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Real Estate Industry Resources

Real Estate, Renting & Leasing – Sector Overview
This part gives you a quick overview of this industry sector, the number of businesses that comprise the sector broken down into large and small businesses along with a discussion about some issues and challenges facing the businesses.

Real Estate Renting & Leasing - List of Businesses
This section provides our readers with a listing of the businesses that are categorized under this industry classification.

Real Estate, Renting & Leasing - Resource Directory
A great tool put together painstakingly by our staff that identifies the major associations and organizations that serve the various businesses in this industry classification.  Besides the name and website, you will also find a brief description about the organization.  Our small business owners always thank us for putting this tool together – we are confident that you will find it useful as well. 

REAL ESTATE, RENTING & LEASING – SECTOR OVERVIEW

The first step in determining how to write a business plan at Trident Consultants involves identifying the correct business sector to which our client’s business belongs.  The real estate and renting and leasing sector is a vast industry classification as per the NAICS – North American Industry Classification System.  It covers businesses like residential building leasing, non-residential building leasing, self-storage leasing, realtor offices, property management, appraisers, car rentals, truck rentals, video tape and DVD rentals, general rental center, machinery leasing and many others.  (A detailed listing of real estate, renting & leasing businesses has been included at the end of this page.)

There are 670 thousand larger businesses (with employees) in this industry sector that employ over 2.1 million people with a total payroll of $81 billion.  On average the larger real estate and renting and leasing firms have at least 3 employees and the average income nationally for each of these employees is about $38k.

In the small business world covering firms with no employees, there are 2.8 million such real estate and renting and leasing firms with total gross receipts of $207 billion and the average annual income as reported by each firm of around $72k.

Any business plan for a company in the real estate sector must account for the dependence of this sector on the economic cycle of the economy.  The price of real estate and the demand for real estate be it residential, commercial, for buying or rental depends on a very large extent on the economy, interest rates and levels of employment.  A healthy economic environment entails a solid demand for real estate in both the purchase and the rental market and a good business plan must address this issue.  Planning for a business in this sector must have a best case, optimum and worst case scenario considering its dependence on the economy.

Also critical to address in the business plan for real estate establishments is the understanding of the local market.  All real estate markets are local and there are plenty of instances of how a local or regional economy has thrived while the larger real estate sector has softened or vice versa.  A well thought of business plan must account for the changes in the taxation rates for properties in the area – if there is a concentration of one or two larger employers that subsidizes the tax base then it must be appropriately addressed in the planning process. 

Also important to understand is the subtle changes in the demographic patterns in the local real estate market.  The business plan should contain a keen analysis of the subtle changes in the demographic patterns and tastes – for example if one finds that the local population is aging there may be a demand for more ranch houses on a single level, or retirement communities instead of stand alone detached homes.

The market for the rental of consumer goods, machinery and other items is also very challenging to understand.  Car rentals companies are largely dependent on business and vacation travelers and hence their dependence on the economy cannot be understated.  A good business plan will account for slowdown in revenues and changes in cash flows in the event of economic downturns.  If the business is located in an area where vacation travel dominates then the disposal income and the cost of gasoline can be a major factor affecting profitability.

Businesses that provide formal wear rentals like tuxedos tend to have highly cyclical demand cycles and a good business plan must account for that.  The summer season has the most weddings and graduations and that is when Tuxedo and other formal wear rentals establishments tend to do very well.  The holiday season towards the end of the year is yet a another major source of revenues while the rest of the year can be anemic.  Cash flow projections in a business plan must account for this seasonality in the revenue stream.  A recommendation to look into business loans must be included so that the company has working capital to pay its expenses during the slow periods.

If you are starting a business offering real estate or rental services, or are already established but are looking to grow, secure a partner, venture capital or business loans, we would be happy to help.  

REAL ESTATE, RENTING & LEASING – LIST OF BUSINESSES

The following is a list of the various businesses that fall under this industry sector:

Lessors of Real Estate
Lessors of Residential Buildings and Dwellings
Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Mini-warehouses)
Lessors of Mini-warehouses and Self-Storage Units
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers
Residential Property Managers
Nonresidential Property Managers
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
Other Activities Related to Real Estate

Rental and Leasing Services
Passenger Car Rental
Passenger Car Leasing
Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing
Consumer Electronics and Appliances Rental
Formal Wear and Costume Rental
Video Tape and Disc Rental
Other Consumer Goods Rental
Home Health Equipment Rental
Recreational Goods Rental
All Other Consumer Goods Rental
General Rental Centers

Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
Construction, Transportation, Mining, and Forestry Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing
Construction, Mining, and Forestry Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
Office Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing
Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works)