Business plan
Sample plan · fictional businessA complete real estate business plan: Peachtree Home Group
Atlanta, GA · Startup plan · a fictional real estate business, written by the free generator from five answers
Executive summary
Peachtree Home Group is a new real estate business in Atlanta, GA offering representing home buyers from search to closing; listing and marketing homes for sellers; pricing and market analysis for homeowners; and relocation and investment-property help. The model is daily prospecting, a database worked every month, a written agreement and a written process for every client, and referrals as the growth engine.
Startup budget: $8,281 across 11 items, funded from savings. Target: $12,000 in monthly sales.
Twelve months from now, success looks like this: Twelve closed transaction sides in the first full year, a database of 200 contacts touched monthly, and a buyer's agent added once the pipeline overflows
Products and services
Peachtree Home Group's core service is representing home buyers from search to closing. Every buyer signs a written agreement before touring a home and every seller a listing agreement, communication is scheduled rather than hoped for, and every closing ends with a review request and a place in the database.
- Representing home buyers from search to closing
- Listing and marketing homes for sellers
- Pricing and market analysis for homeowners
- Relocation and investment-property help
Market analysis
The customers are first-time buyers who want a patient guide, move-up sellers with a timeline to manage, relocating families, and the small investors who come back for the next property — and, above all, the past clients who refer them.
- First-time buyers who want a patient guide through the process
- Move-up sellers who need to sell and buy on the same timeline
- Relocating families sent by employers, friends and past clients
- Small investors buying rental property
Marketing strategy
Most closed deals will come from word of mouth, referrals and the database, with Google confirming credibility when a prospect looks you up — reviews on the Google Business Profile, a website with listings and neighborhood pages. Open houses and social content about the local market feed new names into the database every week.
- Word of mouth and referrals from past clients — the source of most closed deals
- Google Business Profile and Google — “real estate agent” plus your neighborhood or city
- A database of contacts touched monthly by email, text or a call
- Open houses, neighborhood presence and social content about the market
- A website with listings, neighborhood pages, reviews and a consultation booking form
Operations plan
The agent prospects every morning, logs every conversation, follows a written checklist per transaction, budgets the split and dues from every commission, and adds a buyer's agent only when the pipeline overflows.
- A contact database from day one, with every conversation logged and followed up
- A weekly rhythm: prospecting time blocked every morning before anything else
- A written buyer agreement before touring a home, as the August 2024 rules require, and a written process for every client
- Commission splits, fees and dues budgeted from every closing
- Reviews requested at every closing while the keys are still warm
Startup costs
What it will take to open the doors, funded from savings.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensing course | $674 |
| State exam, license application and fingerprints | $382 |
| NAR, state and local dues, the MLS and the lockbox key (first year) | $1,095 |
| Errors and omissions insurance (first year) | $678 |
| Business registration (LLC) and EIN — only when you open a brokerage or hire | $445 |
| City business license, where your city requires one | $74 |
| Headshot, business cards, signs and a lockbox | $900 |
| Website and Google Business Profile | $0 |
| CRM and e-signature software (first year) | $0 |
| Car costs: mileage, insurance bump and upkeep (first months) | $1,250 |
| Working capital (two months of dues, marketing, software, car, insurance, admin) | $2,783 |
| Total | $8,281 |
Typical range to start a real estate business in the US: $4,123–$14,763. Your list is what you decided to spend — replace estimates with real quotes as you get them. Website and Google Business Profile: Your Zarla plan includes the website — a call button at the top, your services and the neighborhoods you cover, and a consultation booking form — and walks you through your Google Business Profile; a designer typically charges $1,500 or more to build one. CRM and e-signature software (first year): Your Zarla plan includes a contact database, online booking for consultations and invoicing with your website — the MLS and e-signature tools are separate.
Financial plan
The numbers below come from your own startup list and typical monthly costs for a real estate agent in the US. Startup costs are modest; the number to plan for is living expenses during the months before the first commissions close.
Typical monthly operating costs for a real estate business: $580–$2,203 a month, before the owner's own pay.
At $12,000 in monthly sales, Peachtree Home Group would clear $9,797–$11,420 a month before owner pay and tax, and recover the $8,281 startup budget in roughly 1 month.
| Cost | Typical range |
|---|---|
| MLS fee and the lockbox key, monthly | $35–$66 |
| Marketing: signs, mailers, photos, ads | $200–$1,000 |
| CRM and e-signature software (included with Zarla) | $0–$69 |
| Car, fuel and mileage | $200–$700 |
| Errors and omissions insurance | $45–$68 |
| Phone, bookkeeping and continuing education | $100–$300 |
US ranges for a small operation; replace with your own figures as you learn them. Lines marked (included with Zarla) are what those tools cost separately — with Zarla they are part of one monthly plan.
Risks and honest downsides
Every real estate business plan should say out loud what can go wrong. For Peachtree Home Group, the real risks are:
- Commission-only income with a long ramp — NAR says the first sale takes four to six months or more, and its newest members' median gross income was $8,100
- The market cycles; a slow year cuts transactions for everyone
- Splits, dues, E&O and marketing eat a large share of every commission
- The job is prospecting; agents who only service leads they're given rarely build a business
- A buyer agreement that isn't in writing before the tour, or a fair-housing or advertising misstep, carries real legal risk
Licenses, permits and insurance
What Peachtree Home Group needs before it can legally trade in the US. Rules vary by state and city — confirm each item with your local licensing office and an accountant.
- State real estate license — In the US each state licenses agents with its own hours, exam and fees: Texas 180 hours, a $58 exam and a $206 application; California three courses, a $100 exam and a $350 license plus $49 for fingerprints; Florida a 63-hour course, an $83.75 application and a $36.75 exam, then 45 hours of post-licensing; New York 77 hours, a $65 license and a $15 exam; Washington 90 hours, a $210 exam and a $233 license; Georgia a $45 activation fee and $125 for the four-year renewal. Renewed with continuing education.
- Sponsoring broker — In the US a new sales agent can't practice alone: in Texas "A sales agent must be sponsored by a licensed Broker in order to perform any act of real estate services"; in Florida a sales associate may not collect a commission "except in the name of the employer"; in Washington the broker "is licensed to one firm at a time"; in California the license is "under the supervision of a licensed broker"; in New York the application names the broker. The brokerage sets the split, the cap and the fees — read the agreement.
- NAR, state and local dues, and the MLS — In the US, NAR's dues are $156 plus a $45 assessment ($201); the local board bills state and local dues with the MLS and the lockbox key — Houston's 2027 sheet is $132 local and $157 state with the MLS about $35 a month; MetroTex's 2026 sheet $485, $568 and $226.
- Business registration and EIN — In the US a sponsored agent is licensed as a person and paid through the broker, so an LLC can wait; when you open a brokerage or hire, an LLC is $40 in Kentucky, $300 in Texas and $70 plus a $20 statement and an $800 yearly tax in California, and the EIN is free. Confirm the entity with your accountant and your state board.
- Errors and omissions insurance — In the US it is a license condition in some states — Colorado, Kentucky (at least $100,000 a claim and $1,000,000 a year) and Iowa — and a brokerage rule in most others; Insureon's average is $68 a month, $815 a year, and 73% of NEXT's customers pay $45 or less. General liability ($40 a month on Insureon's average) once clients visit an office.
- The 2024 rule changes, fair housing and advertising — In the US, since August 17, 2024, a written buyer agreement before touring a home and no offers of buyer-broker compensation on the MLS (NAR's settlement); federal fair housing law and state advertising rules govern every listing, ad and sign — in Texas the sponsoring broker is responsible for your advertising, and a sign without the owner's written permission is grounds for suspension.
- The broker license and a brokerage — In the US the broker license needs experience and hours — Texas four years and 720 points with a $308 application ($309 for a business entity), California two years in five with a $150 exam and a $450 license, Florida 24 months in five, New York two years and a 152-hour course with a $185 license, Georgia three of five years and a $275 firm license — and the firm needs the office the state requires, a trust account and its own insurance. In the UK, estate agents register with a redress scheme and HMRC; in Australia, New South Wales and Victoria license agents by class, with fees from $351 to $933 and $450.90.
Milestones: the next 30 days
The first month's to-do list for Peachtree Home Group, in order:
- Read your state board's page for the hours, the exam and the fees, then enroll in the course
- Pass the exam, get fingerprinted and file the application — the license stays inactive until a broker sponsors it
- Interview two or three brokerages and compare splits, caps, fees, E&O and training
- Pay the dues, join the MLS and get the lockbox key; put E&O cover in place
- Build your database: every contact you have, tagged and scheduled for a first touch
- Set up a free Google Business Profile and put a website with neighborhood pages live
- Block prospecting time every morning and hold two open houses for other agents' listings
- Keep the written buyer agreement ready before the first tour, and ask every closed client for a Google review
Appendix: what a lender will ask for
This plan tells the story and shows the numbers. If you take it to a bank, expect to be asked for these documents as well:
- Two years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement
- A month-by-month 12-month cash-flow projection with realistic closings and splits
- Your license, brokerage agreement and proof of E&O insurance
- Your pipeline: active buyers, listings and pending closings
- Any production history if you've closed transactions before
- Your credit report and anything you can offer as collateral