The Right Brokerage

The right brokerage can make all the difference in a real estate agent’s career.

Last week, BeYourCareer shared our 5 tips for selecting the right brokerage. This week, we sat down with Richard Laurendeau, Managing Broker at RE/MAX Westcoast.
Richard shares his tips, reasons and thoughts on why RE/MAX stands out against the competition and ultimately why it IS the right brokerage.

5 Tips for the right brokerage

1. Area
Once you have narrowed down the area in which you would like to conduct business or the area in which you would like to continue doing business, do your research.

Walk around the neighbourhood; see which brokerage has the most for sale and sold signs. This will tell you whom the neighbourhood trusts the most to sell their home.

Richard:
“The walk about and signage, I love this!” For years Brokerages commonly created statistics that measured one Brokerage relative to another; more recently some have taken a more consumer centric view; my office (RE/MAX Westcoast) included and started looking at sales statistics from a consumer perspective. With that in mind, I suspect the consumer does not typically identify with individual operations but rather brands in general.

RE/MAX measured up very well with this; the statistics for Richmond, Vancouver West and Vancouver East can be seen below. Here is the example for Richmond; which is direct result of what people will see in their ‘walk about’. You have to believe that where you successfully had the most listings sold; you likely also had the most ‘For Sale’ signs; which adds to the impact!

Company/Brands Listings Sold
RE/MAX 1149
Sutton Group 842
MacDonald Realty 604
Royal Pacific 400
New Coast Realty 193
Regent Park 111
Amex 96
Multiple Realty 96
Homeland Realty 98

2. Shop around
Tip 1 is a good starting point. From there, select the top three brokerages in your desired area and conduct research.

A good place to start is to visit the brokerage’s webpage. There is generally a vast amount of information on a website that is useful. If there isn’t, consider this and make note of it in your research.

Richard:
This is a good strategy and I think common practice. Richard notes only visitin one company, which worked for him. “The company I met with accomplished what I felt I wanted or needed. However, I think most do shop but unfortunately cut some office out, RE/MAX often, for fear that it is ‘to expensive’ without actually having heard from the office.

Richard’s advice on this matter is that “RE/MAX is not for those getting into the business for part time type effort or income, our agents go above and beyond and make real estate their full time profession and commitment.”

3. Interview
When you meet with the managing broker be prepared and ask a lot of questions. Remember this is an interview process for them as much as it is for you.

Being prepared and asking the right questions will help you understand whether that is the best brokerage for you. Do they stand for the same things as you, do they offer supports that you need, etc.

Richard:
I love the interview tip and cannot stress enough how important it is to be prepared.

Tips from Richard on what to ask during the interview process:
• Market share
• Advertising campaign
• Do they have multiple locations or what other cities, provinces or Country they or the      brand operate in
• Is the manager a selling manager or focused on supporting the Realtor®
• Is there a person dedicated to training or will this be a manager responsibility
• Can you interview one or more Realtors® from the firm

4. Support level
Different brokerages have different support levels. Be mindful of the stage of your career when selecting a brokerage.
If you are a new broker, you will require more training initially and as well as a successful way to obtain prospects. Be sure the brokerage you select offers what you need.

If you are an experienced agent looking for a new brokerage, your focus may be on the marketing tools the brokerage uses to help you increase your sales.

Whatever your needs are, be sure you are aware of them as they will be crucial in selecting the right brokerage for your real estate career.

Richard:
“Talk is cheap – everyone is going to say they have a training system in place.” For someone looking to switch brokerages or start out in the real estate industry, you must consider what can be demonstrated.

Ask yourself:
• Can I pop by a session?
• Does the company have training material?
• Do they have testimonials?

5. Commission
All brokerages take a fee to operate and provide services to its Realtors. The fee varies and the benefits of what is included in the fee should be considered as well.

Keep in mind that while the percentage of the commission you get to keep is important, it should not be your first priority.

The best policy is to evaluate the benefits of the brokerage and what you are getting versus the commission split.

For example you may be paying lesser fees with a smaller brokerage but keep in mind that this brokerage may not be the top choice for many sellers when they are listing their home on the market. Operating under a more familiar brand will often equal higher commission fees however, more people trust the brand therefore increasing your sales in the long term.

Richard:
Fees – “I put this akin to any parent having their children aspire to post-secondary education, they all offer different benefits; and related costs. We expect to pay more for kids at UBC than Kwantlen, this is a known fact.”

What do you want or expect from your Brokerage?
It is not about right and wrong, it’s about different things for different people.

Visit our website www.beyourcareer.ca and see how a career with us could be the right one for you. We have offices across the Lower Mainland, one of our managing brokers will be happy to meet with you and discuss a future path with you and RE/MAX.

To get in touch with Richard Laurendeau regarding the tips he shared above, email him at [email protected].

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