18 Key Tips to Grow Your Real Estate Business

In recent years, the real estate industry has faced significant challenges, as high property prices and elevated interest rates dampened customer demand. Although low inventory and affordability challenges are likely to persist, mortgage rates are declining and the pace of home price growth is moderating—factors that are expected to stimulate more buyer interest in 2025. After all, pent-up demand among first-time homebuyers and others during the challenging market conditions of the early 2020s could translate into increased opportunities for real estate businesses in the next decade.

Indeed, real estate forecasts look promising: The size of the global market is expected to grow from $4 trillion in 2024 to $7 trillion by 2034, according to Precedence Research. In the United States, existing home sales are projected to rise by 9% and new home sales by 11% in 2025 compared with 2024, the National Association of Realtors reports. With market conditions improving, many real estate companies are looking to expand their operations. To support growth and remain competitive in a complex market, it’s important for businesses to take a variety of steps to improve their chances of success, from building a strong referral network and boosting brand visibility to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and implementing a strong customer relationship management (CRM) system. This article provides a detailed road map to help real estate companies prepare for growth.

What Is a Real Estate Business?

A real estate business is an organization involved in buying, selling, renting, or managing properties, including residential homes, commercial offices, retail stores, and industrial sites. Real estate companies may specialize in various aspects of the market, offering services ranging from property brokerage and management to investment and development.

Real estate agencies or brokerages connect buyers with sellers to facilitate the sale of properties, such as homes and commercial spaces. Property management companies specialize in overseeing rental properties on behalf of owners, handling tasks that include tenant screening, rent collection, and property maintenance. Meanwhile, real estate development firms focus on acquiring land and constructing new buildings, and investment companies purchase and manage real estate, either by renovating undervalued properties and flipping them for a profit or by holding residential or commercial assets long-term to generate rental income.

Key Takeaways

• The size of the global real estate market is expected to grow over the next decade.
• To take advantage of this market growth, real estate businesses may want to expand by offering ancillary services related to property transactions, such as staging homes or coordinating presale renovations with contractors.
• Since referrals are effective in attracting customers, real estate companies should consider creating an incentive program that rewards clients who refer new business.
• A growing number of real estate companies are leveraging AI to help create accurate property valuations, virtually stage homes, and analyze client preferences.

Scaling Your Real Estate Business

With lending and property market conditions improving, it may be a good time for real estate companies to consider expanding their operations. Scaling can take many forms. For instance, a business may want to extend its geographic focus or diversify its property portfolio to include commercial as well as residential properties.

Careful planning is the key to success, starting with evaluating all processes—from client acquisition to closing deals—to make sure each stage is robust enough to handle the complexities of a larger operation without compromising service quality. When refining current business models and developing a larger, stronger network of partners and potential clients, real estate businesses can improve their odds of success by leveraging a variety of tools, such as AI to help analyze market trends and streamline administrative tasks and a CRM system to track leads and manage client relationships.

18 Tips for Growing Your Real Estate Business

In today’s evolving real estate market, successful growth requires a strategic combination of traditional business practices and modern innovations. By implementing the following 18 strategies thoughtfully and systematically, real estate companies can create a solid foundation for sustainable growth while maintaining high levels of service quality and operational efficiency. Whether you’re a small local agency hoping to expand your territory or a larger firm aiming to diversify your service offerings, these proven approaches can help you achieve your growth objectives.

1. Strengthen Your Brand and Boost Visibility

In the competitive real estate industry where trust is paramount, a strong brand that conveys professionalism, reliability, and expertise can help a business stand out from its competitors. Strengthening a brand begins with creating high-quality visuals that differentiate the business, including a compelling logo, blog posts, market updates, and virtual tours. It’s also a good idea to place advertisements on third-party websites, such as Google and Facebook, to reach the demographics the business is targeting. For example, a business operating in a luxury market might consider hiring actors to help bring the story of a multimillion-dollar property to life, showing scenes of people enjoying morning coffee on a spacious patio, gathering with friends for a poolside barbecue, or cozying up to a fireplace in the winter.

Engaging with the community is another effective way to strengthen a brand and increase visibility. Sponsoring local events, such as a craft fair or community theater performance, supporting charity initiatives, and hosting informative homebuying seminars at a local library can position the business as a knowledgeable resource. Offering homeowner advice on town-specific social media channels—about reasonable plumbing services or the best playgrounds in the area, for example—can also help a business remain top of mind with potential clients when they’re ready to buy, sell, or rent a property.

2. Upgrade Your Website

Just as people want to step into a house and feel immediately at home, real estate companies should make sure online visitors feel comfortable the minute they begin navigating their websites. Incorporating features, such as mortgage calculators, 3D virtual tours, and interactive neighborhood maps, along with information about local schools and walkability scores, can keep potential buyers browsing for longer periods.

In addition to being visually appealing and user-friendly, a real estate website should also implement search engine optimization by including keywords specific to a local market—for instance, naming highly sought-after neighborhoods in a particular town. And the site should be optimized to help convert website visitors into leads by including clear calls to action, such as “schedule a viewing” or “get a free home valuation.” Real estate websites should also put technology to work to assist clients, for example, by implementing AI-powered chatbots that answer questions about properties and direct people to resources that encourage them to take the next steps in working with the business.

3. Adopt an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

Real estate businesses should commit to providing a seamless, integrated experience with consistent messaging across multiple marketing channels, including websites, social media channels, email, signs, brochures, and face-to-face interactions. An effective omnichannel marketing strategy leverages data from different platforms to create personalized, targeted campaigns that highlight customer preferences. For instance, by tracking user behavior on its website, a real estate business could pinpoint which listings clients are leaning toward and send them email listings that match their interests.

To reinforce an omnichannel presence, companies should integrate offline touchpoints with digital interactions. This might include physical brochures with QR codes or “for sale” signs that provide links to virtual property tours. A real estate broker might also equip open houses with digital check-ins that capture visitor information, so the broker can send automated follow-up emails with additional property information, similar listings, and an invitation to follow the brand on social media.

4. Build a Referral Network

The right referral can be a powerful tool to attract clients and grow a business. In fact, a 2024 survey of home buyers by the National Association of Realtors showed that 40% of buyers found their agent through a friend, neighbor, or relative. What’s more, 81% of sellers contacted only one real estate company before settling on a person to sell their home, and 88% of home buyers would use their agent again or recommend the person to others.

To build a strong referral network, real estate businesses should focus on providing exceptional service to existing clients and remember to follow up with past clients by sharing newsletters, holiday cards, recipes, and home improvement tips to keep the connection going long after an initial transaction is completed. Creating a referral incentive program that rewards clients who recommend new customers with gift cards, discounts on future services, or even cash can also be effective. And businesses can ask satisfied clients to provide a written review or participate in a video testimonial that could be featured on the company’s website and social media channels.

In addition, real estate companies can partner with other local businesses, including mortgage brokers, home inspectors, contractors, and interior designers, to offer bundled services or special deals that mutually benefit all parties. And actively participating in industry gatherings, seminars, charity events, and business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce or local clubs, can create valuable networking opportunities that lead to referrals.

5. Invest in Technology and Automation

The real estate industry is investing heavily in new technology, with 81% of real estate professionals reporting using electronic signature software, 63% employing lockbox and other property-showing technology, and 50% using transaction management tools, according to a 2024 National Association of Realtors survey. Furthermore, 80% of real estate professionals revealed in a 2023 JLL survey that they plan to increase their real estate technology budgets through at least 2026.

As a business grows, automating processes becomes increasingly critical to reduce errors and eliminate time-consuming manual tasks. Investing in property management platforms, automation tools, and other software solutions that address specific needs is key. For instance, automating marketing activities, such as social media posts and email campaigns, allows a business to schedule and distribute content across multiple platforms quickly. Software can also automate lead-nurturing to analyze client behavior and provide targeted content based on people’s search histories, as well as property management tasks, including processing payments, handling maintenance requests, and screening tenants. Shifting daily grunt work to technology frees real estate professionals to focus on developing and implementing strategies designed to continue improving and growing the business.

6. Leverage AI

A 2024 Deloitte survey indicates that AI adoption in commercial real estate is still in its infancy, with 76% of respondents saying their organizations are researching, piloting, or in early-stage implementation of AI solutions. Still, many real estate companies recognize the value AI-powered services can provide in terms of improved efficiency and cost savings, and the industry is ramping up its use. In fact, the global generative AI market in real estate is expected to grow from $437 million in 2024 to $1.3 trillion by 2034, at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 12%, according to Precedence Research.

A growing number of real estate companies are leveraging AI to assist with a variety of important tasks, including:

• Analyzing vast amounts of property data, including historical sales figures, property traits, and market trends, to create accurate property valuations.
• Producing virtual staging of furniture, artwork, and other decor in empty rooms, helping buyers envision the potential of a space.
• Enhancing property listings with satellite images, detailed descriptions, and virtual tours.
• Using chatbots to respond to client inquiries and schedule property viewings 24/7.
• Analyzing a client’s preferences and search history to recommend properties that match the buyer’s criteria.
• Streamlining property management tasks, including maintenance coordination, rent collection, and scheduling tours.

As companies continue to embrace AI-powered solutions, the tools are expected to save time, improve decision-making, and provide better customer experiences.

7. Implement a CRM System

The right CRM system is vital to supporting a real estate company’s growth. In fact, the top three tech tools that produced the highest number of quality leads for real estate professionals in 2024 were social media (52%), CRM (32%), and the local multiple listing service (26%), according to a technology survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors. Indeed, the real estate CRM software market size was valued at $10 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $17 billion by 2030.

An effective CRM system allows real estate agents to track and manage leads, as well as organize potential customers by stage in the buying or selling process, both of which increase the chances of converting leads into clients. A CRM tool also enables real estate businesses to maintain a centralized database of client information, including their preferences and previous transactions, allowing agents to provide a more personalized experience. If a potential client has expressed interest in properties in school districts with a solid reputation, for instance, a CRM system can quickly match relevant listings to that preference, giving the business the ability to personalize its outreach and build trust. And by automating repetitive administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling and data entry, agents can focus instead on building meaningful client connections.

Beyond these benefits, a CRM system offers valuable data insights that can inform marketing and sales strategies. For instance, if the data shows that many high-quality leads are generated from a certain town, a company could invest more in advertising in that area to optimize its resources and potentially drive additional growth.

8. Expand Your Service Offerings

A real estate business looking for ways to increase its revenue streams may want to consider expanding its service offerings. One possibility is to diversify into property management services. Let’s say a client buys a large apartment complex as an investment property, with the intention of renting the units. After handling that transaction, the real estate company can offer to transition into managing the building by helping the owner with screening tenants, arranging for repairs, landscaping the grounds, and collecting rent—thus providing an ongoing service that generates recurring income.

Another way to branch out is to engage in ancillary services related to real estate transactions, such as staging homes and coordinating presale renovations with contractors. A company could also act as a consultant, doling out advice on investment strategies, financing options, or flipping properties, to generate additional income through hourly fees, while at the same time positioning the business as a one-stop shop that meets a variety of property needs. These additional services enhance the company’s value proposition and make the business more competitive, ultimately helping it attract a broader range of clients.

9. Master Local Market Expertise

To maintain a solid reputation, businesses must keep a firm handle on the local market so they can act as the go-to trusted resource for both buyers and sellers. Real estate professionals should spend time understanding the characteristics of specific areas, including property values, school ratings, planned infrastructure projects, property tax changes, local zoning laws, and upcoming developments. For instance, agents should be aware if retail developers are planning to build a strip mall on a large swath of vacant land adjacent to a quiet suburban neighborhood, or if a sprawling new office complex will bring additional corporate tenants to a particular town.

Mastering the local market also allows a real estate business to identify undervalued properties, recognize early signs of a market slowdown, or spot new pockets of potential growth. Those insights, by extension, allow a company to proffer timely, relevant advice to clients, thereby giving it a competitive edge that can increase sales and build long-term loyalty. And when a business is deeply familiar with potential pitfalls in local processes, it can more quickly resolve any problems that might arise during real estate transactions.

10. Recruit and Train a Skilled Team

Recruiting top talent is essential to a real estate company’s success, since skilled agents bring valuable experience, market knowledge, and established relationships that can lead to new business opportunities. To attract talented employees who possess both the hard and soft skills necessary for success in the industry, a real estate business should start by identifying candidates with a strong understanding of the market niche the company wants to serve, such as condos or retail properties. In addition to offering attractive compensation packages and perhaps even sign-on bonuses, the company should emphasize the support employees receive and outline potential growth opportunities.

Once recruited, new staff should undergo a comprehensive onboarding program that covers the technical aspects of the business, such as understanding legal documents and using advanced technology, as well as effective sales and negotiation techniques. A real estate company could also implement a mentorship program, pairing less-experienced hires with seasoned agents to learn the nuances of how to interact with clients and close deals. Continuous upskilling is important and can be accomplished through ongoing workshops featuring inspiring speakers, as well as opportunities to earn industry certifications to keep the team current on the latest market trends.

11. Use Project Management Tools

To support growth, real estate businesses should implement a comprehensive project management system that can handle key operational functions, such as managing leads and automating marketing outreach. These tools can streamline tasks and make sure everyone is on the same page with regard to listing statuses and project workflows. For example, a real estate agent might create a project board that tracks every step of the client journey, from initial consultation and property showings to contract signing and closing. The tool can automate reminders for follow-up calls or document submissions, and prioritize tasks based on urgency to reduce the risk of missing important deadlines.

In addition, a project management system can assist with various aspects of property management, including automating administrative tasks, scheduling maintenance, and handling rent collection for multiple properties. These tools ensure that every detail is covered, leading to a more organized business, better collaboration among staff, and greater client satisfaction.

12. Optimize Financial Management

Financial management in real estate can be challenging due to a variety of factors, not the least of which are high up-front expenses for marketing, office space, and staff, which can strain cash reserves. Meanwhile, income can be unpredictable, with large commissions coming in sporadically and fluctuating by season, making budgeting difficult. Businesses can harness several types of technology to improve financial management, including:

• Cash flow forecasting tools that analyze actual versus planned cash flow in real time and create what-if scenarios for optimal financial planning.
• Investment software that provides real-time financial data, manages investor relationships, and streamlines financial processes.
• Accounting solutions that centralize financial data for all properties, provide comprehensive views of portfolio performance, and significantly reduce accounting errors.
• AI tools that assist with a variety of financial functions, including providing precise property valuations and identifying investment opportunities.

By implementing these technology solutions, real estate businesses can get a clearer handle on their finances, leading to better decision-making that could ultimately increase revenue and improve profitability. The key is to choose tools that integrate seamlessly with a company’s existing systems and that meet the specific requirements of the business.

13. Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

If a company doesn’t clearly define its key performance indicators (KPIs), the business is essentially operating in the dark. That can lead it to ignore the early warning signs of problems or fail to recognize and capitalize on what’s working well, which can translate into missed opportunities for growth.

To get a better handle on market position and plan for future growth, businesses should outline and closely track their most significant KPIs. These include average cost per lead, to optimize marketing spending; lead conversion rates, to pinpoint and correct weaknesses in the sales process; net operating income, to get a clear picture of the company’s financial performance; and client satisfaction scores, to measure the quality of service the business is extending to customers. Based on this data, companies should continually adjust their processes to improve performance.

14. Invest in Data Management and Analytics

As a real estate business scales, the volume of data related to property listings, sales performance, and client preferences also grows. This requires businesses to invest in sophisticated data management and analytics tools to better forecast demand, zero in on properties, target clients, and improve sales performance.

The payoff is clear: Armed with data, real estate companies can focus their efforts on high-potential leads, visualize trends in home prices based on location, and identify opportunities for upselling. Predictive analytics can also help by using historical sales data to forecast future market conditions, so a real estate business can proactively decide when to list properties and how to set competitive pricing. And business intelligence tools can identify underperforming areas, so a company can adjust its strategies as needed. Besides, real estate transactions generate plenty of sensitive personal and financial data, so businesses need to enlist data management systems to keep all information securely stored and protected.

15. Streamline Document Management

Managing the volume of documents in a real estate business, in the form of contracts, listing information, property disclosures, and inspection reports, can quickly become overwhelming, particularly as the business grows and the number of transactions increases. Paper files can get misplaced, and the manual process of organizing and retrieving documents can become an impractical, time-consuming task.

An increasing number of businesses are using technology to streamline document management, allowing agents to quickly retrieve the correct documents when they’re needed to ensure smoother transactions and better client experiences. Document management software also offers cloud-based storage and secure document sharing that help businesses share sensitive documents with clients, lawyers, and mortgage brokers. These tools save businesses time and reduce the risk of processing delays, and they help secure private data and facilitate compliance with industry regulations. Also, document management systems create clear audit trails, which can come in handy if legal disputes arise.

16. Develop a Scalable IT Infrastructure

As real estate businesses expand, they need a scalable IT infrastructure that can handle escalating capacity requirements. Companies can start by doing a comprehensive assessment of the organization’s current and projected IT needs, then look for systems that integrate seamlessly with their existing software to allow for greater operational efficiencies and easier data sharing. Rather than enduring the expense of costly upgrades to on-premises hardware, it’s wise to partner with experienced technology providers that specialize in cloud-based platforms that can easily be scaled up or down in step with demand and without causing performance hiccups. And cloud platforms often include built-in security, compliance, and disaster recovery features that are crucial for managing the sensitive data inherent in real estate transactions.

17. Optimize Human Resources and Payroll

The volume and complexity of human resources (HR) tasks, including recruitment, onboarding, benefits administration, and performance management, inevitably increase as a company grows. Slow, manual HR processes that work satisfactorily for a small company may become unsustainable as the business expands. Take payroll, for instance. A 2024 survey of payroll professionals found that 58% say their work has become more challenging in the past two years, largely due to the need to comply with evolving payroll regulations and the lack of pertinent technology to manage tasks. In fact, 74% indicated they have issues with their payroll data, often because they don’t have the right tools to analyze the data or because the data is siloed in disparate systems.

Real estate businesses can take steps to optimize their HR processes in a variety of ways. Among them are implementing self-service portals that allow employees to complete onboarding paperwork, manage their benefits, and share performance reviews; adopting software that integrates a wide variety of HR functions and automates repetitive tasks, such as data entry and tax calculations; providing ongoing training to keep HR staff updated on best practices and new regulations; and conducting regular audits to reduce errors and ensure that all records are accurately maintained.

18. Improve Supplier Relationships

Clients buying or selling properties can face a long and overwhelming list of to-dos, from cleaning, painting, and renovating spaces to seeking financial approval for mortgage loans and enlisting an attorney to review and finalize contracts. Real estate businesses should be ready to recommend reputable partners that can provide a variety of professional services, such as contractors, cleaning services, mortgage brokers, and moving companies.

It’s important to build a solid relationship with these vendors to meet clients’ needs and to generate a roster of referrals that can mutually benefit both businesses. For example, a real estate company might partner with a local interior design firm to offer free home staging consultations to homebuyers; in turn, that firm might refer the real estate company to its own clients who are buying or selling properties. By working closely with multiple partners and focusing on those mutually beneficial opportunities, real estate companies can foster strong relationships that contribute to business growth.

Discover How NetSuite Drives Real Estate Business Growth

Conditions continue to improve in the real estate market, making it a good time for businesses to consider expansion. NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can help companies meet their growth objectives by providing a comprehensive solution that integrates multiple business functions into a single, scalable platform.

NetSuite’s AI-powered system automates several core processes and handles a multitude of critical tasks with ease, such as financial budgeting and reporting, tenant tracking, lease administration, and client and contract management. NetSuite ERP’s customizable dashboards present both bird’s-eye and in-depth views of business activity to give companies real-time visibility into their financial performance, as well as tighter control over their businesses, thereby supporting the kind of strategic decision-making that drives growth. The cloud-based system is also highly flexible, so real estate businesses can add users, clients, and properties as they grow.

Scaling a real estate business requires a strategic approach that combines traditional growth strategies with cutting-edge technology. By strengthening the brand, expanding service offerings, leveraging AI, and implementing integrated CRM systems, real estate professionals can create a solid foundation for expansion. The key to successful growth lies in embracing innovative solutions, carefully nurturing relationships, and continually adapting to changing market dynamics.

Grow Real Estate Business FAQs

What is the hardest part of real estate?

One of the top challenges of operating a successful real estate business is how to navigate economic uncertainties and market fluctuations that may have an impact on the buying and selling decisions of potential clients. These challenges require real estate firms to be highly adaptable and strategically focused. Companies must also invest in the proper technology and in high-level talent to support their operations.

Which real estate business is most profitable?

Selling residential properties can generate substantial income, especially in areas experiencing population growth. In addition, commercial real estate, including retail buildings and industrial warehouses, often yield higher returns because they involve larger tenant spaces and longer lease agreements.

How fast can you grow in real estate?

The real estate market is projected to grow at a rate of 7.6% between 2024 and 2032, expanding from $4 trillion to $7 trillion, according to Precedence Research. The pace of growth of individual real estate companies can vary significantly because of a number of factors, such as economic conditions and local market dynamics. Some companies, including those focused on high-demand areas and lucrative niche markets, may experience rapid growth by employing a well-executed strategy.