Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
There’s a dirty little secret in the world of real estate brokerages that few people talk about. It’s a disturbing trend that we’re seeing more frequently in small and mid-sized firms: Many brokerages today are just not very profitable.
In 35+ years, I’ve looked at 1,000’s of financial statements. What is interesting lately is that even with industry-wide record years where brokers have made a lot of money, when you look at their P&L’s-- which often show nice profitable bottom lines-- we find the profit in many of today’s brokerages actually comes from the broker’s own personal production.
Since the beginning of the industry, the top agents typically earn more than the broker; it’s the way it is. Except…today’s conditions have changed so much for the broker/owner of all sized firms that there is a real disparity between the incomes of the agents and the broker. Look how things have shifted in recent years:
I’ve written often about the actions brokers can take to build company dollar and profits which generally requires a change in brokerage strategy and direction. It also involves an investment into resources that require capital from the broker/owner. Changing direction and making the time and financial commitments into their firm is the path only a few choose to follow.
Instead, many brokers of small and midsized firms today choose to remain producers because it’s worked well for them. They are working with buyers and sellers because they enjoy it and often, they may not actually be making significant money from the brokerage— their profit comes from being an agent.
The issue comes when the owner is ready for a personal change. Perhaps they want to slow down; maybe even cash out by selling or merging their firms and that’s when determining the market value of their brokerage becomes important. The income statements and true profits drive the company’s market value. In reviewing the financials, we often find when the brokers’ commissions are included but shown as profit, once they are adjusted for reality the company’s profits drop or as is often the case, they’re actually losing money.
Several questions are raised in the process of determining true profitability of the owner’s production:
A case study:
We were very interested in acquiring a seemingly profitable southeastern brokerage headed by a dynamic and active broker/owner. However, the financials provided quite a surprise. The firm had the highest company retained dollar and profit ratio in the history of real estate brokerage operations. But… a closer examination revealed the reason for the massive profits was because the owner who was the top producer by a considerable amount had not been paying himself commissions- none, nada, zero. The result was an artificially high company dollar and profit margin that exceeded any I have ever seen. Of course, the owner’s asking price was based on this very high net profit as well.
Once a real-world commission structure was factored in, and earnings adjusted for the unpaid commissions, it became obvious the owner was subsidizing the company with his commissions. In fact, the agents didn’t even cover the overhead and without the owner’s personal financial contribution the company was losing significant revenue. Unfortunately, we were not able to justify the acquisition.
Does this mean the market is bleak for those thinking about selling small-to-midsize brokerages? Not at all, in fact it’s very active as top companies often pay a premium to establish a presence in a market or to increase their existing market share. There are ways to structure the transaction that make sense for all as well. One of the most important steps a broker/owner who is thinking about selling in the near future must do is to invest in good accounting records that clearly document income, expenses and true profitability.
I have found over the years that documentation is one of the top deal killers for brokers wishing to cash out.
If you would like to learn more and explore what a valuation looks like for your company, click here to contact Rick Ellis today.
“…documentation is one of the top deal killers for brokers wishing to cash out”
Rick has an MBA in Digital Technology and is a licensed real estate broker. He is a business growth consultant and a regular speaker at real estate industry events. Rick and his wife live on the Georgia coast on St. Simons Island. He is available for consultation with brokers who are looking for options.
