OK I have decided between two companies, EXIT (I don’t care about the residuals so not even taking that into account here at all) and one of the largest local companies that is expanding.

First EXIT
Advantage – Broker. I really liked the broker more than any of the companies I talked to, and I talked to 8 of them. He was extremely successful and is really willing to work with me and train me. This is a guy who was a top 25 agent among 17,000 in the area just a few years ago.

I think I could get better 1-on-1 training from a very successful former agent here.

No monthly fees until you sell anything. and no E&O deductible, broker covers the $2500 deductible.

Disadvantage – The costs are better than most, but not as good as the alternative.

Other info– 50 agents, they have 1 or 2 rock stars here but the rest appear to be typical a few deals a year agents.

If I did 20 deals at 3% with a sale price of 250K
My total commission split i keep appears to be about 103K.


Other office
Advantage – the formal training seems to be better here. While I don’t think I would get the 1-on-1 training as well because there are 500 agents here, the formal weekly training seems to be strong and you do get 1 of 3 mentors.

Its closer to my house, it is only 1.5 miles from my house where EXIT is about 8 miles. They are also the fastest growing office in the Phoenix metro area which I think is an advantage.

They have 3 monthly options all at 100%
1) $25/mo and 225/transaction and $50/ for E&O
2) $50/mo and $200 for first transaction and $50/ for E&O
3) $75/mo and $150 for 1st transaction and $50/ for E&O

Disadvantage – Not as much 1-on-1 support from a known producer as EXIT. To big of an office with 500 agents vs 50? Not sure if that is really a disadvantage or not.

Not sure if this is advantage or disadvantage. This office is owned by an attached mortgage company. The selling points were they allow you free b/w and color printing. They also say the advantage is this is how they make their money and they keep the fees lower on RE side. They say you are not required to use mortgage company although they want you to obv.

If I did 20 deals at 3% with a sale price of 250K
My total commission appears to be about 146K. Thats about 43K more than EXIT.

Only real differences I see as far as what is included or not
Exit all of your buyer/seller packets are included and with the other office you get the 1-800 audio tour for free.

Both have training, one has more formal classroom the other has classroom also but more one-on-one, then again the amount of money you keep in your pocket is a big difference between the two. Also really liked the broker at EXIT where the 500 agent office all I met was the education coordinator.

Thoughts? Or any thing else I should be thinking of.

Did you do BPO's? Did you ask these 2 companies what % if any they would keep of BPO income?

I am a new agent just graduating school, I had a long list of questions i was supposed to ask, no one ever told me to ask that so i have no idea

Forget all that Crap and go with your Gut. If it feels right...thats where you go.

I choose based on the reputation of the company and the smaller size of the office...I knew starting out I would need support and a brand that people quickly recognized. I agree with the above who said go with your gut. In the end, most brokers all offer pretty much the same thing - go with the one who will teach you the most and help you get the business - you can always switch a few years down the road.

500 agents at one office would really intimidate me, so I don't think I would be eager to join there. That is an awful lot of competition within your own broker!

OK one more question on this... I am probably over thinking this but i want to get it right the first time. How much of an advantage is it to go with a big name company when you are new even if the monthly is a lot more?

If I have one that only has a $25/mo and another that has $180/mo while in training, but the 180/mo has by far the most transactions/agent in the state is it worth it for the extra costs?

Hi,

Ultimately I'm going to say go with your gut, like the others, but the more info you get first the better.

- Are you able to discreetly ask questions of any other agents about their experiences in these two offices, especially ones that started out in the past year or two?

- What's the 'typical' deal per year average in the second office? A few deals per year in the first one doesn't sound like much, and it's good to be around people who are seriously working on their biz and not just playing around.

- What's the feel of each office? You should be able to tap on people's shoulders for help and get a real answer.

Name recognition is important, but ultimately the key is the agent and often a mentor, whether it's the broker, another agent or someone else. If you feel the first broker is sincerely interested in training you to be as successful as he was that definitely counts for something. At this point in your career the people you surround yourself with may count for more in the end RE dollars than the actual cost structure of these offices, if that makes sense.

Anyway, best wishes to you!

Irene Dorang
www.ToolsForRealEstate.com

weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! we have a winner

The winner is NONE OF THE ABOVE

So i did some more research and found out there was another company i had not talked to (and i had talked to like 8 of them) who actually was the third largest in the Phoenix-Valley area as far as transactions, $$ sold and also in transactions/agent.

So i decided to talk to them and it was one of those it just felt right! It is the first one i left saying that's the one for me.

It was a good interview and before we even got to fees i said to myself this is the one as long as they arent crazy fees for a new agent.

THen the best part. While in training (first 6 transactions) is $0/mo and 70/30 split

Then after training they have 2 option

1) 100%
$50/transaction E&O
$225/month fee

2) 70/30 split on first transaction each month
After that you go to 100% with the $50/E&O for any others that month and the monthly fee is 0

SO best of both the worlds for a new agent!!

Im excited... now i just need to pass the state test next friday

BTW if anyone is interested its West USA Realty

Wow, I am glad to hear you found your home :) Best of luck!!!

What type of training did they say they provided? Mentor, online, etc.

They have an 8 week training program, full time training staff you can use any time and they will help walk through things with you and then they also have online training videos