How To Pick A Good Real Estate Company Name

Naming your business is a lot like getting a tattoo. It’s pretty much a permanent undertaking, and changing it is painful, and requires a huge effort and investment. 

That’s why you need to be sure that the name you choose from day one is a good one.

A good company name is not just an appropriate identifier that separates you from your competition.

A good name is memorable, it lets your prospects know what your business does, and tells your audience what your main company values are.

On the other hand, a bad name (or even worse, boring) is forgettable, gets lost in the crowd, and forces you to spend even more money on marketing just to clarify that your business is indeed a real estate firm.

Now that we know why a good real estate company name is so important, let’s take a look at the steps you need to follow to make sure you pick the right name.

1. Make A List

The first thing you need to do is to gather as many ideas as possible and place them on a list. 

If you’ve ever done any kind of creative activity, you know that the most difficult part is getting started. Staring at a blank page can be intimidating because you have SO MANY PLACES you can go to. 

So to begin, write whatever real estate names you can come up with. Don’t worry if the names you come up with at first aren’t that good or coherent, or already exist. What matters is that you get the process going. You can always return and polish your ideas later.

If you want to make the process easier, why not make a list of qualities you want your business to be known for?

Do you take pride in your honesty, business acumen, community outreach efforts, or your proficiency with real estate tech? Write them down into your idea list.

Next, list your competitive advantages, and the real estate niche (or niches) you wish to focus on. 

Your idea names can be descriptive adjectives, emotional responses, or images you want to evoke in your audience’s mind whenever they see your business’s name. 

Make your list as extensive as possible, and aim for at least 30. It may take a while to come up with so many ideas and it may seem as an excessively big number. 

But remember, this list will serve as a place to start and begin to gather some ideas, and you will be whittling these names down anyway.

2. Use Your List To Power A Business Name Generator

There are a number of online business name generators that can create a list of names using prompts that you feed them.

Some of them include Brand Root, NameLix, and Name4Brands.

These lists can be populated with your adjectives and ideas from step number 1 to create a variety of names based on your choices.

These lists can give you even more inspiration, and help you narrow down your choices. Whittle your choice to 20-30 of them, and repeat the process as needed.

3. Avoid Hard-To-Spell Names

If you followed step number 2, you should now have a long list of possible business names. Now it’s time to refine that list and create a shortlist.  

First of all, get rid of any names that are hard to spell, even if they look and sound fantastic on paper. In a world with well-known company names such as Louis Vuitton, Reuters, and Porsche, why should you do that?

Because if you need to explain how to spell your brand, you’re already placing obstacles in your way. It opens the door for prospects to misspell the name on a Google search, and you’re making it more difficult for prospects to remember it.

4. Don’t Pick A Name That Limits Your Business Growth.

While we constantly mention that you need to find your real estate niche, and focus on your hyperlocal area, you have to make sure you don’t paint yourself into a corner. 

For example, if you name your company “Savannah Golf Real Estate”, and you grow enough to expand, you may find yourself limited to the city of Savannah, and to golf real estate.

5. Use A Name That Conveys Some Meaning

Sure, there are many successful companies with made up, “silicon valley-ish” such as Etsy, Uber, and Google. And sure, these examples are now household brand names. However, these names on their own don’t tell you anything about the nature of the business. 

And in order for new clients to know what these businesses do, these companies need to spend a lot of marketing dollars just to inform the public.

It takes a long time and a lot of marketing dollars in order to inform your clients and prospects about the nature of your business.

Make it easier on yourself, and use a name that carries some meaning to your target audience and tells them what your business is about.

For example, PorchLight Real Estate Group’s name carries the connotation of a welcoming light waiting for you to get home.

And the choice of logo and imagery help carry that message even further.

6. Avoid Puns, Pop Culture References, Memes, and Cliches

A real estate career is a long term investment, whereas pop culture, memes, and fads have a very limited lifespan. What may seem fashionable and cool today can easily become dated and cringey just a couple of months away.

Also, humor is subjective. You and your associates may find a certain punny name to be absolutely clever, but some of your clients may find it groan-inducing and even unprofessional.

Remember that you’re helping clients make what’s the largest purchase most of them will make in their lives. That’s why your business name needs to inspire confidence and professionalism. Play it safe, and avoid puns, cliches and pop culture references.

7. Pay Attention To How Your Name Sounds, And The Acronym It Makes

When the iPad was first announced, it got a lot of criticism because the name sounded like a certain type of feminine hygiene product. Sure, few people make that connection today, but Apple had a massive brand and client goodwill behind it to get over that initial naming mistake.

If you’re just starting your real estate business, you won’t have Apple’s built-in goodwill to overcome a poor naming decision.

Pay close attention to how your business name sounds out loud. Not just in English, but also other languages common in your area. Pay special attention to whether the name’s pronunciation may have a second, less desirable meaning that you’re not aware of.

Also, look at the acronym it creates, and make sure it’s not offensive, rude, or carries a second unintended meaning.

In order to avoid making that mistake, it helps to run your name ideas past people from other age groups and backgrounds different from your own, and get their opinion on it. 

8. Keep Your Hyperlocal Market In Mind

While you should make sure that your business name does not limit your growth, it’s also a good idea to make sure it keeps your hyperlocal market in mind. 

After all, your first real estate office location will be the most important, since its success will be responsible for your future expansion in future locations.

Pick a name that makes sense for your CURRENT hyperlocal market, and yet doesn’t limit your future expansion.

Again, if you focus on golf properties NOW, don’t let the name limit you. For example, “Green Fields Real Estate” works for golf properties, but it isn’t limited to just golf properties if you decide to expand elsewhere.

9. Make Sure The Name Is Available As A Domain Name And Social Media Accounts

Digital marketing and social media marketing are no longer optional. They are absolutely essential for your success, ESPECIALLY now in our COVID-19 world, and the prospect of more lockdowns coming in the near future.

So if you have a few name ideas in your shortlist, and don’t know which name to pick, why not check to see if that name is available as a .com domain?

The vast majority of website hosting services offer a free domain name checker to let you see if a given name is still available or not.

Make sure that whatever business name you choose is also available as a domain name, and as social media handles on all of your social networks.

10. Shorter Is Better

The longer the name of your business, the harder it is to remember it. Keep it as short as possible while still remaining meaningful. Aim for 2-4 syllables long if possible, but it can be longer if the name has alliteration, if it rhymes or if it’s catchy.

11. Make Sure YOU Like The Name 

Again, since real estate is a long term commitment, make sure YOU like the name you choose, and that you’re happy to be associated with it for the long run. To increase the chances that you will like the name, put your chosen name aside, sleep on it, and come back to it later. If you still like it then, there’s a good chance it will remain appealing to you in the future.

However, don’t stop with putting some distance. Show your business name to others, get their opinion, and see how your own opinion changes based on their feedback. 

Yes, I know. We’re always told to “follow your dreams and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.” But the truth is that our likes and dislikes are heavily influenced by what other people think.

Conclusion

Choosing your company name will be a very personal experience that could heavily influence your life for years to come. It’s essential that you get it right from the start, since changing it can be expensive, and might confuse your clients and prospects. 

But if you follow the suggestions in this article, you’ll have a better chance of getting it right. 

And if you want to take at AgentFire’s arsenal of real estate marketing tools, including its single property website construction tools, why not schedule a tour and a demo?

This tour can either be guided by one of our customer success agents (who would be happy to answer all of your questions).