Im currently looking for a new place to hang my license. Now that ive been doing RE part time for about 5 years i have come to realize whats important in finding the right office to work for.

WHAT I LOVED about my old office.

1. low fees. Paid a flat advertising fee with every transaction which went to promoting me and/or my listings. (i know your probably thinking.... WTH??? but really, its a recouped expense. I was happy to pay it to not have to hassle with the ads every month/week and have that money come out of my pocket and then loose the listing. It sure beat paying a big office a "franchise fee" or some such thing that i would see no personal benefit from.

2. great broker support. I was able to call with questions any time of day and always reach my broker. Very helpful when you are a new agent.

3. small office atmospere which meant that all the random obscure leads that would come into the office that would make the other agents with more experience cringe would get passed onto me. It almost always turned into money in my pocket and a great learning experience.

WHAT I HATE about my office

1. All the calls are directed to the office (even on my listings) rather then to the agent from there they may or may not get transfered out. I wonder how many potential sales i missed out on as a result. (i work from home)

2. Im expected to pay 1% and have my broker list my own personal property if i decide to sell. Dealing with this now and very annoyed by this fact.

3. even though i paid that advertising fee.... most of the promotion was towards my listings rather then me and if it were my listing the calls and contact info went to the office, not me. There were very strict rules for advertising and i never got a breakdown as to where that part of my commission they took from me benefited me in that respect.


What about you??? What did you look for in finding a place to hang your license? What does your office offer that allows you to succeed?

Regarding #3 in your "hates"--you should definitely ask for a budget periodically because your advertising fees could be going towards something that is directly competing against you and your fellow agents in the office.

I love it because I own my own company and hate it because I don't have enough people to qualify for a group insurance plan.

I love my broker b/c he is the smartest and best looking broker I've ever met. He pays all my fees and lets me keep 100% of the commission and feeds me leads left and right. He buys me lunch regularly and entertains my clients for me as well, all the while promoting me. He even renovated a building for me to put my office in right on our main st. with 35k cars going by each day. He's great.
Oh, he's also me!

Look for a broker who is honest! I think that is the key! My broker sold me my first house. She is wonderful, like a sister! She is very fair and honest to clients and to agents. You can talk to her about anything. She answers the telephone when I call and she has helped me many times when I am stuck..

Yes the broker is very important, I don’t believe to self-educated agents, there is always gap in there knowledge.

Well when you leave a broker that sponsored you for ten years to be in business for yourself then it stands to reason you will be able to influence his policies in your favor! ;-)

I considered a change this winter. I sniffed around and I did find a brokerage that I would consider if I was unhappy.

I was unhappy about the office fees, I felt they were a bit excessive giving that I work from home. The increase to cover toner and paper really burnt me up, as I never use the equipment, and a few minor issues and excess fees.

In the end I talked to my broker in Feb. and told him I had been shopping around as my IC contract was due to be resigned in March. Out of respect, my current broker has the right to counter any offer that I recieve from another brokrage.

Overall I love the office and the Broker (as much as a man can love another man without being romantic). We sat down and talked, basically I don't want to leave, and he don't want me to leave.

Its expensive to move to another brokerage (for the agent and the broker). Meet with your broker, lay your cards on the table, and let the chips fall. If you are a good agent, the broker will fight to keep you, or at least give you a blessing(no need to burn a bridge).

An agent is only successful if the broker is, the broker is successful if his agents are.

A "bromance!"

I like that! Thats exactly the work I was looking for HAHA!!