Teaming Up

It’s the question every agent eventually asks themselves . . . Should I join a team?

Who should listen: Real estate agents who are considering whether joining an existing team is the right career move.

In a nutshell: Joining a team presents new agents with considerable benefits, but whether it’s the right choice for you will depend on your goals, your preferred working conditions, and your personality.

Career moves, regardless of one’s field, nearly always provoke anxiety. There are simply too many variables to consider when deciding if making a move is the right one to make.

For agents, whether to take a chance and join a real estate team is one of those decisions.

In today’s Silver Dollar episode, we examine some of the pros and cons of becoming part of a real estate brokerage. Of course, there will be additional variables to consider as you add your personal needs and preferences to the equation, but this list will give you a firm grasp of the implications for your career.

The advantages of joining a real estate team

When you listen to this episode, you’ll soon realize that we are in favor of newer agents joining an established team. An established team will provide more resources to agents who don’t have the cash equity or bandwidth to do everything needed to set up a successful business.

When you join a team:

1. You have greater potential to learn the business and build momentum faster.
2. The team will have established systems and procedures to help you run your business like a business.
3. You’ll benefit from external sources of motivation with accountability and standards.
4. You may enjoy a better balance between your work and your personal life.
5. You can focus your efforts on doing what you most love about real estate.

When you strike out on your own as a new agent, you may be immediately confronted by two enormous obstacles—a lack of funds and a lack of leads. Belonging to a team alleviates both of these hurdles.

There are a tremendous number of startup costs associated with any entrepreneurial venture, including real estate. You can struggle and make do with what you have, relying heavily on sweat equity. But if you’re on a well-established team, you’ll have the systems, resources, and people who can get you on your feet quickly.

You need to have a CRM in place, administrative staff, perhaps an inside sales agent (ISA) or two, and marketing collateral for your use. These resources can free you up to focus on leads and clients, and provide you the opportunity to get very good at the aspects of the industry you enjoy most.

And let’s not overlook the advantage of having an established brand you can leverage. That’s a big one because branding is expensive.

You also have the benefit of being in the company of other, more experienced agents from whom you can learn. And you’ll have access to training and mentors who can help you build momentum more quickly than you could on your own.

Best of all, you’ll have access to leads—your bread and butter. Your only challenge will be to close them.

The potential drawbacks of joining a real estate team

Some of the advantages we’ve listed above may appear as drawbacks to some agents. For example, some agents become agents primarily because they want to be their own bosses. The prospect of being accountable to a team lead or peers and needing to fulfill quotas and meet standards flies in the face of what they most desire.

What is a pro and what is a con is up to the individual agent to decide.

Still, this next list includes items that agents have almost universally expressed as disadvantages to being a part of a team:

1. You’re required to split your commissions.
2. Oftentimes, there are conflicts over goals and standards.
3. You are beholden to the brokerage’s branding and success rather than your own.

Being part of a broker’s team automatically means you’ll be splitting your commissions 50/50—maybe a little less, maybe a little more. That really sticks in some agents’ throats, but don’t be too quick to say, “To heck with that!” Instead, take some time to do the math.

Consider how much money you are saving rather than spending because you are a part of someone else’s team.

We’ve already mentioned how expensive branding is.

Then there are all the resources you need—everything from pens, paper, and computers to pricey CRMs.

Plus, there is the value of the training and learning you’ll get.

During his interview on Stay Paid, one of Luke’s brothers, Stephen, a broker-agent in Lynchburg, Virginia, commented that it’s always better for agents to focus on the money going into your pocket than the money going out. add link to Ep. 343 Ask about the commission split—most brokers will have put a cap in place.

Before joining a team (if that is what you decide to do), ask about key performance indicators (KPIs), standards, personal branding, and other potential sticking points. If you don’t’ like the answers, then you might not have found the right team yet.

Please enjoy this episode, and we’d appreciate it if you would give us a 5-star rating and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. (Not sure how to leave a review? Click here.)

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