Reducing Your Real Estate Office Costs And Expenses

In many situations it is much easier to reduce expenses, then it is to increase revenue.

This is easier said then done, I know. And it’s a balancing act on cutting expenses with out sacrificing services to your real estate agents. This also becomes a retention issue.

The mistake not to make is thinking that your expense cuts have to come from one or two big categories. Look at the small categories also.

Pull out your Profit and Loss statement and review with a 10% reduction in overall expenses as your goal.

For example, if you are paying the energy bill for your real estate office, set all computer’s to hibernate after 5 minutes idle.

Start a paperless initiative. Try to get your real estate agents to think twice before printing. If your real estate agents do feel the need to print and the document does not need to be given out, have them print on already used paper. I have seen many agent print a spec sheet in error and just tear it up and throw away.

Why not flip that piece of paper over and print on the back side?

Do you have policy and procedure manuals, office guideline materials, and company material that could be read on a computer and signed with an electronic signature acknowledging receipt?

Are you still spending thousands of dollars on a complicated phone system? Look at what your real estate agents are talking on. Their cell phones. Why not get rid of long distance? It doesn’t cost your real estate agent extra to make a long distance phone call on their cell phone.

Stop buying coffee Styrofoam or paper cups. Get a vendor to provide coffee mugs.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head from past experience. Where can you cut costs and expenses without sacrificing services?