Interested in becoming a Real Estate Agent Any Advice (new agent, commission, contracts)

[tigerprint456]

Hi, I took the Salesperson exam this month and passed. I am looking for any advice or recommendations on who I should work for. Is there any way to find out which agencies had the most sales last year. Since I am new to the real estate industry I would like to work for an agency that already gets a large amount of listings. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Ideally I would like an agency located on the west side since I live in west la but I am open to traveling to other agencies if they are getting a lot of business. Thanks.

[California Vagabond]

You might get some good feedback in this real estate oriented forum:

Real Estate Forums - Realtors Marketing Tips, Talk, Webmasters Forum

[DontH8Me]

Thanks, I needed that.

[tigerprint456]

Originally Posted by California Vagabond

You might get some good feedback in this real estate oriented forum:

Real Estate Forums - Realtors Marketing Tips, Talk, Webmasters Forum

Thanks, I am looking through the real estate forum now.

[GoldenStateMLS]

Tigerprint456, you are the only one that knows what kind of Agency you will work with best. Some people like working for a small boutique Broker while others like the Brand recognition of a larger national brokerage. All depends on what you want to specialize in and who will provide you with best support/ commission mix. Good luck!

[MovingAloha]

Training is important, so ask questions about in-house as well as other types of training. Of course the fee sharing percentage is also important. Often times the smaller brokerage houses will give you a bigger fee split, but do not offer or pay for training.
Good luck.

[JustMike77]

As a new agent, I would say that the most important thing to look for is training. Training, training and more training. Training is more important than the commission split at this point. Once you become productive the split will go up. The number of listings an office has is irrelevant. You want to focus on becoming a listing agent, not a selling agent. A listing agent always gets paid while 50 selling agents are out trying to sell his listing. 49 of those agents won't get paid. Learn about farming and do it religiously. Remember that successful people do the things that failures refuse to do. This really applies to real estate sales.

Short answer - just go to Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills or Olympic & Bundy and hope that they'll hire you.

Mike

[DorothyMillerKW]

Originally Posted by tigerprint456

Hi, I took the Salesperson exam this month and passed. I am looking for any advice or recommendations on who I should work for. Is there any way to find out which agencies had the most sales last year. Since I am new to the real estate industry I would like to work for an agency that already gets a large amount of listings. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Ideally I would like an agency located on the west side since I live in west la but I am open to traveling to other agencies if they are getting a lot of business. Thanks.

I'm with Keller Williams and wouldn't dream of recommending any other company. We have the most to offer out of all brokers and are growing throughout not only the country but worldwide (we are expanding this year in Dubai). You'll find that a lot of companies nickle and dime their agents to death. Training is huge, especially if you're new. KW offers training classes in house several days a week on everything from contracts to dotloop to MRIS. Just do your homework (which is seems like you're doing already!) and know what you want from a brokerage. Keller Williams offers profit sharing for example.... look into it, you'll be impressed. And congrats on passing your exam!

[young92]

The company that makes the most money could have the most agents with an average production or a few very, very productive ones. That's not always the best way to look for a company. You really need to see the full picture before basing a decision on the companies income. That said - if they are attracting a lot of top notch realtors then they probably have something good going on.

BUT - if I was starting out again I would go for training. Look for the company that offers the best training then plan to switch in a year or two if you decide it's not a good fit. In two years you will know what kind of realtor you are and where you will best fit in. Until then, go for the training!

[tomocox]

Here is a factual statistic from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). 80% of all people entering the business will churn out of the business within two years; however 70% who begin with RE/MAX will churn.

Don't go for false sales pitches. Don't go for recruiting bonuses as you are going to be fighting for your business life for the first five years of your real estate career. Go for professionalism. Go for office tenure. Ask and expect to get the life-expectancy of how long an agent typically stays in the firm.

I could write a book on false hopes and expectations, but you must first learn that in real estate it truly is "location, location, location." Your first broker can and often does make or break you.