Starting a business takes a lot of work, and most of the time, if the efforts are genuine, success comes pretty easily. Real Estate in India is one of the vastest industries, with an estimate of growing to Rs 20,000 Crores by 2020. It has always been one of the biggest business sectors in the world. From the implementation of the Real Estate Act—RERA—to the introduction of concepts like Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Title Insurances, Indian real estate has recently seen a number of improvements. Always been labeled as a corrupt sector, the Indian Real Estate is now shaping to be a more transparent and customer-friendly industry. This is something to cheer for both homebuyers as well as individuals who wanted to step into real estate to start a business.
So, if you want to establish your business in Indian Real Estate as an Agent, here is our guide to success for you –
- Registration of business
To start a business in real estate as an agent, the first step to follow is to decide whether you’re going to work as an individual agent or form a company, partnership etc. For formation of a company or working as anything other than an individual, you would have to register the business with the correct Authority. - Budgeting / Financing
One of the most difficult steps in starting a business can be financing it. The right kind of financing is very important for the future. If you’re an individual, you might start by capitalizing on your own but, if you’ve decided to work as other than the individual, then you will require additional finance. You might consider taking a loan but do keep in mind that bad loans may spoil your business in future. - RERA Registration
The implementation of the new Real Estate Act has been a big change as, before starting your practice as a real estate agent now, you will require registration under RERA for the respective state where you want to operate. This can be easily done by hiring a consultation firm who has a good track record. A good firm might only take a day or two to get you registered. Either this can be a very tiring task or if you do hire the right firm, this may prove to be the easiest task as well. You will be required to use the received RERA number in all subsequent transactions. 4. Taxes
For business activities, there are different taxes applied which you will have to be aware of. You must file income tax as an individual agent because it is required for RERA registration as a mandatory document. If you have incorporated a company etc, you will now have to apply for a GST number as well, which is due to the recent introduction of Goods and Service Tax. This is strictly compulsory as all the financial activities have to be according to the Central Government. - Educate yourself – attend training/seminars for real estate
If you want to succeed in any profession, you need to have a proper knowledge of your work. There is not a lot of awareness for real estate education in India, however, there are a few companies across India which conduct seminars and training for real estate aspirants throughout India. Attending such events will boost your confidence and will help you in learning a lot of new things. Look on the web for such training and do book your seats for the next one. - Choose your specialty
Now, when you have attained a certain amount of knowledge, the next step to proceed in Real Estate is to decide your forte, whether you’re going to work for in the residential brokerage or commercial brokerage, or even both. - Portfolio – make contacts
As you’re now set to begin your successful run in the real estate market, know that the most important part of it is contacts. Your value in this business is determined by your portfolio, or the people you’re connected to. Work with the best people in the industry and you’re surely going to be one of the bests soon. A huge percentage of business in real estate is obtained by your own contacts. This is because it is a vast sector and to compete with others, you need to work with others. - Observe
To master the art of brokerage, you need to observe a lot. Observe developers, observe other agents, observe homebuyers…. Observe everything and only then you have a chance to be on top. Business is dynamic. It is ever changing. To keep up with the pace, you need to adopt changes and move accordingly. It’s only possible if you are quite aware of what’s happening around you. - Expansion – decide your working place
The business of any kind at a certain stage requires expansion. When you have dedicated enough time to the Real estate at one place, you might start to look for other good markets for your business. You can start by researching about real estate in different cities or states and your contacts will prove to be of significance use here. Attending training and seminars at different places will also give you an idea about the real estate community at different places. Take consultations from real estate experts who have knowledge about the real estate in different states. Finally, decide your workplace. When you have started to expand, you also need to decide where you want to work. Operating in different states at the same time is not possible. Choose the biggest market to handle for yourself. - Advertise
To grow the business successfully, you need to advertise it. There are different methods to advertise in real estate and the best advice is to try them all. Advertise on social media, advertise in magazines. Target your audience and find out the ideal mediums to reach them directly as well as indirectly. Be patient. Advertising does not assure of results promptly, especially in real estate, advertising may take long but is always worth the wait. Advertising is crucial when expanding and if people like your work, you are sure to prosper.
