Anyone heard of this? The office says they can't afford to pay her anymore. Should I start looking for another brokerage to place my license? It doesn't sound good does it?

Furthermore, it seems that there should be a rule for the owner broker of a Re/Max office/franchise that would require a full time receptionist.

After all, Re/Max is supposed to be first class.

They can get around this by having "Agent on Duty" which becomes a free receptionist.

Core Agents in my office have resisted calls from newer agents in the office for agent duty at our REMAX office for years. My broker owner has reduce costs everywhere possible, but is still having trouble making money. Everything is on the table. He has grandfathered the older agents at 100% and does not impose the broker fee of 5%. So he has reduced hours of both our office admin. and our receptionist. But there is still one person there to answer the phone, and if they are out, he will answer personally.

Not that it's necessarily a trend...but one of my previous brokers did that and 6 months later he was out of business and his house was getting foreclosed...then again that coulda been because several heavy hitters left after the receptionist was let go...so which came first...the chicken or the egg?

I would leave.

Yeah. I'm looking for other companies now. This all happened this week. I think it's a matter of time before agents start to complete what's in their pipe line and look for an Exodus. I've got some stuff closing on up till 1st or 2nd week in May.

I just wonder if my Re/Max Fees will be comparable to what I'm paying now.

I can't imagine very many top proudcers wanting to stick around long. Working for Re/max one would expect top knotch. Doing without a receptionist and expecting the agents to pay the same fees is not Top Knotch.

I consider myself a Top Producer with this company as well. Not to brag, but I've been blessed with closings, whereas the other Top Producers have been a off to a slow start this year.

Thanks for all the replies

Cindy my brokerage is virtual. My agents work from home or meet clients for lunch etc.

Regular brokerages are getting pounded. They simply are still running business models based on years past which won't cut it.

With transaction volumes of regular sales lower it's hard to pay for receptionists etc.

Most brokers hold on to long and deplete their savings. The smart ones have shut down and retired or have changed their business model to survive without tapping into their life savings.

In my area a name doesn't mean squat. My agents get plenty of business from their personal relationships they forge with clients. The name of the brokerage could be "krusty the clown"

If you can help a buyer buy or a seller sell and give great service that's all most want.

Will some go on a name? Sure,but just a small percent.

There are all kinds of changes going on in my MLS. A couple offices have closed; a few brokers are going independent (including me!); some heavy hitters migrating to big franchise firms. Seems like a lot of agents are switching brokers, seeking a place where the grass is greener.

My local Re/Max office was sold to one of the associate brokers; now the former broker is an associate. No more receptionist in that office either, and most of the agents have gone to other offices.

I visit my former broker's office from time to time. A year ago, the dry-erase board had 30 or so pending sales listed; now it's about half that many. Broker complaining that all the agents are working full time jobs elsewhere these days, and are just doing real estate part time.

Frankly, I don't know how my former broker can afford to keep paying the office manager, but it's status quo there for the time being, at least.

Me...I'm working from home with minimum overhead...and this year is on track to be better than last year.

I would not consider the lack of a receptionist good reason to jump ship. There are many firms I call only to get an automatic answering service with directions on reaching the person or department you need. Most modern phone systems automatically notify the person's cell phone whom you are calling and they can receive that message virtually anywhere. I had one ReMax agent tell me that they knew the office was revenue short when the delivered bottled water was discontinued.

A large ReMax franchise, known as Remax On Line with about 5 to 6 branches in our area just closed down. At one time they boasted 150 or more agents and would mail out recruiting postcards on a quarterly basis. I would always get one.

Just roll with the brokers right now because the 80/20 rule is in full swing...20% of those agents doing 80% of the work and it is getting tougher and tougher to meet the overhead.

Thanks for all the Replies. I've checked around and the other offices fees are comparable. I like having an office close by that I can get to easily. The only thing I don't have at home is a fax. But I'm 2 miles from my office. I suppose I'll endure all of this for the time being. It doesnt hurt to be thinking of plan B. I don't know what might happen next. It's scarry to think they might shut their doors

I guess my concern would be in who does answer the phone, if it's always other agents will they also see the faxes that come in...what if a lead calls for you and another agent gets the call and snakes them away...

Also when calling and there's no receptionist, what if you want to make an appointment to see a property and the agent is not available...had that happen more than once. Clients wanted to see a house at the last minute - and we couldn't, because we couldn't get an appt.

In other (more cut-throat) Sales Environments, that's called Creamin' da Leads !

Fax machines are going "out" here anyway. Everyone is going to
MY FAX (or similar) - fax goes right to your own email. Don't you have a centralized showing service to use on your listings?

I think Super Realtor is right on....times they are a'changing and those that don't change their business model may not be in business much longer.

Suppose it depends on your market, but I just can't say that I see the importance of having a receptionist. I can't even think of which companies around here have one and which ones don;t.

Seems like your broker may be making a smart move..."biting the bullet" by letting her go before he gets in too deep and has to close his doors.

In our market, the high rent brick and mortar office still seems to be the norm. One of the NRT group companies closed two offices last month (very suddenly I might add). And there are quite a few struggling one office franchises in the area.

We went as virtual as the state allows (PA requires an office with a conference room - they actually inspect the office before issuing the license) and everyone works basically from home. The office is still available if someone needs bulk color copies and such.

One franchise in our area used to have one but it seems that they don't do it anymore (more cost cutting?)

As PA Roadkill mentioned, we have to have a traditional office with a conference room here in PA. Of course I think it could be a big one room office with a conference area divided off by cubicle partitions or something similar.

Traditional brick & mortar offices are the norm here. Centralized showing services are not. And if we go that route, there are going to be more and more unemployed people.

I'm not sure going total virtual is a good thing in the long run.

Anyone remember this Twilight Zone?

The Brain Center At Whipple's

Actually some of the MLS's in the south central part of the state have added Showing Assist. It's part of our monthly fees. And you get an email with the details of the showing.

On the down side, there's a lot of agents who haven't figured out to use it yet. Gee, it's only been 2 years! And it's as complicated as clicking on a link. Works especially well when you have a vacant property.

We utilize centralized showings services. There are 2 big ones often used in our area. I use them as well. I am a big fan of e-fax. I never bothered purchasing a fax for the purpose of "Faxing out". I go into the office for that. The broker owns (or is purchasing) his own brick and mortar building. He also leases add'l space out (that should help).

I guess what burns me more than anything is the fact that there will be agents scum sucking and stealing ad calls. Been there done that. I have my ads structured the best I can to get the calls to me. In my state, agents cannot advertise with cell phone number only (must have office number same size). In my state, other rules are: 1. You cannot operate by answering machine only. There will be plenty agents Creamin da leads covering the phones. 2. Must have a work space for agents (desk or other designated are. 3. Must have specified hours of operation

Get a fujitsu scan snap scanner instead of a fax. You scan the document and email it. No phone line and crisp clean copies sent. Best little machine I ever bought.

Cindy

Ufax gives us a Realtor discount. You are able to view your fax online. It has saved me a lot of time because I do not have to physically wait for a secretary to send me a copy of the fax. When I was at a large office sometimes my paperwork would get mixed up with another agent who has a similar name as mine. This prevents those glitches since it goes straight to your computer. At home I can use my phone line to send a fax. Besides, more people are scanning documents and emailing them.

Some of the biggies in our area are closing and consolidating offices. Century 21, Prudential, Corcoran, all consolidated offices and some of the recepts go home at 2. Many of the small brokerages have simply closed. Since they were owned by long time locals I assume they'll reopen when things pick up. We use showing desk. Down south a friend of mine works at a Keller Williams, they do floor time by forwarding the calls in 4 hour blocks to agent's cell phones. I think real estate brick and mortar is changing big time. our white board is also way down in deals. I predict some of the only agents who are going to remain in my office of 80 (other than the 2 top producers whose grandparents went to kindergarten with the other locals' grandparents) are the retired teachers and cops who have substantial retirement benefits, and the dilletants who are married to well-employed spouses and trust fund babies.