Does the name of the real estate company really matter? I am starting my own company as soon as I think of a good name. I have the structure, business plan, commission splits, etc all figured out but stuck on a name.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ideally, it should be easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. It should also be easy to understand.

And something that DOES NOT have your own ego tied up in it; so maybe some day you can sell it, or transfer it to someone else with a different name.

Dewey, Cheetum and Howe is too personal.

A universally recognized name that is not already trade-marked is nice.

Vermont007's concern is fine if you expect to create a large company that will survive your own participation.

I operate "solo", under my own personal name, which has become well recognized and established from my time (over 12 years) in the business; first under another broker and now, for over 2 years, on my own. I will probably contine to reduce my level of business over the next couple years by shrinking my geographical coverage area. Since I do not plan to completely retire, and will never go back to being sponsored by another broker, I am not very concerned about any resale value of my business.

In the event that health issues become a factor for continuation I will sell or give away my lock boxes and winter watchmans to other brokers that might need them and refer out any remaining listings.

Not necessarily a large company - but there are a couple of brokerages here who are carrying on in the name of their founders, long since gone on to another place.

Using your own name is good if it's easy to say and spell.

I would love to use my name but it is impossible to say and harder to sell...LOL

spell that is

freudian slip? LOL

Is Zorich your name? How about E-Z Realty with a huge Z as your logo.

A Z with a roof on top and a tree next to it.

Yeah!

Sorry, I had a moment of cheese there.

How about SO RICH REALTY by Zorich. Success breeds success !

No, no, that makes it sound like he's another lazy realtor that makes too much money.

Big time Freudism slip there..Zorich is not my name.

Here is the structure and let me know what you think;
$100 monthly fee
$100 per transaction
$25 one time listing fee
$250 one time E&O insurance

All agents are 100% (unless brand new then I will have to change that)
All virtual agents, no office.

My goal is 20 agents.

Can you establish a brokerage where you are without an office? In PA you have to have an office with a sign out front and at least two rooms (one for general use and one for privacy...can of course be accomplished with cubicle dividers, I suppose...)

I wouldn't charge them for listings. That's a great way to discourage them from pursuing new listings.

It is a showing company that handles all of the showings and does feedback.

Yes, I can have a virtual office with no sign.

We always recognize good names AFTER someone else chooses them; but if I were going through this process again, I might look around at significant Geographic features in my Territory or Historical Sites, and consider them as the foundation for a catchy and locally recognized name . . . . especially if it is already associated with desirable Real Estate.

For example, if I were Perky, I might consider "Poconos Properties" but I see that there already is a Pocono Realty, so being that similar would probably be disallowed in PA. I don't know WHER in the MidWest you are setting yourself up.

You mean the showing company for the $25 per listing fee? I'm a cheapskate and would probably want to handle that myself rather than a showing company. LOL The last thing I want is another couple of hundred dollars in expenses.

But that's me.

St. Louis is close to where I am Vermont. St. Louis Realty is taken already.

I agree Perky, but for $25 they contact the seller and schedule all showings, feedback.....appraisers and building inspectors call the company a well and they set up those as well.

They send me notification by email for every activity and email all agents for feedback. With a busy life and 4 kids it is worth every penny.

Is there already a Gateway Realty in St. Louis ? It would certainly be odd if there wasn't one.

I suppose a play on the ancient Cahokia Mound, the largest Native American Metropolitan area in North America, would be too little understood ?

You probably have a wealth of choices . . . . take your time.

My companies name is Y and M Real Estate. Over the phone I find myself constantly having to repeat the M part and the and part. I even had one broker think my company was called why an M Real Estate. I should have thought about the name a little more. The initials are mine and my wife's first initials. So easily understood words are important.

Most Brokers don't have the luxury of taking the time to choose a name because they're in the midst of having just quit; or been fired; or their Principal just lost his License; or the Agency folded. They just rush to open up as "John Smith Real Estate" . . . . it's easy. If you have it, taking the unemotional time to work through these problems of "pronunciation" and "familiarity" or "recognition" is worth the time spent.

I would have been called Golden Rule "Realty" if someone hadn't pointed out the difficulty in pronouncing those multiple "R"s; that's why we chose "Properties" instead. But while I thought everyone had heard of the "Golden Rule" . . . . that's not true ! I had a Guy come in and tell me he knew the "Golden Banana" (a Strip Club outside Boston) but he had never heard of the Golden Rule. 23 Different Religions have some version of the Golden Rule; but not this Guy! So much for universal recognition. Take your time !

I'm thinking how much fun it would be if you had called it M.Y. Real Estate.

Imagine other brokers having to call your company MY Real Estate. ha ha

But it would be GREAT for customer recognition!

ya that would have been a good idea. I was just being nice with my wife and putting her initial first. If I didn't have to change signs, and everything I should do that.

Talking with my wife the other day I said, what a consumer needs when buying/selling a home is "A guy with a Sign"...she said that would be a great name....

I can imagine a sign with a stick figure holding a for sale sign on the sign.

I think it might be too corny and might be hard to recruit other agents espicially women. Also, tough for website/emails.

Might not be that good as a company name but you might be able to use it as a slogan though I think a slight modification would be in order. For a slogan how about: "An agent with more than a sign"

I like that, Mr. Foreclosure!

How about POSITIVE SIGNS REALTY - with a plus symbol or check mark or something in the logo.

Hmmm.

the agents who produce the most in my area all work in teams under a larger brokerage. teh names are all

firstname lastname real estate team

or

firstname lastname (then the brokerage symbol)



personally, i like the

firstname lastname real estate


many many many successful agents have made that into their brokerage name and the top 5 that i can spit out in my area advertise their personal name and people dont even know what brokerage they are affiliated with! the people remember the name of the individual that is the "face" of teh operation. if and when you can be at that level, you are there.

i wont list their names on the forums, but if you think long and hard, you will be able to find your top producers and they will all have thier name in the advertisement. if that is the case, why not make the brokerage your name?

because he said his name is hard to spell and pronounce.

last name is
Delhougne

Hard name to spell and say but I'm thinking of just saying o well and running with it.

last name is
Delhougne

Hard name to spell and say but I'm thinking of just saying o well and running with it.

Value Real Estate

I am going through the same thing you are. I am in the process of opening my own company and just finished incorporating it. It is definately difficult to think of a good name.

I was named after my 2 great grandfathers. My first name Benjamin came from one and my middle name Robert came from the other. I decided it would be nice to use their names for my company.

The one I took my first name from I used his middle and the one I took my middle name from I used his first. I came up with Taylor Donovan Realty, Inc.

I've been told it has a ring to it. It also sounds like a Coldwell Banker or Keller Williams. It has the potential to be a large company if I so desire, yet it is still a family name.

Great topic and great ideas everyone. Some of you are so creative. I wish I'd read a thread like this when I was thinking of my company name. Regarding the post below, an important factor to consider is that although many agents use their names, those are agents who chose to work under a broker, not start their own brokerages. In my area, many top producing agents choose to work under their own name and they are actually quite smart not to promote their broker (except as legally required) but to promote themselves.
*But* in deciding what to name your company, it does depend on what your vision is. Some brokerages are not started because the broker wants to sell homes, but because the broker wants to one day sell his or her business.

In that case, you may not want to use your name. That being said, my co name consists of the owner's initials followed by Real Estate. So, *I* know it's personal, but it doesn't sound personal to others. Plus, I have a slogan tied to the initials that I can use as a tag line.

"Some brokerages are not started because the broker wants to sell homes, but because the broker wants to one day sell his or her business."


very true...

me personally. i advertise


firstname lastname real estate

and have my brokers symbol and number in the bottom corner of my advertising to meet the legal requirements.

I struggled with my company name also.... in the end we named it "Homes By Ursula". My name is unusual enough that I had automatic name recognition and creditbility. (although in Atlanta there was at one 9 real estate agents with the name Ursula.... down to six now.. I am chasing them all away...lol.

It is not my favorite as it goes due to the fact that I think it sounds like a builder but it has been working for me. We also now have "Commercial By Ursula"...

If you have a strong presence as an individual using your name may be a good idea. I know when I retire if I decide to sell it will still sell - I have already had a couple of people talk to me about it....

For whatever reason it does seem to work. My marketing degree couldnt help me with this one....

Ursula has a good point about name recognition. I had been with my former sponsor about 9 years when I decided to go on my own 3 years ago. Obviously in 9 years I built some degree of name recoginition even if it was with another broker. When I went in business on my own I decided that I would do business under my personal name. Seems to have worked well so far!

Hmm.... I chose my company name because it's my domain name. Keep it simple but memorable.

If you are a virtual office how are you going to supervise your agents? In Michigan, the buck stops with the broker...and when the agent wads up a deal, its the broker that has to fix it.

My least favorite call goes something like this..."My name is Mr. Pissed Off, I am working with one of your agents and I would like to speak with the broker." My office manager pages my partner and I saying, "Some on line 1 wants to talk to the broker." We both yell "not it!" It's nice to have a business partner to share those calls with.

20 virtual agents with virtually no broker oversite sounds like a reciept for a lawsuit. I suppose it is worth a shot though.

The majority of brick and mortar offices around here do not even attempt to supervise their agents. I talked to one agent who had never even met their broker in the 2 years he was with that office. I know of several offices using straw brokers. I know several offices with brokers who barely know enough to write a contract let alone supervise agents, my prior broker being one of them.

I have a virtual office and only one agent right now and he doesn't do anything I am not aware of. Email, fax and phone is the same as in person when it comes to document review.

Broker oversight depends on the quality of the broker, not their proximity to their agents.

I recently started a new brokerage and also struggled with the name. I didn't know if other agents would be as eager to join my company if I used my name (which is not well known in this area).

I focused on short, easy to brand possibilities where I could get the domain name, DRE registration and California Corporation. I finally came up with Aim Real Estate Group. The name was available in all the right places and I was able to get the domain AimREG.com – 6 letters for a new domain name is pretty good. (One of the places I worked at was me@heritageamericafinancial.com Aaagh! Try getting your clients to correctly type in nearly 25 letters to send you an email. Never again.)

With no other reference or context for the name, I get a lot of friends and relatives raising an eyebrow at my choice of Aim for the name . . . but they all shop at Target so I just smile and shrug it off. I came up with a logo and the tag “Targeting Great Deals In The Inland Empire!” – seems to be working.

[img]http://www.liltopper.com/images/aim.jpg[/img]

I just noticed the topic started back in September. Zorich – Did you decide on a name?

After weeks of thinking of a name, I just went with my own last name and added Realty Group...not very original but was sick of thinking.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I really like the name and it definitely has a ring to it.

[quote]Broker oversight depends on the quality of the broker, not their proximity to their agents.[/quote]

I couldn't agree more Bigtoe. After reading my post, I see it was a bit negative. I appologize and want to wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.

Regarding the name, my biz partner and I used our last names because we were some what established in our area. Bauer-Reno & Associates Real Estate LLC.

I was surprised at how may people where unfamilar with the name "Bauer" (hockey sticks, Eddie Bauer clothing etc.)

On the positive side we are one of the first names listed in the real estate section of the phone book and in several web directories..."B"

At the end of the day, I don't think it matters that much. We were fortunate to grow quickly and have a pretty good sign and logo design. It wasn't too long and our market could pronouce Bauer.

Just get a truck load of signs out, and people will know who to call.

My previous broker named his from his street name and then added realty, and it was not bad either.
Someone I know had his from last name which is "singh" common last name in indians when people call they think it is "sing" :)