- What kind of support and training do agents receive? This will tell you if there will be a more hands-on approach with the broker or team leader or just access to virtual online training.
- How successful are the agents here? If the brokerage or team seems to be super productive, but all that production comes from one agent (especially the broker), it’d be good to know why that is. If everyone has to meet a certain level of production and expectations and everyone is producing to that, it’d be good to know you’re in line with those expectations when you start so you’re not thrown into something that is too fast-paced for what you wanted as well. Lastly, if there are 200+ agents but no one’s actually doing much outside of a small few, is the brokerage really training or is it a mirage to recruit?
- How long has the Broker or Team Leader sold real estate? Knowing their experience is key to knowing how helpful they’ll be. If they’ve only seen one market cycle from 2020 to now, can they really help you when the market turns? It can be the same if the last time they sold real estate was in 2002. Are they going to be in tune with what’s happening in today’s market? There are so many analogies made here by brokers well out of production. Phil Jackson was a great coach but wasn’t playing with Michael Jordan. Real estate isn’t basketball. It changes much quicker. Quarter by quarter, the type of market we are in, the technology advancements, what works best for getting and sustaining your business, all of it changes so quickly. A leader in tune with that will help agents continue growing throughout their careers.
- What are the upfront costs? This will tell you how much a brokerage or team believes in you. If there are a bunch of fees and start-up costs, the brokerage is most likely protecting itself from your failure. That’s never a good sign right away. It’s also good to know this since it may not be talked about, you join and that first day they ask for your credit card to do this fee and another and then you’re already deep in the hole before your career got started there.
- How does the broker or team leader make the majority of their income? This one may seem a bit strong. The immediate thought you have might be, ‘Whose business is it?” Firstly, if the broker or team leader is still producing at a very high level, you should determine if helping you is a priority or selling more homes. It’s very hard to be highly productive as a broker and still pour all the knowledge, wisdom, and mentorship into your agents. It’s not necessarily one or the other, however, it’s a smart idea to determine which way the leadership is pointing. Secondly, let me tell you how my eyes were opened when I opened our family’s company. I had title companies, and mortgage lenders, the whole gambit coming in and offering X, Y & Z for their business to be a preferred vendor. Especially ones I never worked with. The amount of money for our agent’s production was startling. Brokers and team leaders who rely on this money in joint ventures, marketing agreements, profit share, and revenue share only care about one thing, agent count. Agent count drives all of those agreements and shares. You should know before joining a brokerage how that leader is making their money since it’ll show you what their responsibility to help you will be.
I’d be glad to answer these questions and more for you if you’ve thought about a new home for your real estate business. You can reach out to me at any time. You can call, text, or dm me on social and we’ll connect.