January 23, 2024 | Being An Agent
Should I Join a Real Estate Team or Be an Individual Agent?
Whether I should Join a Real Estate Team or Be an Individual Agent is one of the first questions that real estate agents should be asking themselves, after obtaining their real estate license. While a real estate team can significantly benefit a real estate agent, it’s not for everyone, and it’s important to understand the pros and cons of joining a real estate team to ensure it’s the right fit for you and your real estate career.
What is a Real Estate Team?
A real estate team is typically a group of real estate professionals who work together to provide comprehensive real estate services. These teams typically consist of various roles, each specializing in different aspects of the real estate process. Common team members include real estate agents (listing agents and buyer’s agents), transaction coordinators, marketing coordinators, and other various administrative staff.
A well-constructed team can leverage the strengths and expertise of individuals in different areas, ultimately enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the real estate business. Team members collaborate to handle various tasks involved in buying or selling properties, such as marketing, negotiations, paperwork, and client communications.
Real estate teams can vary in size and structure, ranging from small teams with a few members to large teams with multiple specialized roles. The goal of a team is to streamline operations, increase productivity, and provide a higher level of service to clients.
Are you thinking about becoming a real estate agent or new to the industry? Read these blogs for helpful tips and career guidance.
The Advantages of Joining a Real Estate Team
Support & Collaboration
By working with a team, you have other people that you can collaborate with. A strong team will have your back and be there to support you as you navigate through challenging situations. Whether it is having someone to cover you while you’re out of the office or someone to ask questions about an issue that arises during a transaction, you aren’t “on an island” which is something that newer individual agents often struggle with.
Learning Opportunities
As part of a team, everyone has different skill sets and experiences that they can draw from for you to be able to leverage. Whether it is role-playing and scripting with other team members, learning from past team members’ mistakes, or training and mentoring, a team can be a great environment for people to learn at a much faster pace than by being on their own.
Marketing & Lead Generation
The majority of teams provide marketing and lead generation services for you to be able to leverage. By taking care of the majority of marketing initiatives, the team is able to provide you with more time to build your business by networking and actually focusing on sales-related activities. A well-run team typically also has a number of lead generation systems and sources in place to help generate leads and opportunities for the team members to follow up with and convert into clients.
Limited Overhead Expenses
One of the greatest challenges that individual agents face is the sheer cost of running a real estate business – including marketing campaigns, technology costs, salaries of administrative staff, office space and more. By partnering with a well-established team, an agent can significantly cut down on their monthly overhead expenses. This is especially advantageous for new agents getting into the business who typically don’t have a steady flow of income when they are getting started. By having a team to cover the costs of running the business, an agent is able to have a longer runway in order to first start receiving commissions from their closings.
Stronger Reputation
The real estate market is extremely competitive and saturated with the number of licensed real estate agents throughout the country. With a limited number of home sales, it can be difficult for inexperienced and unknown agents to compete with more established agents and teams that serve the same market area. By partnering with a team, a new agent has instant brand recognition that enables them to compete within the marketplace rather than having to start from scratch.
Networking Opportunities
By being part of a real estate team, agents typically have access to a broader network. This can include both local and national real estate agents, vendors such as real estate attorneys, lenders, inspectors, contractors and more. Team members and their clients can benefit from these connections in a variety of ways, potentially leading to more referrals, partnerships, and business opportunities.
Work-Life Balance
Agents who sell real estate on their own often have to manage everything by themselves, unless they pay for administrative assistance. By delegating tasks to other team members, agents are able to focus on their core strengths and priorities. This can result in a better work-life balance as the workload is shared among team members. Being part of a team also enables agents to take time off without having to worry about their clients and the business stopping while they are out of the office.
Accountability & Motivation
The majority of real estate agents who get into the industry are attracted to the flexibility and autonomy that come with being a real estate agent. The downside to this is that agents who work individually, often don’t have the accountability that they need to be productive. If an individual agent isn’t self-motivated and extremely disciplined, it can be difficult to be productive and consistent. Being part of a team creates a sense of accountability where team members can motivate and support each other, leading to a more positive and driven work environment.
Opportunities for Growth & Advancement
There are several roles within a real estate team and therefore, multiple growth paths outside of solely being a real estate agent. By finding a real estate team that is committed to growth, there are often opportunities for career advancement within the team structure, such as moving into leadership roles or even building out an entirely new part of the real estate company for that team.
Increased Productivity
Through accountability, motivation, training opportunities and added support, most agents are able to be more productive within a team structure. This results in the ability to handle more clients and transactions simultaneously, contributing to greater levels of success.
Downsides & Other Considerations
Less Independence
By being part of a team, there is often less autonomy than being an individual agent. On a team, you are accountable to others and often are expected to follow the systems and processes that are in place, which can limit your ability to do things your own way, if it conflicts with the standards of the team.
Team Dynamics
With a number of different personalities and working styles, issues can inevitably arise. Therefore, it is critical that you find a company that aligns with your values and that you find a group that emphasizes teamwork and transparency so that you know what is expected of everyone within the organization.
Split Commissions
As a tradeoff for all of the support, training, systems, marketing initiatives, lead generation and lack of overhead, there is a cost to being a part of a team. Most teams are structured in a way that you pay the team a portion of your commission when you sell a home. While you will likely have a lower split as part of a team vs. being an individual agent, a strong team can still help you increase your bottom line at the end of the day. You must understand the true value that the team provides and make the determination on whether that value outweighs the cost of the split. Afterall, 100% of 0 is 0, which is something that many agents tend to overlook.
Brand Development
While team branding can be an advantage, some agents may prefer to build and maintain their own individual brand. This can be challenging within a team setting where there is a collective brand identity. If you prefer to build your own brand vs. leveraging an existing brand that can help you generate more opportunities, then being on a team may not be the right fit for you.
Accountability & Expectations
While some agents view accountability as a benefit, other agents might view accountability as a negative. Prior to joining a team, it is important that you understand the standards and expectations of the team to make sure it is something you are willing to commit to. If it is not, then joining a team might not be the right fit for you.
Curious about what it’s like to work with our team – Andersen Group Realty? Check out these other pages from our site.
How to Find a Great Real Estate Team
Research
Do an internet search to see what people say about the team that you are considering joining. Do their clients have positive things to say about them? Do they have a strong digital presence with testimonials and 5-star reviews?
Understand the Market Area
It is important that you join a team that services the geographic areas that you intend to serve. You can do this by looking at the listings they have on their website, driving around the towns that you want to work in to look for yard signs, or looking up past sales if you have access to the local MLS.
Review the Brand
Look at the digital marketing presence of the company, such as social media channels and websites, to ensure that the marketing and branding is in line with the type of brand you want to be a part of. After all, you are a direct reflection of the company, and the company is a direct reflection of you.
Think About Structure
Doing a quick search about the structure of the team is important for you to understand a number of factors that you should consider. Is the team size in line with what you want to be a part of? Is there administrative support in place to provide leverage? Are there agents with varying levels of experience that I can learn from and fit in with? These are all questions you should be asking yourself when it comes to team dynamics.
Values & Standards
Does the team’s values and level of standards resonate with you? Are you willing and able to adhere to the level of expectations that the team has in place and are you culturally aligned with the values of the organization?
Understanding the Financials
Make sure you understand how the split structure works and more importantly, what is provided or not provided by the team. As for examples of how much people with a similar amount of experience are typically able to make on the team and what the projections and expectations are, before making a decision.
Ultimately, joining a team is a great option for real estate agents, however, it isn’t for everyone. Be sure to have your list of priorities in place prior to determining which path is best for you. Then as you start to interview with teams, make sure that the team aligns with your values and goals, and that you also have a clear understanding of the expectations of the organization and how the team operates. Real estate agents can be successful both with or without a team, it all depends on what environment best supports your individual needs.
For more information about how our team at Andersen Group Realty helps real estate agents achieve their goals through collaboration, leverage, support and opportunities, contact us today to take the next step in your real estate career. Click here to send us an email or call 781-729-2329 to get in touch.
