Hello everyone. This is my first post but I have been visiting this site for a while now and it has helped me in many ways. I am a fairly new agent and I am thinking about switching brokers. I have narrowed my choices down to Long and Foster, EXIT, and a company called Zip Realty. Since I am fairly new, training is the most important thing to me at this moment. I will appreciate any feedback or advice you can give me.

If you choose Zip Realty you will be an employee.

The question is simple have you interviewed both brokers? Do not get caught up in Exit's agent recruitment bonus. Since training is your major concern which of the two offices offer the best training and then commission split. Exit agents will always stress the residual income potential so do not fall for the tactic and instead focus on your major concerns.

What has made you decide on these three possibilities?
Where are you at now?
What are you not getting at your current brokerage and have you spoken at length about it with your broker?

I'm not sure of what your market is like but training is just one aspect of learning this industry. There is also mentoring. You should review their training programs and follow up with agents who have been trained by them. At first glance it may seem like they offer a lot of meat but when you get into their programs its all fluff that isn't worth the time.

A mentoring program can be a great thing (this is one of the things EXIT will stress to you)...the problem is, you can be a 5-day old new agent and recruit people and be responsible for mentoring them. How is someone who's only been in the business a week going to teach you how to do things? You need to make sure that if you go that route, that your mentor is a top-producing agent. I would suggest that you find a top-producing agent (at whatever brokerage), and see if they could use some help with their paperwork in exchange for you shadowing them for a while. You do the grunt-work, you get to sit in with the money-maker and REALLY learn things.

-Josh

Personally I believe that the residual business model of Keller Williams and Exit will eventually go away, the discount model looks to be the next big thing.

I think it is only a matter of time before some corporation builds and markets (nationwide) a MLS completely open to the public. People can list their homes and offer a compensation to an agent to bring a buyer. There will be paperwork only agents advertising on that same system to offer assistance to sellers when they get an offer.

I figure 4-6 years it will be here.

Northwestagent the system you are referring to exsists in some states. The agents are known as facilitators. I have been lobbying hard here with no interest.

If I am not mistaken it is an active system in Colorado.