In the USA, the real estate business was and remains one of the most profitable in its segment – large industrial enterprises do not count. For example, in 2024, companies whose activities are related to the rental or sale of housing, in terms of income, are inferior only to those that provide housing and communal services, financial services, information, and public catering services. So, what do you need to open a real estate estimating company in the USA?
How much will it cost? What are the nuances of this business? What equipment will you need first? We answer the most important questions and explain where to start if you want to open a real estate business for electrical estimation company.
Step 1. Why are real estate estimation important??
If you enter the phrase “how to open a real estate estimating agency in 2024 – step-by-step instructions” into a search engine, you will find hundreds of pages with detailed and not very instructive instructions for beginner entrepreneurs telly. But we would like to start not with recommendations but with weighing the pros and cons. Why did you decide to occupy this particular niche? You may have the skills to manage your own business. Or do you have experience in the real estate estimator sector? Think twice if you answered negatively to both questions. Three times, if the family’s material well-being depends on your income.
Step 2. What will the trick be?
Is it profitable to open a real estate agency to rent apartments? Is it worth spreading a commercial electrical wiring estimating services? What can you expect the most significant profit from? To answer these questions, let’s consider all possible areas of work for the future agency, as well as several services that will bring additional benefits to the business and become his competitive advantage. Let’s start with the leading market segments. Depending on the purpose of the property, the market is divided into residential, commercial and industrial real estate estimation. There are also undeveloped land plots and special-purpose real estate (such as churches and airports). Depending on the property type, there are primary and secondary real estate markets: the first includes new buildings, and the second – includes objects that already have an owner.
Step 3. Where to start?
To open a real estate estimating agency from scratch, first of all, refer to the general United States classification of types of economic activity (OKVED) – this is necessary to inform government authorities about the nature of your business. Today, OKVED includes 21 sections, and in this case, we are interested in section L: “Activities in transactions with estimation.” This section consists of the activities of landlords, agents or brokers, which have the purchase, sale or rental of real estate, as well as the provision of other services, such as valuation, insurance or activities of fiduciaries. You need to generate all OKVED codes, the set of which is individual for each business.
Step 4. Lone wolf or legal entity?
Now is the time to decide on the organizational and legal form – the list of necessary documents and future tax reporting will depend on this. LLCs and individual entrepreneurs are our country’s most common forms of business. In short, the IP form assumes that you will conduct business alone, and the LLC form assumes you will not be the sole founder (up to fifty people are allowed). According to OKVED, the form of ownership does not affect the classification.
Step 5. Build your own empire or buy a franchise?
As you already understand, a real estate estimating agency can provide various services, and searching for the specific specifics of your business will take time. If you have zero ideas, think about buying a franchise.
Step 6. How much money do you need to invest?
How much does it cost to open a outsource estimation agency? is another logical question that any serious entrepreneur will ask. The final amount depends not only on the location of the future company but also on your ambitions. To answer this question, we will identify the primary items of expenses (we will omit the Cost of registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC).
✅ Office rent. We advise you to look for premises with convenient transport links, at least in places with high traffic, if not in the city centre. Let the rental be a little more expensive, but this way, more people will immediately know about your opening – a smaller budget will have to be spent on advertising.
✅ Cosmetic or significant repairs. It’s up to you to decide: do it on your own or hire a team of repairmen? Will you get by with painting the walls or resort to redevelopment with the landlord’s permission? Cosmetic repairs are necessary: the client will judge your business, including the office’s appearance.
✅ Development of a logo and corporate identity. And again, there is room for creativity: you can order a logo and identity from a familiar designer for chocolate or pay Artemy Lebedev. We recommend the first thing: it’s not a fact that your agency will understand the popularity of the Gomel burger “John Fedora”, but it’s still worth paying 100 thousand rubles for an express design style.
Step 7. What’s next?
How do you open an electrical estimating service for real estate business that will bring in money shortly? With proper planning, there is a way. What exactly should a typical real estate business plan include? Let’s look at the leading positions.
📌 Long-term and short-term goals of the agency and its mission.
📌 Brief Description of your business and its capabilities.
📌 Description of services and competitive advantages.
📌 Brief Description of the target market and strategy for its Development.
📌 Cost of agency services, pricing.
📌 Marketing strategy, marketing programs, positioning.
📌 Marketing and sales strategies, their forecast.
📌 Strategic partners.
📌 Calendar plan for the agency’s activities.
📌 Organizational structure and staffing.
📌 Financial plan: planned balance sheet, profit and loss forecast, cash flows, break-even analysis and financial indicators. Stick to the plan, don’t hesitate to seek advice and work hard – everything will work out.
3 remember
📝 To launch a successful estimation business from scratch, you need experience working with real estate.
📝 Decide on the directions of work. Bigger is not always better: you can focus on a few market segments and add new services when ready.
📝 Just as the morning begins with coffee, your business begins with the assignment of OKVED codes to it – specifically, we are interested in the section “Activities in estimation transactions” being.”
📝 Choose between individual entrepreneurs or LLCs – the first is easier and cheaper to register, and the second will allow the business to scale.
📝 It’s not too late to stop and buy a franchise – think about it. Although everything has its pros and cons.
📝 We don’t know how long it will take you to open a estimation agency, and our colleagues, who name the exact amounts in the instructions, are a little disingenuous. There is room for manoeuvring in all expense items, from creating a logo to ordering office pens. Everything depends only on you.
📝 Opening a real estate agency is not enough – you must develop a strategy for managing and growing the business.
