by Julia Lashay Israel | Jun 6, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
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As a real estate agent, your time is a valuable resource. With a packed schedule of client meetings, property showings and negotiations, managing your financial tasks can feel overwhelming. Yet many agents find themselves spending hours on financial responsibilities that could be handled by professionals.
Delegating these tasks not only gives you more time to focus on your clients but also ensures that your financial strategies are optimized for long-term success. Here are five key financial tasks real estate agents should delegate to a trusted financial advisor.
1. Tax planning
Navigating the complexities of tax planning can be daunting, especially for self-employed individuals like real estate agents. With fluctuating income and various potential deductions, it’s easy to make costly mistakes.
A financial advisor can work with your CPA to help you develop a personalized tax strategy, optimizing your deductions and minimizing your liabilities. This might include advice on tax-deferred retirement plans, maximizing expenses and ensuring compliance with changing tax laws. The peace of mind that comes with knowing your taxes are being managed professionally allows you to focus on building your business without the constant worry of tax season.
Additionally, a financial advisor can help you explore various tax-advantaged accounts and investment strategies, like IRAs or HSA accounts, to reduce your taxable income and prepare for future financial needs. By delegating your tax planning, you ensure you’re not leaving money on the table, and you can focus on growing your real estate business.
2. Retirement planning
One of the most crucial yet often overlooked aspects of being a real estate agent is retirement planning. Unlike traditional employees, agents don’t have employer-sponsored retirement plans, so it’s essential to take the initiative in building a secure financial future. A financial advisor can help you explore options such as Solo 401(K)s, SEP IRAs and traditional IRAs, allowing you to save and invest for retirement despite variable income.
A key benefit of delegating retirement planning is that a financial advisor can help you craft a strategy that aligns with your fluctuating income. They will assess your contributions, make recommendations on how much you should be setting aside each year, and adjust your strategy as your financial situation evolves.
Furthermore, your advisor will ensure that your retirement savings are properly invested to maximize growth while minimizing risk, helping you build a reliable source of income for your future.
3. Estate planning review
Estate planning is essential for protecting your assets, ensuring your wealth is passed down to loved ones and minimizing estate taxes. However, many agents neglect this area, focusing solely on their business while overlooking the importance of securing their personal legacy. While a financial advisor is not a substitute for an attorney, they can help organize your financial information and work with legal professionals to create a comprehensive estate plan.
A financial advisor will ensure your assets, including real estate holdings and investments, are protected and distributed according to your wishes. They’ll help you review your life insurance coverage, analyze trusts and suggest strategies that minimize estate taxes and probate costs.
Additionally, they can assist in creating a will that aligns with your broader financial plan. By outsourcing this task, you ensure that your loved ones are taken care of and that your wealth continues to grow even after you’re gone.
4. Insurance analysis
As a real estate agent, ensuring you and your family are adequately protected with the right insurance coverage is critical. Without employer-provided benefits, you must navigate different insurance options on your own, which can be overwhelming. A financial advisor can help assess your current coverage needs, which may include life, disability, health and long-term care insurance.
A professional advisor will evaluate your current policies, helping you avoid overpaying for coverage or leaving gaps in your protection. They can suggest insurance plans that are tailored to your needs and budget, ensuring you’re covered against life’s unexpected events.
For example, if you’re in a high-risk industry like real estate, disability insurance can be essential for protecting your income in case of illness or injury. With a financial advisor handling your insurance analysis, you can rest easy knowing your future is secured, no matter what happens.
5. Investment portfolio management
Managing an investment portfolio can be time-consuming and complex, especially if you have limited experience. As a real estate agent, your focus should be on your clients and building your business, not on tracking stocks or managing mutual funds. A financial advisor can take on this responsibility, ensuring that your investments are working toward your long-term financial goals.
They will assess your risk tolerance and develop a diversified portfolio that aligns with your financial needs, whether that involves growing wealth for retirement, saving for a child’s education, or investing in real estate. Additionally, a financial advisor will regularly review your investments, make adjustments when necessary, and advise you on the best strategies to maximize returns while minimizing risk.
Delegating investment management frees you from the stress of monitoring the market and provides you with the expertise needed to achieve financial growth.
Delegating key financial tasks to a trusted advisor allows you to concentrate on what matters most: building and growing your real estate business. By outsourcing responsibilities like tax planning, retirement strategy, estate planning, insurance analysis and investment management, you can ensure that your financial situation is in capable hands while you focus on serving your clients.
Working with a financial professional not only saves time but also helps you optimize your financial decisions, increase your wealth and plan for a secure future. You’ll find that by freeing up your time and relying on expertise, your business and personal finances will flourish.
In addition to hosting the Color of Money real estate podcast, Julia Lashay Israel advises, trains, and coaches leaders, team members, and agents to recognize and address diversity, equity, and inclusion opportunities and challenges.
by Julia Lashay Israel | Sep 11, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
UK portal Rightmove’s board of directors has unanimously rejected News Corp subsidiary REA Group’s $7.32 billion acquisition bid, saying it “fundamentally undervalues” the company’s current and future prospects.
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REA Group’s bid to buy the United Kingdom’s largest real estate portal, Rightmove, has failed.
Last week, the Sydney-based News Corp subsidiary announced plans to purchase Rightmove for $7.32 billion in a cash-and-stock takeover proposal. REA Group said the deal would strengthen both brands’ positions as the leading residential real estate portals in their respective markets by providing Rightmove with the capital and technical capabilities needed to accelerate its growth.
“REA sees a transformational opportunity to apply its globally leading capabilities and expertise to enhance customer and consumer value across the combined portfolio and to create a global and diversified digital property company, with number 1 positions in Australia and the UK,” the company said in a statement on Sept. 3.
Despite the offer exceeding Rightmove’s market cap of $7.1 billion, the portal’s board of directors said REA Group’s proposal was “wholly opportunistic” and “fundamentally undervalued” the company.
“The Board of Rightmove notes the announcement from REA Group Ltd (“REA”) and confirms that it received an unsolicited, non-binding, and highly conditional proposal from REA regarding a possible cash and shares offer to acquire the entire issued and issued ordinary share capital of Rightmove (the “Proposal”),” the board said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. “The Board carefully considered the Proposal, together with its financial advisers, and concluded that it was wholly opportunistic and fundamentally undervalued Rightmove and its future prospects.”
“Accordingly, the Board unanimously rejected the Proposal on 10 September 2024,” they added. “Rightmove shareholders should take no action in respect of the Proposal. This announcement is being made without the agreement or approval of REA. There can be no certainty that any offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer may be made.”
Rightmove’s (OTCMKTS: RTMVY) stocks increased 20 percent in the days after REA Group’s proposal hit the news and have continued to rise, reaching a one-year high of $17.60 per share on Sept. 11.
Although Rightmove seems to have slammed the door on the acquisition, UK real estate leader Chris Watkins told Property Industry Eye the rejection may push REA Group to make a more aggressive move — a real possibility as News Corp looks to up the ante on its competition with CoStar Group, which purchased Rightmove rival OnTheMarket for about $126 million in December.
“While Rightmove’s board has just turned down a [$7.32 billion] bid from Australia’s REA Group, stating that the offer fundamentally undervalued the company’s future potential, could this rejection play into REA’s hands for a more aggressive move?” Watkins said. “Could REA’s initial bid have been a strategic step, knowing it would be rejected, to pave the way for a potential hostile takeover? With Rightmove shareholders now in the spotlight, REA could return with a direct offer to them — bypassing the board altogether.
“Hostile takeovers mean they don’t have to pay the premium that friendly takeovers have to pay. Either way, estate Agents need to be aware,” he added.
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by Julia Lashay Israel | Aug 3, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
NAR President Kevin Sears sat down at Inman Connect Las Vegas with Clelia Warburg Peters to talk about the trade group’s past and future, including a return to advocacy and transparency.
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Each week on The Download, Inman’s Christy Murdock takes a deeper look at the top-read stories of the week to give you what you’ll need to meet Monday head-on. This week: NAR President Kevin Sears sat down at Inman Connect Las Vegas with Clelia Warburg Peters to talk about the trade group’s past and future, including a return to advocacy and transparency.
FOMO was the name of the game if you were anywhere but Las Vegas this week (unless you watched from home with your Virtual Access ticket). Not only did Inman Connect Las Vegas offer incredible opportunities to, well, connect (I mean, it’s right there in the name), but it also offered ground-zero coverage for onstage discussions of everything from commissions to operations to affordability and more.
Of course, one of the best parts of the Connect experience is seeing truly extraordinary individuals get up on stage and create can’t-miss moments with their insight, wisdom and, sometimes, sheer unbridled nerve. Here are just a few of the brave souls who dazzled this week.
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“I hope — at the end of the day, at the end of the two-year term — to be able to look back and say there was some stability and calm brought back into our organization and our industry,” NAR President Kevin Sears told a crowd of hundreds of onlookers in his first public appearance at an Inman Connect event.
In front of an audience with strong or mixed opinions about the role of NAR and its benefit for dues-paying members, Sears aimed to offer transparency and to share his accomplishments since being named president of the organization six months prior. The expectations, and the tension, were palpable.
“I think a lot of people feel you haven’t done the job,” moderator Clelia Warburg Peters said, prompting cheers and modest applause from the audience 2 minutes into the on-stage interview.
“The job is to be the voice for real estate,” Sears said in answer to Peters’ question. “I’ve been getting on the road and having conversations with members. God willing, I’ll be president for two years.”
“It’s been very tumultuous over the last 12 to 18 months,” he added.
The Inman Connect Las Vegas stage offered a can’t-miss platform for everyone from reality TV stars to portal warriors to industry titans — and even a presidential hopeful — this week. It also saw awards handed out and the announcement of a new setting for next year’s summertime event — San Diego.
EXTRA: Inman Connect moving from Las Vegas to San Diego
ICYMI, here’s a roundup of just a fraction of the best moments you simply must see as we hurtle toward Aug. 17:
To get through the industry’s perfect storm, Inman News founder Brad Inman told ICLV attendees to “think big [and] act big, because the goddamn problem is very big.”
The Kennedy family heir and presidential contender also argued Thursday at Inman Connect Las Vegas that democracy depends on people maintaining “a posture of fierce skepticism.”
The NextHome chief strategy officer’s 20-minute presentation at Inman Connect Las Vegas could be just the ticket to feeling more at ease with commission lawsuit changes coming Aug. 17.
At Inman Connect Las Vegas, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman described an increasingly complicated commission landscape and the shift brokerages and portals must make.
With the help of a firm with more than 100 undercover researchers, the real estate tech strategist tested agents at roughly 30 brokerages. More than 1 in 3 inquiries never received a response.
The high-volume RE/MAX real estate agent and former “Survivor” contestant broke down how he manages his time to build a fast-growing real estate business at ICLV on Thursday.
