I am a fairly new agent (about 6 months). I had to leave my broker due to a conflict of interest. I am now deciding which broker to choose. I have been very interested in a 100% commission broker and I have interviewed one in my area that I think would be a good fit for me. My question is do you think it is a bad idea for a rookie agent to join a 100% company? I am aware that I will not get the same support and training as I would at a traditional broker. I have also done my due diligence and know exactly what my fixed costs would be.

I know every situation is different but in my case I have lots of business experience both in the corporate world and independently, I am very much a self-starter. For the past 6 months I have generated my own leads and was pretty much on my own anyway (and did pretty well). I am involved in coaching already so I don't feel I would miss out much on the training offered by the traditional offices. I am curious to get some insight from many of the experienced agents on this forum.

Why not? Go for it.

I worked for one, it was one of the best moves I ever made...Until I opned my own office:-)

You can always pick up additional training at your local board.

That is a good point. Our local board offers lots of good training.

Dan,

I have about 30 agents at my company.For the low 300 trans fee I charge they get 1 call a month.If they need help through a whole transaction additional fees will be involved.

The reason is it takes time away from my own deals where I make much more than the 300 trans fee.

$300 a month sounds like a lot to me for one call a month? What else do you provide for that Super?

If I am reading Super right it is 300 bucks per transaction. Far less than what I pay! Super needs to open an office in Pineville,LA!

I was going to grow the 300 a transaction (not a month) real big after I transitioned from land development as that is dead right now.

What I found is agents working full time jobs and doing real estate part-time.So some of my agents didn't need help and others if they had one deal would call constantly because of inexperience or being rusty.

It would take 200 transactions at 300 trans fee to equal the amount I make on one of my investment commercial deals I typically do.Actually it would take more transactions than that as the time and paperwork involved would have even more costs to it than me doing one transaction.

It was at that point that I switched strategies about a year ago and ramped down the number of agents I have.Now have about 30 agents.

I am not taking anymore on the residential side.I am keeping the agents I have now a as courtesy to them. My main goal is to now build a commercial team that does volume.They have to be full time with no other job commitments period. They are on a 70/30 split with no cap.

Super, how firmly do you hold your agents to the "one call per month" rule, and how well does that actually go over? I guess my main concern would be that, if someone knows they're going to be paying their broker extra to get help working out a unique problem, how many of them are just going to make their own guess? The liability issue seems a bit troublesome. What's your experience been on that?

I'm just curious, not trying to nitpick. I do flat-fee as well, but it had never occurred to me to officially limit calls based on that fee. My thinking has always been that the smooth transactions and the nasty ones will balance out over time. (Plus, I also charge less experienced salespeople a higher flat fee.)

Hi Dan,

I am going through the same thing - actually I just posted the same question this morning. Although I am an experienced agent I am still nervous as well since it is a huge step. Go where you feel is the best place to be successful and dont worry about being a new agent...remember even the top producers were "rookies" at one time....I think I just answered my own question (lol)

I guess it really depends on your confidence level and maybe your circle of friends. I pay $250/transaction. There's no maximum to my calls, but I do try every way possible to get answers prior to calling. Also, I have friends who are agents, I can always run something past them.
I love my brokerage! No way I'd go back to a split transaction.

My broker wouldn't take you unless you were an assistant to another agent in the office. You would have to have a few years under your belt first before coming on board. Liability.

i work for a 100%.

the only reason i dont have my own shop is because it cost me less money to work at 100% than it does to have brick and mortar.

easy decision.

make more and pay for what you dont want.


"my office gives me free copies" (buy a printer)
"my office lets me use the fax for free" (buy a scanner)
"my broker teaches me" (hire a coach)
"100% of nothing is 0" (100% of 10k is 10k)
______________bottom line. anything your broker "gives" you is bought by you for less money.


go for it!

These are really good points...I agree. This is why I am leaning towards the 100% broker. This broker charges $39/mo (includes e/o) and $330 per transaction. He doesn't charge for use of computer, copier/fax and conference rooms. Although, I don't need to use any of his equipment anyway, I have a fully functional home office. The only thing I would potentially use is the conference room to meet clients.

Competence and confidence are the keys to this business...it's sounds like you have both. Go for it!