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Real Estate Agent Business Plan

A real estate agent business is one of the best ways of getting paid for your expertise in the real estate industry.

If you have a thorough knowledge of the market, are a brilliant negotiator, and can think on your feet then being a real estate agent might be the right career for you.

Industry Overview

Research says the global real estate agent and brokerage market are expected to grow from $960.12 billion in 2020 to $1008.95 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%. Also, the market is expected to reach $1351.1 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8%.

The above figure suggests It is a great market to be in, but you need a well-designed business plan to succeed as a real estate agent. A business plan can help you in having a clear strategy and also in keeping a track of your progress.

But what else can a business plan do for your brokerage firm, and how to write one? Read on to find out.

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Things to Consider Before Writing a Real Estate Agent Business Plan

Find a way to get leads.

The majority of your leads, at least at the beginning of your career, would come from constant effort and a variety of sources. So before getting started you’ll have to figure out all the possible ways of generating leads.

Make a networking plan

Having a network comprising of your customers, businessmen, and even your competitors is necessary for a real estate agent. Because you never know where you’ll get your next big client.

Hence, figuring out a networking strategy is important.

Set up your website

Nowadays, a lot of people look for real estate services online. Hence, it makes it important for you to set up a website for your business.

Making a website also contributes to building your credibility and brand image. Hence, building an optimized and active website can do wonders for your business.

Be prepared for changes in the industry

The real estate agent is changing at a rapid pace. Everything from changes in the economy to people’s buying behavior, and income has a major impact on the real estate market. Hence, it is important for you to have a strategy to deal with such changes.

One of the simplest ways to do so is to have a dynamic and customizable real estate business plan. It helps you deal with changes in a smooth and effective way.

How a Business Plan Can Help You?

As a real estate agent, clear business goals and a constantly evolving way of doing business can be extremely profitable for your business. Apart from that, networking is a key aspect of a real estate agent’s business.

A professional business plan can help you manage all of the above efficiently without any hassles.

Having a plan makes managing your business easier and lets you focus on the more pressing concerns of a business.

Moreover, it gives you a competitive edge over those who jump right in, without any plan.

Real Estate Agent Business Plan Outline

This is the standard real estate agent business plan outline which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Products and Services
• Management Team
• Success Factors
• 3 Year profit forecast
• Startup cost
• Funding Required
• Our business offering is listed below:
• Industry Analysis
• Market Trends
• Target Market
• Sales Strategy
• Targeted Cold Calls
• Publications
• Pricing Strategy
• Management Summary
• Hiring Plan
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

How to Write a Real Estate Agent Business Plan?

A business plan should be clear-cut and ever-changing. It should have goals, but also be flexible at the same time.

Moreover, it should be customizable as per your target market and location. You can write such a plan in many ways.

Although there are several changing and fixed aspects of a real estate agent’s business plan, there are certain essential areas that should be included to write a good business plan.

They are as follows:

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary section sums up what your entire business idea stands for. It is a brief overview of all of your business’s functions, including finances, target audience, operations, marketing, sales, etc.

This section, if written properly, can help you get funded as it presents your idea to the investors in a precise way and helps you gain their confidence.

2. Company Summary

This section basically consists of all the information about your agency’s history, its current situation, the idea behind its existence, and also the finances and funding it requires for becoming profitable.

3. Products and Services

In this product and services section, you’ll define your niche. Having a niche in real estate helps you get a better knowledge of the market and better deals in return. It also helps you meet the right people and the right customers.

As a real estate agent, you can decide whether you’ll deal with office spaces, residential spaces, rentals or buying, selling, etc. Working with a specific set of customers most of the time helps you stay at the top of your game in the real estate market.

4. Market Analysis

A thorough and ongoing market analysis helps you know the market trends and your target audience better. It helps you stay updated with the demands of your customers and how you can fulfill them in the best way possible.

Not just that, it also helps you in knowing where you stand in the market when you need to change your business model with a changing market, and when you need to upskill to stay relevant as a real estate agent.

5. Strategy and implementation

After you are done analyzing the market, writing this section would be a cakewalk. As you are familiar with the market you can formulate the best strategy to thrive in it.

As a real estate agent, having a good advertising strategy, sales strategy, and essentially a good pricing strategy is of utmost importance.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section in your business plan includes the day-to-day functioning of your company, as well as your goals and strategies to achieve them.

It is an ever-changing section and has to be tweaked as per the demands of the industry. Breaking your goal down into smaller milestones in this section is an effective way of writing it.

7. Financial Plan

A financial plan decides whether your agency would succeed or not. It prevents you from having mismanaged finances, and a dearth of funds and also helps you in managing the cash inflow of your business.

Download a sample real estate agent business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go; download our free real estate agent business plan pdf to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your real estate agent business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

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Business Plan Summary

A business plan can not only help you with the management of your business but also work as a road map to success.

A real estate agency’s cash inflow is on the irregular side, but a business plan can help you thrive with that too. Having a plan gives you a clear idea of the functioning as well as the spending of your business.

After getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample real estate agent business plan template into your business plan and modify the required information and download your real estate agent business plan pdf or doc file.

It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

So, what are you waiting for? Start planning

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About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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Real Estate Agent Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Real Estate Agent Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create real estate business plans to start and grow their businesses. On this page, we will first give you some relevant information with regard to the importance of real estate business planning. We will then go through a real estate agent business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan Template here >

What is a Real Estate Agent Business Plan?

A business plan is a living document that provides a snapshot of your real estate agency as it stands today and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan as a Real Estate Agent

A business plan can help you stay up-to-date on market trends, stay ahead of your competitors, and helps you set measurable goals But most importantly, it will force you to think through every step of starting and growing your real estate agency so that you can avoid potential roadblocks along the way. This also helps you monitor the effectiveness of the campaign over a given period.

If you’re looking to become a realtor or grow your existing real estate agency business you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your real estate agency in order to improve your chances of success. Update your business plan regularly as your agency grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Real Estate Agents

With regard to funding, the main sources of funding for a real estate business are personal savings, credit cards, and bank loans. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a real estate agent.

Below is an example of a real estate plan template:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of real estate agency you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a real estate agency that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of real estate agencies?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the real estate agent industry. Discuss the type of real estate agency you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target market. Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of real estate agency you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Residential Sales and Rentals : this type of real estate agent specializes in serving the private residential market.
• Commercial Sales and Rentals : this type of real estate agent specializes in commercial, industrial, medical, etc. properties

In addition to explaining the type of real estate agent you operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What is your mission statement?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new contracts, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the real estate business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the real estate industry educates you. It helps you understand the niche market or focus area in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards aerial videos of the listed property, it would be helpful to ensure your plan calls for a drone or drone operator.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section:

• How big is the real estate business (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• How much growth is expected for the industry over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your agency? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your realtor business plan must detail the prospective clients you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: residential, office space, retail space, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of real estate agency you operate. Clearly, homeowners would want different services and would respond to different marketing promotions than manufacturers.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most real estate agents primarily serve customers living in the same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other real estate agents.

Indirect competitors are other options customers have that aren’t direct competitors. This includes For-Sale-By-Owner and similar DIYers. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who sells or purchases property uses the services of a realtor.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other real estate agents with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be agents who cover the same target market.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses or analyze using a SWOT Analysis. Unless you once worked on other real estate teams, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What services do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regard to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to engage your services?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a real estate agency, your marketing plan should include the following:

In the product section, you should reiterate the type of real estate agency that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to listing properties, will you offer home staging on those property listings?

Document your pricing strategy and how it compares to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price subsections, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place refers to the location of your agency. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your real estate agent located next to a heavily populated office building, gym, etc? Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of prospective clients.

The final part is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some marketing efforts you might consider:

• Cold calling
• Direct mail and flyers
• Making your real estate agent’s storefront extra appealing to attract passing customers
• Social media marketing
• Advertising in local papers, magazines, and websites
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Local radio advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

Developing a marketing strategy and implementing it helps you identify and locate your current value proposition in the real estate market with specific time frames to execute. This strategy will be included in your business strategy and plan as well as establishing your overall objectives. It can also involve referral marketing strategies, retention strategies, and ways of gaining new clients.

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your real estate business goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two key elements as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your real estate agency such as prospecting for new customers, advertising listings, going on showings, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to sell your 100th house, or when you hope to reach $X in average sales price. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch a new location.

Management Team

To demonstrate your agency’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in the real estate business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in real estate agencies and/or successfully running small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your real estate agency, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a real estate agent:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment like signs, software, etc.
• Cost of advertising materials and maintaining an adequate amount of office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses
• Other business expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your location lease.

Putting together a business plan for your real estate agency is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the real estate business, your local competition, and your potential clients. You will have developed a marketing strategy and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful real estate business.

Real Estate Agent Business Plan Example PDF

To help you get started on your own real estate business plan, download our Real Estate Business Plan PDF .

If you are looking for the quickest and easiest way to complete your business plan, Growthink’s Ultimate Real Estate Agent Business Plan Template has numerous features not available in the free template including its financial projections template which automatically calculates your complete five-year financial projections including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.

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Real Estate Agency Business Plan Template & PDF Example

• September 4, 2024
• Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan is crucial for launching and running a successful real estate agency. This plan serves as your roadmap, detailing your vision, operational strategies, and financial plan. It helps establish your real estate agency’s identity, navigate the competitive market, and secure funding for growth.

This article not only breaks down the critical components of a real estate agency business plan, but also provides an example of a business plan to help you craft your own.

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or new to the real estate industry, this guide, complete with a business plan example, lays the groundwork for turning your real estate agency concept into reality. Let’s dive in!

Our real estate agency business plan covers all essential aspects necessary for a comprehensive strategy. It details operations, marketing strategy , market environment, competitors, management team, and financial forecasts.

• Executive Summary : Provides an overview of the real estate agency’s business concept, market analysis , management, and financial strategy.
• Real Estate Brokerage Services & Fees: Describes the brokerage services including property sales and acquisitions, along with a fee structure.
• Property Management Services & Fees: Outlines property management services offered and their respective fees.
• Key Stats : Offers data on industry size , growth trends, and market positioning.
• Key Trends: Highlights significant trends impacting the industry, such as digital transformation and changing buyer preferences.
• Key Competitors: Analyzes primary competitors and differentiates the agency from these competitors.
• SWOT : Analyzes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Marketing Plan : Outlines tactics for attracting new clients and maintaining relationships.
• Timeline : Sets out key milestones from inception through the first year of operations.
• Management: Information on the management team and their roles within the agency.
• Financial Plan: Projects the agency’s financial performance over the next five years, detailing revenue, profits, and anticipated expenses.

Real Estate Agency Business Plan

Fully editable 30+ slides Powerpoint presentation business plan template.

Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary introduces your real estate agency’s business plan, offering a concise overview of your agency and its services. This section outlines your market positioning, the variety of real estate services offered—including property sales, rentals, and property management—its location, size, and a description of day-to-day operations.

This section should also discuss how your real estate agency will integrate into the local market, including the number of direct competitors within the area, identifying who they are, along with your agency’s unique selling points that differentiate it from these competitors.

Additionally, you should include information about the management and co-founding team, detailing their roles and contributions to the agency’s success. Furthermore, a summary of your financial projections, including revenue and profits over the next five years, should be presented here to provide a clear picture of your agency’s financial plan.

Real Estate Agency Business Plan Executive Summary Example

Business Overview

In this section, introduce your real estate agency with essential details such as its name, location, and core services. Highlighting your agency’s  unique selling proposition  ( USP ) distinguishes it amidst a competitive landscape. Whether it’s a focus on personalized client experiences, specialized market segments, or innovative technology integration, your USP should shine through.

Example: For instance, “Prime Properties Realty,” headquartered in bustling downtown Manhattan, boasts a dedicated team of tenacious real estate professionals. Our agency specializes in comprehensive property management solutions and bespoke brokerage services, priding ourselves on a client-centric approach that blends cutting-edge technology with old-fashioned integrity.

Market Overview

This section delves into the broader real estate market, providing insights into its size, growth trends, and current dynamics. Utilize relevant data to underscore the potential of the market and articulate how your agency navigates within it. Discussing emerging trends and  competitive analysis  offers valuable context for your agency’s positioning and growth strategy.

Example: Consider Prime Properties Realty within the U.S. real estate market, valued at a staggering $243 billion in 2023. With a steady annual growth rate of 3.94%, the industry presents ample  opportunities  for strategic expansion. Trends such as the increasing demand for virtual tours and smart home solutions underscore the importance of technological innovation, while a competitive landscape comprising local agencies and national firms necessitates a differentiated approach.

Management Team

Highlighting the expertise and experience of your management team instills confidence in potential investors and partners. Showcase key qualifications and achievements, emphasizing how each member contributes to the agency’s success. Whether it’s decades of industry experience, specialized knowledge in niche markets, or a track record of driving growth, the management team serves as a cornerstone of credibility.

Example: At Prime Properties Realty, founders Emily Johnson and Michael Chen lead the charge with a combined 30 years of real estate expertise. Emily’s background in corporate strategy and  market analysis  complements Michael’s proficiency in negotiations and client relations, ensuring a dynamic leadership that drives innovation and excellence.

Financial Plan

Concluding the executive summary, provide a concise overview of your agency’s financial goals and projections. Outline revenue targets, profit margins, and key strategies for achieving sustainable growth. By articulating a clear financial trajectory, you demonstrate your agency’s viability and potential for long-term success.

Example: Prime Properties Realty aims to achieve $2.4 million in annual revenue with a solid 16% profit margin ( EBITDA ) by 2028. This ambitious yet attainable goal is supported by strategic investments in technology infrastructure, aggressive  marketing initiatives , and ongoing professional development for our team members. With a prudent financial strategy and a relentless pursuit of excellence, we are poised to emerge as a market leader in the dynamic real estate landscape.

For a Real Estate Agency, the Business Overview section can be concisely divided into 2 main slides:

Real Estate Brokerage Services & Fees

Briefly describe the agency’s professional and welcoming office environment and its conveniently located premises near major residential and commercial areas, which enhances accessibility and client traffic. Detail the range of real estate brokerage services including buying, selling, and leasing properties, and discuss the agency’s fee structure, which is typically based on a percentage of the property sale or lease price, reflecting the high quality of service and market alignment.

Property Management Services & Fees

Describe the comprehensive property management services offered that cover tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance, and financial reporting. The pricing for these services is usually based on a percentage of monthly rental income or a flat monthly fee, with potential additional charges for special services like emergency maintenance or tenant placement, ensuring landlords a hassle-free ownership experience.

Industry Size & Growth

In the Market Overview of your real estate agency business plan, start by examining the size of the real estate industry and its growth potential. This analysis is crucial for understanding the market’s scope and identifying expansion opportunities.

Key Market Trends

Proceed to discuss recent market trends , such as the increasing consumer interest in sustainable and eco-friendly properties, the growing demand for smart homes equipped with the latest technology, and the rising popularity of urban living spaces among millennials and young professionals. For example, highlight the demand for properties that cater to specific lifestyle needs, alongside the rising preference for locations with comprehensive amenities and green spaces.

Competitive Landscape

A  competitive analysis  is not just a tool for gauging the position of your real estate agency in the market and its key competitors; it’s also a fundamental component of your business plan.

This analysis helps in identifying your real estate agency’s unique selling points, essential for differentiating your business in a competitive market.

In addition, the competitive analysis is integral in laying a solid foundation for your business plan. By examining various operational aspects of your competitors, you gain valuable information that ensures your business plan is robust, informed, and tailored to succeed in the current market environment.

Identifying Your Competitors in the Real Estate Industry

The first step in conducting a competitive analysis for a real estate agency is identifying key competitors. These competitors may include other local real estate agencies, independent agents, and even online platforms that facilitate property transactions.

Utilize online tools such as real estate listing websites, social media platforms, and search engines to identify competitors operating in your  target market . Pay attention to their areas of specialization, market presence, and client demographics.

Real Estate Agency Competitors’ Strategies

Once competitors have been identified, delve into analyzing their strategies across various dimensions:

• Service Offerings:  Evaluate the range of services offered by competitors. Some agencies may specialize in residential properties, while others may focus on commercial real estate or niche markets like luxury properties or vacation rentals.
• Marketing Tactics:  Assess competitors’ marketing tactics and channels. Do they invest heavily in digital marketing, traditional advertising, or networking events? Analyze the effectiveness of their marketing efforts in reaching and engaging potential clients.
• Pricing Structure :  Compare the pricing structure of competing agencies. Consider factors such as commission rates, service fees, and any additional charges. Determine whether competitors position themselves as budget-friendly options or premium service providers.
• Technology Adoption:  Examine competitors’ use of technology in their operations. This includes the adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) software, virtual reality tours, and online property listings. Evaluate how technology integration enhances the customer experience and streamlines internal processes.
• Client Relationships: In vestigate how competitors nurture client relationships and provide value-added services. This may include personalized property recommendations, market insights, and assistance throughout the buying or selling process.

What’s Your Agency’s Value Proposition?

Armed with insights from the competitive analysis, it’s essential to define your real estate agency’s  unique value proposition . When crafting your agency’s value proposition, consider factors such as specialization, service differentiation, technology integration, and a client-centric approach.

Highlight any areas of specialization or expertise that set your agency apart from competitors. This could include expertise in a particular neighborhood, property type, or client demographic.

Identify ways to differentiate your agency based on the quality and range of services offered. Whether it’s providing personalized property tours, comprehensive  market analysis , or innovative  marketing strategies , emphasize how your agency goes above and beyond to meet client needs.

Showcase your agency’s commitment to leveraging technology to enhance the real estate experience. Whether it’s offering virtual property tours, implementing advanced analytics tools, or providing an intuitive online platform for property search, emphasize how technology drives efficiency and convenience for clients.

Emphasize your agency’s dedication to delivering exceptional customer service and building long-term relationships with clients. Highlight testimonials, case studies, and success stories to illustrate your agency’s track record of client satisfaction and success.

First, conduct a SWOT analysis for the real estate agency , highlighting Strengths (such as experienced realtors and a diverse property portfolio), Weaknesses (including high agent turnover or reliance on local market conditions), Opportunities (for example, the growing demand for rental properties or the potential for tapping into luxury real estate markets), and Threats (such as fluctuations in real estate prices or new housing regulations that may impact operations).

Marketing Plan

Next, develop a marketing strategy that outlines how to attract and retain clients through targeted advertising, promotional events like open houses, an engaging online presence, and community involvement. This strategy should also incorporate using social media platforms to showcase properties and share customer testimonials, enhancing the agency’s visibility and client engagement.

Marketing Channels

Utilize various channels to connect with potential clients and reinforce your brand.

Digital Marketing

• Website and SEO:  A well-optimized website serves as the centerpiece of your digital presence. Beyond listing properties, a website should offer valuable resources, agent profiles, blog content on  market trends , and FAQs to address client queries. Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques are crucial to ensure visibility in local property searches.
• Social Media:  Leveraging social media platforms is indispensable in today’s marketing landscape. LinkedIn is ideal for professional networking and B2B connections, while platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer opportunities for visual storytelling through property highlights, client testimonials, and engaging content. YouTube can be utilized for virtual property tours, educational videos, and neighborhood insights.
• Email Marketing:  Email marketing remains a powerful tool to nurture client relationships. Crafting targeted email campaigns that include property updates, market trends, success stories, and personalized messages enhances engagement and reinforces your agency’s expertise and credibility.

Local Advertising

• Networking Events:  Attend local real estate networking events, chamber of commerce meetings, and industry conferences to foster connections and generate leads.
• Local Sponsorship:  Support community events or charities to increase brand visibility. Consider sponsoring neighborhood newsletters or local podcasts.

Promotional Activities

Entice potential clients with appealing offers and incentives.

• Open House Events:  Hosting exclusive open houses is an effective way to showcase properties and create a welcoming environment for prospective buyers. Offering refreshments, interactive property tours, and informational sessions about the local area or housing market trends can elevate the open house experience. 
• Referral Programs:  Encouraging satisfied clients to refer others can be a powerful marketing tool. Implementing referral programs that reward clients with incentives, such as discounts on future transactions or gift vouchers, motivates them to advocate for your agency among their networks. Acknowledging and appreciating referrals strengthen the bond between your agency and existing clients while expanding your client base.

Sales Channels

Maximizing sales strategies and providing comprehensive services contribute significantly to successful transactions and satisfied clients.

Agent Upselling

• Additional Services:  Offer clients comprehensive services beyond property listings, such as staging advice, home valuation consultations, or connections to reliable contractors. This comprehensive approach not only assists clients through the transaction process but also establishes your agency as a trusted resource in real estate matters.
• Value-added Services:  Provide resources like relocation guides, mortgage assistance, or legal advisory services.

Online Sales and Booking

• Property Listing Platforms:  Ensuring an efficient online presence on real estate listing platforms is essential. Active and engaging listings with high-quality visuals, detailed descriptions, and accurate information attract potential buyers and sellers
• Online Transactions:  Streamlining the transaction process through secure online platforms for inquiries, appointments, and documentation fosters convenience and expediency, catering to the preferences of modern clients.

Client Relationship Management

• Follow-up Procedures:  Implement effective follow-up protocols after property viewings or transactions to maintain communication and address client queries.
• CRM Software : Utilize customer relationship management software to organize client information, track interactions, and personalize future engagements.

Strategy Timeline

Finally, create a detailed timeline that outlines critical milestones for the real estate agency’s launch, marketing initiatives, client acquisition, and expansion goals. This timeline should ensure that the business moves forward with clear direction and purpose, setting specific objectives for brand establishment, market penetration, and long-term growth.

The Management section focuses on the real estate agency’s management and their direct roles in daily operations and strategic direction. This part is crucial for understanding who is responsible for making key decisions and driving the real estate agency toward its financial and operational goals.

For your real estate agency business plan, list the core team members, their specific responsibilities, and how their expertise supports the business.

The Financial Plan section is a comprehensive analysis of your financial projections for revenue, expenses, and profitability. It lays out your real estate agency’s approach to securing funding, managing cash flow, and achieving breakeven.

This section typically includes detailed forecasts for the first 5 years of operation, highlighting expected revenue, operating costs and capital expenditures.

For your real estate agency business plan, provide a snapshot of your financial statement (profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement), as well as your key assumptions (e.g. number of customers and prices, expenses, etc.).

Make sure to cover here _ Profit and Loss _ Cash Flow Statement _ Balance Sheet _ Use of Funds

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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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Blog Real Estate Best Practices 12 Easy Steps to Creating a Perfect Real Estate Business Plan (2024 Updated!)

12 Easy Steps to Creating a Perfect Real Estate Business Plan (2024 Updated!)

To be truly successful in the world of business, you must create a solid business plan. This is the case no matter what industry you are in, and that includes real estate.

The business plan you work out must be unique. There is no cookie cutter approach. You must keep your brand image and goals in mind when creating the plan that’s perfect for you.

However, there are a few steps you can take to ensure your plan is well executed. This article will review those steps to ensure you plan is as successful as possible.

Why Create a Real Estate Business Plan?

A real estate business plan offers several benefits including the following:

• It shows you where your business is at and outlines areas where you can make improvements.
• It allows you to set goals and track progress.
• It can be used to help secure funding. Most potential investors will want to see a copy of your business plan before moving forward.
• It can be a selling point for attracting top talent.
• It provides an outline that will help you manage day to day tasks in an organized fashion.
• It can help you track your marketing efforts.
• It can help you attract clients.
• It will keep you more organized in reaching your long-term goals.

12 Steps to Create The Best Real Estate Business Plan

1. determine your business model.

There are a few ways to go when embarking on your real estate journey. You may decide you want to start or join a real estate team. Or you may decide you want to start or join a brokerage. You’ll want to decide if you need a sole proprietorship or an LLC is in your best interest. You may establish a plan early on in your career, or you may decide to change directions and create a new plan in the middle of your career.

While these are all very different paths to take, there are common elements that will need to be focused on in the plan creation process. They will be outlined in the following sections.

2. Identify Who You Are

Determining your brand identity will help you create marketing materials that reflect your image. Are you a friendly ‘people person’? Or is your main goal finding clients the best investment for their money?

Your strategies will change slightly depending on your business model. If you own or work in a team setting , you must define the role of each team member and their part in helping you reach your goals.

If you own a brokerage, your real estate business plan will help you determine what type of agents you want working for you. If you work on your own , it will all come down to your unique vision.

When putting it down on paper, your identity will consist of:

• Your Mission Statement: Your reason for being in real estate
• Your Executive Summary: One or two sentences that summarize what you do

3. Analyze Your Target Real Estate Market

Once you determine who you are as an agent, you will have a better idea of who you are marketing to. You may be targeting business owners, investors, families, luxury clients and so on. It’s also likely you will be working within a specific area.

After identifying your target audience, you need to figure out how your target market is doing. What are home prices like? How is inventory looking? Is it a buyer’s or seller’s market? And what are future predictions?

You will be able to glean this information by looking carefully at the MLS and staying on top of trends. Online and offline real estate resources will also provide some insight.

In general, you will want to stay on top of:

• General Trends including how long homes are staying on the market on average, commission rates, sale prices, etc.
• Market Opportunities based on supply and demand
• Market Saturations based on inventory and agent services

4. Analyze Your Competition

We all know the saying, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. Stay on top of what other agents are doing by subscribing to their newsletters and following their social media pages. While you won’t want to copy their strategies outright, they may just inspire you to create a marketing plan that gives you a competitive edge.

You should also look out for underserved niches and competitive saturation.

When it comes to underserved niches, there may be plenty of agents in your area specializing in family residential properties. But how many are serving the commercial sector? Or the luxury sector?

If the city sections in your area are blowing up, consider looking into properties in a nearby suburb to avoid competitive saturation.

5. Decide What Services You Will Provide

Most real estate agents provide the expected services such as conducting open houses, finding homes for buyers, determining pricing, negotiations, and keeping transactions organized in general.

But you can offer additional services that set your business apart. For example, you may provide:

• Staging: Staging involves setting up the home, so it looks more aesthetically appealing. Once upon a time, staging was offered as an addition service. But today, many agents are rolling it into their agent fees. The agent may stage the home themselves, or they may bring in a specialized team for staging.
• Professional Virtual Tours: Today, virtual real estate tours are the way to go. They allow clients to get the experience of being in the home without having to leave their home. If you are not offering this service, it’s time to get onboard.
• Neighborhood Analysis: Most agents provide clients with an overview of what a neighborhood has to offer. But if you want to go that extra mile, you can provide an in-depth report that includes crime rate, types of properties, demographics, and more.
• Relevant Discounts: Agents can offer clients relevant discounts in terms of handyman services, inspections, appraisals and more.

6. Carve Out a Niche

It’s important to carve out a niche in terms of what type of property you want to sell and who your target audience is. But you can get even more ‘niche-y’ by specializing in certain types of properties such as condos and townhouses, catering to first time buyers and so on.

It may seem like carving out a niche is limiting, but it will make people come to you first when they require expertise in your field. When choosing a niche, base it on what you are most skilled at and where you see an opportunity to grow professionally.

7. Create a Marketing Plan

The first step of your marketing plan will involve identifying your target audience and determining the best way to reach them. For example, if you are focused on first time buyers, you will be targeting a millennial crowd. In addition to emphasizing money saving goals, you may also want to advertise yourself as an agent that is environmentally friendly and gives back.

A luxury crowd may have similar concerns, but their main interests will be in finding high end properties that offer the utmost in amenities.

You must also consider the best way to reach your target audience. What social media platforms are they likely to be on? Do you think they will respond well to cold calls , door knockings , and mailings? Or is it best to keep things digital?

You must also consider race, color, origin, sexual orientations, and disabilities. Create marketing materials that are appealing and will not discriminate in any way.

8. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

In terms of strengths and weaknesses, you must consider what you are best at and what could use improving. For example, you may find that you have superior digital skills but that you’re not so great with cold calling. If this is the case, you should focus on digital and avoid cold calls.

However, you may also consider improving weak spots. For example, if it was the other way around and digital was a weakness, you should consider building up your digital skills. This will give you a competitive advantage in today’s world of real estate.

It’s also important to be aware of opportunities and know when to pounce. This will help a lot with lead generation. For example, FSBO, near pre-foreclosure, and divorces are all ideal situations for an agent to come knocking. You may also think of opportunities in terms of underserved areas and niches in your community.

Threats can come in the form of competition and/or changes in the market. There is usually no way to keep these threats from happening, but you can take steps to be prepared when they occur. This will ensure you are in the best shape possible for taking them on and minimizing potential damage.

9. Focus on Your Specific Goals

• Making a certain amount of money in a given time
• Completing a certain number of transactions in a given time
• Attaining a certain number of new clients in a given time
• Reducing lead time
• Growing your company by hiring new agents and employees or opening new locations
• Determining a better work/life balance

When you set up your goals, it’s important to make them measurable and attainable. If your goals aren’t attainable, you will end up wasting time working towards goals you will never reach. You will also become frustrated by your lack of progress.

Measuring goals can be challenging. In today’s digital world, reports and analysis are provided so you can determine your ROI and figure out what’s working and what isn’t. If you are outside of the digital realm, it may be more difficult to measure your progress, but you should have some idea of how well you are doing.

10. Keep Track of Your Finances

No matter how passionate you are about your business, it won’t be a success unless you are making money. You must keep track of how much you are spending and how much you are earning. Your net profits should always be positive.

For best results, implement an online system like QuickBooks. Online bookkeeping systems will provide reports so you can see where most of your money is being spent and your main sources of income. This will help you determine what’s bringing in the most ROI, what’s generating income, and what’s not.

You may also consider hiring an accountant and/or a financial consult. Your financial team will ensure you are making smart moves at tax time and when investing in tools, software, and other business ventures.

11. Review Your Success Ratios

Your success will also be contingent on customer satisfaction. Are your customers pleased with your services? Are they referring friends and family?

If your success ratios are looking good but your finances aren’t matching up, you may be overspending on certain aspects of your business. Look at your records to see where the bulk of your money is going. Cut back if necessary.

12. Revisit Your Real Estate Business Plan Regularly

Your business plan is not set in stone. It’s a good idea to check it on a regular basis so you can revise it in accordance with your current needs. You may also want to create a new business plan if you decide to change up your business model.

A real estate business plan is a valuable tool for agents. It will keep you on course in attaining your goals. This template will help you devise a plan that is best suited to your professional needs. We wish you the best of luck in moving your company forward.

You’re a successful real estate agent, but you’d like to step to the next level. To do that, you want to create a better business plan for next year. So, how do you start? By filling out that form your manager gave you, asking for your goals for next year? Or, maybe you’re attending those trainings where seminar gurus give you 30 things to do next year. That will put you in a quandary because you don’t know how to choose! Please don’t leap to either one. Before you commit, take a look back at your last year (In the strategic planning process, it’s called the ‘ business review’.) Using the same thought process successful businesses use to create effective business plans will give you clarity.

Time To Scope Your Business Plan: Small Adjustments Pay Big Dividends

You and your business are unique.

Don’t copy someone else’s plan or commit to pie in the sky numbers until you know your three business indicators here. Armed with that information, you can pick and choose your actions and goals wisely, because you know they will work for you.

Building Your Business Best: From working with agents in my business planning courses and systems, I’ve observed that many agents don’t build a business plan around their best source of business: ‘sold’ customers and clients. Marketing surveys show that it costs six to nine times as much to get a new customer as to keep an old one. So, if you spend more money on your best source, and less on your other sources, you’ll optimize your investment.

3. How ‘delighted’ are your clients? Most so-called ‘business plans’ in real estate merely are goal-setting grids. Focusing only on the end results suggests that the ends justify the means. However, the consumer sure doesn’t think so! These goal setting grids alone lead agents to miss the point of the decade: Top-flight customer service begets more business. That is, it’s not just what you do, but how you do it. What level of service are you providing? Is it just good enough to get through the transaction? Or, is it so great that your clients are thoroughly delighted ? (Delighted consumers refer business to you–less cost and more effort equals big pay-offs, right?)

Build Delight into your Business Plan

Don’t Worry About the Tactics

If you’ve been gathering those dozens of tactics seminar gurus have suggested you MUST do, your head is probably spinning. That’s not the way to go about creating an effective business plan. Instead, take time to use the strategic planning process, which includes your business review. Commit one hour out of your day now to assess the three areas here and plan adjustments. The bonus: With your answers, you can pick from that myriad of action plans you’ve gathered and choose the ones that support your major goals. Now you have the ‘why’ for your plan, and you’ll be inspired to create and implement your unique business plan.

About the Author

Chris Heller brings 27 years of experience in real estate. Chris serves on the Agent Advice Editorial Board and is the Chief Real Estate Officer at OJO Labs. Chris brings deep expertise having held influential industry positions including CEO of mellohome and former CEO of Keller Williams Realty International.

Last Updated: 12/29/2023

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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.

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Here is a free business plan sample for a real estate agency.

Embarking on the journey of starting your own real estate agency can be thrilling, yet daunting if you're unsure of the first steps to take.

In the content that follows, we will present to you a comprehensive sample business plan tailored for a real estate agency.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, you're likely aware that a robust business plan is crucial to the foundation of any successful venture. It serves as a roadmap, outlining your vision, objectives, and the strategies you'll employ to thrive in the competitive real estate market.

To streamline the process of crafting an effective plan, you're invited to utilize our real estate agency business plan template. Additionally, our team of professionals is available to review and refine your plan at no extra cost.

How to draft a great business plan for your real estate agency?

A good business plan for a real estate agency must be tailored to the nuances of the real estate industry.

To start, it's crucial to provide a comprehensive overview of the real estate market in your area. This includes up-to-date statistics and an analysis of current trends, similar to what we've included in our real estate agency business plan template .

Your business plan should articulate your vision clearly. Define your target clientele (such as first-time homebuyers, luxury property clients, or commercial investors) and your agency's unique value proposition (local expertise, personalized service, investment advice, etc.).

Market analysis is a key component. You need to understand the competitive landscape, demographic shifts, property values, and client expectations in your region.

For a real estate agency, it's important to outline your property portfolio strategy. Describe the types of properties you will focus on - residential, commercial, rentals, or a mix - and how these choices align with market demand and your business goals.

The operational plan should detail your agency's location, the technological tools you will use for property listings and client management, your network of contacts (like mortgage brokers, home inspectors, and lawyers), and your approach to property showings and closings.

Quality of service, professional ethics, and legal compliance are critical points to emphasize for a real estate agency.

Discuss your marketing and sales strategies next. How will you attract and retain clients? Consider your approach to networking, advertising, staging homes, open houses, and leveraging online platforms.

Having a robust digital strategy, including a user-friendly website and active social media presence, is vital in the real estate industry.

The financial section is fundamental. It should cover startup costs, commission structures, cash flow projections, and your break-even analysis.

In real estate, income can be irregular, so it's essential to have a solid financial plan. For assistance, refer to our financial forecast for a real estate agency .

Compared to other business plans, a real estate agency's plan must address specific industry challenges such as market fluctuations, regulatory changes, and the importance of networking and reputation.

A well-crafted business plan will not only help you clarify your strategies and vision but also attract investors or secure loans.

Lenders and investors are looking for a thorough market analysis, realistic financial projections, and a clear plan for day-to-day operations.

By presenting a detailed and substantiated plan, you show your commitment to the success of your agency and your credibility as a business owner.

To achieve these goals while saving time, you can fill out our real estate agency business plan template .

A free example of business plan for a real estate agency

Here, we will provide a concise and illustrative example of a business plan for a specific project.

This example aims to provide an overview of the essential components of a business plan. It is important to note that this version is only a summary. As it stands, this business plan is not sufficiently developed to support a profitability strategy or convince a bank to provide financing.

To be effective, the business plan should be significantly more detailed, including up-to-date market data, more persuasive arguments, a thorough market study, a three-year action plan, as well as detailed financial tables such as a projected income statement, projected balance sheet, cash flow budget, and break-even analysis.

All these elements have been thoroughly included by our experts in the business plan template they have designed for a real estate agency .

Here, we will follow the same structure as in our business plan template.

Market Opportunity

Market analysis and projections.

The real estate industry is a significant component of the global economy, with a substantial impact on overall economic growth.

As of recent estimates, the global real estate market is valued at several trillion dollars, and this figure is projected to rise steadily, driven by urbanization, population growth, and the increasing demand for residential and commercial properties.

In the United States alone, there are over 2 million active real estate licensees, with the industry contributing a considerable percentage to the nation's GDP. This underscores the critical role real estate plays in the American economy and the vast opportunities it presents.

These statistics highlight the potential for growth and profitability within the real estate sector.

Industry Trends

The real estate market is experiencing a wave of transformation influenced by technological advancements and changing consumer preferences.

PropTech, or property technology, is revolutionizing the industry with innovations like virtual property tours, AI-driven property management systems, and blockchain for secure transactions. These technologies are enhancing the buying, selling, and renting experiences for consumers.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, with a growing demand for eco-friendly buildings and energy-efficient homes. This shift is prompting real estate agencies to prioritize properties with green certifications.

The rise of remote work has also altered the landscape, with more people seeking home offices and flexible living spaces, while commercial real estate is adapting to the demand for co-working spaces.

Moreover, the importance of data analytics in understanding market trends and consumer behavior is more pronounced than ever, enabling real estate agencies to make informed decisions and tailor their services accordingly.

These trends are shaping the future of real estate, with agencies needing to adapt to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their clients.

Key Success Factors

For a real estate agency to thrive, several critical factors must be considered.

First and foremost, a deep understanding of the local real estate market is essential. Agencies with comprehensive knowledge of neighborhood trends, pricing, and inventory can provide superior service to their clients.

Building a strong brand and reputation is also vital. Clients are more likely to trust and engage with agencies that have a proven track record of success and integrity.

Networking and relationships are at the heart of real estate. Agencies that cultivate strong connections with clients, other agents, and industry professionals can create opportunities and facilitate smoother transactions.

Effective marketing strategies, both online and offline, are crucial for attracting and retaining clients. Utilizing social media, search engine optimization, and traditional advertising can significantly increase visibility and lead generation.

Lastly, providing exceptional customer service is key to success. Agencies that go above and beyond to meet their clients' needs can expect higher client satisfaction, repeat business, and referrals.

By focusing on these success factors, a real estate agency can position itself for long-term growth and profitability in a competitive market.

The Project

Project presentation.

Our real estate agency project is designed to cater to the diverse needs of the modern property market. Strategically located in an area with a booming housing market, our agency will specialize in providing exceptional real estate services, including property sales, purchases, rentals, and property management. We will focus on both residential and commercial properties, ensuring a comprehensive portfolio for our clients.

We aim to leverage cutting-edge technology and market data to offer personalized and efficient services to our clients, whether they are first-time homebuyers, seasoned investors, or businesses seeking the perfect location.

Our real estate agency aspires to be a trusted advisor and partner in all property-related endeavors, facilitating smooth and successful transactions for all parties involved.

Value Proposition

The value proposition of our real estate agency lies in our commitment to providing personalized, knowledgeable, and efficient service to our clients. We understand that buying or selling property is a significant life event, and our goal is to make that process as seamless and stress-free as possible.

Our team of experienced agents brings market expertise, negotiation skills, and a vast network of contacts to ensure that our clients have access to the best opportunities and support throughout their real estate journey.

We are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, and we strive to build lasting relationships with our clients based on trust and mutual respect.

Our agency is not just about transactions; it's about helping people find their perfect home or investment and supporting the growth and vitality of our community through smart and sustainable real estate practices.

Project Owner

The project owner is a seasoned real estate professional with a passion for the industry and a deep understanding of the property market's complexities.

With years of experience in real estate sales, property management, and customer service, the owner brings a wealth of knowledge and a track record of success to the agency. Their expertise is complemented by a commitment to staying abreast of market trends and continuing education in the field.

The owner's vision is to establish an agency that stands out for its dedication to clients, its innovative use of technology, and its contribution to the community's economic well-being.

Driven by a desire to exceed expectations and a belief in the transformative power of real estate, the project owner is the guiding force behind the agency, dedicated to making it a beacon of excellence in the real estate sector.

The Market Study

Market segments.

The market segments for this real estate agency are diverse and cater to various client needs.

Firstly, there are first-time homebuyers who require guidance and education throughout the purchasing process.

Next, we have property investors looking for profitable real estate opportunities and market insights.

Another segment includes individuals or families seeking to upsize or downsize, requiring assistance in selling their current property and finding a new home.

Lastly, corporate clients and relocation services form a segment that needs efficient and professional handling of employee relocations and property management.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis of this real estate agency project highlights several key factors.

Strengths include a knowledgeable team with expertise in local markets, a strong network of contacts, and a reputation for excellent customer service.

Weaknesses might encompass a limited presence in certain geographical areas or a smaller portfolio compared to larger franchises.

Opportunities can be found in leveraging technology for virtual showings, expanding into new markets, and capitalizing on emerging real estate trends.

Threats may include economic downturns affecting the housing market, regulatory changes, and intense competition from other agencies and online platforms.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis in the real estate sector indicates a highly competitive landscape.

Direct competitors include other local and national real estate agencies, as well as online property listing services.

These competitors strive to offer comprehensive services, market knowledge, and technological tools to attract clients.

Potential competitive advantages for our agency include personalized customer service, specialized local market expertise, and a strong track record of successful transactions.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors is crucial for carving out a unique value proposition and retaining clients.

Competitive Advantages

Our real estate agency's competitive edge lies in our personalized approach to client service and our deep understanding of the local real estate market.

We offer tailored buying, selling, and investment strategies to meet the unique needs of each client, supported by a team of experienced agents.

Additionally, our commitment to leveraging the latest technology for virtual tours and efficient communication sets us apart in providing a convenient and modern experience for our clients.

We pride ourselves on our integrity, transparency in transactions, and our ability to build lasting relationships with our clients, ensuring they feel confident and supported at every step.

You can also read our articles about: - the customer segments of a real estate agency - the competition study for a real estate agency

The Strategy

Development plan.

Our three-year development plan for the real estate agency is designed to establish us as a leader in the local property market.

In the first year, we will concentrate on building a strong client base by offering personalized services and establishing trust within the community.

The second year will focus on expanding our services to include property management and commercial real estate, thereby diversifying our portfolio.

In the third year, we aim to leverage technology to improve our services, such as virtual property tours and an advanced CRM system, to enhance client engagement and satisfaction.

Throughout this period, we will prioritize customer service, market knowledge, and ethical practices to differentiate ourselves in a competitive market.

Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas for our real estate agency targets individuals looking to buy, sell, or rent properties, as well as investors seeking real estate opportunities.

Our value proposition is centered on providing expert local market knowledge, personalized customer service, and a seamless property transaction experience.

We offer our services through our physical office, online platforms, and through personalized client meetings, utilizing our key resources such as our experienced agents and robust property listings.

Key activities include property listings, client consultations, market analysis, and transaction facilitation.

Our revenue streams are generated from commissions on property sales and rentals, as well as fees for additional services such as property management.

Access a complete and editable real Business Model Canvas in our business plan template .

Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy is built on reputation and referrals.

We aim to establish ourselves as the go-to agency for local real estate by providing exceptional service that encourages word-of-mouth recommendations.

Our approach includes targeted online advertising, open houses, and community involvement to increase visibility.

We will also develop partnerships with local businesses and organizations to expand our network.

Finally, we will utilize social media and content marketing to showcase our properties and share market insights, positioning ourselves as thought leaders in the real estate industry.

Risk Policy

The risk policy for our real estate agency is focused on mitigating risks associated with market fluctuations, regulatory compliance, and client satisfaction.

We will stay informed of market trends and adjust our strategies accordingly to remain competitive.

Compliance with real estate laws and ethical standards is paramount, and we will ensure all agents are well-trained and informed.

Client satisfaction is monitored through feedback and prompt resolution of any issues, and we maintain a reserve fund to manage economic downturns.

We also carry professional liability insurance to protect against potential legal claims.

Our priority is to provide reliable and ethical real estate services while safeguarding the interests of our clients and our business.

Why Our Project is Viable

We are committed to establishing a real estate agency that stands out for its customer-centric approach and local market expertise.

With a focus on service excellence and a strategic growth plan, we are poised to capture a significant share of the market.

We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to facilitate successful property transactions and to contribute to the community's development.

We are adaptable to market changes and client needs, and we look forward to the prosperous future of our real estate agency.

You can also read our articles about: - the Business Model Canvas of a real estate agency - the marketing strategy for a real estate agency

The Financial Plan

Of course, the text presented below is far from sufficient to serve as a solid and credible financial analysis for a bank or potential investor. They expect specific numbers, financial statements, and charts demonstrating the profitability of your project.

All these elements are available in our business plan template for a real estate agency and our financial plan for a real estate agency .

Initial expenses for our real estate agency include the cost of setting up a professional office environment, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, investing in high-quality real estate software and tools, training staff to be knowledgeable about the real estate market and customer service, as well as expenses related to brand development and executing targeted marketing strategies to build a strong presence in the local market.

Our revenue assumptions are based on an in-depth analysis of the local real estate market, taking into account factors such as population growth, housing demand, and economic trends.

We anticipate a steady increase in transactions, starting conservatively and expanding as our agency's reputation for reliability and expertise grows.

The projected income statement outlines expected revenues from property sales and rentals, commission income, and other services offered, minus the costs of operations (staff salaries, office maintenance, marketing expenses, etc.).

This results in a forecasted net profit that is essential for assessing the long-term viability of our real estate agency.

The projected balance sheet will display assets unique to our agency, such as office equipment, property listings, and liabilities including business loans and operational expenses.

It will provide a snapshot of the financial standing of our real estate agency at the end of each fiscal period.

Our projected cash flow statement will detail the inflows from sales and rentals and outflows for business expenses, enabling us to predict our financial needs at any point. This is crucial for maintaining a healthy cash balance and ensuring smooth operations.

The projected financing plan will identify the specific sources of funding we intend to tap into to cover our initial costs.

The working capital requirement for our real estate agency will be meticulously tracked to ensure we have sufficient funds to support day-to-day activities, such as property showings, client meetings, and staff salaries.

The break-even analysis for our agency will calculate the volume of transactions needed to cover all our costs, including initial investments, and to begin generating profits.

It will signal the point at which our business becomes financially sustainable.

Key performance indicators we will monitor include the average commission rate per transaction, the inventory turnover rate to gauge sales efficiency, and the return on investment to evaluate the profitability of the capital invested in our agency.

These metrics will assist us in measuring the financial health and overall success of our real estate agency.

If you want to know more about the financial analysis of this type of activity, please read our article about the financial plan for a real estate agency .

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• Cultivate a Customer-First Mindset
• Best Practices for Connection Calls
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• Convert Your Zillow Premier Agent Leads
• Flex and the Zillow Premier Agent App
• Zillow Premier Agent 101
• Attract Leads With an Agent Profile
• Your Best of Zillow Report
• Grow Your Brand
• How to Manage Your Zillow Premier Agent Advertising
• Using the Zillow Premier Agent CRM
• How to Use Team Features
• How to Use Premier Agent Direct
• Create a business plan
• Build your online presence
• Integrate social media
• Recognize and acknowledge your clients
• Networking and events

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.

Best practices

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.

Related resources

• Business plan template
• Marketing plan template
• ROI tracking worksheet
• 76 marketing tools to build your brand

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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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How to Write a Solid Real Estate Business Plan in 2024

March 13, 2024

If you want to grow your real estate business , then you’ll need to get clear on where you want to go and how you can get there.

Research from the Harvard Business Review indicates that entrepreneurs who create formal business plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who don’t. Further studies also demonstrate that business planning can accelerate a firm’s growth by 30% , and the time invested in writing a business plan can significantly enhance the likelihood of success .

In this article, we’ll guide you through the critical elements of a strong real estate business plan, helping you create a unique strategy aligned with your company goals.

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Why every agent and broker should have a real estate business plan

A real estate business plan acts as a strategic blueprint for an agent, team, or brokerage, mapping out key facets, critical milestones, company goals, and the business’s overall financial health. A plan needs a clear vision and roadmap for how the company will achieve its goals and grow within its specific market.

Additionally, general business plans are pivotal in securing capital and compelling potential investors or partners. A great business plan can attract skilled employees and top-level talent, leading to further expansion and growth.

For an agent or a broker, a real estate business plan is essential for determining your identity in the luxury market and what you can offer clients. It helps you hone in on your ideal customer and allows you to assess the financial viability of your business easily. 

Your real estate business plan is a guide to your goals and a clear-cut strategy for how you can stand out from the competition, grow your business, and fulfill your overarching mission.

Real estate business plans: the basics

When constructing your real estate business plan, it’s best to keep things simple, manageable, and achievable. Focus on where you are now, where you want to go, and how you can reasonably get there.

Here are six critical elements of a straightforward real estate business plan:

• Executive summary:  The executive summary serves as a brief overview of who you are, your purpose, and your goals.
• Overview and objectives:  The overview and objectives section can vary somewhat based on your individual needs, but they should include your mission statement, your history, and your objectives.
• Market opportunities and competitive analysis:  Your business plan should outline where market conditions are ideal for the rapid growth of a business and what your competition is already doing in that space.
• SWOT analysis:  SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats and is a useful analytical tool for determining your strategic position.
• Marketing plan:  The marketing plan identifies and details how you will reach and attract your target audience.
• Financial plan:  A financial plan is a fairly straightforward snapshot of the economic health of your business.

Most business plans adhere to a timeframe of three to five years, though some are as short as one year, others as long as seven. Although everything in this article provides recommendations for a three to five-year plan, it’s worth looking beyond five years for future growth opportunities.

Creating your own real estate business plan 

Now that you know the main sections of your real estate business plan, let’s dive into exactly what goes into each element. 

Executive summary

A good summary is typically one to two pages (although one is optimal) and should include the following:

• Description of services
• Summary of objectives
• Brief market and competition snapshot (you’ll dive deeper into this later in your business plan)
• Capital or partnership requirements, if applicable

Your executive summary is the one part of your business plan you can recite from memory. There’s no fluff. Consider this your elevator pitch to sell your vision and convince others to join you on your mission.

Overview and objectives

Mission statement.

Your mission statement is why you do what you do—the guiding principles for your business. 

For example, here are two excellent real estate company mission statements:

• Compass : Our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world. Compass is building the first modern real estate platform, pairing the industry’s top talent with technology to make the search and sell experience intelligent and seamless.
• Sotheby’s Realty : Built on centuries of tradition and dedicated to innovation, the Sotheby’s International Realty brand artfully unites connoisseurs of life with their aspirations through a deeply connected global network of exceptional people.

Your history is just that—when you started, location, leadership, milestones, and notable services or specializations.

Objectives are your primary goals. A common technique for establishing your goals is through the “SMART” method, ensuring your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Objectives that might cover the course of a five-year plan include:

• Rebrand the company website in 30 days.
• Establish a social media presence in 90 days.
• Close five transactions per month in year one and double transaction volume by year three.
• Double the size of the firm by year five.

Ensure your goals are targeted and realistic within your set time frame. 

More likely than not, your business will have multiple objectives simultaneously. Group them based on category and designate a team member who will be responsible for managing achievements, setting milestones, and assessing progress.

Market opportunities and competitive analysis

Understanding your market and your competition involves taking stock of the landscape’s size, demographics, demands, and trends.

Market opportunities

When determining your market opportunities in your business plan, consider the following questions: 

• What is the size and stability of the market?
• Is the market currently on an upward or downward trajectory?
• What are the current demographics of the market?
• What segment of the market do I want to target? 
• Is there a demand for a particular type of housing? 
• Are there more sellers than buyers, or vice versa? 

Also, pinpoint specific market circumstances that could significantly impact your business, like interest rate trends or local economic development. Be sure to document these insights in your plan as well. 

Competitive analysis

In many business plans, competitive analysis is worthy of its own standalone section. Regardless of how you present it, devote some space to your competition and thoroughly research what they currently do in the real estate market.

Include both immediate and secondary competitors, and note if the market is primed for new competitors in the future. Also, identify the risks and opportunities when comparing your niche market and services versus others vying for similar business. 

Remember to ask yourself:

• What do I offer clients that the competition does not? 
• Can I stand out in this market and generate revenue?
• How can I advertise myself to showcase these differences?

SWOT analysis

Through its matrix-like formatting, you can use data-backed facts to analyze your team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a visual way. Here are some questions you can ask yourself for each section:

• Is your brand recognizable?
• Do you have an in-house expert for each specialization within residential or commercial real estate (or both)? 
• Do you have an active pipeline of new leads ? 
• What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?
• Do you lack consistent social media or online content? 
• Is your brand relatively new or unrecognizable ?
• Are you missing out on lead-generation opportunities?
• Is your website engagement lacking?

Opportunities

• Has your team just branched out to a new area of real estate? 
• Is market demand growing in your area? 
• Have you uncovered a new source of referrals ?
• Are there any new teams in your niche that offer a USP similar to yours?
• Are mortgage rates rising enough to slow down demand?

By uncovering factors in each grid of the SWOT analysis matrix, you can identify areas that need immediate attention or capitalize on specific strengths.

Marketing plan

Creating a marketing plan is an exercise in understanding your ideal client and then molding a campaign that ensures you can target those customers. Here are a few key points to outline in your marketing plan:

Demographics

• Consider your ideal client persona, including age, location, income, and profession.
• Consider what attracts this ideal client. What are they looking for in properties? What are they avoiding?
• What type of neighborhoods, amenities, or lifestyle are they seeking?

Marketing channels

• Which platforms are your ideal clients engaging with the most? Which ones do your competitors frequently utilize?

Along with these aspects, consider how to position yourself better than your competitors to attract this client. Think about the benefits you can offer and how you can showcase this with a smart real estate marketing campaign .

Financial plan

A financial framework is a crucial aspect of your real estate business plan since it provides insight into the economic health of your business. It gives you a better idea of the valuation of your business, acts as a guide for your budget, and helps you set more realistic financial goals.  

Here are the elements of a financial plan that should be included:

Profit and loss statement

• This is also called an income statement or pro forma. This shows a company’s profitability (or loss) over a certain length of time.

Cash flow statement

• This statement provides an overview of your actual cash position.

Balance sheet

• A balance sheet shows where you stand regarding assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.

Operating budget

• An operating budget is a detailed view of your income and expenses, usually over 12 months. 

Break-even analysis

• This outlines the revenues necessary to cover all costs and your business’s potential to be profitable. 

Depending on your real estate business position or if you’re an individual broker or agent, you can simplify this area with just an operating budget and break-even analysis.

4 common mistakes agents make when creating a real estate business plan

1. thinking the business plan needs to be perfect.

Your real estate business plan will not be built overnight. You can still run a successful company while your business plan is being created. Instead of waiting to make a “perfect” business plan, follow our step-by-step guide to get started. Then, you can modify as you learn more about your client, your competition, and the trends in the market. 

2. Not having someone else review your business plan

Like any other business document, having a second pair of eyes review your real estate business plan is always helpful for typos or mistakes and for any glaring questions or inconsistencies. Be open to feedback from people, both in the industry and outside it—if someone is confused by an aspect of your plan, chances are they won’t be the only one. 

3. Not using the business plan to gain more clients

While your plan is useful for an overview of your business and its goals, don’t forget to use it as a guiding tool. For example, once you make your marketing plan, you’ll have a stronger idea of your ideal customer. So, be sure to use that information to create more targeted outreach efforts. This includes:

• Adjusting your marketing and advertising budget
• Creating a more targeted marketing campaign, including website, social media, and email
• Determining how to nurture non-specific outreach efforts such as referrals , SEO , and open houses
• Developing a data analytic strategy—how will you measure your marketing success and make changes if necessary?

4. Not coming back to the business plan 

Your real estate business plan is not a one-and-done proposition or something to be written, tossed in a drawer, and forgotten. 

Make time to periodically reevaluate your progress and see where you stand in reaching your goals. Once every 90 days is a good rule of thumb, but review more or less frequently as you see fit. And if you start hitting those goals early, take the time to make new ones.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to pivot if something isn’t working. Goals can change, so return to your business plan and modify it as your company ebbs and flows. 

Luxury Presence: your real estate business plan partner

With beautifully crafted websites, SEO strategists, and top marketing expertise, Luxury Presence is here to help you define your business and grow in the real estate market. Contact our team of experts today to refine your online presence and stand out from the competition.

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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.

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The Step-by-Step Guide to Starting a Real Estate Business

Kate Evans is a content writer, real estate subject matter expert, and investor based in Charleston, South Carolina. Her career has taken her to Africa, Europe, and around the US, where she’s contributed to numerous print and online business and lifestyle publications. See full bio

• Know Your “Why”
• Make a Plan
• Create Your Brand
• Company Name
• Bonus Brand Building Tips
• Get the Right Tools
• Website Builder
• Marketing Tools
• Email + SMS
• Twitter, TikTok, + Pinterest
• Leave it to the Pros
• Generate Leads
• Cold Calling
• Buying Leads
• Lead Nurturing
• Remember Your “Why”

Many of us finish our real estate education, pass our exam, and think, “Well, now what?” Because, while we might know about homestead exemptions, the measurements of a government survey township, and how many square feet are in an acre, we don’t know how to start a real estate business.

The truth is, real estate agents are so much more than licensed professionals. We are business owners, responsible for all that goes into a successful business, from branding and marketing to sales and budgeting. We’re the CEO, COO, CFO, and CTO—oh, and we have to actually practice real estate. 

The good news is The Close has you covered. We’ve pulled together all of our tools, resources, worksheets, and templates you need to build your real estate business into a step-by-step guide—and you can start right now!

Know Your ‘Why’

Building a business takes tremendous energy and focus, which is why it’s important to first establish why you’re doing it. Maybe you love the thrill of the deal. Maybe you hope to help people and make their dreams come true. Maybe you want to develop your community. Your “why” needs to drive the large (and small) decisions of your business. 

This can be summed up in your mission, vision statements, and values. Before you can tackle the really exciting things, like your branding, first establish what you stand for. Our resource below will walk you through the process and give you helpful examples of each element.

• Goal: Know your “why”
• Task: Establish your mission, vision, and values
• Resource: Create an Inspiring Mission, Vision & Values Statement for Your Real Estate Business

You know what Yogi Berra said about planning: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else. Bottom line: Planning is crucial to building your business. 

Let’s start with a good old-fashioned business plan. It’s a classic because it works. We created our business plan template specifically for agents; it walks you through all of the decisions you’ll need to think through. Your business plan is your blueprint—it will help you reduce risk, identify threats and weaknesses early on, exploit opportunities, and fortify strengths. 

Our business plan leads you through these seven steps:

• Telling your story
• Targeting your specific real estate market
• Identifying your target client
• Conducting a SWOT analysis (don’t worry, it’s all in the template)
• Establishing your goals
• Creating a financial plan (remember what I said about budgeting?)
• Monitoring and evaluation

By the end, you’ll have a crucial founding document that will support and inspire you in the hard times and keep you on track in the rocking good times.

• Goal: Lay the foundation of your business
• Task: Create a business plan
• Resource: 7 Steps to Writing a Real Estate Business Plan (+ Worksheet)

If your business plan is already in place and you’re looking for ways to scale, here are some ideas to differentiate yourself in a crowded market. Carve out a specialty for your business with one from our list of 6 red-hot real estate niches .

You don’t have to take our word for it—Steve Forbes puts it clear as day: “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.” But it’s way more than just a logo. There are many different components to your brand, and we can help you with each step.  

Start with our business launch kit, which is essentially a collegiate-level crash course in branding and marketing.

If you already have a pretty good foundation for your brand and want a tune-up, check out Real Estate Branding: How to Build Your Brand (+ Case Studies) . Here you’ll go through some thought and strategy exercises to put your branding through its paces and compare it to some successful case studies.

• Goal: Create your brand
• Task: Take The Close’s crash course in branding
• Resource: The Business Launch Kit

What are you going to call yourself? What is going to make you stand out in a crowded market and speak to your value proposition? If you already know because you’ve been tossing it around in your head for months or years, excellent! Skip this step . 

If you’re not sure where to start (or worried you didn’t get it quite right yet), we’re here to help. Our Creative Real Estate Company Names article includes a free name generator. Click on over and take it for a spin.

• Goal: Establish a name for your real estate company
• Task: Brainstorm, then narrow down and test out your options
• Resource: Creative Real Estate Company Names (+ Name Generator)

Now that you have a name, it’s time to create some visuals to go with it. You need a logo that is bold and defines exactly who you are and what you’re all about. If you have the graphic design chops to design your own, go for it (VistaCreate and Canva can help)! If not, maybe leave it to the professionals. Check out Fiverr, where you can set your own budget (as low as $5) and hire a designer to create a custom logo for your business.

• Goal: Decide on a visual representation of your business
• Task: Create a logo (or have one whipped up for you by a professional)
• Resource: The Best & Worst Real Estate Logos (+ Pro Design Tips)

A strong slogan can convey a wealth of information in just a handful of words. Slogans can be pithy (Sell It Like Serhant), earnest (Our Passion Is People. What’s Yours?), or highly local (The Power of Deep Roots). But they must reinforce your value proposition. 

Creating a company slogan is not easy—some entire advertising careers are built on one five-word phrase. But we’re here to help with our own real estate company slogan generator. Go ahead and give it a try!

• Goal: Create a slogan for your company
• Resource: Best Real Estate Slogans & Taglines (+ Slogan Generator)

Now that you know your company name, slogan, and have a stunningly visual logo, let’s tell the world who you are. Bios are some of the hardest things to write, even for professional wordsmiths. But consider this as an opportunity to establish why someone should trust you and how your experience, professionalism, and local ties make you the best choice to help sell or buy a home. 

Don’t have the energy to write up your biography after all of this hard work? We’re going to do it for you. Try out our real estate bio generator !

• Goal: Help prospects get to know you before they meet you
• Task: Write your agent bio
• Resource: Write a Killer Real Estate Agent Bio With These Free Tools & Templates

Turn Your Brand Into a Business-generating Machine

Strong branding is all about attracting a customer base that shares your values. Here we will walk you through some of those commonly overlooked branding tools that can help you shine. You’ll need an excellent headshot, for example, and a business card, and social media templates. This article will guide you through some of the most important, but easy-to-check-off tasks in your branding efforts.

• Goal: Translate your brand into marketing materials
• Task: Create crucial secondary branding assets
• Resource: 7 Real Estate Marketing Materials That Will Help You Build a Better Personal Brand

We are fortunate to live in an age with such advanced technology. There are tools out there to help agents in every step of their business. Here at The Close, we review everything from lead generation companies to website builders. Here are some of our favorite providers for new agents in the categories crucial to starting any successful real estate business.

Pick a Solid CRM

A customer relationship management tool (CRM) gets more and more important the more successful you are. It helps you keep track of your contacts, prioritize communication, and strategize effective touchpoints. 

Our top pick for the past three years has been LionDesk. A lightweight, affordable, and easy-to-use CRM, it has everything you need to start organizing and automating your relationships. Even better, you can get set up with LionDesk starting at just $21 per month—less than half what most other CRM companies charge. Give it a test drive with their free 30-day trial. 

If LionDesk doesn’t seem like the right fit, check out our other top picks, or consider one of the excellent free CRMs in our guide. Just remember what they say: The best CRM is the one you’ll use.

• Goal: Organize your contacts and set up regular touchpoints
• Task: Select and get familiar with a CRM
• Resource: The Best Real Estate CRM for 2023 , + The Best Free Real Estate CRMs of 2023

Build a Gorgeous Website

You’re going to need a standout, optimized website to showcase your logo, headshot, slogan, and bio. There are endless possibilities, from building your own with Squarespace to getting a custom real estate-specific site from Placester to including a site within a lead generation machine like Sierra Interactive. 

For inspiration, take a look at our ranking of Real Trends Top 25 Real Estate Agent Websites , which also has advice and tools for creating your own. When you’re ready to start your own site, consult our list of our top website builders, with tips on how to decide which provider is best for you.

• Goal: Expand your web presence and give leads a place to land
• Task: Create your own website
• Resource: Best Real Estate Website Builders of 2023

Get the Word Out

Now it’s time to shout it from the rooftops! Tell everyone in your community that you have arrived and are ready to fulfill all of their real estate needs. Real estate marketing takes many forms and it can feel overwhelming when you’re just starting out. First things first: Take a look at our comprehensive list of marketing ideas and decide which ones are a good match for your business and farm area.

When you’re ready, move over to our article that shows you how to use our template to create an entire marketing plan that’s customized for your business.

• Goal: Market your real estate business
• Task: Create a custom marketing plan
• Resource: The Real Estate Marketing Plan Template for Long-term Growth

Use Marketing Tools to Make Life Easier

If you’re not exactly sure what you need, or if you know what you need but not sure who to work with, we’ve got it all figured out for you. We’ve put together our favorite marketing tools that will really elevate your efforts and make them more efficient. Check out this resource for reviews of tools for community engagement, graphic design, search engine optimization (SEO), email, SMS, video production, and even artificial intelligence (AI).

• Goal: Make your marketing efforts more effective and efficient
• Task: Evaluate which marketing tools you need
• Resource: Real Estate Marketing Tools Every Agent Needs (+ Reviews & Pricing)

Reach the Masses With Email & SMS

A good CRM ( see above ) will help you with your email and texting campaigns. Most already have a library of helpful templates that are appropriate for almost any situation. Announcing your new business? Send out an email introduction. Getting to know your neighbors? Invite them to an open house with a personalized text. Farming a specific area? Become the expert with professional newsletters that outline all of the goings-on.

• Goal: Utilize email and text to skyrocket your marketing
• Task: Incorporate email and SMS into your marketing strategy
• Resource: Easy & Actionable Real Estate Email Marketing Tips

We have plenty of expert tips and templates that will set you up for success:

• Proven Real Estate Newsletter Ideas (+ Tips, Templates & Tools)
• Real Estate Email Templates That Will Generate Business
• Best Real Estate Text Message Scripts for Agents 
• 6-Day New Lead Text Messaging Campaign + Agent Texting Scripts

Conquer Social Media

Social media is a cheap, easy way to market your business, if it’s done correctly. Our advice is to select two, at the most three, social media channels and focus on those.

• Goal: Take advantage of social media to broadcast your message
• Task: Select two or three social media channels and create a social media plan
• Resource: Real Estate Social Networks That Deliver Value for Agents (Ranked) + Social Media Marketing Techniques That Actually Generate Real Estate Leads

If Instagram is a good option for you, that’s great because we’ve got all the templates and tips you need!

• Start with our crash course for real estate agents . It includes templates you can use right out of the gate. 
• Need help understanding what makes for a good post? We’ve dissected it in our Best Real Estate Social Media Templates for Facebook & Instagram .
• Not always sure what to post? Read our Real Estate Instagram Posts That Attract Clients (with Canva Templates) .
• Want some inspiration? Click over to Must-follow Real Estate Instagram Accounts .

Real estate agents have had tremendous success with Facebook over the years. Here are some of our resources on how to make the most of it:

• Awesome Real Estate Facebook Cover Photo Examples to Inspire You (+ Templates)
• How to Set Up a Real Estate Agent Facebook Page to Get More Leads
• How to Create Real Estate Facebook Ads That Actually Generate Leads

Twitter, TikTok & Pinterest

Do Twitter, TikTok, or Pinterest fit your style, brand, and market better? Start here: 

• Funniest Tweets (+ Top Real Estate Twitter Accounts to Follow)
• Real Estate TikTok: 3 Top Agents on How to Get Millions of Likes (+ Leads)
• Powerful Pinterest Real Estate Marketing Ideas From the Pros

…Or Leave It to the Pros

While social media is an excellent marketing tool, it’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for a little help with your social media marketing, or just don’t have the time to invest in it, take a look at Coffee & Contracts. This is a real estate marketing platform just for agents, offering sleek and trendy templates that feature engaging copy.

Talk to five different top-producing agents and they’ll give you five different ways to generate leads they swear are the best. However, we find that the most effective strategies are a mix of different approaches based on your market, budget, resources, and even your personality. Start with Sean Moudry’s customizable template, which takes all of this into account to help you create the perfect lead generation plan for your business. Then check out our 12 tips for getting real estate clients in 2023.

• Goal: Create a strategy for business development and lead generation
• Task: Put together and execute your lead generation plan
• Resource: How to Create a Custom Real Estate Lead Generation Plan (+ Template) + How to Get Clients in Real Estate: Our 12 Best Tips for 2023

Here’s a look at three of the most common lead generation techniques in real estate:

It can be intimidating to pick up the phone and call a stranger. But with our cold calling scripts in hand, you’ll know exactly what you want to say and be ready for any objections they throw your way.

There are some pretty interesting lead generation companies out there, and we’ve done a deep dive review of just about all of them. Start with our guide to the top lead generation companies (plus some to avoid) . 

Then move on to take a look at our top-rated predictive and data analytics companies . They are using some incredibly sophisticated technology to help agents understand their markets and target the right potential clients.

Once you have the lead, then what? Take a look at our guide to lead nurturing and conversion , which will further convince you that a great CRM is crucial to long-term success. It includes tips and scripts to help you make the most of your lead generation efforts. 

Remember Your ‘Why’

Running a real estate business takes patience, dedication, inspiration, and hard work. It can be a lot of fun, but there are definitely days that are long and hard. Most Realtors experience a period of frustration early in their careers. But The Close is here for you. We have exactly the type of strategic advice and fun content you need to get through the hard times. 

And if you feel completely overwhelmed, go back to your “why.” This should be exactly the reason you started your real estate business in the first place—and why you should keep on building.

• Goal: Remember why you started your business
• Task: Lean on The Close community for help, humor, and camaraderie
• Resource: Why So Many Real Estate Agents Fail After Just 2 Years (+ How Not To) + Real Estate Memes Realtors Can’t Stop Sharing

Bringing It All Together

Being a real estate agent is hard work, especially because it requires being good at so many different things. Starting a real estate business takes time and is easier with someone on your side. We’re here to support agents every step of the way. With our combined 40 years of experience, we can offer the advice, the tools, and the resources to get you to where you want to be. We can also give some helpful motivation and a just-for-agents meme or two—or 108 .

Do you have suggestions or advice for someone starting their real estate business? Lessons you learned along the way? Questions? Leave us a comment below.

Kate Evans is a content writer, real estate subject matter expert, and investor based in Charleston, South Carolina. Her career has taken her to Africa, Europe, and around the US, where she’s contributed to numerous print and online business and lifestyle publications.

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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.

ESTATE AGENT BUSINESS PLAN: How to Write an Estate Agent Business Plan

• by Kenechukwu Muoghalu
• August 11, 2023

Table of Contents Hide

What is a real estate agent business plan, why do you need a business plan, #1. executive summary, #2. company’s corporate structure, #3. analyze your target market, #4. analyze your local competition, #5. establish your sales and marketing strategy, #6. financial plan, #7. appendix, #8. follow up, estate agent business plan template, are you having difficulties writing your real estate agent business plan, conclusion , how long should a real estate business plan be, how do i become a successful estate agent, do estate agents make good money uk.

If you are thinking of being a real estate agent in 2023, then you should consider starting with a business plan. It’s no secret that the real estate market is highly competitive, and to scale off as an agent, you need to come up armed with a business plan. A business plan can guarantee your business a great chance of success and also help you track your activities to detect when a change needs to be made. This article will further buttress the benefits of having a business plan and also guide you on how to write a plan for your real estate agent business. As a bonus, you will also be getting a current 2023 real estate agent business plan template checklist.

If this process feels overwhelming already, you can stick to our pre-made real estate agent business plan and start that business today. 

When a business plan is involved, you will get to understand that it is a document that covers the “what,” “why”, and “how” of your business. What do you want to do with this business? Why do you want to do it? How do you plan to achieve it? These questions, in general, are called “business plans.”

A proper business plan should cover your niche, business goals, target audience, and market research, among others. That is why you need to learn how to write a business plan for your real estate agent company. Understanding how it works will help you capture the strengths and shortcomings of your company so that you can set achievable and measurable goals. Starting a real estate agent business this 2023 without a plan is something you should avoid. 

Aside from helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses, a business plan will also give you an overview of where you stand in the industry and how you can make amendments. If you’re also looking to secure finance for your estate agent business in 2023, then you’ll need a robust business plan. This is because your lenders would like to analyze what your business is all about and determine if they can benefit from investing in it. 

A business plan will serve as a companion and a road map that can easily help you reach your destination. Learning how to write a plan for your real estate agent business with this tough competition will also give you an edge over other brands. With a business plan, you will be able to set goals and attain them.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Real Estate Agent

Writing a professional business plan requires some level of procedure before your goals can be achieved. For a business plan to be complete, you will need to include a detailed outline of some essential sections. 

An executive summary is the first component of a business plan. In summary, this section should contain who you are, the services you offer, who you serve, and where you currently work from. While writing, you need to start with an introduction to your business plan and its outline. 

Although this section should be the first to appear in your plan, it is advised that you complete it at the end. When you apply this method, you will find that it’s easier to draft this section after dissecting the whole plan. 

As a real estate agent, you should have a management team that you work with. In this section, you will need to make a list of all the members of your team. While doing this, they include their personal information, skills, education, experience, and different roles. If you have any extra skills that you think might improve the growth of your business, then you should mention them as well.

The essence of a target market is to begin your branding process from their perspective. And to achieve this, you will need to identify your target audience by doing in-depth research on who they are and how best to attract them. Understanding your market niche will help you decide how best to attract them with your branding and how to serve them.

Once you have an idea of what services your company would provide, identify your real estate clients. While on this, do not try to appeal to all property sellers and buyers because it will be hard to stand out from the crowd. With smaller potential customers, you will have less competition and a greater chance of making tremendous sales. 

In this section, you will research your competitors , identify your primary competition, and study what they are doing. Learning about their weaknesses and strengths will help you identify the gaps in the market so that you can set yourself apart and outperform them in the industry. 

Your next move is to actualize what your sales and marketing strategy is going to be. Marketing your business will help attract potential customers, which will lead to sales. To achieve this, you need to make a list of the real estate marketing strategies to use. You can choose to open a website, run social media ads, and engage in referrals and content marketing, among others. 

Read Also: ESTATE AGENT INSURANCE: Coverages, Quotes & General Requirements

This is the most critical part of your real estate agent business plan. You will need to assess your start-up and recurring financial requirements to create a budget. This section should include your cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. Remember, you also need a financial reserve to cover unexpected future costs. 

This should include any additional legal documents that your readers might request. It can be a financial document or even a legal qualification. You can also show off your license and permits here.

A real estate agent’s business plan is a living and not a static document. Being a living document requires that you review it regularly and alter changes if needed. As you keep experiencing growth in your business, you should also update your plan. 

Once you have written your solid estate agent business plan, you will also need to make use of a template. A template will help keep your activities in check while reminding you of some actions that are yet to be achieved. To make full use of this estate agent business plan template, it is best to follow this guide accordingly to reach the desired result. 

• Formulate a plan
• Brand building
• Getting insurance
• Legal qualifications
• Reviewing financials
• Marketing and advertisement
• Team building 

If you have spent hours trying to compose a business plan, then you should curb the stress and try out our professional pre-made Real Estate Agent business plan .

Creating a business plan can be a fun but hard task, especially when you are a first-timer. At BusinessYield Consult, we have succeeded in creating professional business plans for startup entrepreneurs like you. Rather than wasting hours and days trying to write a business plan, you can easily get this ready-made plan here and spice up those ideas. 

The real estate agent market in the UK is highly competitive and disruptive and starting up a business comes with its challenges. However, with the right attitude and support of a business plan, any new estate agent can stand out from the crowd and be successful. It is also important to note that for a business plan to spice up your business ideas, it needs to be well-written and planned. If you know you are not capable of creating a plan that will meet these standards, you should go for this premade real estate agent business plan . 

A business plan does not have a specific number of words or length of content because most of the time, the length can vary from one another. The only common ground in a real estate business plan is that they are generally outlined between one and five years. It is from this factor that you will be able to detect the length that works for any year. 

Before you start on this new venture of yours, there are some basic skills you must have. You should have marketing, communication, and negotiating skills. You should also start with a growth mindset while understanding that your business requires hard work. Always put your customers first by getting sellers the best deal and funding buyers a perfect home. 

A normal trainee estate agent earns £14,000 to £20,000, while an estate agent with experience can earn up to £25,000 to £60,000 plus commission. A well-experienced and successful agent can earn up to £50,000 to £100,000. Considering these values an average estate agent will earn £42,392. 

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Kenechukwu Muoghalu

Kenny, an accomplished business writer with a decade of experience, excels in translating intricate industry insights into engaging articles. Her passion revolves around distilling the latest trends, offering actionable advice, and nurturing a comprehensive understanding of the business landscape. With a proven track record of delivering insightful content, Kenny is dedicated to empowering her readers with the knowledge needed to thrive in the dynamic and ever-evolving world of business.

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Northern Ireland letting agency acquires rental portfolio of Robert Wilson Estate Agency Group for an undisclosed sum

Northern Ireland letting agency Quicklet has acquired the rental portfolio of Robert Wilson Estate Agency Group for an undisclosed sum.

Established over 30 years ago and with three branches in Moira, Lurgan and Dunmurry, Robert Wilson Estate Agency is Northern Ireland’s biggest sole trader estate agency business with a property sales, rentals and management company. All staff have been retained.

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Quicklet, headquartered on the Lisburn Road in Belfast, was founded in 2010 and has further branches in Lurgan and Lisburn. Following on from its acquisition of ACE Property in Edinburgh earlier this year, Quicklet is planning for two further acquisitions in Northern Ireland and Edinburgh before the end of the year.

The acquisition brings Quicklet’s managed properties to over 2,000 units, working towards the company’s three-year goal to have 5,500 properties under management by 2026.

Robert Wilson Estate Agency Group will be the 12th such purchase that Quicklet has made since its foundation, including the acquisition of ACE Property in Edinburgh earlier this year, and Pinpoint property in South Belfast in 2023. Quicklet is actively looking to make further acquisitions in central Edinburgh and in Northern Ireland across the A1 corridor.

Gavin McEvoy, director of Quicklet, said: “The acquisition of Robert Wilson Estate Agency Group is the perfect fit for Quicklet, with three offices across the province which further strengthens our footprint across Northern Ireland. The Robert Wilson property team are very well established in the industry and we are delighted for them to be joining the Quicklet team.”

Dermot O’Hanlon, co-director of Quicklet, explained: “At Quicklet, we are committed to further growth and have a clear vision of where we want to take the business. The strength of the entire team we have built over the years is allowing us to realise our vision for the business.”

Robert Wilson, owner of Robert Wilson Estate Agency group, added: “We have been in discussions with Quicklet for quite some time to understand the culture at Quicklet and ensure our clients and team will be good hands.

"Quicklet is a specialist in the space and this sale provides an opportunity for me and my sales team to focus on what we do best – residential sales– and put the management in the hands of experts. I am pleased to hand over our portfolio to such a well-regarded property management company as Quicklet.”

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Fake ads, manipulated photos: Abu Dhabi tenants duped by fraudulent real estate agents

Earlier this year, dubai brought in new rules to stop real estate agents from listing fake ads and gave them a deadline to remove all unavailable properties.

Nasreen Abdulla

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When Abu Dhabi resident Hanil Sajad was hunting for an apartment in the Madinat Zayed area, he came across a popular site that listed a building with shaded parking. “I was intrigued because it is almost impossible to find parking in that area and this building was advertising shaded private parking,” he said. “However, when I went there, it was just the Mawaqif parking and because the building’s shadow fell on it, they called it shaded parking.”

Several Abu Dhabi residents have reported that property agents are luring them in with false pretences and carefully manipulated photos when the reality is different. Some even advertise houses with false rents and sizes, which prospective tenants only find out when they visit the place.

Hanil, who has been house-hunting since 2022, said that he has seen several such instances. “I once saw an apartment that, according to the listing, measured 1,500 square feet,” he said. “When I got there, it was the size of a shoebox. When I asked the agent, he said the measurement includes the outdoor balcony as well as part of the corridor because that is where the residents can put their cycles or plant pots.”

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In February this year, Dubai brought in new rules to stop real estate agents from listing fake ads and gave them a three-day deadline to remove all unavailable properties.

A representative from a leading property portal said they are working with Abu Dhabi authorities to bring about a change in the emirate’s rental sector as well.

“We are fully aware of the frustration that prospective tenants or buyers face when listings don’t match the real price or photos, and we understand how this can erode trust in the market,” said Ari Kesisoglu, President of Property Finder. “If we don’t address this issue, it will persist. With the support of the government, we have made a lot of headway already in Dubai and we hope to see the same progress in Abu Dhabi, ensuring transparency and accuracy in real estate listings.”

They like to string us along

When Mohammed Azhar was house hunting in the Al Raha area last year, he encountered similar deceptive practices by several agents. “When you see a listing on the website, you call the agent and they invite you for a viewing,” he said. “You look at it and it is a great apartment but the next day, they say it is already gone. Then, they show you several apartments, many of them which are already rented and then get back to you saying they are all taken. So they just string you along until you run out of time and patience and are ready to settle for some subpar property.”

Jeff Raju Kuruvilla, the CEO of Manifest Real Estate, said he often gets clients who are frustrated by their search. “One such client visited a property based on an online listing and while standing outside the house, the agent informed him that the requested property had already been sold,” he said. “Alternative options were available but at a higher price point. As a result, he contacted me, having previously purchased properties in Dubai through me, to assist in exploring alternate choices in the same area in Abu Dhabi.”

How to spot fakes

According to Ari, house hunters should be alert when checking for listings. “We have introduced tools, such as Data Guru, that unlock insights and data about properties to allow better decision-making, offering a one-stop solution for all the information that home seekers are typically looking for,” he said. "We also have Super Agent, agents who ensure the most up-to-date listings in the market."

Jeff said it was also important to watch out for low quality images and vague descriptions. “Fraudsters frequently distort the property's image by using stock photos or photos from other listings,” he said. “Genuine listings usually include extensive descriptions. Listings that are vague or use general language could be fraudulent because they frequently try to hide the true nature of the property or its existence. If a property is listed drastically below market value without good justification, it is probably a fraud aimed to entice unwary buyers.”

He also advised renters and buyers to “always engage with licensed real estate agents” who have broker ID and agencies which are registered, and to report suspicious listings to the platform or local authorities.

• Dubai fake property ad scam: Residents call out agents who bait and switch, ask for advance payment
• Dubai: Property websites urged to link systems with authority to avoid fake listings, fines
• UAE scams exposed: How thousands of residents ‘lost it all’ in bogus investment schemes

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Hollywood’s top 35 real estate agents keep setting records despite the downturn.

Even as high interest rates hamstring the luxury sector, the very top of the market keeps soaring higher, thanks to the gumption of the best brokers in the business, listed in THR’s annual tally.

By Hadley Meares

Hadley Meares

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It’s been another 12 months of rough sailing in L.A.’s luxury real estate sector. Confronted with market-chilling headwinds — from the year-old “mansion tax” to stubbornly high interest rates and scarce inventory — many of the area’s top agents saw their numbers dip. 

But the 35 brokers below (selected according to metrics that include total sales volume from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024; media visibility; and the wattage of their celebrity clientele) have found a way to power through the storm. “2024 was an incredible year for the people that chose to be in the market,” Carolwood’s Cooper Mount says. “There were struggles across the board. However, buyers that had patience and perseverance were able to secure some of the great deals that exist in the city. On the flip side, sellers that had A+ houses, in prime locations, as long as they were positioned correctly, were able to enjoy record-setting sales prices.” 

For all the projected confidence, agents agree the best part of 2024 is that it’s coming to a close. “As interest rates continue the downward trajectory into 2025,” predicts Sandro Dazzan of The Agency, “we will see more buyers that have been on the fence the past two years start to enter the market and make offers.”

The Altman Brothers Team

Douglas Elliman 

“Work harder than everyone else.” That is the motto of Josh, Matt and Heather Altman, stars of the reality series Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, who had another banner year with more than $1.1 billion in sales, setting records for Hancock Park and trendy Encino. Current notable listings include Oakley founder James Jannard’s $68 million Stonehenge-inspired concrete manse in Beverly Hills. The trick to working with high-net-worth clients like Kendall Jenner, Justin Bieber, Tyler Perry and James Cameron? “Treat them,” says Josh Altman, “like you treat everyone else.”

Cindy Ambuehl

With $257 million in sales, Ambuehl continues to be a favorite of Hollywood insiders. The former actress and model’s notable recent transactions include Kendrick Lamar’s purchase of a $40 million Brentwood estate and the $8.8 million sale of Mischa Barton’s home. Beyond her sales achievements, Ambuehl also is deeply committed to philanthropy, actively supporting organizations like Give Back Homes and P.S. Arts. Current listings include Sugarfina’s Paul Kessler and Diana Derycz-Kessler’s $115 million European-inspired “Villa Del Amor” in Bel-Air. 

Santiago Arana

A mainstay on this list, Arana clocked in at $312,699,440 this past year. He recently made tabloid news since he holds the listing for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s former marital home in Beverly Hills, now listed for $68 million. (He had previously sold Affleck’s Pacific Palisades home for $28.5 million.) Arana’s philanthropic endeavors include working with Habitat for Humanity and Give Back Homes. 

Blair Chang

A second-generation agent, Chang has notched $100 million in sales this year. He repped the seller of the Brentwood home snapped up by Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone for $30.5 million. He also held the listing on the $22.5 million Hollywood Hills home purchased by Powerball winner Edwin Castro and the post-split Brentwood property Ben Affleck purchased for $20.5 million. Chang now holds the listing for Jonny Cat Litter heiress Joi Stephens’ $88 million Santa Barbara estate. “I do things that others won’t do and try to bring out the best in everyone that I work with,” he says.

Jordan Cohen

Cohen is now the No. 1 RE/Max agent worldwide and the top agent in all of Ventura County. With $300 million in sales last year, he has represented numerous off-market clients and bold-faced names including Kaley Cuoco and Poison frontman Bret Michaels. Thirty-two years since he entered the profession, Cohen continues to be hands on, no matter how heady his work becomes. “I employ two full-time assistants,” he says, “but I am the only salesperson, so I handle all showings, negotiations and closings.”

Chris Cortazzo

“I was born and raised in Malibu, so my connection to this community runs deep,” says the veteran agent, who has kept his hometown’s home values soaring, racking up more than $501.3 million in sales there from summer 2023 to summer 2024. In March, he repped investors Mark Cirlin and Man Li-Yeh in the $38.45 million sale of their Doug Burdge-designed ocean-front estate. 

Sandro Dazzan

Among Dazzan’s $150 million worth of sales last year was the $61 million deal for The Edge, the first offering at The Case, a still incomplete midcentury modern-inspired community high above the Malibu Colony Beach. For 2025, Dazzan expects the market will only get better: “I anticipate a strong market next year with increasing prices as rates drop and more buyers enter the market.”

Drew Fenton

Despite racking up nearly half a billion dollars in sales in the past year, Carolwood CEO and co-founder Fenton is looking forward to a more prosperous 2025. “We are optimistic the market will improve as rates go down,” he says. “Quality inventory is very scarce.” This from a man who just repped the seller in a record-breaking $75 million deal at Point Dume and a $65 million sale in Beverly Hills. His current offerings include the $137.5 million Aaron and Candy Spelling estate, Cher’s $75 million Malibu estate and the legendary Conrad Hilton estate, co-listed with several other top agents on this list and priced at a cool $195 million. 

“2024 has been a great year for me,” says the Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles star. And he’s got receipts: $300 million in sales, including the largest single-family home in Pasadena, 2 Oak Knoll Terrace, and Judy Garland’s former home in Bel-Air. Next year is shaping up nicely, too: He’s co-listing the most expensive house on the market in L.A. County — Conrad Hilton’s former estate in the heart of Bel-Air.

Sally Forster Jones

“After purchasing my first home and doing some cosmetic upgrades, I sold it for substantially more money, which piqued my interest in real estate,” L.A. luxury homes icon Forster Jones recalls of her start in the business. “I then began investing and doing flips of several single-family residences. That was a great inroad to getting my real estate license and sparked the start of my real estate career.” Years later, Forster Jones’ client roster includes Markus Persson of Minecraft , Candy Spelling and Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. She made $132 million in sales last year and co-repped the seller of Odin, the Encino estate purchased by DJ Zedd for $18.4 million. Forster Jones also made waves in April when she teamed with fellow Compass mega-agent Tomer Fridman to form Jones Fridman International.

Tomer Fridman and Isidora Fridman

Tomer Fridman and his mother, Isidora, may have raked in more than $145 million in sales this year, but Tomer says luxury real estate is about more than just making deals. “I don’t feel I do sales,” he says. “I’m more of an adviser/consultant.” In addition to his work for blue-chip clients —he is the Kardashians’ go-to guy and brokered the sale of Leah Remini’s Fryman Canyon Estates home, for example — Fridman is an exclusive agent for the Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills, the hotel brand’s first residential project with penthouses selling at $45 million and up.  

Carl Gambino

Gambino Group/Compass

Gambino’s origin story is worthy of its own movie. After moving to L.A., he became a dog walker to make ends meet before getting his real estate license. “I convinced one of my dog-walking clients to let me show him properties, and I ended up selling him a 3-acre estate in Bel-Air,” he recalls. Now, his roster includes Mark Wahlberg, Renée Zellweger, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, Mindy Kaling, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz, and last year he amassed more than $355 million in sales. A long-ago client recently called him to sell her property. “She came up in my phone as her dog’s name,” he says.

Ginger Glass

“My father told me at a very young age that the smartest thing a person could do is to get a real estate license, which I did first in Nevada at 18 years old,” recalls Glass, who is also a licensed attorney. Twenty years later, she is an L.A. real estate legend, boasting clients including Cameron Diaz and Kourtney Kardashian and $593 million in sales last year. Her standout deals over the past 12 months include the sale of Alfred Hitchcock’s former Bel-Air home and a record-breaking $21.5 million sale of a contemporary estate in the exclusive Madison Club in La Quinta. 

Eric Haskell

Originally an art dealer and furniture designer, Haskell decided to dabble in real estate and ventured to ask a celebrity client if he could sell one of their properties. “They agreed, and two weeks later, I had it under contract,” Haskell recalls. Last year, he struck deals totaling $138.5 million, with clients including Matt Damon, assorted Hemsworth brothers, Kristen Wiig and Cody Ko. “2024 was a good opportunity for a bit of a reset,” Haskell notes. “As agents, we had to work harder as demand declined.”

Juliette Hohnen

Douglas Elliman

“I treat every sale as if it were my own house,” says Hohnen, who sold $60 million in property last year, including the late Paul Reubens’ Pacific Palisades estate for $3.8 million. Hohnen sums up her selling philosophy: “I try to work with only realistic buyers and sellers. We realtors live and breathe the job seven days a week, and our quality of life is determined by the quality of the people we work with. Life is too short for toxic time wasters.”

Justin Paul Huchel

For Huchel, the road to dominance in the luxury market was paved with grit and cheap Mexican food. “When I came out to L.A., I got a position working for one of the most successful agents in Beverly Hills at that time,” he recalls. “I was so broke that I used to order one taco and extra chips from Baja Fresh every day for lunch. When I finally sold my first house for $1.1 million behind the Chateau Marmont, I felt like I had hit the lottery.” Huchel has come a long way since, with sales of $112 million last year, and clients including Meghan Trainor, Harry Styles, Lea Michele, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis and Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford. 

Aaron Kirman (Team of the Year)

Christie’s International Real Estate | Southern California

Nobody has more agents (230), more architecturally inspired properties (masterpieces by the likes of Craig Ellwood, Richard Neutra and Kelly Slater), more famous clients (Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj, to name a reported few) or makes bigger sales ($2.08 billion last year alone). But there’s more to Christie’s International than peddling megamansions to ultra-rich celebrities. They represent unfamous one-percenters, too. “We treat all clients equally, whether bold-faced names or not,” says president and CEO Kirman, who leads THR ’s Team of the Year. “We do it with perseverance, respect and determination.”

David Kramer

Hilton & Hyland

“I was an econ major at Cal State Northridge without direction,” broker Kramer recalls of his early years. “Then someone suggested I consider real estate, and it just clicked. In my final year of college, I started selling real estate and sold six houses in my first six months! I still keep a Polaroid of the first home I sold — a $120,000 single-family in the Valley — to a close friend.” Kramer has been racking up boffo sales ever since; $79 million during the past 12 months alone. 

The queen of pedigree properties, May boasts $152 million in sales between June 2023 and July 2024. Notable deals include the sale of Larry and Joan Flax’s Hollywood Deco Estate in Beverly Park for $42.5 million (May repped both sides). Current listings include Villa dei Fiori, on the market for $150 million, and she counts James Burrows and Mel and Susan Geliebter among her high-profile clients. “Los Angeles is filled with exciting homes that have such rich architectural history,” she says. “The thing I love the most is discovering a house that I’ve never seen before and finding its perfect match.”

Coldwell Banker

“I started in real estate when my husband left me,” Mills recalls. “I worked at the Century Plaza Hotel in the lobby until I got my real estate license, and then I worked day and night until I started closing escrows. I am still working from 6 a.m. to midnight!” It has definitely paid off. With $264 million in sales this year and clients that have included Jennifer Aniston and Sylvester Stallone, Mills is among the most industrious agents in town. She also finds time for philanthropy, serving on the board of governors at Cedars-Sinai. 

Cooper Mount

The Malibu native can’t imagine selling real estate anywhere else. “The cast of characters in this city is second to none, the culture is incredible, the history deep and the weather immaculate,” Mount says. “I can start a morning by showing beach houses in Malibu steeped in Hollywood history, head to Bel-Air to show historical estates with tycoon pedigrees and end in Los Feliz showing editorial grade, world-renowned architectural homes. Where else can you do that?” During the past 12 months, he’s made $235 million in sales, boosting his career total to $800 million.

If you’re looking for something in, say, a hollowed-out volcano, Noah is probably your guy. He’s listing La Fin, a $130 million marquee property in Bel-Air commonly described as a “Bond villain lair” (though the infinity pool contains no sharks; at least none are mentioned in its Zillow listing). Last year, Noah, who has been brokering in L.A. for about two decades, sold Kimora Lee Simmons’ Coldwater Canyon estate for $16.5 million along with other big listings for a 12-month total of $71.5 million.

Michael Nourmand + Rochelle Atlas Maize

Nourmand & Associates

Nourmand and Maize are known for their roster of celebrity clients, which includes Christina Ricci, Cheryl Hines, Forest Whitaker, January Jones and Joe Manganiello. With sales this year of $129 million and decades of experience between them, they remain cautiously optimistic about the future of their business, despite all of today’s challenges. “The market’s resilience and adaptability are remarkable,” notes Maize. Adds Nourmand, “I like Thomas Edison’s quote: ‘Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.’ ”

David Offer

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

With $131 million in sales in the past year and 30-year career sales of more than $4.58 billion, Offer is one of Berkshire Hathaway’s top agents (No. 3 in the country, in fact). Noted for his lifelong professional relationships, he’s built his business primarily on repeat clients and referrals. 

Jason Oppenheim

The Oppenheim Group

With the success of Selling Sunset , Oppenheim has become one of the most recognizable names in Los Angeles real estate. This year, he made the news — and found himself being quoted in The New Yorker — for listing Kanye West’s ocean-front home in Malibu. That’d be the one designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando that West stripped of its interior finishes. Tough sale — it’s currently on the market for $39 million — but if anybody can do it, it’s Oppenheim.

David Parnes and James Harris

Bond Street Partners/Carolwood

It’s been a big year, with the Bond Street Partners joining Carolwood in February. Recent standout deals include repping both sides of the off-market sale of Robbie Williams’ estate in Holmby Hills to Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar for $67.5 million. Other clients include Kevin Durant and Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford. Says Parnes, “We get to meet such a diverse range of people, and that definitely always keeps it fun.”

The Beverly Hills Estates 

Her biggest deal this year — or at least the one that got the most attention — was the sale (to an anonymous buyer) of Jennifer Lopez’s Bel-Air estate for $33.9 million. “The deal was intense,” she says. “The property had a lot of deferred maintenance and had been on the market for a long time, [so] there was a lot of back and forth on credits and concessions. But my clients love the property. It is magical, all 8 acres of it.”

Kurt Rappaport

Westside Estate Agency

The king of off-market sales, Rappaport now holds more than $1 billion in listings, including the legendary Casa Encantada with its staggering $195 million price tag. That’s almost as much as he sold James Jannard’s Malibu compound for in June ($210 million, a California real estate record). Clients include Madonna, Ryan Seacrest, Tom Brady, Ellen DeGeneres and Brad Pitt. Total sales the past year: $726 million.

With yearly sales of $115 million and clients including Lionel Richie, Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren, Kendall Jenner, Taylor Swift and the Schwarzenegger family, Rey knows how to keep celebrity clients happy. “My reputation for discretion, devotion to my clients’ best interests, plus decades of knowledge and experience have been the only secrets to earning the trust of ‘bold-faced’ clients!” she says.

Although she did an impressive $124 million in sales this year, it was a mere $3.2 million purchase that made her the most headlines: the iconic Brady Bunch house in Studio City, bought by art collector Tina Trahan. “This wasn’t a typical house transaction,” Roth says. “It was more like buying a museum. The inside of the house was renovated to mirror the TV set, but it doesn’t have most of the modern conveniences.”

Heather T. Roy and Learka Bosnak

Self-proclaimed “cool nerds,” the low-key, fun-loving and discreet Roy and Bosnak are a favorite of young Hollywood, with $68 million in sales for the year. Consistently quirky, they love to tell the story of the time they sold the house used in the film Nightmare on Elm Street and decided to lean into its legend. “Someone from our team dressed up like Freddy Krueger and popped into the shots during photos,” they recall. “We made the offer deadline midnight on Halloween, we gave out candy, and we let people take photos in front of the house during trick-or-treating.”

F. Ron Smith and David Berg

Smith & Berg Partners boast the highest sale price YTD in Pacific Palisades this year: a $32.3 million spec mansion. That helped bring the year’s total to $390 million and lifetime sales to $6.8 billion. “We approach our work with the same commitment as we do our personal relationships,” is how the partners describe their style. “We invest time, forge connections and embrace the joy in our work, even when faced with challenges.”

Tracy Tutor

This year, Tutor and her team represented multiple celebrity clients — actress Rebel Wilson, hotelier Grant King — and sold some of L.A.’s most noteworthy penthouses (at the West Hollywood Edition), as well as handled some significant out-of-state deals (like two ranch estates in the prominent Texas neighborhood that houses Taylor Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch). “L.A. is unlike any other market in the world,” says Tutor. “The personalities I work with are larger than life — just like me.”

The Umansky Team

They don’t just play super agents on TV (or at least they did, until Netflix canceled Buying Beverly Hills in August); they play them in real life, too. The Umansky Team — founder and CEO Mauricio Umansky, Farrah Brittany, Eduardo Umansky and Sharon Umansky Benton — boasts a career $5 billion in sales and $225 million just this past year. “[The] blend of high-end living and architectural innovation makes Los Angeles truly special,” says Mauricio. 

Branden and Rayni Williams

The Beverly Hills Estates

With $2 billion in sales in the past year, these partners in life and business had another great year, with marquee deals including the sale of 1312 Ridgecrest Drive for $75 million and the Olson Kundig-designed 1301 Collingwood Place for $37.4 million. “I hope that the city of Los Angeles experiences a comprehensive revitalization that addresses both its systemic challenges and enhances its unique strengths,” Branden says. “My goal is to see L.A. return to its vibrant, thriving self.”

This story first appeared in the Sept. 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe .

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Founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper, the company’s popularity exploded in the 1950s as women of the post-war generation held “Tupperware parties” at their homes to sell food storage containers as they sought empowerment and independence.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided a boost in sales from families who sheltered at home, cooked more and produced lots of leftovers. Sales have declined in recent quarters as the world re-opened.

Tupperware is planning to enter court protection after it breached the terms of its debt and enlisted legal and financial advisers, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

The bankruptcy preparations follow protracted negotiations between Tupperware and its lenders over how to manage more than $700 million in debt, according to the report.

Tupperware did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In March, the company warned it was not certain its business could continue as a  going concern  and faced a liquidity crunch.

Videos and flight radar show plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin

Yevgeny Prigozhin ’s rise owed much to videos that spread rapidly through Russian social media and nationalist circles: charting his feud with the Kremlin’s military leaders, then showcasing his armed revolt against them — all carried by a gust of intrigue and anger.

On Wednesday those same channels were filled with video that appeared to document what may have been the Wagner mercenary chief’s final, fiery plummet into a field outside Moscow .

Though much is still unclear, here's what we know and what NBC News has verified about the dramatic incident.

Follow our live coverage on the deadly plane crash

In one video geolocated by NBC News near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver oblast, Russia, what looks like a plane can be seen spiraling down through clouds, trailing smoke behind it. The video , filmed from the ground and posted on social media, shows the apparent jet hurtling toward the ground before crashing and erupting into flames, sending a dark plume of smoke spiraling into the sky.

Another video filmed from a car near the same area shows an eyewitness driving beside a field in which the fiery wreckage of a plane can be seen. Another, graphic and close-up, shows someone inspecting the flaming wreckage in a field and swearing as they come across what appears to be two bodies.

Part of the aircraft’s registration number, “795,” on what appears to be the blue tail of the plane could also be seen in another video geolocated near Kuzhenkino. An Embraer Legacy 600 jet belonging to Prigozhin was known to have the serial number RA-02795. The executive jet was believed to be carrying Wagner leaders from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

The aircraft could be seen making a sudden drop in flight-tracking data published by Flightradar24. The jet appeared to lose around 1.5 miles of altitude in just half a minute, according to the site, transmitting data for the last time at 11:20 a.m. ET.

The aircraft had shown no sign of any problem until it started making “a series of vertical movements” downward and upward before making a “rapid descent,” Chris Lomas, an aviation content specialist with Flightradar24, said in a phone interview.

Lomas said it was "very difficult to speculate" on what might have caused the crash. "What we can say was that ... whatever that event was, it was very quick and it was pretty devastating."

Prigozhin was listed by Russian authorities as one of 10 people aboard the jet that crashed Wednesday. Everyone on the aircraft died, Russian officials said, with a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner group also announcing that Prigozhin had died.

The Kremlin has yet to comment on the fate of the man whose clash with Russia’s military leadership saw him challenge President Vladimir Putin's authority.

Along with Prigozhin, an official passenger list for the crashed plane posted  on Telegram included Dmitry Utkin, another senior Wagner official.

The bodies of those onboard were removed from the crash site and sent to a nearby morgue Thursday morning, according to photos and videos shared by news agencies and Russian media.

Photos also showed a fragment of the plane found more than two miles away from the site of the crash, the Russian state news agency RIA reported Thursday, near the entrance to a nearby village in the Tver region. 

So far, there has been no official confirmation about exactly whose bodies were found or identified.

A Western official told NBC News on Wednesday that U.S. and European allies were comparing assessments to get clarification on Wednesday’s crash.

In St. Petersburg, Prigozhin's hometown, photos showed mourners gathering at a makeshift memorial outside the Wagner Group's former headquarters, with Wagner badges placed alongside red candles and flowers.

Video verified by NBC News also appeared to show small bouquets of flowers left at a café in the city that was purported to be associated with the mercenary leader.

Photos also showed a makeshift memorial in front of the Wagner office in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on Thursday.

While the mercenary chief had largely fallen out of view following his aborted armed rebellion in June, he appeared to be shown delivering his first video address in months earlier this week.

In a 41-second clip published by several Telegram channels affiliated with Wagner on Monday, a person who appeared to be Prigozhin was filmed standing in a desert-like area dressed in military fatigues and wearing a bulletproof vest bearing the Wagner logo.

He vowed to make Africa "more free" and Russia "even greater on every continent." NBC News was not able to verify the video’s authenticity, as well as when or where it was shot. 

It is still unclear what lies ahead for the Wagner mercenary group, which has been linked to violence in Syria, Mali, the Central African Republic and other nations, if its leadership has been lost.

Chantal Da Silva reports on world news for NBC News Digital and is based in London.

Bianca Britton is a reporter for NBC News' Social Newsgathering team based in London.

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US intelligence says an intentional explosion brought down Wagner chief Prigozhin’s plane

Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken his silence on the plane crash that is presumed to have killed top leaders of the Wagner mercenary group, expressing condolences for those who were aboard the jet. (Aug. 24)

Memorial for Russian rebellion leader Prigozhin

Russian President Vladimir Putin broke his silence about Wednesday’s plane crash in the Tver region, expressing condolences to the families of those who were aboard the jet, including Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. (Aug. 24)

A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal memorial next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russia’s civil aviation agency says mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In this image taken from video, smoke and flames rise from a crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo)

People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo)

Russian servicemen inspect a part of a crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A Russian serviceman inspects a part of a crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo)

Lamps Illuminate parts of a private jet after a crash near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo)

A woman reacts at an informal memorial next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

People lay flowers at an informal memorial next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

FILE - In this image taken from video released by Razgruzka_Vagnera telegram channel on Aug. 21, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company speaks to a camera at an unknown location. Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who mounted an armed rebellion that was the most severe and shocking challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. (Razgruzka_Vagnera telegram channel via AP, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the plane crash presumed to have killed a mercenary leader who was eulogized Thursday by Vladimir Putin, even as suspicions grew that the Russian president was the architect of the assassination.

One of the U.S. and Western officials who described the initial assessment said it determined that Yevgeny Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, did not offer any details about what caused the explosion, which was widely believed to be vengeance for the mutiny in June that posed the biggest challenge to the Russian leader’s 23-year rule. Several of Prigozhin’s lieutenants were also presumed dead.

Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said press reports that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane were inaccurate. He declined to say whether the U.S. suspected a bomb or believed the crash was an assassination.

A part of a private jet by the crash site, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing all 10 people on board. (AP Photo)

Details of the intelligence assessment surfaced as Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those who were reported to be aboard the jet and referred to “serious mistakes” by Prigozhin.

The jet carrying the founder of the Wagner military company and six other passengers crashed Wednesday soon after taking off from Moscow with a crew of three, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Prigozhin was dead. But there has been no official confirmation.

President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said he believed Putin was behind the crash, though he acknowledged that he did not have information verifying his belief.

“I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” Biden said. “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind.”

The passenger manifest also included Prigozhin’s second-in-command, who baptized the group with his nom de guerre, as well as Wagner’s logistics chief, a fighter wounded by U.S. airstrikes in Syria and at least one possible bodyguard.

It was not clear why several high-ranking members of Wagner, including top leaders who are normally exceedingly careful about their security, were on the same flight. The purpose of their joint trip to St. Petersburg was unknown.

At Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg, lights were turned on in the shape of a large cross, and Prigozhin supporters built a makeshift memorial, piling red and white flowers outside the building Thursday, along with company flags and candles.

In this first comments on the crash, Putin said the passengers had “made a significant contribution” to the fighting in Ukraine.

“We remember this, we know, and we will not forget,” he said in a televised interview with the Russian-installed leader of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin.

Putin recalled that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s and described him as “a man of difficult fate” who had “made serious mistakes in life, and he achieved the results he needed — both for himself and, when I asked him about it, for the common cause, as in these last months. He was a talented man, a talented businessman.”

Russian state media have not covered the crash extensively, instead focusing on Putin’s remarks to the BRICS summit in Johannesburg via video link and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Several Russian social media channels reported that the bodies were burned or disfigured beyond recognition and would need to be identified by DNA. The reports were picked up by independent Russian media, but The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm them.

Prigozhin supporters claimed on pro-Wagner messaging app channels that the plane was deliberately downed.

Sergei Mironov, the leader of the pro-Kremlin Fair Russia party and former chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said on his Telegram channel that Prigozhin had “messed with too many people in Russia, Ukraine and the West.”

“It now seems that at some point, his number of enemies reached a critical point,” Mironov wrote.

Russian authorities have said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Anastasia Bukharova, 27, said she was walking with her children Wednesday when she saw the jet, “and then — boom! — it exploded in the sky.” She said she was scared it would hit houses in her village of Kuzhenkino and ran with the children. But the plane ended up crashing into a field.

“Something sort of was torn from it in the air,” she added.

Numerous opponents and critics of Putin have been killed or gravely sickened in apparent assassination attempts, and U.S. and other Western officials long expected the Russian leader to go after Prigozhin, despite promising to drop charges in a deal that ended the June 23-24 mutiny.

Investigators continue to work at the scene where a plane believed to be carrying Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed. (Aug. 24)

“It is no coincidence that the whole world immediately looks at the Kremlin when a disgraced ex-confidant of Putin suddenly falls from the sky, two months after he attempted an uprising,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, while acknowledging that the facts were still unclear.

“We know this pattern … in Putin’s Russia — deaths and dubious suicides, falls from windows that all ultimately remain unexplained,” she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also pointed the finger: “We have nothing to do with this. Everyone understands who does.”

Soon after the plane went down, people on social media and news outlets began to report that it was a Wagner plane. Minutes after Russian state news agencies confirmed the crash, they cited the civil aviation authority as saying Prigozhin’s name was on the mainfest.

Prigozhin was long outspoken and critical of how Russian generals were waging the war in Ukraine, where his mercenaries were some of the fiercest fighters for the Kremlin. For a long time, Putin appeared content to allow such infighting — and Prigozhin seemed to have unusual latitude to speak his mind.

But Prigozhin’s brief revolt raised the ante. His mercenaries swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there without firing a shot. They then drove to within about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Moscow and downed several military aircraft, killing more than a dozen Russian pilots.

Putin first denounced the rebellion as “treason” and a “stab in the back.” He vowed to punish its perpetrators, and the world waited for his next move, particularly since Prigozhin had publicly questioned the Russian leader’s justifications for the war in Ukraine.

Russian servicemen guard a road towards a private jet crash, near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, early Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Instead Putin made a deal that saw an end to the mutiny in exchange for an amnesty for Prigozhin and his mercenaries and permission for them to move to Belarus.

Now many are suggesting the punishment has finally come.

The Institute for the Study of War argued that Russian authorities likely moved against Prigozhin and his top associates as “the final step to eliminate Wagner as an independent organization.”

Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin turned political consultant, said by carrying out the mutiny and remaining free, Prigozhin “shoved Putin’s face into the dirt front of the whole world.”

Failing to punish Prigozhin would have offered an “open invitation for all potential rebels and troublemakers,” so Putin had to act, Gallyamov said.

Videos shared by the pro-Wagner Telegram channel Grey Zone showed a plane dropping like a stone from a large cloud of smoke, twisting wildly as it fell, one of its wings apparently missing. A free fall like that typically occurs when an aircraft sustains severe damage. A frame-by-frame AP analysis of two videos was consistent with some sort of midflight explosion.

Burrows reported from London. Associated Press Writer Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.