No, we're not talking about valuing a website based on traffic and
other analytics. There are sites that will tell you the approximate
dollar value of your real estate website, and you'll get a laugh out of
the huge dollar differences between them. This article isn't about a
website's value, though a real estate website is one of the valuation
factors in determining what a buyer might pay for your business.
Entrepreneurs start new businesses every day, and sometimes it's years before some of them come around to the realization that they may some day want to sell the business. Or, maybe they realize that they could leave this earth and their heirs will have a business they probably will not want to operate, nor would they have the license and experience to do so. Or maybe it's just a retirement thing.
When these considerations enter the picture, the business owner begins to think differently. They begin to think about how certain business decisions will impact the marketability and value of their business when it's put up for sale. The only other option is just closing it down, and unfortunately many real estate agents build their business in ways that will almost require that the business shut down upon the retirement or death of the agent.
As the Internet has become a major marketing tool in real estate, and because a lot of the business agents do comes from website leads, the real estate website is a factor that must be considered in business valuation. Unfortunately, too many agents register domain names and market them for many years, and they use their own names. So, JaneJonesRealEstate.com sure makes the agent feel good, but it falls far short of a positive factor in valuation of the business. Unless another Jane Jones buys the business, there is a huge disconnect in going forward.
Entrepreneurs start new businesses every day, and sometimes it's years before some of them come around to the realization that they may some day want to sell the business. Or, maybe they realize that they could leave this earth and their heirs will have a business they probably will not want to operate, nor would they have the license and experience to do so. Or maybe it's just a retirement thing.
When these considerations enter the picture, the business owner begins to think differently. They begin to think about how certain business decisions will impact the marketability and value of their business when it's put up for sale. The only other option is just closing it down, and unfortunately many real estate agents build their business in ways that will almost require that the business shut down upon the retirement or death of the agent.
As the Internet has become a major marketing tool in real estate, and because a lot of the business agents do comes from website leads, the real estate website is a factor that must be considered in business valuation. Unfortunately, too many agents register domain names and market them for many years, and they use their own names. So, JaneJonesRealEstate.com sure makes the agent feel good, but it falls far short of a positive factor in valuation of the business. Unless another Jane Jones buys the business, there is a huge disconnect in going forward.