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A million-dollar idea might be offering a designated credit card for real estate agents. Until that day comes, one of these best credit cards for real estate agents can help you earn bonus points on advertising, gas, and other purchases. Just like you try to get the best offer for your clients, these cards help you earn the most points on your business purchases.
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Best Credit Cards for Real Estate Agents
Below are the three best credit cards for real estate agents. Each one offers bonus points on different expenses. Take a few minutes to analyze your largest expenses and decide where you can earn the most points.
For most realtors, you might focus on advertising and gas station purchases. As expected, credit cards that require an annual fee tend to have higher purchase rewards. But, our no annual fee recommendation might meet your expectations too.
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
A top-notch credit card for real estate brokers is the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
You will earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 in combined spending for these purchases:
- Travel
- Shipping
- Internet, cable, and phone services
- Advertising on social media and search engines
All remaining purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent.
While you won’t have the chance to earn bonus points have dining and gas purchases, you still have access to those other large expenses like online advertising.
You can redeem your points for award travel, cash back, gift cards, or Amazon rewards. While you receive a 25% redemption bonus for travel and can have 1:1 travel point transfers, you can redeem points for one cent each if you prefer cash back.
New Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card cardholders can earn 100k bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
This is the most valuable Chase business credit card signup bonus.
One unique card benefit is $600 cell phone protection. Pay your phone bill with the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, and you can qualify for this free coverage.
Also, the annual fee is $95.
A Quick Note About Chase 5/24
Before you apply for any Chase Ink credit card, make sure you don’t fall prey to the Chase 5/24 rule. If you have five new credit cards as the primary or secondary user in the past 24 months, Chase will decline your application. In some cases, business credit card applications do not count towards the 5-card limit.
Ink Business Cash Credit Card
Our second choice for one of the best credit cards for real estate agents also comes from Chase. The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is pretty impressive for not having an annual fee. It offers tiered purchase rewards of either 5% or 2% back on select bonus categories. As a real estate agent, you will find these bonus points useful.
You will earn 5% back on the first $25,000 combined spending for:
- Office supply stores
- Internet, phone, and cable providers
And you get 2% back on the first $25,000 combined spending for these purchases:
- Gas stations
- Restaurants
All other purchases earn an unlimited 1% back.
One downside to the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is that you won’t earn bonus points on advertising. If advertising is a large expense, you might benefit more from either of the other two recommendations.
You can redeem your rewards points for cash back, travel, or gift cards. Regardless of which option you choose, your points are worth 1 cent each. If you prefer the travel redemption bonus and 1:1 point transfer, apply for the Business cash.
New Ink Business Cash® Credit Card cardholders can earn a $900 bonus cash back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
American Express Business Gold Card
How does the sound of 4x points on your business purchases sound? You might prefer the American Express® Business Gold Card if your two largest monthly expenses are advertising and gas stations. Their advertising category is very generous as you earn bonus points for physical and digital mediums.
With the American Express Business Gold Card, you earn 4 Membership Rewards points on the first $150,000 in combined annual spending for two of the below categories*:
- Advertising in select media (online, radio, tv, etc.)
- Purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
- Gas stations
- Restaurants
- Shipping
- Airfare purchased directly from airlines
With the exception of airfare purchases, the other purchase categories only earn bonus points for U.S.-based purchases. All remaining purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent.
New American Express® Business Gold Card cardholders can earn 70,000 points after spending $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
This welcome bonus is one of the reasons why this card is one of the best credit cards for real estate agents.
When it comes time to redeem your rewards points, the most valuable option is award travel and point transfers to frequent flyer partners. But you can also find good redemption options with gift cards.
American Express Business Gold cardholders also have access to a Pay Over Time Option that lets cardholders decide whether they want to pay for their eligible purchases in full each month or pay over time with interest (terms apply).
The annual fee for the American Express® Business Gold Card is $295 (See Rates & Fees). You can request additional user cards if you have a real estate team.
Getting One of the Best Credit Cards for Real Estate Agents
If you don’t have a business credit card yet, the application process might feel daunting at first. In reality, it’s not much different than getting a personal credit card. Here are some things to note about getting a business credit card for real estate agents.
In fact, credit card companies will pull your personal credit information to make an approval decision.
You should practice the same basic tips as trying to get a personal rewards credit card:
- Keep your credit utilization ratio as low as possible
- Have as high a credit score as possible (preferably 750+)
- Pay your balance in full each month
If you handle your personal credit responsibly, your approval odds should be pretty good.
Once your application is approved, most banks don’t report your business credit card activity to the credit bureaus. Your business credit card payment history can still affect your business credit score though.
Summary: The Best Credit Cards for Real Estate Agents
While there are many common themes between real estate agents across the country, different credit cards can benefit your spending differently.
If you want to earn bonus points on advertising, you should consider a card that charges an annual fee like the American Express Business Gold Card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred. When you don’t have to earn rewards points on advertising, your options are more flexible.
Best Credit Cards for Real Estate Agents
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- American Express Business Gold or Platinum
Other related posts:
- Best Small Business Credit Cards
- The Best Business Credit Cards for Advertising
- And the Best Business Credit Cards of Office Supplies
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, please click here.
