There are so many reasons why it takes quite a bit of time, effort and investment to ultimately qualify as a registered real estate agent, anywhere in the world really, one of which reasons is the fact that there’s so much more to it than just selling houses. There’s more to the real estate business than just showing people around and highlighting the positives and negatives of a house they may want to purchase in relation to their needs.
Selling houses is only part of the business, so what this actually means is that a realtor is typically a business person. Sure, they may not be able to be classified as an out-and-out entrepreneur, but the role they assume as part of the property-selling establishment requires a selection of skills which are associated with the business environment.
Here are some of the key areas identified which go a long way to put the operation in with a chance of surviving, let alone succeeding:
Formal incorporation
Look, even if you’re a maverick of the industry like I like to believe I am and you’re going this journey solo, you still need to formally incorporate your real estate business. Operating through a registered real estate operation makes for one of the fundamentals of business, a practice largely holding its value in limiting your liability as the realtor. You cannot be held personally liable for some legal minefields such as someone getting injured on your premises, for example, or even on site during something like a house viewing.
Above all else though, incorporating means you join a special class of professionals which enjoys powers such as being able to transfer the ownership of property much quicker than what a private individual would be able to.
Standard bookkeeping and accounting practices
As part of the requirements of the regulatory bodies governing the integrity of the real estate industry, standard bookkeeping and accounting practices have to be maintained for compliance. It’s also just for ease of reference, both for the internal staff (you and any of your employees or affiliates) and the regulatory authorities / auditors.
Fortunately this doesn’t always have to mean appointing full-time accounting professionals, who as you know can be really expensive as there are some software solutions available.
Pursuing peripheral opportunities
In addition to the sale of houses, the real estate business also encompasses peripheral revenue-generating channels such as consulting, commercial property buying-and-selling, and various events which make use of vacant houses as venues, such as interior design showings, investment seminars for intimate groups and direct selling / multi-level marketing meetings.
Standard business operational procedures
In addition to the previously mentioned standards of bookkeeping and accounting which are to be maintained, the appropriately used software such as QuickBooks is complemented and enhanced with standard business operational platforms such as Check Stub Maker. These solutions can be integrated into an overall operational structure which not only creates great reference points for record-keeping, but also as a means through which to streamline the running of the business.
