Top 5 Excuses For Not Opening Your Own Real Estate Brokerage

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At Realty Point we’ve spoken with many real estate brokers about incorporating and opening their own brokerage. While the benefits are obvious (tax benefits, liability issues, equity growth, income splitting and income deferral are the most popular pluses), there is always the uncertainty about starting off on your own even in a business that you’ve had many years in the making.

Here are the top reasons why real estate brokers don’t open their own brokerage and why they need to reconsider their outlook.

It's a lot of work to incorporate

If you go it alone, yes it is. Starting with incorporation and having to deal with lawyers, accountants and RECO are just a few of the steps of the complexities of registering your corporation. After the registration and paperwork is done you now need office space, office equipment (and more), and unless you’re a one-person brokerage you’ll need staff to answer phones, create marketing material and a hundred other things that take away time from any actual selling you still need to do to pay the bills and earn an income.

Solution: Realty Point is with you throughout the incorporation process. We have accountants and lawyers experienced in this area that we are very comfortable to work with and we stay by your side throughout the incorporation process. We know intimately what RECO requires and help you every step of the way.

I’m not organized enough to run a business

Without a doubt there’s a lot of forms to be completed and a lot of accounts to manage. That’s the nature of real property transactions. You always have RECO looking over your shoulder for compliance issues and you need to always be inspection-ready. This can take its toll on you if you don’t have a good system to manage compliance issues, transaction details, trust accounts, closes and more. Many brokers find it easier to let their brokerage handle the paperwork as part of their split.

Solution: Realty Point as your franchisor handles all of the administration work including transaction closes, trust accounts, commission checks and filing requirements and we stand by you through your RECO inspections.

I don’t have the time for non-selling activities

Many real estate professionals feel this way. You need leads which focuses your energy on networking and being available to prospective clients. How can you produce if you’re tied up with paperwork, compliance issues, RECO changes to regulations and more? And if you’re planning on additional sales people in your brokerage (who wouldn’t want more brokers in their brokerage?) you need to have time for training, support staff, office space management and more. Every minute on these activities directly takes away from your sales related activities and can cost you the extra money you’d otherwise earn through your own brokerage.

Solution: Our trained administration staff allows you to concentrate on what has earned you your reputation as a top producer: selling homes. Throughout your brokerage the Realty Point administrative staff handles the paperwork, answers the phones, maintains the filing system and keeps you abreast of any changes in regulations and reporting requirements. Our executive team has been running a successful real estate brokerage since 2006 and have the experience you can rely on to be a successful brokerage owner.

A brokerage franchise costs a lot of money

It’s true that the traditional franchise model can cost $25,000.00, $50,000.00 or more just for the franchise fee. Then there’s transaction splits, marketing fees and more that the parent franchise requires you to pay. To top it off you may not even be able to open your brokerage in the territory where you’ve built your reputation so your marketing costs will be much higher as you strive to be known in a new area.

Solution: Realty Point starts with a very affordable 5-year franchise fee of $5,000.00 and a fixed private office cost of $500.00 a month with transaction closing costs of only $500.00 each. The private office includes furnishings, internet and phone service including our professional answering service, access to board rooms and more. The transaction costs cover the latest software needed to run your brokerage as well as meeting RECO filing and trust account requirements and more. And we don’t have any territory limits so you’re able to continue your business where you’re most successful and grow as business permits.

I’m comfortable where I am

This is, surprisingly, one of the excuses we hear the most. When you’ve been with a brand for a long time it’s hard to give up that sense of security and familiarity that you’ve grown accustomed to. Not everyone has the ambition to put their own name first on the letter-head so they continue in relative comfort, paying their dues and convincing themselves that where they are is the best possible outcome for what they do.

Solution: Talk with us before you decide with finality that brokerage ownership isn’t the right fit for your ambition. The pride of ownership is a great motivator to increase your success and the many benefits of turning your current business into a corporate entity of its own far outweigh the feeling of security your current position offers.

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Realty Point. You Sell Real Estate. We Take Care of The Rest.

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