If you’re planning on selling your residential real estate brokerage, a valuation is an obvious necessity, since no serious buyer would consider purchasing based solely on the word of the seller. A comprehensive valuation can help the broker to discern what actions can be taken prior to shopping their brokerage to increase its fair-market value. But what if you’re not selling? Is there any reason to get a valuation in that case? An annual physical with a doctor is recommended for your measuring and maintaining your health, and the same is similarly true of a residential real estate brokerage. It turns out, valuations offer several benefits to your brokerage even if you have no intention of selling anytime soon. As the old adage goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Valuations can allow brokers to analyze their brokerage from a different perspective and make changes accordingly to optimize their business.

DETERMINE EXACT RECRUITMENT EFFORTS NECESSARY

Valuations will show a broker somewhat of an ‘X-Ray’ of their business. It will outline each agent’s transaction count, average GCI per transaction, and compare this to business expenses allowing brokers to effectively determine exactly how many agents are required, (by applying average GCI/agent), in order to break even, or how much recruitment efforts would increase the cash flow and profit of the brokerage given measurable recruitment expenses and expected outcome.

SPLIT EXPENSES INTO OPERATING AND NON-OPERATING COSTS

Valuations will additionally provide an actionable guideline with regard to where exactly brokers can cut unnecessary expenses. Any expenses deemed ‘non-operating,’ (not contributive to the bottom line), likewise don’t contribute to the value of the brokerage, and cutting or reducing these costs will increase the value of a brokerage. Any broker thinking about selling their brokerage will definitely want to identify these costs and make cuts where necessary to get the highest possible fair-market value for their company.

IDENTIFY POSSIBLE CUTS IN FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE SALARIES

Valuations can bring to light the agent to employee ratio as it’s applied to profit generation, and spell out how this margin is directly affected by each full-time employee. This allows brokers to first, recognize which employee duties are considered either non-operating costs or extraneous to the brokerage operations, and second, exactly how much this margin will increase by making according cuts and how much that will increase the value of the brokerage.

ANCILLARY BUSINESS OPTIMIZATION

Brokers may elect to include other business models to the operations of their brokerage such as mortgage lending, home warranty services, property management, etc. Often times additional income from these businesses will convince brokers that the functionality of their brokerage is above average by industry standards if the profit analysis of these other businesses is muddled with that of their brokerage. Valuations can help to not only identify where immaterial expenses have crept into their brokerage as a result of these misleading values, but determine how the expenses can be cut, and how to better optimize those ancillary businesses.

IDENTIFY WHAT TRANSACTION COORDINATION EXPENSES ARE NECESSARY

If a brokerage has transaction coordinators employed full-time, (they will soon no longer be allowed to hire them as independent contractors), they are likely lowering their EBITDA during down months when transaction coordinators are processing fewer files due to this excessive expenditure, and thus, lowering the value of their brokerage. Valuations can help brokers to determine if this is the case for their brokerage, and whether or not it would be prescient to consider an outsourced transaction coordination service instead.

Valuations not only provide an accurate assessment of the current value of a brokerage, but can help to point out practical ways to increase that value, and therefore, the profitability, which is a good business practice regardless of a broker’s interest in selling or not. To learn more about valuations and how one could benefit you and your brokerage, contact payton@realestatebackops.com for more information.