The corona and energy crisis has hit the real estate industry hard. Nevertheless, real estate prices continue to rise. At the same time, owning a house or apartment is considered the ideal financial security for old age. That’s why it can be particularly worthwhile to get into the real estate industry. What is better here than self-employment as a real estate agent? But if you take this step and want to become self-employed as a real estate agent, you should meet a few requirements and prepare yourself thoroughly for starting a business .
Become self-employed as a real estate agent and benefit from advantages
A career as a real estate agent is desirable for many people. After all, business founders can count on many advantages here :
- free division of working hours
- Determine workload yourself
- hardly any barriers to entry
- low start-up capital required to start a business
In addition, self-employed real estate agents have good chances of high earnings. The income of a self-employed real estate agent is usually based on a commission, a so-called commission for the brokerage of the property. This is between 4.76 and 7.14% for house sales nationwide. If you want to earn a lot as a self-employed real estate agent, you should therefore sell as many high- priced properties as possible.
What are the duties of a real estate agent?
Anyone who wants to become self-employed as a real estate agent has chosen a safe industry. Because the profession of real estate agent is still seen as a profession with a future. After all, people will still be selling or renting real estate in several decades.
One of the central tasks of an independent real estate agent is to find freestanding real estate properties with suitable potential buyers or tenants. Whether multi-family houses, villas, commercial space, apartments, houseboats or yachts: A real estate agent mediates between the property owners who want to sell a property and the potential buyers who are interested in the property in question.
Another task of self-employed real estate agents is to go after customers and do marketing for their own business start-up . Nowadays, customer acquisition is often done online. It is therefore important for brokers to have their own website, which is always kept up to date.
What personal requirements real estate agents should have
Realtors have many jobs to do. If you want to become self-employed as a real estate agent, you should therefore meet certain requirements. This includes in particular a certain negotiating skill . This is important because a real estate agent has to negotiate and deal with both customers, tradesmen and banks.
A real estate agent should also have empathy and patience, as it can often happen that you have to deal with difficult customers.
Real estate agents should also have extensive knowledge of the real estate market . Regular training and further education are essential here. With these, the necessary skills can be acquired and expanded. After all, customers expect an experienced real estate agent as a contact person who can provide experienced and authentic information about the condition of the respective property and can answer questions competently.
Which documents real estate agents should present when starting a business
The professional title of real estate agent is not protected (external link). This means that legally any real estate agent could call themselves. Accordingly, there is no official vocational training. The path to starting a business as a real estate agent usually leads through training as a real estate agent. But before starting a business as a real estate agent with your own office, two important documents must be obtained:
business license
If you want to earn your money as a self-employed real estate agent, you need a business license. This means that company founders must register their business and apply for a so-called trade license at the responsible trade office.
After the successful registration of the business, the applicant receives a so-called excerpt from the central business register. This is necessary for the application for a brokerage permit.
broker license
In addition to the trade license, brokers must have an official permit issued by the respective district administration. This is the so-called brokerage license according to § 34 c of the trade regulations (GewO).
The following documents , among others, must be submitted for the application:
- business license
- Copy of valid identity card or passport
- Clearance certificate from the tax office
- Excerpt from the debtor file of the competent district court
- Certificate of the bankruptcy court for the broker
- Criminal record certificate
The exact cost of obtaining a brokerage license varies by city.
Which company form real estate agents should choose
Real estate agents who want to become self-employed must choose a suitable company form for their self-employment. There are several options here. However, it is advisable for brokers to start their business as a corporation such as a UG or GmbH. In this way, real estate agents can protect themselves personally by not being liable with their private assets, but only with the share capital of the company.
Create a business plan and get started as a real estate agent
Anyone who wants to become self-employed as a real estate agent should first put their plans in writing – in a so-called business plan. This helps to approach your own project in a structured way. In addition, such a business plan is a prerequisite for obtaining external financing. A business plan includes the following points :
- Information about the business idea
- market and competition
- customers and marketing
- Organisation/ legal form
- Employee
- Capital requirements and financing
Brokers should explain these points in detail when preparing a business plan . A particularly important part of the business plan for real estate agents is marketing. Because how successful a real estate agent will be with his business start-up depends to a large extent on his level of awareness within the target group and his reputation.
Special attention should also be paid to the acquisition and sales strategy and the business plan should answer how new customers can be won and how to reach your target group.
Become self-employed as a real estate agent and get the support of a business start-up consultancy on board
Creating a business plan takes a lot of time. However, founders should take these. Because only a business plan shows whether the business idea is sound and whether it will generate profits in the future.