New Real Estate Agent Needing Advice!

[Joshua Williams]

Hello! My name is Joshua Williams, I am from Phoenix, AZ! I recently graduated from college and have been taking the courses to work towards a Real Estate Agent license! I have been looking into what might be the best avenue to go down once I have my license, and I believe that joining a real estate team might be my best option. I would want the exposure to the real estate world faster, rather than trying to go 'lone wolf' in the beginning. I was wondering what other's experience with joining teams was? And what the likelihood that a team would bring someone on that has no actual real estate experience? Additionally, what is a good way to seek out team opportunities if this does prove to be a good course of action? Thank you so much!

[Melissa Haworth]

1. I am a big advocate of joining a team- some of the positives are:
2. Training and support: A real estate team often provides training and support to new agents, helping them get up to speed with the industry and build their skills. Our team has a designated agent who does all training and onboarding for new agents.
3. Access to resources: Teams typically have access to a wide range of resources, such as marketing materials, software, and lead generation tools, which can be helpful for new agents who are just starting out.  We have signs and supra lockboxes and share leads with each other.
4. Mentorship: Working with experienced agents on a team can provide new agents with mentorship and guidance, helping them grow their careers more quickly.  We are there for each other.
5. Shared workload: Teams often split responsibilities, which can make the workload more manageable for new agents and help them avoid feeling overwhelmed.  We cover a large area in the Panhandle of Florida and help each other put out signs and lockboxes or show properties for each other etc.
6. Increased visibility: Joining a well-established team can help new agents get their name out there and increase their visibility in the market. Our team gets automatic name recognition in our market which gives each agent on the team instant credibility!

I think a team helps you kick start your career allowing you to make money quicker.  If you want to chat further about team vs. solo please let me know!

[Bruce Lynn]

Some people like teams and some people don't and of course just like everything else in life it depends on what team you join.

My guess for most people is that it sucks the life out of them.  Funny that every agent I interview is very focused on splits, and if you join a team that split is probably the lowest split you will ever have.   Maybe 50/50, maybe less than that.  Even if you bring your own clients.   So many people feel like they're being taken advantage of....because the team leader is using leverage, and leveraging your their time for yours in many instances.   Think about why they would want to hire a buyer's agent and give you all their buyer leads?   Because listing agents typically hate buyers, so they want to pawn off that time suck on you.

Teams also often break down the job roles, so often you won't really get a big picture and good training on all aspects of the business.  Just the job you are hired to do....like open houses, or be a buyer's agent, or ISA--inside sales agent following up phone calls to 100-200 people checking to see if you can schedule them with a buyer's agent or a showing agent.   I would say most people probably feel like this is more of a job and sometimes even a job with a salary vs being a business owner.  If you spend enough time with a team, you might move from showing agent, to ISA, to an assistant, a transaction coordinator and then to buyer's agent, to listing specialist.   So not sure you get exposure faster, might actually be slower.

The benefits are that you will probably be feed some business initially or maybe even throughout your career with a team no matter what position you are in....so maybe a chance at a steadier income or maybe even salary plus bonus, vs being straight 100% commission.   However this often may be lower than you would expect and dreamed often for getting rich in real estate.   Also you may pick up organizational skills or time skills or other real estate skills from a great rainmaker...then again you may never see or talk to the rainmaker.....I would guess most new agents are not ready to jump on the phone as an ISA and call 100-200 people a day prospecting for business....but if you are forced to do it on a team....you'll learn pretty darn fast how to use scripts and talk to people.   Even if you only last 2-3-6-12 months doing this before getting worn out or deciding you love it, you should probably be pretty good at it by the time you are done.

One thing you might ask is how many team members are there on the team, how do they divide the work, what last person made doing that position, and what are they doing now.  Also ask what progression on the team looks like and what's the rainmakers expectation of how long you would stay in the position.   You might also ask how much time is spent on training and what training you will get, and if you have a chance to participate in officewide training.

One trick is there is no real definition of a team.....so you really want to explore what that team looks like and make sure you're going to fit in with the expectations.   There can be two member teams and go up from there.  Some people call themselves a team, but really all working on their own, generating their own business.

[Dwayne Byrd]

I run a brokerage and a team here in Florida. I would honestly say that it would depend on the particular team. Make sure that the agents are producing, and that they have their systems and training in place. I run across people running "teams" that is just 2 agents that decided to work together but don't have everything in place.

We offer leads, training, CRM, systems ect, and all of our agents (even part time ones) finished in the top 20 percent of our county. A team if ran correctly can get you up and running and fast track your career. Several of our agents sold 10 - 15 million in their first year and a half with our average price around 300-350k. Now, they have a large network of people they have helped, which can help with repeat business / referrals, they have credibility, and a full back end of support (isa's answering the calls and nurturing, transaction coordinators helping with paperwork, ect). In my opinion, everyone will tell you that they have "leads" - but look at the results of all of the team members to give you an idea.