Quote from @Carlos Guerrero:
I recently received my license and have interviewed with a few brokerages. I thought I’d come in here and see if anybody has any advice.
Here is some background information on me. I reside just north of Austin. I retired from the US Army after a 21 year career. I have owned some rental properties and have completed a rather extensive remodel of a property we owned. I enjoy helping others and I am interested in finding a brokerage that can provide some training and can help drive success.
I’ve spoken with a Keller Williams brokerage, Exp, and some boutique brokerages. Without being in it, it’s been difficult to pin down what would be the best fit.
I’d love to hear some of your experiences and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
Carlos
Welcome to the BiggerPockets forum, Carlos!
Thank you for your service to our country.
I'm with eXp and was formerly with KW. Before that, I was with a small mom & pop broker in my market.
If in-person training is of importance to you, KW can be a great fit. Their business model revolves around creating a positive company culture for its agents. eXp has a ton of agent training and the majority of it is online.
That said, I suggest considering joining a team no matter which company you join.
The benefits to joining a team are:
- A team leader who serves as a mentor/coach to help you hit your goals faster
- Access to team leads
- Access to systems, tools, resources to significantly shorten the learning curve
- Access to team's current listings/transactions to help you market yourself... Its one thing to tell your sphere of influence "hey, I'm in Real Estate"... its another thing to be part of a team and instantly be able to tell your sphere "hey, we're selling a property on Main St. and are hosting an open house Saturday, who do you know that I can reach out to invite?"
- Power of proximity: being surrounding by other agents on the team who have been where you are now
As you mentioned, its tough to pin down the best place without actually being in it. Don't be afraid to try something out and give yourself a deadline by which to decide whether to stay or try another brokerage.
More important than training and the right environment (i.e. team) is going to be your action plan. You can have the best coaching/training in the business but if you aren't focused on the right activities each day, your business will not take off.
That said, any broker, team, company you wind up with should prioritize income-producing activities. I.e. Prospecting, follow-up, appointments.
Prospecting: Set a goal for how many people you need to speak with each day/week/month in order to hit your annual income goal.
Follow-up: systematically keep in contact with every single person in your database until they buy/sell with you OR tell you to leave them alone
Appointments: Once you prospect and follow-up, you'll start talking to people who need your help and want to become a client. Your job then is to set an appointment/meeting to solidify the client/agent relationship, then set appointments to find or sell their property. From appointments, come offers/contracts and closings!
All the best to you on your brokerage search!
Abel
