Everything you need to know about promoting real estate online

Services of real estate agencies and realtors when buying and selling an apartment for a client, a list for each type of transaction, a detailed list of offers.

A specialist needs to know this list for:

• informing a potential customer about the responsibilities and services of the Academy of Sciences;
• in order to show the full scope of tasks performed during the purchase and sale of “square meters”;
• easier process of signing an agency agreement.

Find out how realtors pay taxes

Main functions of a real estate agency

To engage in this type of activity in our country, no permit or license is required - anyone can become a realtor. A natural question arises: what does working in a real estate agency involve? Are the duties of employees so simple that an untrained person without special education can cope with them?

In reality, everything is much more complicated: to effectively carry out its functions, the agent must:

• Have knowledge of the legislation governing real estate transactions. At the same time, the regulatory framework is very confusing.
• It is good to study the market segment in which you will have to work.
• Have good communication skills to communicate effectively with clients.

Don’t be fooled by the lack of qualification requirements for this profession - in fact, the work of a realtor has a lot of nuances. Extensive knowledge is required to achieve success in this field.

Single realtors: who has it easier?

As a rule, single realtors come from agencies and have accumulated a sufficient client base for independent existence. They work only for themselves, that is, they receive the full amount of the proceeds from the transaction without sharing with the agency. Among singles there are both real professionals and laymen waiting for easy money.

The question of who is easier and more profitable to work with, an agency employee or an independent realtor, is complex. The director of the “Regional Real Estate Agency - Kazan” Galiullina Gulnaz Raifovna answers it as follows: “Many experienced realtors leave agencies and begin independent activities.

A single person works only for himself, that is, he receives full profit, while in an agency he gets 30-50% of the deal. However, most often, such realtors do not work for long without the support of an agency. The fact is that working alone is very difficult. After all, the agency provides a constant income and also maintains the necessary material resources.

There is also a problem. There are unreliable clients, because of whom a realtor can lose a large sum and a lot of nerves. For example, this situation: the deal has already begun to be formalized, the seller has paid a deposit, and then the client unexpectedly refuses it. The seller does not return the deposit, problems arise. And the realtor, having spent so much effort, does not receive a penny for the unfinished transaction. The agency always supports its employees in such cases. Judging by my experience, after about six months, many single realtors return back to the agency.” However, there are quite a few successful single realtors. Therefore, this issue cannot be resolved unambiguously.

Types of services provided and work patterns of real estate companies

As mentioned above, a real estate agency performs intermediary functions in transactions with housing and premises for other purposes. At the same time, real estate companies provide their clients with a certain range of services:

• Search for real estate that suits the buyer's requirements.
• Showing the premises and familiarizing the client with its technical and economic indicators.
• Mediation in negotiations between the parties to the transaction.
• Checking the legal cleanliness of the premises.
• Collection and preparation of documents necessary for concluding an apartment purchase and sale agreement.
• Providing assistance in mutual settlements between buyer and seller.

The services listed above, by agreement with the client, are provided comprehensively, or individual orders are carried out. In general, the work scheme of a real estate agency is as follows: the buyer turns to the company for help. The database employee selects the most suitable ones from the previously inspected premises and organizes their inspection. If everything is satisfactory, negotiations begin with the owner or his representative on the terms of the transaction.

Comprehensive transaction support implies, in particular, the presence of an agent at all stages. A professional realtor, in some cases and at the request of the buyer, can act as his representative when registering real estate in the relevant state register. This makes life much easier for the client.

Step-by-step instruction

Enterprise registration

The founder of the company can handle the registration on his own. However, for a busy person it will be convenient to use the services of a law firm that will carry out the entire process of registering a new agency. Then in a week you will receive the entire package of documents:

• company registration certificate,
• registration with tax authorities,
• the charter of the company, which spells out all the activities of the agency, etc.

Development of a price list and samples of other documents

Elena Andreeva, director of the Expert Real Estate Agency Network, talks about how to set tariff rates: “If we are talking about competitive advantages, then first of all the quality of services and full support of the transaction and the client from start to finish.” Dumping prices (deliberately lowering them much lower than the market average) is not worth it, as this causes consumers to believe that the service is easily feasible, and does not increase the number of transactions too much, reducing the profit margin and the total profit of the company in general.

It is necessary to be able to explain to the client the essence of the service, that it includes a full range of support and extensive, almost round-the-clock work of a realtor. It is also necessary to explain the degree of responsibility of the company compared to a private broker, based on which the cost of the company’s services and reliability are higher. The price should be the average market price with high quality service. If the company has special service capabilities, then the price may be slightly higher.”

Recruitment

Of course, the best option would be to recruit experienced realtors through acquaintances. In our example, recruitment took place without advertising. If this is not possible, it is necessary to advertise the recruitment of employees in specialized media on work and real estate or on similar sites, or seek help from a recruitment agency.

The number of employees depends on the desires and capabilities of the founder. As directors of real estate agencies warn, it is not quantity that matters here, but quality. One realtor with his client base is worth several employees without experience. In addition, you will need to hire a part-time chief accountant, HR officer, PR manager, website editor (administrator), office manager, driver with his own car, and, if possible, a lawyer. Sometimes psychologists work on staff.

It is necessary to determine the salary of each employee. Usually there is no salary for a realtor, especially for an inexperienced employee. As already noted, his salary is calculated as a percentage of the transaction value. Although, based on the requirements of labor legislation, which provides for a permanent salary for an employee, some agencies set the salary.

The more firmly a company stands on its feet, the lower the percentage it pays to employees. Large organizations can afford to set commissions of 30–50%, while small ones give the agent 50–70% of the transaction proceeds. There are opposing opinions about who is better to hire: experienced realtors or beginners. The advantages of experienced employees are obvious: an established client base, that is, a relatively stable income.

However, there is an opinion that they are repeating all previous mistakes and miscalculations. Moreover, the lion's share of these errors is related to the legal side of the agency's activities. According to some agencies, this is why it is better not to contact experienced realtors. In fact, the most favorable soil for the growth of a new real estate office is the legal education of its founder. Moreover, the education is of high quality, and not the kind that can be obtained in any very small and seedy educational institution. As you know, we have an infinite number of lawyers, but only a few worthwhile specialists.

If you feel that you do not have enough knowledge, do not skimp on training courses for yourself and your realtors. If you don’t have a suitable education, don’t be upset; your chances of success don’t decrease. But in the expense column you will have to include the lawyer’s salary, and a good lawyer, as you know, is not cheap (approximately 30-100,000 rubles per month).

It will be useful for the newly appointed director of the Academy of Sciences to look through the essay of Harry Keller, the owner of the largest real estate agency in America. The book is called "How to become a millionaire selling real estate." Of course, American business is very different from ours, but the author has something to take note of.

Office rental

Of course, you can rent an office of 12 square meters. m. in a hard-to-reach or industrial area, but this is unlikely to benefit your business. After all, many clients, when they first come to an agency, evaluate it by its external features. They are greeted by their clothes - when they see a small, cramped office with ancient furniture and peeling wallpaper, the client can simply turn around and leave.

Speaking about the intricacies of the client’s psychology, the director of the Melt Academy of Sciences ... notes a paradox: “On the one hand, the client judges the agency’s services by the presentability of the office and employees. On the other hand, seeing the solid decoration of the room, many people think: “That means they’ll rip off a lot”…” In any case, every self-respecting business person will decorate his workplace with dignity and will not lose face.

Advertising is a major cost item.

A decent outdoor sign carries a lot of weight. You can also advertise in print and electronic media, although most agencies prefer free newspaper advertisements. Website creation and maintenance.

Miscellaneous expenses

Purchasing office equipment:

• Office and other furniture.
• Computers.
• Server.
• Software products.
• Purchasing an accounting program.
• Buying a cash register.
• Purchase of other office equipment (printer, fax, copier, scanner, camera, video camera).
• Installation of a landline telephone.
• PBX.
• Internet.
• Other initial expenses.

Payment of taxes - from the payroll, from business, income tax.

Business insurance

Basically, only large real estate agencies insure the activities of their work with an insurance company. According to many agencies, for one realtor 2-3 transactions per month is a very difficult volume to achieve. The problem here is that many types of transactions last longer than one month. For example, transactions for registering ownership of land, inheritance, privatization transactions and purchase and sale of housing can legally take up to six months to be completed.

The payback period and profitability of a business depend on the level of costs, plans and requests of the owners. A small company can break even in a few months. Large ones may take years.

Types of activities of real estate agencies

There are a significant number of real estate companies on the market operating in certain market segments. Large agencies invest in real estate and engage in other activities, significantly expanding the range of services provided:

• Renting residential and commercial real estate.
• Consulting clients on legal and other issues.
• Providing assistance in obtaining mortgage loans.
• Expert assessment of real estate objects.
• Advertising.
• Assistance in choosing an insurer and insurance program.

The basic principle of the real estate agency remains unchanged - preparation and comprehensive support of the transaction. Only contacting a qualified and experienced realtor provides a high level of security guarantees for the processes of searching and purchasing a house, apartment, office, as well as any other premises.

What does a commercial property manager do?

Of course, each contract will have its own characteristics, but there is a universal list of manager responsibilities. This is what is most often found in property owners' requests for transfer.

Market analysis

It is usually carried out either at the start - before constructing a building or putting it into operation, or in a crisis situation.

The manager needs to figure out how much demand the existing type of rental is in a particular area, find the main competitors, find out the pricing environment - at what price similar premises are rented, on what terms, what is the demand, how much idle space is.

If we are talking about a crisis, then market analysis will help make fundamental decisions - for example, downgrading an office building, which will increase the company's turnover and reduce maintenance costs.

Rent

The key function of the manager is to keep the building in constant commercial profit. That is, maintaining tenant occupancy, and it doesn’t matter whether it is an office center or a shopping and entertainment complex.

There are some peculiarities here. When selecting tenants, the manager must not only assess their solvency, but also take into account how organically they will fit into the concept of a commercial complex - for example, it is quite strange to put a store for adults on the children's floor, and to allocate space for a large grocery hypermarket after all the entertainment areas.

Often, a management specialist checks the financial viability of the tenant and generally studies his business - it is in the interests of the building owner to let profitable companies into the space that will occupy the premises for a long time, and not newcomers who risk going broke in three months.

Rental relations also include optimization of the use of space. For example, this can be seen in shopping and entertainment centers - initially the building is designed as a site for shops, but in the process, islands with coffee, ice cream, and vending machines may appear in the middle of the hall. Sometimes other buildings are built in vacant areas - for example, storage capacity is increased.

The manager’s responsibilities include setting rental rates, preparing a delivery plan, and agreeing on terms and conditions with anchor tenants.

Service organization

Any commercial property requires constant attention - utilities, routine and major repairs, hiring and maintaining relationships with contractors. Here's what you'll have to spend time and money on:

• Technical maintenance service - the manager needs to either figure it out himself or find specialists to keep the building in order. It is necessary to prevent possible problems, establish a system of constant equipment diagnostics, and conclude contracts for electricity, water supply and heating of the building.
• Cleaning service - the responsibilities of the management company include maintaining the cleanliness of common areas. And, depending on the terms of the contracts, cleaning services for tenants.
• Security and safety service - if this is a shopping or entertainment center, you will have to monitor the behavior of visitors and protect property from vandalism and hooliganism. In office and multifunctional centers, access control is possible - its organization also lies on the shoulders of the manager.
• Construction Control Service - buildings are constantly being modernized, inefficient premises are being rebuilt. Hiring designers, contractors and experts for supervision is the responsibility of the management organization.

Marketing and business

A manager is not just a business executive and a lawyer. His responsibilities include creating a commercial real estate concept, marketing and advertising services. Here's what to do:

• Create a general business plan for managing real estate as a project.
• Study the market, highlight competitive advantages, create a unique selling proposition that will attract tenants and visitors.
• Plan and budget for commercial real estate as a business.
• In shopping and entertainment complexes - attract visitors, build flows and road maps for them.

How to carry out the process of cooperation with a real estate agency?

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the structure of cooperation, which determines the correct execution of all actions:

• Initially, all actions aimed at finding specialists are carried out. That is, real estate agencies are evaluated, a comparative analysis is carried out, the necessary characteristics are written down, etc. After compiling such a list, you will have several leaders who should be visited and with whom it is certainly recommended to communicate in person. During personal communication, you will be able to immediately determine the adequacy of the specialists, and you will also be able to see the level of professionalism;
• During a personal meeting, you must immediately express all your wishes and requirements that relate directly to real estate. Based on the established parameters, the specialist will be able to immediately tell you how long the search will take, what are the real chances of getting exactly what you want;
• If you initially come to an agreement, then experienced specialists often offer to view your property in order to get a full impression, carry out a visual assessment to adequately formulate the rental price, or offer a professional assessment to formulate the final price of the property upon sale;
• If you are satisfied with everything in communication, you can sign an agreement. Remember that this document is very important, as it involves a description of all the nuances and important aspects of cooperation. The document contains information about the property, a specific list of the scope of services provided by the agency, and a process of clearly describing the structure of payment for the services offered. All clauses of the contract must be studied in detail. If some nuances were not indicated in the document, you can ask them to be indicated. If the terms of the contract do not correspond to the previously stated terms of cooperation, you can ask to rewrite this document. If you are denied such a service, you should refuse to cooperate;
• After signing the document, the search process begins. Remember that if the offers that the agents provide do not meet the stated requirements, then you have every right to refuse the deals. Signing a document in the form of a cooperation agreement does not oblige you to choose one of the proposed options.

Experienced companies will immediately indicate how long the search will approximately take. If your demands are not excessive, then the necessary transaction will be carried out within a month. Please note that specialists not only search for options for objects or clients. They fully support the entire transaction. This means that throughout all stages of drawing up preliminary agreements, notarization and transfer of property, the agent will be with you and will fully monitor the correctness of the transaction.

Business payback

Before opening a real estate office, you should draw up a financial plan: calculate the amount of initial and current costs, make a profit forecast and determine the payback period for investments. The profitability of a real estate business largely depends on the region of opening, the level of competition, development plans and the owner’s requests. A small office can pay for itself in just three to six months. Successful entrepreneurs working in the real estate industry argue that if the company's monthly income is less than $15 thousand, it is not worth engaging in such a business. But the scale of the company is not taken into account here; small offices of three or four people may initially bring in less income.

Functions of a realtor

The training of each realtor begins with familiarization with the range of main responsibilities of this specialist. In different companies, the functionality of a real estate manager may differ, but the main areas of activity are similar, it is necessary:

• look for clients;
• conduct negotiations and consultations;
• accompany transactions (collection of documents, real estate valuation, conclusion of contracts);
• monitor the real estate market.

The client and the realtor must enter into a written agreement, which outlines the procedure for the provision of services. The agent represents the client's interests under this agreement and must act in accordance with the laws. Housing, family, land codes, standards and legal acts, instructions and regulations - all these and other legal documents necessary for the activity of a real estate manager need to know. It happens that the agent’s responsibilities also include servicing the client after the sale.

Agency premises

It is necessary to rent or purchase an office. The size of the premises depends on the number of employees. For a small company with a staff of 4-5 people, 15-20 sq.m. is enough. m. This may be an open space, but it is better to provide a separate office for meetings with clients - this will prevent the disclosure of confidential data and information leakage. The office should be located in a accessible place.

Some businessmen advise opening an office in densely populated residential areas, others - only in the city center. Which option to choose depends on the opening budget. The premises must have a separate entrance, and a noticeable sign on the facade. It is useful to learn how to properly organize a business in an office.

What a commercial property manager should know

If you plan to engage in such activities, you will have to thoroughly understand several areas at once:

• Study the features of the general concept of commercial real estate, understand how this business works.
• Know the features of managing business centers, shopping and shopping and entertainment complexes, office and multifunctional premises.
• Build business processes in an organization - be able to create a system of interaction between departments of the management company, organize the work of cleaning, maintenance and legal services.
• Understand various agreements with tenants, employees, utility and construction organizations.
• Know tax and civil legislation.
• Have the knowledge and skills of an effective leader - use time management, practice different management techniques, learn quickly and be able to select only the important from the abundance of information.
• Understand marketing - be able to analyze the market, conduct research, set tasks for contractors.
• Manage the legal department - document support, development of lease agreements.

In addition, a good manager is distinguished by several professional qualities:

• Knowledge of negotiation techniques - the ability to achieve the desired result from anchor and other tenants, knowledge of the peculiarities of communication with representatives of different professions.
• Ability to manage personnel - a good manager knows how to correctly set tasks, takes into account whether the employee can complete the task, whether he has the necessary competencies, resources and authority for this.
• Quick response to changes - since the manager depends on someone else’s business, he will have to develop the skill of flexibility. A professional calmly reacts to crisis events and knows how to localize them.
• Developed networking ability - this helps to quickly make decisions on space occupancy. For example, for a new manager, two or three tenants leaving can be a problem. A well-connected person will quickly invite businessmen who are now looking for new areas for development to fill the vacant space.

Paperwork

Registration of a real estate office is possible in the form of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur (IP). Most often, businessmen working with real estate register LLC status (limited liability company). From an organizational and financial point of view, this is the best option for the legal form of the project. To open a real estate agency in the form of an LLC, you will need the following documents:

• Protocol on the establishment of the company
• Articles of association
• Originals and photocopies of the founders’ passports
• Statement on state legal registration faces
• Receipt confirming payment of the state duty (4000 rubles)

The package of documents should be submitted to the tax office at the place of registration. Five working days after the submission of documents, the branch employees will issue a certificate confirming the registration of the LLC. Afterwards, you can start opening a bank account and order a stamp.