I will be interviewing a couple of brokers next week. My question is what should I ask about my broker competing with me? The C21 broker seems to sell more than all of the agents. Is this normal? Is is fair?

When I first started in this business, over a decade ago, my sponsoring broker assured me he would not compete on residential, vacant land or multifamily. I was to give him all the commercial and he would return most of them to me. He honored his word on that till his death a few years ago. In general I think it was the same deal for all the agents (he didn't play favorites). I did see one residential with his code in MLS but it was a personal friend of his for many years that did not want anyone else.

It just seems that since they are going to get a part of your sale anyway, why not give the agents any sales leads that you have?

I'm not sure about normal, but it's up to each broker. We have such large offices here that it wouldn't matter if the broker did sales. I think she does. On my team, I'm non-competing except for past clients who really only want to work for me. All buyer leads, no matter price, go to the buyer agents.

I am not sure what you mean about "competing" It can mean several things. I think a great deal depends on the integrety of your broker. Some brokers are 100% worthy of your trust. Other's aren't.

I was in one brokerage that NEVER EVER shared leads with anyone new. Since I was a new agent, I was being forced into competition with my broker with respect to advertising. (If I don't see the benefits of the advertising - then I am forced to compete with it). Even incoming calls during floor time were heavily screened. I found out later that the most promising calls were siphoned off to a few "favorites". If someone is getting 58% of my paycheck (splits+ franchise fees) I have the right to expect something in return. Instead - I found myself PAYING for competing ads. I was there far too long. Glad I'm outta there.

Hope this helps...Not sure what you are looking for.

It does help, thats exactly what I don't want to be a part of. As a broker since you're going to get at least half, why not let the agents do all of the selling? I can see some situations where the client might request, but otherwise just support the agents.

I think it's because some brokers have their own clients or people who seem to just want to work with them. Some high-end or detailed clients refuse to work with new agents or someone who is not "at the top".

Not sure why it's that big of a deal to you since you should be generating your own leads anyway. It doesn't affect my business if my broker generates and handles their own leads. The only people it will affect are people who sit around waiting for broker leads.

Sorry, if you want 58% of what I make I absoultely expect a great deal in return! particularly if the training is crap and they don't even give you a desk. If you are going to give me NOTHING then you don't deserve over 50% of what I make. And I certainly am not going to FUND with my hard earned dollars ads that don't do ME any good..and actually end up COMPETING with what I put out. The notion that an agent should cough up over 50% of their commission to a brokerage and get virtually NOTHING in return in the form of warm leads is ludicrous.

I'm tired of brokers brainwashing newcomers that "it all has to come from you" I say GARBAGE. You want 58%??? FINE....Make it worth MY WHILE to give you that kind of cut. That means decent training, floor time that actually generates CALLS. Opportunities for open houses, Some funding for my own publicity, and a few warm LEADS. The business generated from those efforts justifies the high splits for the office and allows me to start generating my leads without going broke in the process.

I think this mentality suits the BROKER at the expense of the AGENT. They get to keep all their warm leads for themselves while "starving" the newbie into high-labor/low-return methods and sometimes EXPENSIVE methods of generating business. The broker gets a couple of sweet deals with fat splits out of it without lifting a finger. Meanwhile the agent is tapped out both financially and physically. These agents are real people with real financial issues. Some have taken out loans to get themselves launched. The consequences of this behavior on the part of brokerages is wide and deep. Brokers who exploit agents in this way should be ashamed of themselves.

I sought the advice of several major producers. They all said that it took them 5-7 years to build up their own business to the point where they could make a living without broker leads. When they started, they looked around until they found a user-friendly brokerage for new agents. I was amazed to find that most of them started in Mom & Pop or medium sized agencies. Why? Becuase they SHARED LEADS and this allowed them to sustain themselves until their own businesses took off. They built up a referal business starting with floor duty and open houses and a little from their SOI. Prospecting helped them GROW, but it wasn't used to get them off the ground. As a result, they DIDN'T harass homeowners by knocking on doors, and they didn't spend every dime they had on expensive ads, pay-per-click, or mailings. They didn't badger their SOI until they were all running in the other direction when they saw them coming. They were able to slowly build a business based on their performance in closing deals not looking under rocks for business. Yes, they invested money in their business, but they didn't pawn the family silver to do it. It came from profits.

Big deal, you're competing with a zillion other people anyways so what's the problem with one more. Your broker's job is to facilitate and support you, not to feed you.

The only problem is if the broker is extremely busy and doesn't have time to answer questions and doesn't hire someone to do so for the agents who need help.

I started at a brokerage where my broker sells rela estate and runs his own team, and it didn't hurt me. he still gave me advice when needed, he just didn't feed me any leads. And for those people who wanted to do front desk/phone duty, that's still available for them.

I DIDN'T PAY FOR THOSE ZILLIONS OF OTHERS. I AM paying for my broker's ads because I fork out over 50% of what I make to a firm that runs ads....If they don't share the leads that means that MY MONEY is paying for competing ads. So YES , it IS a BIG DEAL! Anyone who thinks they aren't entitled to leads after giving over that much of their income is nothing short of delusional. If I am forking over 10-20% - then its another matter. But for over 50% I had damn well better be getting something VERY worthwhile out of it. Training is NOT enough at that percentage.

I know this runs against the standard wisdom. But I think that that most new agents have been simply brainwashed. I've never seen so much nonsense in my life! This is a very sweet racket for these brokers. Some of these guys are raking it in with both arms while a lot of agents lives are ruined financially.

If brokers would behave more ethically and not stuff their offices full of newbies waiting for the hopefuls to go bankrupt while lining their pockets with the few deals they were able to cobble together, I'd feel differently. But, the major brokers in my area are getting very rich while causing untold harm to many people who came into this field for any variety of reasons. Many came into real estate because their former lines of work were outsourced. Either that or an H1-B visa influx caused salaries to tank. Take your pick...a lot of these people were forced into another line of work . It's not funny, its not cute and there is nothing ethical about it. And it IS a big deal.


Btw, there ARE firms who do share leads. You just have to find them. They generally are not one of the big franchises. But as one former broker said to me about my former firm. "This broker is as good for you as his WORST customer - because all you are being given is the dregs." His advice - find another brokerage.

This is all I have to say about competing with your broker. You broker will alwasy get a % of your money so they don't really do a lot of competing with you. However you are competing aganist everyother agent in your area. You need to look to see what your broker and you can do to get your name out in the public. No matter what anyone tell's you, you will not make it in real estate over night. I live in a small midwest town and have lived there all my life. I started my RE job a year ago in December and managedout to out sell everyone in my office, but my broker who has been in RE for 28 years. Real Estate is a game of who you know. At first don't worry about competing with your broker. He will almost always out sell you. Worry about the Agents and other brokers. Make sure people know who you are where you work. Work hard to show your support of the community. Real Estate is a hard game. So if you can't run with the big dogs you better learn how to fast or you will never make it

I tend to disagree with the above. It takes TIME to run with the big dogs. Most people with staying power and a good work ethic do well. They also need to have the capacity to listen to their customers/clients and understand what they are looking or.

My main focus is serving the clients/customers that I do get and build up a reputation for being reliable, sympathetic and able to track the details of a transaction. Doing this well is hard work and that's why I emphasize the need for leads. I see far too many newer agents racing around prospecting so much that they fail to take care of the clients who are in the middle of a transaction. If you build up a fine repuatation, people will eventually come to you.

In all the Century 21 offices I know of the broker's are non competing.

It is not a C21 policy, it is up to the individual broker. I know at least 3 C21 brokers that also sell and list properties.

You now know of four. I worked for a C21 broker that was competing.

I worked for a Century 21. Each brokerage is independent. It all depends on the individual brokerage.

I chose to go to work for a non-competing broker because I thought she would be able to devote more time to training me--and I needed a lot! The competing broker I talked to had, at that time, about 50% of his office's listings (14 agents). He was so busy competing with them, I felt like I'd be taking up his time and he'd be taking away my potential work.

I have never regretted chosing a broker whose concern was for my career. She is the best!

I am being recruited by 4 Brokers in my area. OneI have eliminated because the manager made the circle of exellence level in our local board. You need almost 4.5 million in volume in and area where the average sale is 180K. He does not contol his office. One of his agents that I know now directs all showing appointments to go to her cell phone because the office was not calling the clients to confirm showings.