All Forum Posts by: Brandon Carlson

1. Can you have a better mousetrap?   Not sure about that, but find out what people don't like about the current brokerage and fix that.

2. Call and call and call and call...and network occasionally.

3.  I think most brokerages want to be all things to all agents...1 transaction a year to 100 transactions a year.  Maybe that is not a good thing.  Hire new agents and you increase your risk, you have a big time suck, and you will need to provide lots of hand holding and supervision and training.  Probably not in CA yet, but in Texas we just passed a law that says agents have to have mentorship on the first 3 transactions in each area of discipline.  Doesn't have to be the broker, but has to be someone the broker trusts to provide supervision and mentorship.   Think about how that will change brokerages.  Potentially could be a big disruptor for some.   If you just hire superstars then you probably need to provide superstar coaching to help them get bigger and also build wealth, not just transactions.

4.  Some agents want the full deal...office, nice office, training room, full range of services like title, legal, accounting, marketing, transaction coordinator, insurance all in one stop shop, runner to put out signs and lockboxes.  Some just want the lowest fee possible and none of that.  So you have to figure which one of those you want to attract and which ones will be profitable for you and then how to attract them.

Just FYI at my old brokerage and this was a while ago, I used to say this or that was a hot market, why don't we open office there.  The standard answer was, we have to hire the right team leader who will bring 35 productive agents with them to be able to make the numbers work.  I would think that might be 50 or more now.   Run your numbers....see how that works for you.   I think in most cases you also have to be a recruiting machine.  Lots of turnover.  

One thing I suggest is if you think your are a superstar recruiter and you want to build a big office.  Look at a brokerage like KW or your current broker and set up a deal to do that.  At KW the system is already there, you can recruit locally, nationwide, worldwide, build expansion teams nationwide and earn profits on that, without having all the risks and headaches.   Maybe you could do that at your current broker too in a way.   You recruit and take a portion of the profits...if your normal office split is 70/30, maybe you cut 70/20/10 with you taking 10% of the agent profit you bring in and your broker of record gets the 20% split.  

Coming from an Agent/team leader perspective I have found newer agents care about splits and contract support. 

Gone are the days of office fees and marketing, most everything is online and newer agents learn so much from online realtor training gurus and programs. Plus most marketing is on social media these days and the newer (and younger) agents tend to excel in this area. 

I think it really depends on what type of agent you are trying to attract.

New agents would likely value training.

Experienced and successful agents would likely value a favorable commission split.

Part time agents would likely value marketing and leads.

Every brokerage (like any agent too) has their own value proposition to agents. For some it is lowest cost. For some it is highest service. For others it is well established brand.

You should understand though, that brokerage is an incredibly low margin business. Most good agents with good sales make more money than their brokers. 

Thanks Juan! I have it live on both AirBnb and VRBO as of this week and booked my first guest for this weekend. My PITI is $2950. This STR market fluctuates in seasonality, but I anticipate on making $70k gross and $20k net.