New Real Estate business

[acf]

Hi everybody,

A friend of mine is planning to start a new real estate business (residential/commercial sale and letting etc). Can anybody please advice about the requirements, besides having some experience in the field, to undertake this venture. Any idea/recommendations about the real estate software, if available in the market?

Thanks,

Sajjad

[bwglaw]

I am currently developing a 'real estate' business. It does help to know in which parts of the world is your friend planning to set up the real estate business because 'real estate' tends to be a phrase used in the US. If it is in the US I cannot offer any tips because the way things work over there is different to the UK

[acf]

Thanks for the response.

He is starting business in London. :lol:

Sajjad

[bwglaw]

If your friend has experience of estate agency then no doubt he will be aware and trained up as to the requirements of his profession, including knowledge of any software.

Estate agents is one of the few professions that is currently not regulated by a statutory body. However, subject to criteria an estate agent can be a member of NAEA and other professional bodies. By visiting their website you may be able to find out the latest technology for that profession and consult their trade publication.

Whilst the profession remains unregulated that is not to say that the estate agent has no legal obligations. The Estate agent has to ensure that every property on sale, for let etc must comply with the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991. See the link below:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1991/Ukpga_19910029_en_1.htm

In addition to the above Act, other las may well apply as a service provider/merchant

[acf]

Thanks for the advice. 8)

[james.hill]

Hi everybody,

A friend of mine is planning to start a new real estate business (residential/commercial sale and letting etc). Can anybody please advice about the requirements, besides having some experience in the field, to undertake this venture. Any idea/recommendations about the real estate software, if available in the market?

Thanks,

Sajjad

AHA!

I'm currently working on entering this market, bringing the open-source package open-realty to the business world. This is an excellent package that works with/in your website and creates searchable listings etc. If this is suitable for your friend, then I can do him a very good deal as I want a live site I can show potential customers and your friend would be the first.

If my offering isn't exactly what he needs (oh, but it is!), then I've done a lot of research into the market and can help you guys out.

Drop me a PM and we can discuss details.

[Jim_in_Florida]

Please excuse me if this is a duplicate post. I thought I sent this already, but since I don't see it, here it goes again.

Bwglaw - I am a Florida Real Estate Broker / Mortgage Broker since 1988. Lately, I've been trying to establish a network of UK real estate professionals who could refer business to me. Considering the US real estate market and US dollar, I see an opportunity here for the UK long term investor. If I understood your previous post here, real estate agents there do NOT have to be licensed. Is that correct? The reason I ask is that the last time I checked, Florida real estate law allows me to pay referral fees to people in other countries. The only stipulation is that, if their country requires real estate agents to be licensed, they must be licensed. That means I can pay a referral fee to anyone over there - No licensed required. Correct? Are there any restrictions in the UK?

Thank you,
-Jim