Best brokerage to work for in San Francisco / the Bay Area?

Question

Hello there,

Fellow investor living in the Bay Area and looking for a brokerage to hang my license on.
Was hoping to get some thoughts from other experienced agents / brokers out there in the trenches.
I'm trying to decide if I want to be in San Francisco (working) or down in the Peninsula (living around the Daly City / Burlingame / San Mateo area).

Ideally:

• Some level of support 
• No need for desk space
• Team / Ability to shadow
• Ability to work part time (some have been very against it but based on my own experience as a client, I've seen it's more about the competency of the agent and less about their hours!) 
• Non-outrageous fees

Many thanks in advance for any advice / referrals.

Cheers,

Alice

Ariel Smith · Answer

Hi Alice,

My former colleague just went back to sell at the Gilmartin Group down in Burlingame. It could be a good option for you and I'd be happy to make an introduction.

http://www.thegilmartins.com/

Cheers,

Ariel

Alice K. · Answer

Account Closed: Thanks for the recommendation to Kathleen earlier! I ended up speaking with her colleague. He was full of street smart advice. He also made sure I knew before we parted on the phone that there are 43,560 sq ft in an acre. haha. I may look a bit closer to home but if I was in San Jose, I'd go with your brokerage! :)

Account Closed · Answer

Hey Alice,

If your working in San Francisco, here are the top brokerages off the top of my head:

• Vanguard Properties
• Zephyr 
• Pacific Union 
• Climb
• Cold Well Banker
• Paragon
• Keller Williams (new)
• Engel & Volkers (came back)
• Century 21 (west) 
• Barbagelata (west)

I think Keller Williams, Century 21, and Coldwell Banker are the only brokerages to also be found on the peninsula.  Keller Williams has a huge event called Mega Camp where you can learn from the best agents in the country, which is invaluable! They also do have teams, but I'm not sure how hard it is to shadow or join. Keller Williams seems to have a good online presence and culture.

J. Martin · Answer

@Alice K.,

Go kick some ass!! Let's have dinner when you're not busy! :)

Account Closed, great list!! I love Patrick Carlyle's analysis at Paragon. They have a strong focus on SF and higher-end properties it seems. I don't believe they operate on the peninsula. (surprisingly, with the high-end properties there..)

John Barnette · Answer

Hi Alice

I work with Keller Williams San Francisco. Also have offices in the Peninsula.  Great company. Very learning based, focus on wealth building, pro investing.  Check out all kinds of info about Keller Williams on YouTube.  Give me a call or email if you want to chat with leadership in my office.  Blocked me here from giving email or phone. Can contact me through Google or zillow

John

Account Closed · Answer

@Alice K. My apologies for the late reply! I will definitely have to turn on the notifications to my email for the forums.

Vanguard has a lot of foot traffic through the offices for floor time.  The offices with the most foot traffic are Castro Office and New Montgomery Office.  Our open houses do get a lot of foot traffic too since our brand is known to have great marketing, service, and luxury properties.

***I found out Pac Union does have a small office of 8 people on the peninsula.  My friend in the same coaching group as me was recommended to go there by our coach since she lives in the peninsula.***

If you don't have a full time job, I think you should call again to inquire about openings on the teams if you want to shadow and learn faster that way.  We do have a mentor program too and you can shadow that way.

Also other things to think about are:

• What neighborhoods does this brokerage's agents dominate in?
• Do I like the housing stock that this brokerage's clients sell?
• Does this brokerage have agents who are also investors and/or developers with investor and developer clients? 
• Are the brokers that I want to model after located in this brokerage?
• How is the culture of the brokerage and how are the agents generally? (the brokerages are really different and you can visit the weekly meeting to get a fast whiff of it)
• Do they really educate me or are they full of it? 
• Have I been to some of this brokerage's open houses? 
• Does the office look like a shack?
• Will I become the next Million Dollar Listing Agent at this brokerage? (I'm jk, you will be no matter what)

Picking the brokerage is critical and moving from brokerage to brokerage is such a pain in the butt because each brokerage have different systems and services (such as CRMs, Databases, Transaction Coordinator setup, Marketing, CMA services, and etc).  Message me for any questions!

Best brokerage to work for in San Francisco / the Bay Area?

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