Top 5 Tips to Help Experienced Agents Choose the Right Real Estate Broker

It typically doesn't work that way. Typically, something has happened in their business or at their current brokerage that makes them take a pause and think about what's going on. So, that can look like a management change. That can look like a compensation structure change. That can look like a personal life change. Maybe they're getting married. Maybe they're getting a divorce. Maybe they're slowing down their business because they're retiring. It can look like a lot of different things. Each person is very, very different in how they approach what they need from a broker. And so, like I mentioned in last week's episode, we're going to talk about five guiding principles that we tend to see a lot of here in our brokerage. It doesn't mean that they're the right guiding principles for you.

They could be just things that you need to pay attention to, but there may be something that's very specific to you, and that's perfectly fine. Do what's specific to you. You, at the end of the day, are the one who has to make this right decision. On that note, let's jump into our Top 5 today. All right, our first topic is looking at the long-term. Now, this was the first topic in last week's episode as well. A little different perspective this week because we're talking about somebody who has context. In the last week's episode, we talked about new agents. They don't have the context to really know what the long-term might look like. You, as an experienced agent, if you're listening to this, do. And so, you have an idea of what you want your business to look like a year from now, three years from now, five, ten, whatever that looks like.

And you need to find a broker that lines up with that. Are you looking at potentially building a team? Are you looking at potentially retiring? Are you looking at doubling your income? Whatever those goals that you have for your business, do you have a brokerage who fits that need? Does their model fit that need? Does their tools fit that need? Does the compensation structure fit that need? Could be a number of different things that you're looking for. Are you looking for something virtual? Are you looking for something that has an office? Whatever that is, you need to figure that out before you start looking. And sort of make a checklist. These are my long-term things. Now, you may, but you're probably not likely to find a brokerage that fits every single checkbox.

And that's perfectly fine. What you're looking for is a brokerage who hits most of them and the most important ones, right? That's what you need to help you grow your business over time as you progress in your career. The other thing about looking at the long-term is looking at your long-term financial goals. And how does that play into what you're trying to do? So, where I see this raise its head more often than not is for people who are thinking about starting a team. If you're thinking about starting a team, one of the most important things you need to know is what is your cost of goods sold? Now, that's real accountant speak. I get it. And I'm not an accountant by any means. There's never going to be a time when I'm not going to hire an accountant because, man, I do not like that.

I was a straight C student in college in my accounting classes. So, it's important because it will help inform how you're able to pay buyer's agents. It's important to know that from a lead generation standpoint of where your money is going. And when it comes to choosing a broker, it might make more sense for you to be with a brokerage who has a lower cost structure. So, you have more flexibility to either earn more money or use that money in a different way. Or if there's a negotiable split structure at the brokerage you're looking at or whatever that looks like, you really need to know how the cost of the brokerage weighs on your ability to operate your business. And that's very, very important. So, pay attention to that when you're looking at your long-term goals as well.

So, not just about the goals you have, but also the financial element of that and how you can reach those goals by looking at the structure of the compensation you're making with that brokerage. Look at the long-term. This is a long game. It's a marathon, not a sprint. All these other cliches about, you know, looking for the future, they all apply. So, before you walk in the door of another brokerage, I would look at what that looks like for you. What do you need? The second part of this is you are the brand. You are the brand. We know statistically through the National Association of Realtors Research that fewer than 3% of the people out there really care what brand you're affiliated with.

Does it matter to you? Maybe. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. Does it matter to your client? Probably not. They're buying you. They're not buying your brand, except with few exceptions. And we can talk about those exceptions in a little bit. But the exceptions tend to be in very high-end price point areas where they're looking for a specific brand to have market their home. Because it's an ego play, typically. So, anyway, you're the brand. What are you able to do with that at the brokerages you're interviewing? And hopefully you're interviewing more than one brokerage. At the brokerage you're interviewing, what are you able to do with that brand? Right? Are you able to have your own domain name and email? Are you able to build your own signs with your branding?

What about websites? What are all these different things that come into play when it comes to brand building for you? Is your broker supporting that or are they not? Now, it may not matter to you what the sign looks like or says. And that's fine. But it's something that you need to consider. Because at the end of the day, if you've got a at abcbrokerage.com email address and you decide to change in two or three years from now. Is everybody in your database going to know you from at abcrealestate.com? And are you going to have to go back and redo all of that? Meanwhile, emails are being missed because they're going to your old brokerage email address. These are important things to consider because this is your business.

At the end of the day, you are a business owner and your brand matters. Your ability to continue your business in light of changes, whatever those changes are. In this case, we're talking about a brokerage change. Your ability to continue the business is super important. So make sure that you have the ability to build your brand. I mentioned in last week's episode that I was really wrong on this. If you go back about 10 years when when KW started having their their agents brand themselves and brand their teams and kind of go not be as big on the Keller Williams branding. I thought Gary Keller was nuts and I was wrong. I was so wrong. And now I see it for what he saw back then, which is why he's the visionary that he is and has done all the great things with that brand.

But now I understand that it's my job as a broker to support your brand building. And hopefully you'll find a brokerage that also does that and wants to be partners with you in your brand building. Number three, man, I'm going to sound like a like you're like your mom on this one or like a kindergarten teacher or I don't know what. Please know that I'm not attempting purposefully to come off as lecturing at you about something in this one, but I kind of feel like I have to read your agreement. And if you commit to a broker before you sign anything, read the agreement. And if there's a bunch of references in the agreement to policies and procedures manuals or things like that, read those to make them give them to you.

And if they won't, don't join them. I cannot tell you the number of times we get questions from agents who are thinking about joining our brokerage about what happens if this, what happens if that. That should all be spelled out in your independent contractor agreement. If you leave, how do you get paid? If you have buyers, but they're not under contract, but they have a buyer's website, how does that work? Or listings that are active, you don't have a contract on that. How does that work? All things that you need to know before you go sign with a new broker, not after. I mean, genuinely, the number of people that come to us that are looking at making a change and they don't know that they ever got a copy of their independent contractor agreement. They don't know where to find it. They don't know anything of that. This is where it gets a little luxury.

Like, look, this is your business. Read your contracts. Think about the way that we know the contract for our clients. We can explain the contract to our clients. Most of us. The same needs to be true of your agreement with your broker. Like, you need to know what that agreement says. And if there's things that you don't like, don't sign it. Go back and either try to negotiate that if it's something that you really want, or if they won't do it, then don't go there. But understand that you are the driving force. They need you more than you need them. I said that in the last week's episode, too. The brokerage needs you more than you need them. And so, play that card. But know what the card is for because you've read your agreement. Have a copy of it. We see some that are 75, 80 pages long.

It's just mind-blowing how long some of these contracts are. Or they're structured in a way that, I mean, you need a structural engineer, a mechanical engineer to go through and figure out how you actually get paid on anything. It's really crazy on some of these that we see. But you need to know what it is. You need to know what it says. Because if you, again, get two or three years down the road, and you want to change, and at this point, your business is doing really well, and you've got a lot going on, it becomes far more difficult for you to change. You may end up leaving a lot of money on the table, things like that. And so you just, I'm not saying that that's not going to happen. But you need to know about it. You need to know what that agreement says. So read your agreement. If it references any other documents like policies and procedures, if it references, you know, a separate compensation addendum or a system that based on last year's sales, you get this or that, make sure you know what that says.

Very, very, very important. All right. End of lecture, end of rant. There you go. Number four, what tools does the brokerage provide you? So I'm going to have a little bit of bias here towards my brokerage and tell you that I think that we provide a really robust suite of tools. So what? Who cares? If none of my agents use them, does it matter? I mean, I can CRM and I can marketing suite and I can this and that and whatever else to the day is long. But if the agents don't use it, it doesn't matter. So what may seem great on the surface for you when you're looking at a brokerage or you see a friend of yours that's working at a brokerage, when you actually get to looking at it, the question has to be, are you going to do that?

Are you going to use that tool? Because if the answer is no, then what the hell are we talking about, man? Like, what's the point? What are the tools that you need to make you successful? Does the brokerage provide those tools? Those are two really simple questions. Again, going back to the idea of we're making sort of a to-do list, if you will, a pros and cons list, whatever that looks like. Write down the things that you think you need to build your business. You may not need them, but let's say you think you need them. It's fine. What are the things that you think you need to build your business and find a brokerage that has those things? And understand that those things may shift over time. If you're an individual producer right now and you're thinking about building a team in the future, you may need to look at what does that look like if I have a team?

What do those tools do for me? Or you may end up three, four, five years down the road just making a brokerage change to something that's more in line with where your business is going. And that's okay. It's normal. And like I said, you're the brand. Your clients don't care. So understand what the tools are. Understand why they're there and what they're for. And ask yourself, is this something that's important to me? Is this something that I'm going to actually use? Is this something that's going to help me build my business if I start using it? And just because you're not using it now doesn't mean you wouldn't use it in the future if you made a change. So we want to know, is this tool that I'm using great? Is it a tool that I would use even better that I'm not using now? Right? Is it even better? And is it something that lines up with that long-term vision that we talked about in point one?

Is it going to get me from where I am today to where I want to be one year, three year, five year, ten years down the road? Those are the things that you need to look at when you're looking at tools. The flip side of that is, let's say the brokerage is something that you really like, but they don't provide one of the tools that you really want. Is the cost structure of that brokerage, the amount of money you're paying to the broker, is it conducive with you being able to go and get that piece of technology or that tool or that service or that person on your own? Some of the lower fee brokerages out there might give you that flexibility to where you're not putting much money into a brokerage and so you can go buy XYZ software or you can go rent your own office or you can go hire an assistant.

So, whatever that looks like, whatever that looks like, that you feel like you need, weigh the costs, right? Versus, I have to go to a brokerage where I have an office. Do you? You hear that a lot. You don't. Probably. Now, some people do. Some people just work better that way and that's fine. Nothing wrong with that. But, do you need an office or do you need just a place to go? Ask yourself those questions. You got to be really honest with yourself when it comes to stuff like this. So, and then last but not least on our list for today is making sure that there is support when you need it. If there's one thing that we hear that is just mind blowing to me. If there's one thing that we hear all the time is I'll call my broker and I don't get a call back for days.

And the truth of the matter is, as an experienced agent, you probably don't need a ton of hand holding. You don't need a ton of support. But the value that you find in that is that when you need it, it's there. So, that's what you need to know when you make a decision. Is there somebody that's going to be there to support you? Are there other agents in the brokerage I can call? What's the availability and accessibility to the broker or to the manager or to whatever position the brokerage has created to support people? Because at the end of the day, you're making a decision based on value. You don't need all the handling. You've been through the training. You want more training? Sure, because you're a professional and you want to get better at your craft.

But you're not reliant upon it. You're going to go and you're going to operate your business. You're going to do your thing and that's fine. And every now and then, you're going to get to a place where you have a question and you need help. Every now and then, you need support. And so, when that every now and then hits, who is there to support you and how quickly? Because that's the key, right? You don't need it, but when you need it, you need it. And so, you're going to call and if you don't get a call for two or three days, you're just going to get mad. And you're going to go call someone else and get it from them or you're going to go to a Facebook group or social media group or God knows what the advice you're going to get is. I mean, some of the stuff I see in those Facebook groups is just, oh, it gives me goosebumps for people's brokers.

It just, it scares the daylights out of me. So, you want to make sure that there is support for the tools that you need so that somebody can train you or they have a concierge type of service for that or the provider has a concierge type of service for that that you can either use or pay for or whatever to help you get set up quickly. That if there's questions on the tools and technology, you have the support. But more than anything, when something comes up in a transaction that's wonky or that's new to you, you've got somebody that you can pick up the phone and call and know that you're going to get an answer and hopefully the right answer in a relatively quick manner. You're going to need to have a place where you can go to, hey, this happened and I need a CDA out very fast or I need a letter to the title company or whatever.

And it can be done real quick. That's what you need. You don't need to be handheld. You don't need to be micromanaged. You don't need the accountability. You're doing a great job. You're building your business. You've got goals. You know what tools. You've read your agreement. You understand how to brand yourself. But just this weird thing came up. And in this market that we've experienced over the last couple of years, since the pandemic, there's been a whole lot of weird, right? A whole lot of weird. And so is your broker, is your staff, whoever it is that needs to be there for you, are they there? And how can you prove that? So that kind of brings up the last thing in my bonus. Typically we do a Top 5. I'm going to give you a top six.

Call a few agents. There's a decent chance that if you're joining a brokerage of any size, you may have done a transaction with somebody who works there. You may have, you know, run into somebody in association service or at a networking event or whatever that looks like. Pick up the phone and call a few agents and ask them what their experience is like, especially for the things that are very important to you. When you're looking at the long term, which was point one, and you're making your list, or you're looking at the tools that you feel like you need, which was point four. You know kind of what you're looking for. You know kind of what you want. Pick up a phone and call a couple of agents that work there and see what their experience has been like. Do they get support quickly? Is there somebody to answer their questions? Are they happy there? Do they feel like they're getting the value for the dollar they're paying their broker?

So there's your bonus point. To recap, we're looking at the long term. We're looking at our goals for one, three, five, 10 years down the road. We're making sure that the broker we're choosing for our new brokerage home is going to be in line with that and help you reach those goals. With the understanding, number two, that you are in fact the brand here, right? You are the one that is driving the business into the brokerage. Does the brokerage support that? Understand that and give you the flexibility and freedom to run your business the way you want to run your business. Number three, you've read your agreement. So you know what happens if. You know what happens if you get there and you don't like it and you want to leave. You know what happens if this or that or advertising rules or policies and procedures, whatever it is, you've read it because you're a business owner and you read contracts.

You write them for a living. So you read them too. Number four, you understand the tools. You understand why the tools are there. And you know whether or not they fit into that long term vision of your business. Because if they're there and they look sexy in a recruiting presentation, but you're not going to use them. It doesn't matter. You're going to make sure that there's support where you need it and when you need it. And then the last but not least, as our bonus point, you are going to go out and ask a few people about their experience at that brokerage. There you have it. This concludes our series on choosing the right broker. I want to say thank you for stopping by and taking a watch. I hope that this was valuable to you. I hope that it helps you inform any decisions you make in the future. May not be something for right now, but it may be something that comes up in your career.

And we just want to be there to be able to provide actionable advice for you to take and use in your business to build a great business. So wish you the best of luck. Have a great day. And thanks for tuning in to Top 5. Thank you.