Real Estate Business Plan Template

Whether you want to start your own real estate business or expand an existing one, you need a business plan. The following real estate business plan template lets you know what elements you need to include in a successful real estate business plan.

To ensure your real estate business success in this highly competitive market, you need a properly structured real estate business plan. With over 12 years of experience, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs create business plans to start and grow their real estate businesses.If this is your first time writing a business plan, we’ll walk you through these sections and give you some key things to consider.

What kind of Industry is Real Estate?

Companies in this industry provide real estate-related services including escrow, fiduciary, consultancy, research, listings, tenant representation, and other miscellaneous activities.

The industry also includes real estate agent and broker offices, real estate lessors, real estate property managers, and real estate appraiser offices. Brokers and agents that act as intermediaries during the sale, purchase or rental of real estate for others comprise this industry.

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Key Success Factors for Real Estate Business

Despite the challenges of the Real Estate industry, We have identified five factors that can help you boost profitability, efficiency, and ultimately success.

  1. Good project management skills: The ability to effectively manage developments, renovations, and repairs can lower operational costs and increase profits.
  2. A strong customer relationship: Understanding the needs of existing and prospective clients will help operators gain new business and retain existing clients.
  3. Excellent financial management: Acquisition of property involves a significant amount of capital and debt. To grow and effectively manage property portfolios, companies must be able to manage their cash flows, reserves, and debt levels properly.
  4. Located near key locations: In this industry, location is everything since tenants pay a premium for properties near transport hubs, business centers, and entertainment venues. As a result, buildings in metropolitan areas typically have higher rental incomes.
  5. High-skilled workforce: Employing highly qualified staff with specialized knowledge can help companies build a reputation for quality service and increase their bargaining power.

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What is a Real Estate Business Plan?

A business plan for a real estate business is a written document that sets your company’s financial goals and discusses how you’ll reach them.

A solid, comprehensive plan will serve as a road map for the next three to five years of the real estate business. Any bank or investor you approach will require a real estate business plan, so putting one together will be critical to securing funding.

In short, writing a business plan can help you succeed if you’re thinking of starting a real estate business or pitching to investors or venture capitalists.

Real Estate Business Plan Template

Why agents need a real estate business plan

You can stay current with market trends by developing a real estate business plan. In addition, it lets you track results over time, test lead generation strategies, and develop new marketing approaches.

Real estate agents who have a business plan grow 30% faster than those who don’t, and 71% of fast-growing businesses have one.

The following is what a good real estate agent business plan will show you:

  • Where you are right now
  • What you want to achieve
  • How will you get there
  • How will you measure your success
  • Where and when to make corrections

A real estate business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Funding Sources for Real Estate Business

The main sources of funding for a real estate agent are personal savings, credit cards, and bank loans. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay the loan and interest.

To gain this confidence, the loan officer will not only look at your financials. However, they will demand a professional plan. A well-developed business plan will ensure that they are confident that you can successfully run a business.

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How to Write a Real estate Business Plan

To write a real estate business plan, you don’t need to be an expert. Our step-by-step guide will show you how to write a real estate  business plan, or you can just download our proven sample business plans to get a better idea.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important part of the document since it outlines the whole business plan. Despite the fact that it appears first in the plan, write the executive summary last so you may condense key concepts from the other nine parts.

It’s a part that catches the investor’s eye and provides key information about your company’s overview and upcoming short- and long-term goals.

Tell them what kind of real estate business you have and what stage you’re in; for example, are you a startup, do you have a real estate company that you want to expand, or do you have a lot of estate businesses?

Finally, an executive summary should provide investors with a preview of what they may expect from the rest of your document.

  • Provide a high-level overview of the real estate industry
  • The name, location, and mission of your real estate company
  • A description of your real estate business, including management, advisors, and a brief history
  • Discuss the type of real estate business you are operating, Give an overview of your target customers., and how your company differs from competitors in the industry
  • Create a marketing plan that describes your company’s marketing strategies, sales, and partnership plans.
  • And give an overview of your financial plan

Check out these executive summary examples to help you write a perfect one for your real estate business plan.

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Free: Executive Summary Examples

An executive summary is the most important part of your business plan, and it need not be challenging to write. This is why we have put together some awesome free Executive Summary examples for you.

Company Analysis

The company analysis follows the executive summary as the second section of a real estate business plan. Your company overview will be short and clear, similar to the executive summary.

Even if they just have a few minutes, your reader has to understand what your company does and who your customers are.

The following sections will be included in your business plan’s Company Analysis:

  • Company summary: Your company analysis will describe the type of real estate business you are running and its future goals. The type of real estate business you might be focused on ( Residential real estate, Commercial real estate, Industrial real estate, etc)
  • Company history: When and why did you start your real estate business?
  • What milestones have you achieved so far? Your milestones could include served 100th customer, new contracts, etc.
  • Legal structure and ownership: Do you have S-Corp status? Is it an LLC? A sole proprietorship? Describe your legal structure.
  • Mission statement: An overview of your real estate company’s guiding principles. Learn how to write a perfect mission statement.

Free Real Estate Business Plan Template in PDF and Word

Download our real estate business plan in PDF and Word here.

Industry Analysis

You need to include an overview of the real estate business in the industry analysis you performed before sitting down to write your real estate business plan.

While this research may appear to be unnecessary, it helps you to build strategies that maximize business opportunities while lowering or avoiding the identified risk.

Furthermore, market research can improve your strategy, especially if it identifies market trends. As an example, if there is a trend towards aerial videos of the listing, it would be best to include a drone operator in your plan.

The third purpose for conducting market research is to demonstrate to readers that you are an industry expert.

Industry analysis can be presented as a 8-step process when written as part of a company’s business plan.

  1. Give a quick overview of the real estate industry. Define the real estate business in terms of size (in dollars), historical background, service region, and products.
  2. Examine previous trends and growth patterns in the real estate industry.
  3. Identify the market’s major competitors.
  4. Age, gender, and general lifestyle of the targeted market
  5. Determine the factors that have an impact on the real estate industry. These might include government regulatory rules and other businesses’ competitive activities.
  6. Using research data, the industry forecast expected growth over the next five to ten years. Predictions should be made for both the long and short term.
  7. Describe how your real estate business intends to position itself in the industry. Concentrate on how your real estate can benefit from opportunities highlighted in the industry.

Customer Analysis

The first condition for a real estate business is to identify its target customers clearly. Customers can be categorized into the following segments: Landlords, Home sellers, Home buyers, Renters and potential renters.

The customer analysis section is an important part of any real estate business plan since it evaluates the consumer segments that your company serves. It identifies target customers, determines what those customers want, and then explains how the product will meet those requirements.

Customer analysis may be divided into two parts: psychosocial profiles and demographic profiles.

With regards to demographics, include information about: the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of your customers. When targeting businesses, describe what kind of business, size, and location your target customers are.

The psychological profiles of your target clients reveal their wants and needs. The better you understand and identify these demands, the better your chances of attracting and retaining customers will be.

Competitor Analysis

Who are the main competitors in your target market, and what makes them your main competition? How will you beat them? Use competitor analysis to:

  • Identify the strength and weakness of your real estate business competition.
  • Search for opportunities to distinguish your real estate company from competitors.

The first step is to determine who your direct and indirect competitors are.

The direct competition consists of other real estate agents. These are alternatives to direct competitors that customers have.

For-Sale-By-Owners and similar DIYers fall under this category. It is important to mention that not everyone uses the services of a real estate agent when they sell or buy property.

When it comes to direct competition, you should describe the other real estate agents you compete with. It is most likely that your direct competitors will be real estate agents located nearby.

Once you’ve identified the competition, concentrate on the direct, head-to-head competitors, since they are the most threatening to your real estate business— but keep an eye on the indirect competition as well, just in case.

Provide an overview of each direct competitor’s business and detail their strengths and weaknesses.

You will be able to position yourself competitively in the market if you perform proper competition research. Perform a SWOT Analysis to learn your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and competitive advantages in the following areas:

  • Prices – Are they offer cheaper real estate services or more costly than you and other competitors, what value do buyers get for that price?
  • Quality – Are they offer premium estate services, the perceived worth in the eyes of the customers
  • Customer service – How they respond to their consumers, whether they treat them poorly or well, and the degrees of satisfaction customers show
  • Reputation — The sum of everything mentioned above: their credibility, how loved the brand is, and the loyalty of their customers

The final section of your competitive analysis should include a list of your areas of competitive advantage. for example: Are you going to offer premium estate services? Will you offer unique estate services that your competitors don’t offer? Will you offer better pricing or will you offer greater customer support?

Consider how you will outperform your competitors and include them in this portion of your estate business plan.

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Marketing Plan

Creating a marketing plan for a estate business involves identifying the target demographic and finding real estate services that suit their preferences.

As part of your marketing plan for a real estate company, you should include:

Pricing and Product Strategy

Your real estate business must offer services that are different from those of your competitors. Research what your competitors offer and how they price their real estate services. Unique services identifies your real estate business as the place to go for unique services and differentiates it from others.

Placing and Promotions

Is your real estate agent located next to an office building, gym, etc. That is heavily populated? Discuss how your location might be able to provide a steady stream of customers.

Promoting your real estate business is the final part of your marketing plan. In this step, you document how you will drive customers to purchase your real estate business. A few marketing methods you could consider are:

  • Adding extra appeal to your real estate agent’s storefront to attract passing customers
  • Networking
  • Marketing on social media
  • Pay Per Click marketing
  • Advertise in local papers, magazines, and on the web
  • Placing banner ads at local venues

You should also think about your real estate’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP), which should explain why clients should choose you over other real estate businesses. Ensure that your USP is reflected in your marketing.

Pro Tips: Learn how to write a marketing plan in a business plan.

Operations Plan

While the previous sections of your real estate business plan described your goals, your operations plan in a business plan discusses how you will achieve them.

An operations plan is helpful for investors, but it’s also helpful for you and employees because it pushes you to think about tactics and deadlines.

Your operational plan should be able to answer the following questions:

  • Who – Personnel in charge of completing specific tasks.
  • What – A breakdown of the responsibilities of each personnel.
  • Where – The location of everyday operations.
  • When –The deadlines for completing tasks and goals.
  • How much – The amount of money required for each department to perform their job.

Your operations plan should be divided into two individual parts, as seen below.

Your daily short-term processes include all the tasks involved prospecting for new customers, advertising listings, and going on showings.

Long-term goals are milestones you hope to reach. It may be the date when you expect to serve your 1000th customer or when you hope to reach $X in sales. Another example would be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or start a new location or service.

Management Team

When writing a real estate business plan, the management section of a business plan‘ outlines your management team, staff, resources, and how your real estate business ownership is structured.

This part may be easily organized by dividing it into the following points:

  • Ownership Structure
  • Internal Management Team
  • External Management Resources
  • Human Resources

Ownership Structure

This section outlines your real estate business’s legal structure. If your company is a sole proprietorship, it may simply be one phrase. It might be longer if your company is a partnership or a corporation. You should make it a point to clarify who owns what part of the business.

Internal Management Team

This section should not only outline who is on your management team but also how each person’s skill set and experiences will contribute to the growth of your real estate business. Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct expertise in the real estate business. If this is the case, highlight your experience and skills.

External Management Resources

Think of these external management resources as your internal management team’s backup. Consider forming an advisory board if your team is lacking expertise and experience with real estate business.

An advisory board would consist of 3 to 7 people who would serve as mentors to your real estate company. They would assist in answering queries and providing strategic direction.

If necessary, search for advisory board members with expertise running real estate business.

Describe all of your company’s external professional advisers, such as accountants, bankers, attorneys, IT experts, business consultants, and/or business coaches. 

Human Resources

The final topic to consider in the management area of your real estate business plan is your human resource needs.

Financial Plan

In financial plan section of business plan, you should present a 5-year financial statement broken down monthly or quarterly for the first year, and then annually. Financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

Income Statement

A profit and loss statement is more commonly called an income statement. It shows your revenue and subtracts your expenses to determine whether you were profitable or not.

As you develop your income statement, you need to develop assumptions. For instance, Will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? Your choice of assumptions will greatly impact your business’s financial forecasts. Conduct as much research as possible in order to ground your assumptions in reality.

 

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Balance Sheet

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.

The balance sheet shows your real estate business’s net value at a specific point in time. It categorizes all of your company’s financial data into three categories:

  • Assets: Tangible goods with the monetary worth that the company owns.
  • Liabilities: Debt owing to a company’s creditor.
  • Equity: The net difference when the total liabilities are subtracted from the total assets.

The equation that expresses the relationship between these financial data elements is Assets = Liabilities + Equity.

Create a pro forma balance sheet for your real estate business plan that highlights the information in the income statement and cash flow projections. A balance sheet is normally prepared once a year by a company.

Balance sheets indicate your assets and liabilities, and while they contain a lot of information, they are simplified to highlight the most important things you need to know.

For example, spending $150,000 to build out your real estate business will not result in instant revenues. Rather, it is an asset that should help you earn money for many years to come.

Similarly, if a bank write you a check for $100,000, you do not have to pay it back right now. Rather, that is a liability that you will repay over time.

Cash Flow Statement:

Your cash flow statement will help you determine how much money you need to start or grow your real estate business. 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 business:

  • Fees for registering a real estate business
  • Taxes and licenses costs
  • Business insurance
  • Payroll or salaries paid to staff
  • Location build-out, including design fees and construction.
  • Amount spent on advertising and office supplies
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Appendix

List any additional material you cannot include elsewhere, such as resumes from key employees, licenses, equipment leases, permits, patents, receipts, bank statements, contracts, and personal and business credit histories.

Attach your full financial projections along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling in the appendix.

Bonus Tip: Learn how to write a business plan appendix for your real estate business.

Summary of the Real Estate Business Plan

A real estate business plan is a worthwhile investment. As long as you follow the template above, you will become an expert in no time. By following the template, you will understand the real estate business, your competition, and your customers. The plan will help you understand the steps necessary to launch and grow your real estate business.

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