Launch guide
How to launch your real estate business: the first 90 days
Build a broker-aligned routine for local conversations, transaction handoffs, and irregular commission income.
Read the launch guideBack to Real estate
Business education for your next chapter
Real estate resource library
Practical material to adapt with your professional advisors, your local requirements and the business you actually want to run.
Copy and adapt
Four working templates
Replace every bracketed prompt. Review professional, privacy, advertising and platform requirements before using these drafts. Never add sensitive client details to a general contact record.
Initial inquiry response
Set a clear administrative next step without requesting sensitive records.
Thank you for contacting [agent] at [brokerage]. Please share your name, preferred contact method, broad buying or selling interest, general area, and suitable callback time. Do not send financial records or identity documents. We will reply by [realistic date] about the next administrative step. This message does not establish representation or confirm a showing.
Three-touch follow-up
Use for expected follow-up only. Respect consent requirements and stop after a decline or opt-out.
Touch 1: Would you still like help with the next administrative step for [request]? Touch 2: Is there a scheduling or process question we can clarify? No decision is required. Touch 3: We will close this follow-up for now. You may reconnect when useful; no reply is needed.
Minimal business intake
Administrative information only, not professional assessment or clinical intake.
Please provide your name, preferred contact method, general area, broad buying or selling request, and callback availability. Do not include identification documents, financing records, account details, or sensitive personal information. Representation and any necessary document collection follow the brokerage-approved process.
Optional honest review request
Use only where permitted by applicable professional and platform rules, without screening for satisfaction.
If you wish, you may leave an honest review of your administrative experience using [approved review channel]. Participation is entirely optional. Positive, neutral, and critical feedback are equally welcome. We offer no incentives, and your choice will not affect service. Please omit private information and details about any transaction, policy, legal matter, or medical care. No reply is needed.
A realistic owner week
Your first week
Move the blocks around your professional obligations and existing commitments. The point is a repeatable rhythm, not a perfect calendar.
Monday
Prospecting
- Review permitted sphere follow-ups and contact preferences.
- Make individual introductions; record agreed next actions.
Tuesday
Delivery
- Prepare showings and buyer or seller meetings through broker-approved processes.
- Review transaction handoffs with the responsible people.
Wednesday
Admin
- Update approved contact and transaction records.
- Confirm coverage, permissions, and upcoming obligations.
Thursday
Money
- Reconcile expenses and review available cash.
- Update uncertain commission timing and recurring commitments.
Friday
Learning
- Practice one client-process explanation with your broker.
- Review the week and choose one workflow improvement.
Plain-English business terms
Business words nobody taught you
- Sphere of influence
- People with whom you have an existing relationship and an appropriate basis for contact.
- Pipeline
- Potential business organized by its current stage and next action.
- Lead source
- The channel or relationship through which an inquiry arrived.
- Conversion
- Movement between defined stages, such as inquiry to introductory appointment.
- Cash runway
- How long available cash could cover planned spending under stated assumptions.
- Overhead
- Business costs that continue beyond an individual transaction.
- Gross commission income
- Commission income before brokerage splits, business expenses, and taxes.
- Brokerage split
- The agreed allocation of compensation between an agent and brokerage.
- CRM
- A system for maintaining contacts, preferences, and follow-up actions.
- Transaction coordination
- Administrative organization of transaction tasks under appropriate supervision.
- Capacity
- The workload you can responsibly support with available time and resources.
- Referral source
- A person or organization that introduces a prospective client.
Starting points, not endorsements.
Associations and official starting points
Learn without expensive detours
Three common first-year mistakes
1. Treating anticipated commission as spendable cash.
Instead: Budget against cash available and model uncertain receipt dates separately.
2. Buying multiple lead subscriptions before establishing follow-up.
Instead: Maintain one permission-aware contact process and test spending against useful conversations.
3. Delegating transaction work without broker review.
Instead: Confirm permitted tasks, supervision, and access before assigning work.
Rookie Runway is general business education, not legal, tax, financial, medical or brokerage advice. Licensing and practice rules vary by state. Check with your board, broker or advisor. Follow your broker policies and state real estate licensing rules.