New Real Estate Agent Scarsdale NY. Tips?

Question

Hello all, I just signed with Keller Williams in Scarsdale NY to be a real estate agent and I was curious if there were any tips/tricks/things to avoid when first starting out. Also if you have experience with Keller Williams, what training programs you liked the most/found most beneficial to your success? Thank you 👍🏻

Abel Curiel · Answer

Hello @Mark Metzler! Welcome to BiggerPockets and to the RE business! @Brad Bellstedt Absolutely hit the nail on the head with his response. I was a KW agent for 1 year and I learned a ton through mentorship as well as their MAPS training course. As a former KW agent, I have 2 pieces of advice:1. Don't drink the Kool-Aid! The KW family spirit is amazing, their support staff is very helpful, their training is some of the best in the industry. So whats the catch?! The "culture". From what I've seen, some agents can start to plateau (possibly due to high splits, coaching fee, high annual cap) but they won't switch to a broker that will let them keep more money in their pocket... I feel this is due to the KW family culture which makes it easy to get emotionally attached to the brokerage.2. Prospect for leads! KW preaches a 9-11am prospecting timeblock where you literally just sit there for 2 hours calling leads. This will be the quickest and most effective way to get your business going. If you do that 10 hours/week thats 500 hours per year (assuming 2-weeks vacation). If you make 20 contacts per hour, thats 10,000 folks that you're speaking to each year. Lets say you have a decent conversation with 5% of people and you're able to collect their email addresses, thats 500 new people per year you can add to your database. Keeping a database that big will produce deals and let you leave KW in no time!Best of luck to you moving forward!Abel

Brad Bellstedt · Answer

The best tip you are going to get is to learn everything you can from KW and then leave. They have one of the highest compensation splits and caps of any broker in the industry. Most agents (like myself) start at KW, get educated enough to perform the job on a consistent level, and the go somewhere else that allows you to keep more of your hard earned money.

Mark Metzler · Answer

@Anthony RosaThank you! I think it will be a very successful career for me in that area. As far as open houses go, I believe I’ll simply build a clientele at open houses. For example, say 6 people show up at an open house for a $750,000 house. Even if they’re not interested in the house I’m showing then they’re obviously interested in real estate and in that type of home or in a home in that price range. Build relationships with them and get their contact information to check up with them later.

Anthony Rosa · Answer

@Mark Metzler - Good for you. Scarsdale is beautiful and of the wealthiest areas in the USA! Good luck and hope you do well. Are you starting out with residential helping with open houses, answering calls in the office? If you're hosting open houses keep in mind that lots of affluent homeowners will not take it lightly if they feel you're marketing other homes and building clientele inside their home in which your hosting the open house.

Mark Metzler · Answer

@Abel CurielCertainly something to look into. For now like you said I will learn all that I can and go from there. Thank you for the YouTube channel recommendations I will check them out. ￼

Abel Curiel · Answer

That sounds about right regarding what it takes to cap. I recommend checking out other brokerages. My company offers a 16K cap Nationwide and a 80/20 split. Which means it takes 80K in gross commission to hit your cap. If you do 20 deals after you cap, you get your 16K paid back to you in the form of company stock.On YouTube, I'd also check out Easy Agent Pro, Real Estate Uncensored, and Ricky Carruth.

Mark Metzler · Answer

@Abel CurielIt’s funny that you mention learning on YouTube, I’ve already started learning from gentlemen like Ryan Serhant in New York City and Graham Stephan in Los Angeles on sales tactics, how to hold an open house, cold calling, doorknocking etc etc. My office is in a pretty high income area and I believe that my caps will be met around $100,000 in commission. The average commission check for that office was from $8,000 to $10,000 so I imagine anywhere from 10 to 12 houses will get me to my cap and I will be at 100% from there. This is my first time going into real estate so I’m not aware of any other brokerages and what they may have to offer aside from the ones that I have interviewed with. While $100,000 in commission in my first year is a lofty goal, it is certainly the one that I am chasing for my first year. ￼

Abel Curiel · Answer

Yes, this is similar to what I had in KW. I had a 27K cap, 64/6/30 split as well. The 6% was for my "coach"/"mentor" who I met 1 time in person. So I paid 6% for coaching and mentorship that mainly took place during prime prospecting hours (8am-12pm).The training was great but after doing my share of self-training on YouTube, I found that the same content is available online. It was more convenient for me to watch videos and rehearse scripts on my own time. Furthermore, I found a coach who charged me significantly less than 6% of my commission and gave me 1-on-1 training that was tailored to my specific goals/needs.KW has a good model but its good to hear that you're open to other options.

Brad Bellstedt · Answer

Yes. The cap when I was there was $15,000 for the office and $3,000 to corporate. At 36% of my income, I'd have to sell $50,000 of commissions to cap and then finally collect 100% of the commission I earned. At a "100%" brokerage (monthly cost and transaction fee structure. Usually $50-$100/month and $300-$600/transaction) you don't have to worry about capping before you get to keep a lot more of your money. This is true to a certain extent. IF you are doing a very high volume, it would make sense to stay at a capping office like KW. For my example, lets assume the monthly fee is $50 and the transaction fee is $500. After my 36th transaction, paying $500/transaction, I would have paid in the same $18,000. Every transaction above 36 then costs me money that I wouldn't have spent had I been capped. 36 transactions a year doesn't come easy so for most agents who aren't killing it out there, it makes more sense financially to be in a "100%" commission structure. My UNLESS is unless the agent in question still needs the training to become a consistent producer, which circles back nicely to my first response. Hope that clarifies!

Mark Metzler · Answer

@Abel CurielAlso the “family culture” doesn’t mean too much to me so I won’t be afraid to leave and find better opportunity when the time comes. Again thank you both for your input and advice I appreciate it more than you know.