Your first 90 days as a Saudi broker

You have your licence and a desk. Now you need clients. The first 90 days decide whether you build a business or burn through your savings. Here is a simple plan.

Days 1 to 30: set up and learn

• Get your tools ready. Nafath on your phone, your FAL licence number, access to your agency’s CRM and to the platforms you will use: the FAL platform for contracts and ad licences, Ejar for leases, Wafi for off-plan checks and the transfer platforms for sales.
• Choose one area and one segment. Raghdan lists “trying to specialise in everything at once” among the classic mistakes of new brokers. Pick, for example, apartments for rent in two north Riyadh districts, or villas for sale in one Jeddah district.
• Walk your area. Visit compounds, schools, mosques and new projects. Learn recent prices from the transactions your agency closed.
• Write a plan. Raghdan’s first mistake is treating real estate as a job, not a business. Set weekly targets for calls, contracts and viewings.

Days 31 to 60: build your pipeline

Use several channels at once:

1. Portals. Publish only on platforms licensed by REGA (71 were licensed by April 2025), and only with an advertising licence for each listing.
2. Social media. Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok can work well, but the Brokerage Law covers social media too. In July 2026 REGA confirmed that property advertising is reserved for FAL licence holders. A licence number in your bio does not replace the ad licence on each post.
3. Referrals. Families and friends talk to each other. A good first deal with one family often brings the next one.
4. Open houses and viewings. Group viewings save time for owners and for you. Bring the brokerage contract and the ad licence details with you.
5. Developer launches. Launches can bring many leads quickly. Before you promote any project, check it on Wafi and sign a marketing contract with the developer.

Days 61 to 90: convert and follow up

• Call back every lead within the day. Raghdan lists slow responses and weak follow-up after a deal among the top mistakes.
• Ask every happy client for a referral and a review.
• Review your numbers each week: contracts signed, viewings done, offers made, deals closed.

A weekly routine that fits Saudi life

• The weekend is Friday and Saturday. It moved from Thursday and Friday in June 2013. Sunday is a normal working day, good for signings and follow-ups.
• Prayer times. Check them when you book viewings, especially the Friday midday prayer. If a client needs to leave for prayer, take it calmly.
• Ramadan. Under the labour law, Muslim private sector employees work at most 6 hours a day or 36 a week during Ramadan. Activity shifts to the evening, so plan calls and viewings around iftar, the meal at sunset.
• Greetings. Answer “As-salamu alaykum” with “Wa alaykum as-salam”. With a woman client, a verbal greeting and a nod is safest. Shake hands only if she offers.

A simple day might look like this:

Time	Task
Morning	Calls, follow-ups, new contracts and ad licences
Midday	Admin, CRM, listing updates
Late afternoon and evening	Viewings and meetings

Mistakes to avoid

• Advertising without an ad licence, or without the owner’s contract.
• Accepting a verbal deal instead of a written, deposited contract.
• Pricing a home on the seller’s wish, not on real data.
• Promoting an off-plan project that is not on Wafi.
• Promising a Riyadh landlord a rent increase that the freeze does not allow.
• Running out of cash. Keep a reserve of six to nine months, as Raghdan advises.

Customs and expectations vary from one family to another, so stay curious and ask politely. Practise client situations with Saudi clients and culture, sharpen your pitch with sales skills and find a team on CloserPass jobs.