Asked what his three most important business tips were, a business mogul replied: ”location, location, location’.’ How true! Come to think of it, how profitable is it if any fast food company was cited in a remote village in the middle of nowhere? Little wonder it seems all the blue chip companies, banks and multinational are located within the same vicinity in any major city. It is not about just having a great business; it also has a lot to with the location. Apparently, the best of entrepreneurs, while drawing up their business plans, include in the blueprint, the need to locate the business in the very heart of a city’s commercial activities. People are almost always seeking for residential or business accommodation, be they established companies or start-ups which all involve the services of estate surveyors and valuers.

There are success strategies to employ in the business of real estate. They are:

(1) Training/experience: This is one profession you cannot practise without the requisite training and qualification. You need to gain experience in the profession. You also need to join Agents association in order to expose yourself to seminars and teaching expositions on property.

(2) Be efficient: Real estate involves lots of money and it requires that people make wise investments on time. This requires that you must be able to handle things like proper land documentation procedures, contacting the relevant authorities, working with the speculations of what your clients want etc.

(3)Honesty: trust is never automatic but can be earned over time and once lost may not be easy to regain especially in business. So you must possess a high degree of transparency and honesty to grow in this business; crooks never go far. This is important because of the huge amount of money that is to be entrusted into your hands. You must build a kind of integrity through honesty that will make your clients to always trust you even when they are out of the country. This act will attract more clients to you through their testimonials.

(4) Avoid Greed in your dealings with your clients: You must avoid greed in the way you handle business with your clients. This means you must be contented with the commission that is allotted to you and not trying to stretch your neck for the client’s money. This will make your client to always believe in you. When you have built this trust, they can always refer people to you for business.

(5) Network with other Professionals: You must build a high level of connections that will enable you meet and know a lot of people within and outside the profession as well as with related professionals like architects, land surveyors draughtsmen etc. These professionals always have access to property deals. Your knowledge of many people will create more businesses for you.

(6) Professionals Advice: Giving of valuable, timely and professional advice to your clients on the areas of property investments can also ensure success in the business. Parting with money is usually a difficult thing for most people but when you give advice to them on how best to go in buying lands, buildings etc, they will later see the advantages of such acts. Appreciation of lands/ real estate property, is a thing that is constant and so, it pays when you advice your clients on the way to go even if most of these pieces of advice are done in risks; at least they are informed risks.

Written By Omotola Sunday