How To Start A Real Estate Brokerage | Complete Guides

It has been a fact that a career in real estate could potentially be a lucrative venture. After all, people would continue to buy land and erect houses in the years to come. In this regard, we can safely assume that having a profession in real estate brokerage would be a safe bet for a more financially competitive future.

Unfortunately, while real estate as a means of livelihood could be an avenue for better leverage on your finances as well as an opportunity for financial freedom, you are not always guaranteed to succeed. After all, much like any industry in the world, if you wish to thrive and succeed, you need to put in the required hard work, diligence and effort into it. It needs a degree of commitment if you truly want to prosper, but once you have dedicated yourself to this endeavor, you would readily see how rewarding it can be.

Being a real estate agent is not only about exerting all of your labors in selling  Cebu condominium or the like. Once you get the hang of doing real estate transactions, you would soon realize how this can be an exciting avenue for meeting a myriad of new interesting people. 

If you have the right work ethic and would work smart, you would see how it can provide you with a sound pecuniary benefit in the form of a comfortable income. However, before you get all too excited, there are a few things for you to consider and things to do before you can commence your journey or starting your own real estate business. Here are some of them:

 How to start your own real estate business

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1.) Be honest with yourself

Before going into real estate, you should ask yourself what you can realistically expect from your endeavor. Know what your motivation is and your primary reason for pursuing this kind of venture. If you are lured only by the prospect of easy money then you might as well stop now lest you end up vastly disappointed. 

Remember, much like anything else, building a lucrative career around real estate requires your patience as well as your commitment. You will inevitably fail, but this should never dishearten you. Rather this should serve as a reminder for you to do better.

2.) Interview current real estate professionals 

One excellent way to have a background of what you are getting yourself into is to interview people who are already in the industry. Not only do they possess the necessary expertise that could potentially help you when it is your turn to practice, but what they tell you about their experience can be very enlightening. 

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These real estate agents would be able to tell you what the pros and cons of the jobs are and in turn, would give you a better understanding of the profession. Have a varied set of individuals in the career to interview. 

Do not simply limit yourself to the top agents or your real estate agent friends. You will gain a much better perspective and insight if you interviewed agents who are at different points in their careers. Interview those who are just starting and those who have already established a name in the real estate industry.

3.) Know how to budget and do it 

 

Earning commissions is starkly different from earning monthly paychecks. In this regard, expect that you would have to make a lot of budget cuts that can be a bit difficult to get used to if you have been accustomed to getting regular paychecks before. 

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Due diligence is required as regards your budgeting and savings in order not to put unnecessary stress on your finances. Remember, undertaking another career is already taxing enough, you do not want to add pecuniary stress on top of that equation. Wise budgeting is essential for longevity as a commission-based salesperson.

4.) Get a real estate license of practice

Depending on the area where your real estate business operates, getting a license is one of the important requisites of legally working as a realty agent. Not only does it certify you as a professional but it also adds to your work credibility which will make clients develop a more positive attitude of working with you. You can read more on how real estate license works and how to get one

5.) Consider a second source of income

While you might think that adding another career on top of your real estate pursuit would be stressful, it could potentially serve you well. It would primarily serve to relieve you from financial stress from working on commission. 

In this regard, you can ensure that you would not deplete what you earn on commission and even add to it. Furthermore, your second job can serve as a supplement to your real estate profession as the former can actually open you to prospective clients and possibly extend your leverage on your real estate transactions.

Real estate brokerage startup costs

 

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As a new business idea, the second thought that comes to your mind after developing an interest in real estate business is "How do much do I need to start this idea?" or "how/where do I get money to invest in this business idea?". The good news is that starting a real estate brokerage is a two-way thing. i.e, it can be started with or without money as long as you can generate leads and convert prospects into customers.

With a little startup capital of say $500- $1500, you can kick start your business idea by getting a website developer to design a simple website of around cost around $50- $150 which will, of course, include your hosting and website domain costs. Remember that you are on a budget so you must try as much as possible to keep the website simple, user-friendly and professional. To further break this step down:

 Which website hosting is better for my real estate business budget?

 

I usually recommend Namecheap web and domain hosting for a number of reasons which include but not limited to, ease of payment, cost-effective, affordable, strong server, one of the industry's top dogs, stable uptime and lastly because it's not part of endurance hosting companies (you can read more online on why people avoid hosting companies that are under endurance group). 

Namecheap's domain hosting costs just $12.98 per year and you can even get it cheaper with coupon code and promotion offers. You can choose from a variety of their shared hosting stellar plans which range from $17.28/year to $45.88/year for the first year only depending on your budget and traffic requirement.

Where can I get an affordable website developer for my real estate site?

 

Fiver remains the best place to get quality services for affordable prices. All you have to do is register on Fiverr here and enter a search query for "design real estate website" and you will get a result like the one in the image below. scroll through the result and select the one that seems appropriate for your real estate website project. I would recommend searching for sellers with up to10 reviews and always request for their portfolio or samples of real estate websites that they have completed.

 Another way to narrow down best sellers on Fiverr is to post a request and you will get a lot of sellers bidding for your project with competitive incentives. Don't be fooled or intimidated by their claims make sure you assess each seller based on their proficiency and experience.

optimize your real estate website for online visibility to attract more prospects

I have talked about how you can optimize your small business website with affordable SEO here. You also need to write catchy and professional content for your business website including linking your website to other high authority websites in your niche through guest posting. 

How to promote your real estate business on facebook

 

Another way to promote your website through social media. Tools like facebook premium ads is a good way to target relevant audience in the order of their locations. you can as well make use of facebook groups to promote your real estate website by searching for and joining facebook groups that are relevant to your niche or make use of Instagram and Twitter influencers to promote your website. the latter will, however, cost you some penny to get influencers to feature your business on their page.

How to start a real estate business without money

 

Like I said earlier, the cost of starting a real estate brokerage is a two-way thing. establishing a real estate venture is centered around getting sales for your offers all you need is to create a network or a link of buyers and you are good to go even without having a budget for the business.

All you have to do is register with a free website hosting platforms like blogger.com with a free ".blogspot.com" domain (don't worry having such sub-domain won't affect your SEO rankings as long as you put other SEO factors into consideration.). Search online to get a good free theme for real estate website. Here is a link to free real estate website themes. 

Next to watch youtube videos on how to install and customize blogger templates, follow the youtube tutorials and set up your website. Below is a video tutorial on how to set up and customize blogger templates. Optimize your free blogger website for better search engine ranking just like I have explained above.

How to generate leads as a new real estate agent

 

Strategy 1

 

As the popular African saying goes; one big fat tree cannot make a forest. the same can be said about being a real estate agent, you have to link with other agents especially the ones that are already established in the industry. 

Partnering with them doesn't mean you share the same business name f idea, it simply means sharing resources. To exemplify this, you can reach out to an agent who operates in a different state but knows prospects that need houses in your province, such agent will share his prospects with you in exchange for a certain percentage of the commission gained from the property sale.

Strategy 2

 

Facebook and Pinterest are the best social media platforms to convert promotions to sales, yeah that's the truth. However, there is a secret to generating leads from Facebook and Pinterest.

Using Facebook

first thing, try to search relevant facebook pages and join them, join as many groups as possible and read their rules before making a promotional post. answer real estate questions professionally to gain group members' trust and gain popularity, connect with other agent members as they might have clients that are closest to your proximity. 

while sharing posts or offers on the groups, include catchy pictures of the property that you are talking about because people develop a more positive attitude towards what they see than what they read. explain all the benefits and incentives that come with the property, convince the viewers on why they have to consider buying from you. lastly, don't sound desperate with your adverts and don't be too spammy.

Another way is through facebook paid adverts, this requires that you have a functioning Facebook page (Check online on how to create a Facebook business page). After making a post on your page, you will be asked to boost your post 

 after which you will be taken to the audience section where you can narrow your target to the demographics that you want, set your budget and publish your ads campaign.

Using Pinterest

When it comes to getting pictorial ideas for different subjects, Pinterest is the goto place and as powerful as Pinterest is for digital marketing, a lot of sellers are still sleeping on its advantages. So as a real estate broker how can you use Pinterest effectively to your advantage? , just follow these simple steps of opening a Pinterest account and creating boards and pin. check the video below for a detailed explanation of that.

how to create pinterest business account

how to create pinterest pins

Now that you have created a Pinterest account, you might want to add nice pins to your board which has been explained in the video above. Next is to create a beautiful Pinterest sized picture to use for your pin cover and here is a straightforward explanation on how to do that.

1. Log on to www.canva.com

2. By the left-hand side click "create a design" and select Pinterest as your design frame

3. you will be taken to the design page where you will be asked to select a design frame

4. Select a frame and customize it to your taste, make sure it will be catchy enough to make Pinterest users want to click on your pin.

For a more visual explanation, watch the video below

how to create pins with canva

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