1. Gas&Maintenance
$0.21
/mile
AAAestimateforamedium-sizedsedan.
Itmaynotsoundlikemuch,butmany
Realtorslogmorethan20,000
milesayeamilesayear.
AutoInsurance
$1,020
/year
AAAestimateforfullcoverageonaAAAestimateforfullcoverageona
medium-sizedsedan.Thegoodnews:
manyautoinsurancecompaniesoffer
discountsthroughtheNAR.
Foragentslookingtostayrelevantandknowledgeableina
changingindustry,competitioncomesatacost.
EDUCATION&
ENRICHMENT
AveragevehicleexpenseforRealtorsin2012,
accordingtotheNAR
$1,790/year
Somelessobviousexpensescantakeasignificanttollona
realestateagent’sbottomline.
OTHER
COSTS
Realestateagentsputanestimated3.6billionmilesontheir
carseachyear,previewingpropertiesandshuttlingclients
fromhousetohouse.
TRANSPORTATION
Gettingthewordoutaboutyourrealestatebusinessisone
ofthemostdifficultaspectsofthejob.Itcanalsobeoneof
themostexpensive,particularlyfornewagentstryingto
growtheircustomerbase.
31%ofrealestateagents
spendover$1000a
yearononline
marketingefforts.
17%ofagentsemploya
marketingassistant.
MARKETING&
ADVERTISING
RealEstate
Website
$100-500
/month
WhetheritWhetherit’sanIDX
websitewithlistings,a
realestateblog,orboth,
amarketingwebsite
includesmanysmaller
costs,including
developmentanddesign,
hosting,andSEhosting,andSEO.
70%ofagentssay
they’vehadawebsite
foratleastfiveyears.
Online
Advertising
$100-500
/month
PPay-per-clickads,
Internetleadgeneration,
socialmedia,premium
placementonbigreal
estatesites,andother
onlinesourcesnowmake
upover55%ofagents’
totaladspend.totaladspend.
Print
Advertising
$100-500
/month
YYardsigns,mailers,
billboards,newspapers,
andrackpublicationsare
justafewoftheways
agentsuseprinttoget
thewordout.
40%ofagentsstilluse
directmailmarketing.
Continuing
Education
$50-100
/year
EachstaterealestateEachstaterealestate
authorityrequiresagents
totakeanywherefrom
10-30credithoursof
continuingeducation
everylicensurecycle
(typically2-4years).
Conferences
$50-1000
/each
ConferencesofferanConferencesofferan
opportunitytonetwork
withotherprofessionals
andkeepupwiththe
latesttrendsinreal
estatetechnology.
Additional
Courses&
Designations
$100-500
/course
SupplementarySupplementary
courseworkadds
expertiseinniche
marketsandemerging
technologiestoraise
yourprofileamonglocal
competitors.
Income
Taxes
$VARIES
YYourtaxburdenwillvary
basednotjustonyour
income,butalsoyour
location.Californians,for
instance,bearatop
incometaxrateof13.3%.
Health
Insurance
$50-500
/month
ThetheNARoffersbasicThetheNARoffersbasic
coveragewithits
RealtorsCoreHealth
Insuranceprogram,but
thoselookingforbetter
optionstoinsuretheir
familiesmustcontend
withexpensiveindividualwithexpensiveindividual
policies.
Community
Outreach
$50-100
/course
13%ofagents(20%of13%ofagents(20%of
thoseearningmorethan
$100k)supportthe
communitythrough
sponsorshipslikeLittle
League,highschool
plays,andtheirlocal
church.church.
49%ofrealestateagents
spendover$500a
yearoneducation
andtraining.
16%ofagentshave
workedwithareal
estatecoach.
Createbeautifulrealestate
WEBSITESTHATWORK
INFOGRAPHICBYPLACESTER
BuiltwithindexableIDXforbetteronline
marketing,localsearch,andSEO.Forexperthelp,
visitplacester.com
Sources
https://placester.com/real-estate-marketing-academy/life-as-an-agent-survey-results/
http://www.realtor.org/reports/member-profile
http://www.spiceworks.com/news/press-release/2013/05-29/
http://www.ocregister.com/lansner/div-446030-strong-year.html
http://exchange.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Your-Driving-Costs-2013.pdf
hhttp://www.slideshare.net/gordonborrell/borrell-2012-real-estate-outlook
http://activerain.com/real-estate-marketing
Attributions
BillboarddesignedbyCaseyFlusterfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/billboard/19719/)
BookdesignedbyDiegoNaivefromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/book/15474/)
BuildingdesignedbyMartinDelinfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/building/5747/)
BuildingdesignedbyMartinDelinfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/building/5747/)
CardesignedbyOlivierGuinfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/car/4699/)
CCashdesignedbyTonyMichielsfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/cash/38038/)
ChalkboarddesignedbyAsierBilbofromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/chalkboard/26819/)
CheckdesignedbyBrandonManningfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/check/7718/)
ChurchdesignedbyAlexFullerfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/church/27686/)
ConferencedesignedbyDesbenoitfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/conference/16379/)
FirstAiddesignedbyAnsteyDesignfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/first-aid/20146/)
GGaveldesignedbyDiegoNaivefromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/gavel/23091/)
MegaphonedesignedbyChristopherReyesfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/megaphone/11770/)
MegaphonedesignedbyMisterPixelfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/megaphone/35635/)
OutletdesignedbyKorokorofromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/outlet/18289/)
PropaneTankdesignedbyAmbarBhusarifromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/propane-tank/8486/)
TraindesignedbyJamisonWieserfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/train/1707/)
WWomandesignedbyLemonLiufromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/woman/8215/)
GlobedesignedbyJuanGarcesfromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/globe/1305/)
CursordesignedbyRenatoSilvafromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/cursor/19119/)
NewspaperdesignedbyJohnCasertafromtheNounProject(http://thenounproject.com/term/newspaper/1233/)
DeskFees
$25-$750
/month
IneInexchangeforkeepingallormostof
yoursalescommission,somebrokers
chargeaflatfeetousetheirdeskspace
andbranding.Somebrokersmayalso
chargetransactionfeesonsomeorall
ofanagent’sdeals.
CommissionSplits
30-85%
/transaction
WhileWhile50/50dealsarecommon,
commissionsplitsvarywidely
dependingonfactorslikeexperience
andperformance.
Office
Supplies
$20
/month
PPaper,ink,andbusiness
cardsarejustafewof
theofficesuppliesmany
agentsmustfurnish.
Utilities
$75-150
/month
Software
$20-250
/month
Broadbandinternetand
smartphoneservicesare
essentialforagents--and
notoriouslyexpensive.
Fromcontact
management,tomarket
analysistools,tocloud
storage,softwarecosts
canpileupforagents.
Mostrealestateagentsalignthemselveswithabrokeror
firm,andmustpayfortheprivilege.Whilebrokershavea
varietyofwaystodeterminethiscost,twocompensation
modelsdominatetheconversation.
BROKER
COSTS
Brokerscoversomeofficeexpenses,butagentsareoftenon
theirownfortherest..Sincemanyagentsworkoutsidethe
office,personalcomputers,mobilephones,andhome
internetservicesmayalsobeconsideredbusinessexpenses.
increaseinITbudgetforsmall
andmidsizebusinessesworldwide,
January-June201319%
OPERATION
COSTS
Licenses&
Permits
$100-500
/year
Initialsaleslicenseand
renewalfeesvarywidely
fromstatetostate.
Realtor
Association
Dues
+$120
/year
WhileNARmembershipWhileNARmembership
startsat$120,stateand
localrealestateboards
addtothiscost.
MLS
Fees
$25-$100
/month
AccesstorealestateAccesstorealestate
datacancomeatahigh
price,andmayinclude
astartupfee.
Likeanyprofession,realestateishighlyregulated.Thereare
licensestoearnandrenew,organizationstojoin,andavariety
ofotherofficialhoopsagentsmustjumpthrough.
OFFICIAL&
PROFESSIONAL
COSTS
Still,onenumbercan’ttellthefullstory.That’s
whywe’vebrokendownalltheexpensesagents
face.Fromadstoautoinsurance,conferencesto
commissionsplits,herearethetruecostsofdoing
businessasarealestateagent.
Whenpeopletalkabouttherealestateprofession,theytendtofocusonhowmuch
moneyagentsandbrokerscanmake.Buthaveyoueverconsideredhowmuchitcosts?
TALKISCHEAPREALESTATE,
NOTSOMUCH
APLACESTERINFOGRAPHIC
RealEstateAgent
THECOSTOFBEING A
Realtors’total
businessexpenses
areincreasingrapidly.
TotalCosts
4800
5000
5200
4600
4200
4400
4000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2011 2012
2011
$4,520
2012
$4,900
$
$ $
$
$
$
$
$