The real estate NAICS Code is a system of classification that is used by government organizations to understand what business activities are performed by your LLC. Generally, the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) is used for statistics. Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and New Mexico will request your NAICS Code. In certain states, providing your NAICS code will be optional, and in other states, providing your code will be required.

How to Find Your NAICS Code

You can find the NAICS code for your LLC by searching on the NAICS website. To find your specific code, you can search by either industry or keyword. If you wish to perform a keyword search, you should enter the first word of your business's industry in the box labeled “NAICS Keyword Search.” Then, click submit, and browse the search results until you locate the NAICS Code for your industry.

Browsing by industry is much easier. Under the search box, you will find an industries list. Click your industry, and you'll be shown the NAICS Code. If you can't find an industry that exactly matches your business, choose the closest match.

You can contact the U.S. Census Bureau by phone at 1-888-756-2427 to get help finding your LLC's NAICS Code.

What Should I List as My LLC's Purpose?

The purpose that you list for your LLC will depend on the state where you are incorporating. In many states, you can list a general purpose. For instance, you could state that the purpose of your LLC is to engage in legal business activity in your state. 

When filing in a state where listing a general purpose is not allowed, you will need to include a short description of what your LLC does in your articles of incorporation. This description does not have to be detailed, but should clearly state the purpose of your LLC. If you need to, you can change your LLC's purpose later.

It is also possible to list just a few words to describe the purpose of your LLC. If you are incorporating a pizza restaurant, you could list “pizza shop” as your purpose.

NAICS Code 531210 Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers

The Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Industry uses NAIC Code 531210.

This code covers businesses and agents involved in the following practices:

  • Selling real estate on behalf of someone else.
  • Buying real estate for other people.
  • Renting real estate for another person.

Some of the industries covered by this code include:

  • Real estate agencies and gents
  • The auction of real estate
  • Brokerages and brokers' office
  • Commercial and residential agencies

A few leaders in this industry include:

  • Spectrum Capital Management LLC
  • Marriott Vacations Worldwide
  • Tenura Home Center
  • RCI LLC

NAICS Code 53 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

NAICS Code 53 also covers portions of the real estate industry.

Leasing and renting are two of the main purposes of the Real Estate and Rental and Leasing sector. Most of the businesses in this sector are focused on allowing others to use their real estate assets, whether through leasing or rental. Assets in this sector can be both tangible and intangible. Real estate, for instance, is a tangible asset, while trademarks would be considered an intangible asset.

Managing real estate for other people, including buying and selling, is also included in this sector because it is directly linked to this sector's main activity. Real estate and equipment lessors are some of the major components of this sector, although lessors of intangible assets such as copyrighted material are also included.

Businesses whose main purpose is leasing or renting equipment are excluded from this sector. These businesses would be covered by NAICS subsectors such as transportation or construction.

The reason these businesses are excluded from NAICS Code 53 is that clients often pay for the equipment operator's expertise in addition to the equipment itself. For example, when renting construction equipment, hiring the operator is usually a necessity.

NAICS Code 531390 covers activities related to real estate that aren't included in the other sectors. This sector includes businesses that provide real estate services, but are not lessors, agents, brokers, property managers, or appraisers.

Businesses covered by this code include:

  • Real estate escrow agencies and agents
  • Consultants
  • Fiduciaries
  • Landman services

If you need help finding your real estate NAICS Code, you can post your legal needs on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.