind it;
- you don't have to wait long to make a profit. The absence of a turnover period is an obvious plus, which will allow you to earn from the first day. Payment is made immediately upon conclusion of the contract.
Everything has a flip side, and the real estate agency is no exception. Business requires investments of money and time, but does not always guarantee the desired result. When opening your own company, you may encounter a number of difficulties, due to which the process of reaching a leading position may be somewhat delayed:
- names "Toll” and THE Capital has not been heard by anyone who is not at all interested in real estate, but besides them there are dozens of small firms that, despite less popularity, still successfully conduct their business. On the very first day, you will face competition. No matter how expert you are in your field, competing with existing businesses will not be easy. And you can say the same about any business you start;
- the second point follows from the first - you will have to spend a lot of time and effort to promote your agency. On average, it takes from 1 to 3 years, but in such large cities as Kyiv, the terms can reach up to 5 years. THE Capital agency started its activities back in 2018, but we did not begin to reap the fruits and receive well-deserved recognition at the international level from the first day. Patience and hard work will overcome everything - do not forget this unwritten truth of life;
- when opening a real estate agency, you cannot rely only on yourself. Analysts and realtors are the basis on which the success of the whole business depends. THE Capital is confident in its team and has been building it throughout its history. Only thanks to those people who work with you and provide high-quality customer service, you can be successful.
To make your path less thorny and your colleagues more reliable, we offer you our help. on our courses experienced experts and coaches share their cases and tell about the real estate market what can be learned only after years of work. We will be happy to share our knowledge with you so that your step to the next level turns into a series of achievements and closed deals.
