How to Become a Real Estate Agent in India: Licence, Costs and First 90 Days

What It Actually Takes to Start as an Agent

If you're researching how to become a real estate agent in India, ignore the noise about needing a big office, a builder uncle or a marketing budget. What you actually need is a RERA registration, a working knowledge of property documents, and a system for handling leads that doesn't leak. Everything else, the office, the team, the brand, comes later out of commission income.

There's no college degree requirement and no national licence exam like some countries have. The legal gate is the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Any agent who facilitates sale or purchase in a RERA-registered project must be registered with the state RERA authority. That registration number is, for practical purposes, your licence.

The unglamorous truth is that most new agents fail not because they can't sell, but because they can't stay organised. Leads go cold in WhatsApp, site visits clash, papers go missing, and a builder quietly closes a deal you introduced. This guide covers the licence, the realistic costs, and a first ninety days plan built around not leaking.

Getting Your RERA Licence and Setting Up Legally

Start with RERA registration on your state's portal. You'll apply online with your PAN, Aadhaar, photographs, business address proof and enterprise details; several states also ask for three years of income tax returns or a declaration. Fees vary by state and are higher for companies than individuals, so check the current fee notification on your own state portal rather than trusting forwarded numbers. The certificate is typically valid for five years. Maharashtra additionally requires agents to clear a training and certification exam, and other states are moving the same way.

Next, decide your structure. Most new agents start as sole proprietors, which is fine. Get a current account in your trade name if you use one, and understand the tax picture early: brokerage attracts 18% GST once your turnover crosses the GST registration threshold, and builders will deduct TDS on commission payouts. Many builders won't empanel you at all without a GST number, so factor that into your first month rather than scrambling when the first payout is due.

Two habits to build from day one. Get every mandate and fee understanding in writing, even a simple email or signed one-pager, because verbal commission promises are the most common way new agents get burned. And raise a proper invoice for every payout. It's what makes you look like a business instead of a middleman.

• Register on your state RERA portal; verify the current fee there
• MahaRERA requires a certification exam before registration
• Plan for GST registration; brokerage attracts 18% GST above the threshold
• Open a separate bank account for the business
• Put every commission understanding in writing before you introduce a buyer

Realistic Startup Costs for a New Agent

You can start this business lean. The unavoidable costs are your RERA registration fee, a decent phone, and transport for site visits. The optional early costs are a laptop, basic visiting cards, and paid listing portal subscriptions. Fee amounts for registration and portals change, so verify current pricing at the source instead of budgeting from old blog posts.

Where new agents overspend is marketing and where they underspend is tools. A few thousand rupees a month on random boosted posts rarely converts for someone with no listings and no track record. Meanwhile, the same agent tracks twenty leads in their head and loses five of them. Flip that. Spend on getting inventory presented well and every enquiry captured, and let referrals do the early marketing.

Your inventory presentation matters more than your ad budget. A clean, complete listing with verified details, proper photos and a shareable link outperforms a blurry WhatsApp forward every single time. Setting up a proper listing management system from your first property means every mandate you win looks professional when it reaches a buyer's phone, and looks identical whether it's your first listing or your fiftieth.

Your First 90 Days as a Real Estate Agent

Days 1 to 30: get legal and get local. Submit your RERA application, apply for GST if you're going the empanelment route, and pick one micro-market, ideally within thirty minutes of where you live. Walk it. Learn every project, every street, the going rates, which societies have khata or title complications. Meet watchmen, shopkeepers and existing owners. Your first mandates come from being visibly present, not from ads.

Days 31 to 60: build inventory and pipeline. Target ten to fifteen genuine listings, resale and rental both, since rentals close faster and fund your patience. For each mandate, collect and verify the basic documents before you list, because one bad listing early can cost you your local reputation. Simultaneously, empanel with two or three builders active in your area for primary inventory. Log every enquiry the moment it comes in, with source, budget and requirement.

Days 61 to 90: convert. Rank your leads honestly, do accompanied site visits, and follow up on a schedule instead of on memory. Expect your first closures to be rentals or one resale deal. When money moves, invoice properly, thank the referrer, and ask the closed client for two introductions. That's the flywheel. Ninety days done right gives you a registration, a farm area, live inventory and your first commission cheque.

• Month 1: RERA application filed, GST sorted, one micro-market chosen and walked
• Month 2: 10 to 15 verified listings, 2 to 3 builder empanelments, every lead logged same-day
• Month 3: scheduled follow-ups, accompanied visits, first closures, referral asks

How to Become a Real Estate Agent in India Who Actually Lasts

So that's how to become a real estate agent in India in practice: register with your state RERA, set up GST and clean invoicing, master one micro-market, build verified inventory, and run your pipeline on a system instead of memory. None of it needs capital. All of it needs consistency, especially in months two and three when the phone is quiet and the temptation is to spray ads instead of doing follow-ups.

Landeo was built for exactly this stage of the journey. It generates document checklists per state and property type so your listings are verified before they go live, gives you clean shareable links for every property, and produces GST invoices when commissions land. You can see what's included in each plan and start with the pieces you need in your first ninety days.

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