Like any business, there are start-up costs. Fortunately, our system makes it cost-effective compared to a traditional real estate office that would cost on average $250,000 to start up.
To join Area Specialist, you need to open and register your company with the Business Licencing Authority. This is an easy process, or your accountant can do this for you.
We've endeavoured to make the start-up process as streamlined as possible. To start your area specialist business, you would need:
- Insurance that covers $1,000,000 professional indemnity and $20,000,000 public liability
- CRM onboarding fee
- To order your stationery and marketing materials
- Subscribe to accounting software, such as Zero, to help manage the books
While this may seem daunting, it is all achievable under $6,000.
Keep in mind that you will also need savings to pay for your usual personal running costs while you wait for the settlement of your first sales. Some of our agents have just used their credit cards or pulled out some equity from their property.
When settlement of your sales is completed, you will invoice us for 100% of the commission, including GST, and we will pay this within 24 hours. In addition, your vendors will pay the administration file fee of $599, including GST. This is written into your advertising schedule and covers admin and trust accounting.
We invoice you once a month for the Licence Fee.
We have well surpassed critical mass where the business's income is higher than the running costs. We have achieved this through our ever-growing network of agents around the country.
We're here to empower successful agents to be their own boss and create their own thriving businesses. So rather than taking a large sum from a small number of agents, we make a small amount of money from a more extensive network of successful agents.
This enables us to support the Area Specialist network without compromising the longevity of your business.
We know how hard agents work, and while running your own business can seem daunting, in reality, you won't be working harder than you currently do; some tasks will simply be different.
There are two main things we cannot do that you or someone you employ will have to do;
- We don't order photos, boards, and brochures as they are all local suppliers, and we would need hundreds of different logins for all the suppliers around the country. We have a preferred suppliers list to make this easy for you, or you can work with whichever supplier you would like.
- Secondly, we don't do your general bookkeeping. Most of our agents pay an accountant to do this for them, and although this is an extra expense, they are happy to pay it now that they are keeping 100% commission and that the fee is so small given the few hours the bookkeeper would need to work per month.
This is why it's even more important to make a move. The Area Specialist model is the perfect solution for weathering market uncertainty and making the most of a hot market. Whether there are fewer listings or money to be made, why not keep as much of it as possible? You are the one working hard and putting in the hard yards the office isn't, and you should be fairly renumerated for this.
The agents we attract aren't worried if the water is too deep for them to swim; they're worried it's too shallow.
Don’t spend your health to earn your wealth; too many agents are working ridiculously long hours and making less money when they could simply make the switch to a more favourable structure.
Are you more loyal to your family or a boss who may not even know the name of your significant other/children?
Although your office may be transferring the funds to your personal assistants bank account, in actual fact you are paying for your PA through your percentage split. If you kept 100% of your commission you would be able to pay your PA a salary, bonuses and still have more leftover than you currently have.
Don’t let good get in the way of great.
Wouldn't your happiness increase if you earned twice as much while paying LESS tax, all while doing the same amount of work?
What % of your listings in the last 12 months were given to you by the office vs self-generated?
With Area Specialist, you have the potential of earning twice as much as you currently do from each listing. You would need to lose 50% of your listings to earn the same amount you do with your office. Do you think your local reputation is stronger than that?
Your vendors are listing with you, not the office.
If you don't know how to do the trust accounting, our experienced and long term accountants do it for you.
Our support system enables you to utilise our experience and admin tools to help fill the gaps. In addition, we offer a range of admin support to help you grow and expand.
Because of our thoughtfully considered flat and capped fee, we repel low performing agents and attract top performers, as the more they earn, the more they keep – we don’t take a % of what they write. As the name suggests, we only work with Area Specialist agents.
Yes, we have three tried and tested lead generation systems that have been proven to be successful and effective across Australia. With these systems, we can target your local patch very effectively.
There are four options.
A) the vendor funds and pays upfront
B) You fund it
C) We fund it and charge 15% admin fee on top of the advertising spend
D) You can use any vendor finance company of your choosing
This is up to you. We have offices with large teams, individual agents working from home, and everything in between.
What option works best for you is entirely dependent on your vision and what lifestyle you are looking to create.
That is because your current model and split isn’t designed for you to make as much money as possible. We designed the AS system to make it affordable and achievable to open your own business by giving you all the subscriptions and support systems you need.
So to run your business, all you need is some cash flow to keep you going until you get your first settlements. We also have a creative solution for this below, so keep reading.
We wouldn't recommend this, and very few of our agents do this. Many agents who join the AS network have a strong pipeline and consistent flow of listings.
Leaving behind a few 'gifts' is often worth it, as rather than worrying about losing those few existing listings, you should worry about losing 50% of your future commissions on every transaction.
There is no right or wrong time to leave your current office, but the feedback we often hear from our agents is; if they realised how easy it was, they would have done it sooner.
Area Specialist may not be well known in your area, but you are.
That's why we make the brand about you. We give you a personalised logo, and Area Specialist becomes your title, not the business name.
The locals know YOU as the Area Specialist.
See our Colour Palette page for more branding information.
Yes, we have a very healthy bank balance and cashflow, as all of our overheads are well covered.
About 2-3 weeks
We know the importance of these reviews and how hard-earned they are.
Yes, we can carry some reviews over as long as they don't reference your current workplace. Reviews can be transferred even if your profile with your previous office has been deleted.
- Self-manage
- Get someone else to manage
- Area Specialist to manage
Area Specialist Property Management
Our team is experienced, long term and has attention to detail. Our high customer satisfaction ensures your landlords will return to you when the time comes to sell. You do the physical tasks while we do everything else. You keep the letting fee, and we keep the management fee. We both own the asset 50/50. Our joint venture in Property Management means we have a vested interest in creating positive experiences for Landlords, Tenants and Yourself, while also maintaining a solid asset value and minimising the need for Civil Administrative Tribunal representation. Our structure below allows you to grow a valuable asset with minimal effort so that you can focus on listing and selling real estate.
- Business Development – Prospect and list your leads
- Website advertising
- Receiving & processing the applications
- Reference checks for applicants
- Presenting the application to the owner
- Creating the tenancy documentation
- Preparing the property for rent
- Full-time experienced property manager
- Property management software
- Professional indemnity insurance
- Public liability insurance
- Trust account management
- Maintenance control
- Inbound calls from tenants & landlords
- Inbound calls for maintenance
- Rental arrears management
- Civil Administrative Tribunal file preparation
- Referring the lead to our Business Development Manager
- Handling the prospective tenant enquiries
- Performing inspections
- Create entry condition report
- 6 monthly routine inspections
- Civil Administrative Tribunal representation (if needed)
- Exit inspection & report
It's where a company allows you to create a separate brand, while the company does the admin and accounts, usually for a fee of 10-20% of your revenue.
We think this is a fantastic idea for simply signing up agents as it appeals to an agent's ego, but it's not a great strategy for the agent's success in the long term.
A white label model will mean higher running and upfront costs while offering lower returns, diminished lead generation and no leverage in national brand consistency.
The extra running costs will include domain, REA and Ratemyagent subscriptions, website build and ongoing maintenance, domain registration, email accounts, and the continuous financial and time expense of updating and tweaking the brand.
Without consistent branding, white labelling companies often allow multiple agents to work in the same suburbs. Our mobile agent model offers you brand synergy, teamwork and a market share of public mindshare and attention.
Fast forward five years, and an independent white labelled brand is still one office with no national size to leverage and help win listings. Compared to Area Specialist, where there will be national brand power without the exorbitant franchise fees attached, making Area Specialist the best long term business solution for agents wanting to be their own boss.
We believe if you want to create your own brand, then go for it, but do it all yourself. You can employ staff or an admin company to do the same tasks as a white label service at a better rate per hour than paying a percentage of revenue. For example, a $2,000,000 and a $700,000 house sale both have the same amount of admin work, so why white label and pay extra for the admin of the more expensive property just because you got a higher commission.
Yes, you need to have the qualifications for your State that allows you to run a real estate business. If you don’t, we can put you in touch with companies that can help you get this quickly. Additionally, we have transitional stages to help you get the ball rolling sooner, see below.
"Due to my current commission split, I’ve got cash flow problems and can’t afford to do my own business, what should I do?"
We have designed an offering for agents that are interested in joining Area Specialist however may not be a Licenced Estate Agent, or don’t have the cash flow to start their own business. It works in 4 stages; you can start at any stage and move up these stages as quickly or as slowly as you like.