Are you a real estate agent working for a brokerage and thinking about branching out on your own? If so, you’ll need to create a real estate company name that helps you get the clients you need to grow your business.

Once you follow the tips in this article to create a great business name, consider joining Zillow Premier Agent. Zillow Premier Agent allows you to advertise on Zillow and generate leads from local buyers. You also get a free website for your new business!

Visit Zillow Premier

Real Estate Company Name Ideas & Tips

1. Use One of the Real Estate Name Formulas

As detailed by Easy Agent Pro, these classic real estate company name formulas are a good place to start. A “Realtor Term” is an extension commonly used by real estate businesses, like “Homes,” “Realty” or “Brokerage.” A “Location Term” can be your city, counter, neighborhood or an important local feature.

Note: Although last names are commonly used in real estate businesses, there are some downsides to this which we’ll explain a little further down.

Warning! Reserve your web domain before it’s too late. Before you settle on a business name like “Boca Raton Homes” make sure you have “www.bocaratonhomes.com.” Head to Bluehost to reserve your domain name today.

2. Use This Handy Checklist To Find The Perfect Name 

All of us have had that brilliant idea at 2am in the morning, only to wake up and realize that “brilliance” actually equaled stupidity. That’s what this handy checklist is for. It is an easy 5 step system to make sure your idea makes sense. If your real estate company name idea passes these 5 tests, then it has a good chance of being successful in the real world. Click here to get this checklist sent to you.

3. Find a keyword

Jennifer L Kading of Entrepreneur Realty

With the fast pace of social media and brief messages that whiz by us constantly it’s important that your business name (if and as much as possible) reflect exactly what you do. Generic names, while they seem bland, are usually best because they are easy to remember and describe the company focus in simple terms.

4. Use a Geographic Search Term

Tim Lavelle of U.S. Interactive Media

Consider naming your business with words that people are likely to type into Google when searching for your service. The reason to do this is that it makes it more likely that your business’s website will appear near the top of Google’s results for related searches. Ask yourself what people search for when they want to buy homes: Are they searching your county name, city name, region name, or perhaps the name of a lake or other landmark?

5. Check Google AdWords

To answer the question above (What do people search for when they want to buy homes?), try using the Keyword Planner from Google Adwords. Click “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category” and enter one of your ideas. What you’ll get are lists of keywords related your term, sorted by their average monthly search volume.

Using this information, you should be able to figure which words are most optimal for your business name. To learn more in our guide to real estate keywords.

6. Don’t Get Too Specific, Though

Margaret Wolfson of River + Wolf Brand Naming

Besides lacking the storytelling potential of a metaphoric name, overly descriptive or functional business names can be problematic if your realty company expands beyond its initial offerings. For example, using a geographical location as a name can be limiting should you later decide to expand or relocate.

7. Don’t Use Your Last Name

Namella Business Naming

Likewise, using your first or last name as a real estate business name has several downsides. For one, last names typically aren’t memorable. Secondly, it can be difficult to grow if clients are expecting to work with you personally. (They might be disappointed to call Jane Doe Realty and speak with somebody besides Jane.) Finally, naming a business after yourself can make it difficult to sell the company.

8. Secure Your Website Name Before Someone Else Does!

As soon as you find a business name you like, you’ll want to make sure it’s available for your website. 10 million website names are bought every day, so you don’t want to risk losing the perfect name. Use the free website name (domain) checker from Bluehost below to see if your website name is available.

See our additional tips for choosing a domain name.

9. Add an Extension, Like “Realty”

Margaret Wolfson of River + Wolf Brand Naming

Despite numerous efforts by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to popularize other extensions, dot coms still rule the roost. This makes it difficult to get an exact match for natural language names as many URLs are either parked, owned, or too costly to purchase. A smart workaround of this problem, is to add an extension—and ‘realty’ could work as such an extension. In fact it might even contribute to better search engine response.

11. However, Don’t Settle on a Temporary Name or URL

Sometimes businesses use an alternate URL when their first choice was taken or was too expensive. Some may do this with the hope of eventually purchase the original URL when it becomes available again, or when they start to earn more money. However, as Julian Shapiro from The Next Web points out, this rarely works. The domain squatter will ask for a higher price if they realize your business is growing.

12. Make Sure Social Media Pages are Also Available

These days, you don’t just need a matching URL for your business: You’ll also want to secure accounts on Facebook and Twitter (and potentially Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat as well). Make sure there aren’t other businesses using your name on social media. While you can always deviate and use a slightly different name, this could get confusing to your customers who may accidentally follow the wrong page.

Also check out our guide to creating a Real Estate Facebook page.

13. Does the Name Sound Good When Spoken Aloud?

This is a simple, but often overlooked test. In most cases, the sound and flow of your name should take precedence over it’s metaphorical meaning. In Entrepreneur, Peter Gasca outlines the “5-10 rule”: Many great companies throughout history have five to 10 letters in their name, and at least one hard consonant. Google, Yahoo, CitiBank, Starbucks, Honda, Apple, Exxon, Mobile Cisco, and Verizon are all examples.

14. Try It Out On a Business Card

Sam Rooeintan of Marstudio

You could have the best name in the world, but it could be the worst name for marketing purposes. If it’s too long, hard to pronounce, or hard to spell, it is going to be nearly impossible to market it. As a quick exercise, Imagine how the name will look like on a real estate business card, website, other marketing collateral. Is it how you want to be represented?

Get 500 high quality business cards for only $35 from ProspectsPLUS!® You can use their pre-made templates or upload your own design. Click here to get started.

15. Does it Pass The “Radio Test”?

Namella Business Naming

Will clients be able to understand and remember your name if they hear it on the radio? You should avoid uncommon spellings, for example, since this could cause potential clients to type your business name incorrectly.

16. Double-Check Your Name

Jonathan Paisner of BrandExperienced LLC

Google is probably your first stop, but make sure the go several pages deep to see what other companies and content are associated with your name in a search. Do the same with other search engines, too – again, to avoid any surprises down the road. Also, a search on the Urban Dictionary is a must.

17. Get Feedback from Customers

Namella Business Naming

The best name is the one that makes your customers (not you) think the right things about your business. Thus, business owners often aren’t the best qualified people to evaluate names. Instead, pitch ideas to customers and see how they react. Don’t just ask if they “like the name,” however: Ask what associations come to mind when they hear the name.

18. EXAMPLE: Entrepreneur Realty

Jennifer Kading and her partners need a name for their brokerage firm that emphasized their unique commitment to agents.

“We decided on the name [Entrepreneur Realty] because our business puts more focus on the agent and helping them succeed as opposed to most other brokerages which offer a little assistance in terms of training but mostly on contractual matters.”

“Entrepreneur happens to be a very popular keyword on Twitter and really the internet in general,” Jennifer adds. “It happens to be one that many successful leaders use on social networks to find content they may be interested in. It has really helped boost the exposure we get and the ‘following.’”

19. EXAMPLE: AgentHero

“The name and logo you design should reflect the principles and mission that your company stands for and the feelings you want it to evoke with your customers,” said Ken Robbins, co founder and CEO of AgentHero.

Looking for a name that communicated their mission, which is to connect home buyers and sellers with experienced real estate agents who are veterans or military spouses, Robbins chose AgentHero: “The word Agent is easily identified” he explains. “Hero is obviously a term used fairly commonly with the military, and since our company combines veterans and military spouses, each of which are heroes in their own way, we thought the name AgentHero summed up what you would get if you choose our company.”

20. EXAMPLE: Brick & Mortar

Although it works great for some, not all companies need a metaphorical name to be successful. Rolan Sereny found his company name while brainstorming with a friend. “They literally sat down and wrote down all the different adjective and names that were real estate related,” told Agent Phillia Kim Downs. 80 sticky posts later, and they found the words “Brick & Mortar.”

21. EXAMPLE: Stuart St James

It’s a common trend for real estate businesses to use a geographic term in their name. With many businesses competing to use common terms in the same city, however, this can make it tough to stand out. Brokerage Stuart St James found a solution:

“We took a unique approach to naming our Boston-based residential real estate brokerage, Stuart St James,” said Owner Darin Thompson.” The genesis of the name comes from two street names in downtown Boston, Stuart Street and St James Avenue. It’s been a great way to show connection to the city.”

22. EXAMPLE: LAER

Although this company breaks one of the key business-naming rules, I think their background story and logo call for an exception. “LAER” is a variant for LAIR, or lion’s lair. CEO Stacey Alcorn explains:

“We were seeking agents who were strong, independent, loyal, negotiators of difficult terrain. When we plugged these qualities into a google search, a picture of a lion came up. My partner and I said, ‘That’s It! We want the lions of real estate at our company.’”

This led them to “Lion’s Lair,” being the exclusive place where lions hang out. Alcorn wanted a more unique name, however, so she went with a variant “LAER” which also happens to be the mirror image of REAL.

23. Better to be Clear

A powerful company name can create market differentiation, communicate your uniqueness, and act as a tool in building an emotional connection. The right names are easy to remember, spell, and type into a web search.

Historically, real estate brokerages have used Founder names as a way to engender trust and credibility. The downside of this approach is that it takes significant marketing muscle, money and time to articulate brand position, meaning, and create emotional connections. However, if you have a small marketing budget it is often better to be clear than clever.

24. Keep It Short

Varun Aggarwal, founder of Designhill

You must have heard, “brevity is the soul of wit.” Remember, your name will be used in apps and across all social channels, so shorter is better. Also, people are able to retain short and catchy names more easily. A few companies that are doing great in the real estate industry include Houzz, Zillow, Homesnap etc. Of course, these companies have great products but a little credit would go to their short and crispy names as well.

25. Use Your Company Name to Help Carve Out a Market Niche

Joy Bender, Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty

26. Be Wary of Initials and Regional Connotations

Alexandrea Merrell, Managing Director, Orndee Omnimedia

27. Choose a Name That Inspires Trust, Confidence, and Reassurance

Mary Clare Bland, Chief Strategist, Bespoke Digital Solutions

BONUS: Avoid Highly Unusual Names That Require an Explanation

Cary Brazeman Principal, The Corporate Storyteller

The 53 Best Real Estate Company Names of 2018

Okay, now that you have some great ideas and tips from the pros for coming up with a name for your business, let’s take a look at some example real estate company names to get your creative juices flowing. Please note that many of these names are already in use, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them for inspiration. Without further ado, here are the 53 best real estate company names of 2018:

Over to You

Have other great real estate name ideas we missed? Let us know in the comments.