Real estate agent as a social job

[Justin Karcher]

My wife and I are investors and flippers in real estate. We’ve been with a local RE firm for almost one year, as agents. As investors we’ve bought, fixed, sold, and kept real estate. We continue to invest, but now have gained clients looking to buy and sell that trust us based on our experience. We can take our clients through the whole process, but if we have a simple question, it’s like pulling teeth to get an answer from our broker. I’m convinced that she won’t return our phone calls, texts, or emails because we are not “regulars” in the office. I understand you get what you give, but if I have a compliance question, I expect an answer i a reasonable amount of time. Not never... Most of my questions get answered from an agent with a different brokerage; a family member who cares.

We are profitable in other businesses. RE is our creative outlet.

We have and will continue to succeed, but my question is should we continue with this brokerage?

The only benefit I see is the “cap” owed to the broker if we sell so much.

[Russell Holmes]

I would honestly search for another brokerage. I'm part of a huge national brokerage where I've never met my state broker face to face. I get answers to my questions from him or one of the assistant managing brokers quite quickly every time. I know I'm not the most productive agent out of the hundreds they deal with, but they answer my questions as if I am. One messy situation with lots of legal nuances I was on the phone with my brokerage team collectively for an hour or more over a few days as if they didn't have any other tasks.  I know other agents  locally with small 100% commission investor-friendly brokerages that also get answers promptly (not training, per se, but compliance questions answered). It doesn't matter if you're with a big or small company, investor focused or retail brokerage...your broker's reputation is on the line if you mess up, and if you've asked a question with no answer the disservice is to you AND the broker. I'd ask around other agent/investors in your area and find a better fit. It's obvious by your post that you don't need "hand holding" you know what you're doing, but every agent is going to have compliance questions from time to time and it's ridiculous not to answer those questions!