I am ready to open my real estate office, just trying to settle on a space. I have really been struggling with what to do. In my town where I am looking to get space, there is very little supply. Right now there is a space in the middle of town in a single family ranch house. It is sort of weird looking from the outside and has a guy that lives in the back part. Inside is outdated and just not real attractive. Another space I am looking at is just outside of town with not as good visibility. It is a 2 story old house. I would only be renting the 2nd floor. So, to get in the place you have to walk around the side and then would go up the stairs. This place inside is much nicer than the first, but 2nd floor of a house. This second floor space is also probably about $400 more per month with utilities.
Realistically the way I am setting up my office is that agents will work from home, so am not expecting many people to be in the office at all on a regular basis. I though would probably be there at least a few days a week. The second space I would definitely want to be in more than the first.
I am struggling as to which space if I choose one of these. Factors in my mind are: money, where would i want to work out of, where would agents or clients want to be(ugly ranch house or 2nd floor of nicer house), visibility not as good one second nicer place, would either one effect me being able to recruit agents as easily.
Any thoughts anyone could share would be appreciated.

Visibility does not really matter anymore. If you are wanting walk ins then you better be close to a huge anchor, like Home Depot, Best Buy, etc...and you should have a major franchise chain for a name or your independant name must be well known.

Do you belong to a franchise? Do not open your space in "hopes" of attracting agents because that will not pay off.

Just my 2 cents.

I will be an independent.

The need for a "brick and mortar" presence is really quite limited. If you are going to work alone, that is not sponsor other agents, you may want to dedicate a space in your home for most of your "office work" (the "field work" will be unchanged by your office location). For the few times you might need to meet with people that you don't want coming to your home you might be able to use a lawyer's office and thank him/her by refering business to that office.

I am working out of my home, and so far haven't found it necessary to be in an office space to work with buyers or sellers. I write offers in buyers' homes, places of business, local coffee shops...wherever is convenient to buyers. And I write listing contracts in people's homes. So far, not necessary to bring buyers or sellers to my "office" at home.

I will write a purchase offer tomorrow to be faxed or emailed to the buyers for signatures. I can drive to their house to pick up their checks.

The biggest difficulty I have doing this is needing a photocopy machine to give the customer their copies of contracts. I have even gone to the local library to do this more or less on the spot.

Here in PA, we need to have a brick and mortar with at ;east two rooms. You can do it out of the house with a private entrance, but my house does not have a great setup. Being that is the case, any other thoughts on the options I presented above?

You don't make a good case for either one. Keep looking, or find a commercial Realtor to help you find one.

You cannot operate from your house and meet clients/customers somewhere else? Like their house or a property they want to see. (neudot said it best)
I started my company as a virtual office, added a physical office, and now in the process of closing the physical office. The agents work from home as do I but it does require a copier along with other technology for it all to work smoothly.

I have worked from home for years. I meet clients at the subject property, their home or a coffee shop. It has always worked out and I save on the unnecessary overhead.

I have given up on recruiting agents. They are unpredictable and are never happy. I am very satisfied with my one man shop.

Well this has my wheels turning. I have always thought it would be necessary to have brick & mortar. It sure would be nice to go it alone and get 100% of my pay. What are some of the downfalls of a one man shop?

I have done it both ways. The physical space is a waste of money. My agents rarely used it. Due to time, gas, etc most people prefer to meet in the field. Our town has several branch libraries in different areas so I use them to get info sometimes. I also have a laptop and cellphone with the internet. For the rare time that I needed an office I used my accountant's office. Fedex Kinko's is an option-some have meeting space. UPS stores are good for copies.

I agree. Unless you (or the person you hire as a manager) is EXTREMELY good at motivating people (a rare talent), office space is a waste. I built a 60 person company with everyone working from home. Although we had a space available for people to meet at, it never got used... Never.

Wow... this is very, very, true. Office space rarely if ever gets used. Does every state allow a "virtual" office? I don't think my state does... (VA)

I don't think PA does either, but our office is used ALL the time.

We have office meetings, agents have work areas, customers come in, other agents drop things off, we keep keys to the properties at the office (in case someone needs access to the property and can't open the electronic lockbox). We meet with buyers at the office, have closings at the office, and have parties at the office (LOL).

Our office, on any given day except maybe late Sat. and most of the day on Sunday has several cars in the parking lot and many customers coming in and out.

OK, Perky apparently is with a firm or owns it - I can;t remember. The point is that the office is used because it has become a convenience to the agents.

Then again, Joel proves that there are proven alternatives.

Either will succeed with the proper management.

I don't own the office. I snuck in here even though I'm not a broker.

I do think that a virtual office can succeed - but I don't think it would necessarily work in all markets....yet.

I would say that a brick and mortar office can work for you. But it needs to be smartly done. Someone previously mentioned being near an anchor store like a home depot.

While I agree with the anchor store part, the example of a home depot is not so good. What you need is what some folks call an overflow anchor. When people come to a place like home depot, they are usually coming for something specific. They walk in, get what they want, walk out and leave. This is NOT a business or traffic builder for stores around it.

Now some of this also depends on the kind of town you are in. You want to position yourself in a way that is likely to be seen by the largest segment of the buying population. Why buying and not selling? The stats show that office location for business generation is far more influential relating to buyers than sellers. Sellers tend to go with agents that have signs in their neighborhood, or bigger advertisements.

I live in a bedroom community. Folks who come here to buy are normally not from the immediate area. The average has been folks who live anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour away. My town also tends to host lots of sporting events for kids - soccer tournaments, etc. This is another way folks discover my town.

So with all that in mind, you have to think like those folks. One of the first things many people do when coming to an event or maybe driving down because they are already interested in possibly buying - is to grab a cup of coffee, maybe look for tourist info from the chamber of commerce,etc. In my case, I would look for something close to a starbucks or a bookstore. Closer to the freeway (if there is one) is likely to be better. With that in mind, maybe you find a coffee shop near the freeway. Maybe you even find something close to the hotels for the town. In any event, that is a strategy that would work for MY town. What would work for your town might be very different.

My point is that while there might be some general ideas that tend to work in more areas (I think the coffee shop proximity idea is pretty universal), you need to cater what you do to your market.

Can a virtual office work? Not always, I have lost a couple of clients who when they found out I did not have a brick and mortar office to meet at , were put off and decided to work with someone else.

I think the right approach is a balance. I don't think you need a 20,000 square foot office space with cubicles for all your agents. You can rent a suite with a meeting room and a supply room and have that work just fine for you. You are then able to satisfy all the possible needs of a client or an agent that works for you without as much overhead.

When you are looking for a place, make sure and take a look at craigs list. I was amazed at how much was available on there in my little town. In fact, I found one location where you rented an office and shared a receptionist, several meeting rooms and a break room with other office space renters all for about $300 a month. That included the above and full cleaning, all utilities and an internet connection.

Good Luck,
R

I too feel that a brick and mortar won't be a bad idea as such. Office space renting is expensive indeed!

Hello Cathy: Are you in London, Ontario; London, England; or some other London ?