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Real estate by design, not default.

  • Make real estate fun & profitable.
  • Create synergy.
  • Use best practices for enduring SUCCESS.
Hi. I’m Marcus Tuttle.

Use Project Management to succeed in Real Estate.

There are many ways to be involved in real estate.
  • Buy or sell real estate for yourself
  • Invest in real estate
  • Represent others’ interests
  • Become a dealer
  • Join an adjacent real estate industry

Let’s discuss how to use Project Management’s best practices to succeed in real estate. Project Management methods have been used, examined, and improved upon for more than 50 years. Using their best practices gives the best chance for success in one’s real estate endeavors.

  • Are you interested in buying or selling a home for you and/or your family?
  • Do you want to invest in real estate?
  • Could a career in real estate be beneficial to you?
These are ALL potential projects that will benefit from using Project Management methods.

Why use Project Management methods?

Project Management has standards. The American National Standards Institute has described the standards for engaging in project management. The Project Management Institute has used these foundational standards to create the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK).

Projects drive change

A project is aimed at moving an organization from one state to another to achieve a specific objective.

Why shouldn’t we just call someone, like an agent, and let them lead the project?

Sales implies constant promotion of yourself or your brand. Project management is a broader skill set that includes sales as one of the necessary skills but not the only one. When your teammates and partners are trained in managing projects, your project has a higher chance of success. You are assured that your team has a higher level of understanding beyond subjective social proof like advertisements, promotions, a company’s market share, or the popularity of an agent or company.
Project Management has become a skill set increasingly required for complex projects. Organizations across the globe have put their confidence in the methods taught by the Project Management Institute. The Project Management Institute was founded by engineering, aerospace, construction, and defense leaders.
The Project Management Institute was created to:
  • Foster recognition of the need for professionalism in project management.
  • Provide a forum for the free exchange of project management problems, solutions and application.
  • Coordinate industrial and academic research efforts.
  • Develop common terminology and techniques to improve communications.
  • Provide an interface between users and suppliers of hardware and software systems.
  • Provide guidelines for instruction and career development in the field of project management.

Why not utilize the resources available to you?

Create a business case and a benefits management plan

One of the first things to be done is to create a business case for your project.
  • State your business case. There should be business value for your endeavor.
  • Clearly stating your reason helps focus.
We also need to create a benefits management plan. This is where you talk about the benefits that you or your organization wishes to achieve by this project.
The business case along with the benefits management plan will be used to create the Project Charter. We will talk about the Project Charter later.

Examples of a business case might be:

  • Purchasing a rental property that will net $100 per month & increase net worth $50,000
  • Becoming a productive real estate agent will allow me to quit my hourly wage job.

Examples of benefits that you might list on a benefits management plan might include:

  • Achieve $100 per month net cash flow and $50,000 in equity by mid next - year with property purchase
  • Quit salaried position at the end of 12 months
Creating the business case and benefits management plan is the first step toward the success of your project. Assumptions will need to be made. We will also need to make adjustments and changes along the way. Being deliberate about the business case and benefits management plan will help.

Use EEF & OPA to Create the Project Charter

The Project Charter is the document that we will refer back to. Our Project Charter is made using our previous work; the business case and the desired benefits.

When creating the Project Charter, we must understand what enterprise environmental factors may influence the project. They can be external or internal. External factors may be current interest rates or current market conditions. Internal factors may include; the resources we have at our disposal or the capabilities of the people involved in the project.

Organizational process assets are also important for the project. These assets are policies, procedures, and knowledge bases of the organization that aid the project by providing documented “lessons learned”, policies, procedures, checklists, and other helpful documents.

The Project Charter references the business case and the benefits management plan for its creation.

We will also need the proper documents to proceed with the project. In real estate, many different types of contracts exist. They must be read and understood.

After the Project Charter is created, we need to make the plan.

Developing a Project Management Plan is the process of defining, preparing, and co-ordinating all plan components and consolidating them into an integrated project management plan. The key benefit of this process is the production of a comprehensive document that defines the basis of all project work and how the work will be performed. This process is performed once or at predefined points in the project. The inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the process are depicted below. A Plan is a written document containing subsections for the project’s relevant needs. These requirements and methods clarify the project’s goals, objectives, responsibilities, and timeline.
Now it’s time to engineer the critical tasks for our success. Our project has phases that must be completed before going to the next stage. Let’s look at a diagram for how this needs to lay out.

Now we can get to work! Just kidding, planning is a lot of work.

Our plan’s work breakdown structure (WBS) is the critical component. We decompose our goals down into individual parts that will need to be done. The WBS we use will depend on what kind of real estate endeavor we pursue. Let’s use a residential listing as an example.

Let's review what we have done thus far:

  • Identified the business case.
  • Created a Benefits Management Plan for the benefits we plan to achieve.
  • Drafted a Project Charter.
  • Created a Project Management Plan.
  • Created a WBS work breakdown structure..
The primary function of a project manager is to be responsible for the project. Using the Project Charter and the Project Management Plan, the PM will primarily communicate with the team to keep them focused on the project. We will create the deliverables (product or service). The constraints of the plan are adhered to and observed.

Let's see how we can keep everyone included in the Listing & Sale of 123 Main St.? If you would like to work with my organization directly, we will create:

  • A business case.
  • A Benefits Management Plan.
  • The Project Charter.
As described, we will break down the work to be done with a WBS (work breakdown structure). You will have a private, secure dashboard where we collaborate. The net result of your dashboard is that you will see what is happening and have the ability to collaborate in real-time.
You will have access to the dashboard to view, add, and comment on tasks. The net result is that communication, paperwork, and deadlines will not be lost in an email chain or missed for some other reason.
With our collaborative workspace and previously identified tasks, all documents, tasks, updates, deadlines, and communication will be in one location and accessible to the right people.
Check out the sample workspace here
When you receive your private workspace, you can comment, add, and edit the information and tasks.
Partner with my organization across all 50 States and 15 countries to succeed with a real estate transaction/endeavor or a real estate career. We will use project management to achieve success in your real estate endeavors. We have a complete solution for your real estate needs and future projects. Thanks for taking the time to review how to use Project Management for your real estate projects.

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