I interviewed with a franchise. Now I know that real estate is sales, but I just felt like I would be a door to door salesman. I will be interviewing with a small company in the near future. The smaller company is not a franchise. One office with 14 agents. I know that the franchises may have more business just because of the familiarity of the names so I guess that's like free advertising on my part but I think a smaller office may be better for me. Any advice?

I went to my first interview today, with a franchise. I was very pleased with the experience. The broker was very cordial and provided tons of information - before I even asked any questions. (I was prepared to ask him a couple dozen!)

This is a mid-sized firm with 39 agents, selling mostly single-family residential and land.

The start up costs and fees are affordable, considering the franchise fee, and the commission splits seem fair.

I can't wait to interview a couple more!

I'm not sure I understand the relationship between 'franchise' and 'door-to-door' sales.

Unless you plan on joining a team which will hand you clients in exchange for a large split, you're going to have to develop your own client base whether you're with a large franchise or an independent or boutique type brokerage. Many of the larger well-known brokers have relationships with RELO companies and will hand you business for a reduced commission.

My suggestion for new agents is to find a broker who offers good training and coaching. Talk to other agents who joined the office as rookies. Did they get the training they needed? Was someone available to answer contract questions when needed? Did they receive everything they were promised?

There's no one size fits all in this business. The best approach is to talk to as many people you can, try to assimilate all the information, and make a decision based on your 'best guess' of where you'll fit in.

Good luck!

Most brokers will hand new agents a detailed, itemized list of 'start up fees.'

Take that list and double it. Better yet... triple it!

how many agents an office has is irrelevant. there are many agents on these forums that have rock solid advice and they might even be a broker with NO AGENTS. so dont focus on how many indepent contractors a brokerage has. my office has over 100 agents and i dont get a penny for anything that anyone else closes, so it really does not matter.

a great mentor will do you some real good. if you can luck out and get someone who is productive and will show you the ropes you will be on your way to a good start.

often times i have noticed that mentors fall in 1 of 2 main catagories.

1..great agent, but no time to teach

2..not so great agent, but plenty of time to teach

neither one is a great mentor.

i have mentored in the past, but noticed that the mentee's did not follow the coaching that i proposed to them nor did they follow some of the business generating task's that i asked them to do for their benefit. they are no longer agents. there have been a few agents who would follow those things and guess what...they are doing GREAT. i dont mentor anymore because i fall into mentor #1 catagory (i think) and dont want to deprive someone of the much needed coaching time that they would need to learn to thrive in this business

my point is that it is up to you to succeed. even with great coaching, it is up to you to do those money producing activities that will put food on the table.

good luck to you....keep us posted!

When I interviewed with the company they said things like-"If you see a fsbo sign in a yard get out and knock on the door and try to get the listing" Things like that would make me feel like a door-to-door salesman. Kind of like cold-calling. The broker also said that I will need to submit a business plan and he will follow-up and make sure i'm sticking to it. He said he was going to crack down on all of his agents because they are getting a little lazy. I really didn't feel as though I would be an independant contractor with that comment. I know I have to work hard in this business to make money and if I don't, i'm only hurting myself.

Well, part of your broker's job is to oversee his agents, and of course, he wants them to produce.

Perhaps his approach was not as diplomatic as it cold be - our broker does the same thing, but only to help us. We have one on one meetings with him twice a year - once at the beginning to talk about our "plan" and he will offer advice on tweaking it or on implementing it. He also asks if there is any feedback we'd like to give on the office and how it's run.

Sometime in June or July we have a follow up meeting to see how we're doing and again he'll offer us advice on how to improve or congratulate us for doing so well.

It's not at all like being hauled into the principals office.

No office wants to have lazy agents working it. It gives the office a bad name, IMHO.

Too many brokers have a "kick you out of the nest you're on your own" mentality and want you to fly by the seat of your pants and don't give you much reason for paying your commission split.

We often joke at the office that our broker is Papa Bear. He truly does care about all of us and wants us to succeed.

If however, that approach makes you bristle, then you need to go to a more laid back office where the broker is just a name on the wall and the person who signs your commission check after deducting his split.

I had a wonderful mentor in my very first office. He had many decades of experience, and had slowed down somewhat in his old age. But he didn't need to spend a lot of time to teach me. He was able to give me quick, simple, and insightful advice in a matter of minutes.

He passed away a few years back. Great guy.

Texas,

I would agree with you that there are some GREAT ones out there. part of it is having a good student that just needs direction. the best mentor in the world wont do anything to somoene who needs constant motivation. there are to many times where the mentor wont be around for that.

One word: TRAINING
Not franchise, not big names, not fair split...but TRAINING.
Training is what you have to look for before anything else if you begin...

There are alot of companies to choose from. Exit Realty offered me everything my family was looking for. I wanted something that offered the opportunity to make residual , retirement and beneficiary income. I'm happy to say I found it! good luck!