Online Kentucky Real Estate Classes

I seem to get this question or variations of it quite often so I’d thought I’d create a Top 10 Things to Look for in an Office/Broker checklist for new real estate agents trying to decide where to start their Kentucky real estate career. You can pick out which things are most important to you and please realize this is not an all inclusive list. I’ve intentionally left off certain things (I.E. Do they have a (P & P) policy and procedures manual?) because while every broker should have a manual to guide the entire office the lack of one wouldn’t necessarily keep individual agents from succeeding. Another example would be “Am I required to sign an independent contractor agreement (ICA)”? Well unless you’re an employee (You likely won’t be) the ICA is required by the Internal Revenue Service. These types of questions appear on various lists and I’ve even linked to other lists of questions/resources at the end of this article, but I’d like to focus more on the “big picture” aspect of what might help you make it in the business. FYI- I sent out a request to some of the best real estate educators in the business on what they think you should ask and I’ve included their information when appropriate.

 Top Ten Things to Look for in an Office/Broker

10) What is the quality of the support staff in the office?

In order to have harmony in a real estate office and an environment conducive to everyone succeeding, there must be great support personnel. Depending on the size of the office this could mean secretary, accounting, marketing, multiple listing coordinator, but if the staff is not top notch, it might make me leery of joining that firm. I’ve never seen a top notch company that didn’t have an outstanding support staff so ask other agents about the quality of the staff.  

9) What type of education will I receive? Who will do the training? Will they be able to answer my questions in a timely fashion?

Finishing real estate school is only the first step in becoming a successful real estate agent. You want to know what type of training you’ll be offered, (Classroom, One on one, Video, etc.) who’ll be doing the training and more importantly will they be able to answer your questions as they come up. One of the biggest complaints new agents have about their training is they can’t get their questions answered quickly when something comes up and they need advice.

Does the broker/manager seem to embrace using technology?

There’s no doubt that technology is becoming a bigger part of most businesses, but that’s especially true for the real estate business. Technology can help stay in contact with customer and provide more timely relevant information while improving profitability. A real estate office that doesn’t “lead the pack” in using technology will likely see their market share decline over time because buyers and sellers are starting to demand “instant” access to information. If the office isn’t up to speed, it’s hard for individual agents to effectively implement their own technology in a relevant way so that consumers are happy. If there’s one rule for succeeding in business, it’s to give consumers what they want and you can’t do that today by just using pencil and paper.   

7) How are leads generated? How are they distributed? Can you help teach me how to generate leads?

Probably the hardest issue facing most new agents is how to create leads and find someone that needs to buy or sell. Leads just don’t appear, but if the broker is generating leads via the company website, online marketing, traditional marketing and distributing those leads to agents, that can help a new agent tremendously. It would also be helpful if the broker could train you on how to generate leads. Edith Lank a noted author and columnist sent me her interesting take on lead generation. “Pay less attention to a broker who promises you leads and more to one who promises to show you how to develop your own leads.” While I agree in principle, I guess I’m an optimist and would like to ”have leads given to me while I also generate my own”.  

6) Is the office gaining market share or losing share? Are they adding or losing agents?

We all want to work with winners so if you can find an “up and coming” office that’s taking market share aware from their competitors, it generally creates additional opportunities. Sometimes new agents think if an office is large or growing, that’s just additional competition which is true, but more productive agents also generates more listings to show, and more telephone calls to answer so everyone can win. I often use a “bread crumbs” analogy in that a new agent can pick up business/scraps from other more productive agents who may not have time to work every single lead that comes their way. An office can gain market share without adding lots of agents as long as everyone is increasing production and selling more so in my opinion it’s far more important to look at market share than just number of agents, because there are lots of real estate agents that don’t really sell many pieces of property.

5) What are the fees? Is there a franchise fee? Who pays for what?

My motto is that it’s never rude to talk about money when it’s your own. Real estate sales is a business so you need to know exactly the fees you’ll be charged, how the commission split programs work, and what expenses will be paid by the broker. Each office is different so fees can vary wildly. Don’t just automatically choose the office with the lowest fees because one of my favorite quotes is “value is a function of what you get not of what you pay”. If you get leads, exceptional training, a great support structure you should expect that will cost you more than if you receive no support from the broker. In addition, if the broker is a member of a franchise, (Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, REMAX, Keller Williams, Prudential, you’ll likely be asked to pay a franchise fee off the top of any commissions you earn. You’ll have to decide which situation provides the best opportunity for you to succeed in business. As a general rule, the less in fixed costs you pay for (Advertising, Desk Fee, etc.) the lower your commission splits. (What you keep versus what the broker keeps)

4) Is there a mentor program? Can I go with other agents on appointments?

While some companies may not have a formal mentor program and assign you an experienced agent to follow, you should ask if it’s acceptable practice for you to “tag along”. There’s nothing better than seeing real live situations handled by someone else (there’s no pressure on you) to learn from. If there’s a formal mentor program, normally you’d have to give up part of the commissions earned which would go to the experienced agent for your “own the job training”. You’ll have to trust me when I tell you that having a mentor (official or unofficial) is the most underutilized program in real estate training and probably why a substantial number of agents fail in the business. Learn as much as you can from other experienced people in the business because there’s no reason to make silly “rookie” mistakes that can cost you sales and money.  

3) Do you have a relocation department? How do I get involved?

Relocations can be great because people have a “need” to either buy or sell. Some companies use special departments that handle most of the relocation business so if that’s a large part of the buyers or sellers in your community, you’d might be missing out if you weren’t involved. The number of relocation referrals really depends on the level of people relocating to your area and how may companies send the broker relocation business. Brokers have to pay for the right to receive referrals and they’ll also be charged a percentage of the commission collected as part of the referral fee, but 75% of a commission check can be better than 100% of a buyer/seller you didn’t know about until after they closed.

2) Do you have a foreclosure department? How many lenders send you foreclosure listings? Do you have an auction company?

I personally didn’t like dealing with foreclosure properties, but I’m sure you’ve heard all the stories on the news recently about people losing their homes. While most of that is overblown at least in my part (Kentucky) of the country, there’s no doubt there will be and increased number of foreclosures over the next few years due to poor lending practices. Whenever lenders take property back they typically end up listing it for sale with a local broker so it’s worth considering and even if you don’t want to get directly involved in foreclosures, the listings would tend to generate traffic/calls for the company.

This is particularly true with would be investors who might buy multiple properties. Some of these properties will eventually be sold via auction which may also be something you should consider. I’m in Kentucky where auctions are an everyday occurrence, but even in other parts of the country auctions will become more popular over the next few years as some lenders/sellers decide to cut their loses and sell quickly. One of the great things about the auction business (Any property management for that matter) is they tend to do better when real estate sales are slower so always be thinking about ways to weather fluctuations in the business. I little tip for you is to attend all auctions/master commissioner/trustee sales so you can see/meet investors and become knowledgeable about property. Auction results tend to be a leading indicator of market conditions.

1) Do you fit in?

Some people prefer a ”high speed low drag” environment while others prefer a much calmer pace. Some agents prefer a small closely knit office while others like to be part of one of the largest companies in the marketplace. The bottom line is that everyone needs to choose a company where they fit in and where they are comfortable. If you are good at what you do, you can be successful at any company regardless of franchise or size, or any other variable. I guess my last piece of advice would be to ask yourself after you check a company out “Do I belong here?” If you can answer yes, then you’ve found your real estate office.  If not, then you need to keep looking until you find your spot. It’s unrealistic to think you’ll find the “perfect” office, but you should strive to find the “perfect office for you”.

Other Tips from Leading Real Estate Educators

Ask if you can hang around the office for a few hours so you can get a feeling about the place.

Ask to attend an office meeting before making a commitment and get there early to interact with the agents/managers.

Know the type and frequency of educational and instructional activities.

Understand the tools and support the company will provide.

Make sure you know how the company handles commission on “agent owned” property. If you will be buying/selling a lot on your own, this can be extremely important.

Make sure you understand what type of errors and omission insurance the company carries and whether it extends to agent owned property. What’s the deductible?

Listen to the sounds in the office during your visit to get a feel for whether it’s friendly or unprofessional.

Look at the break/coffee room and the bulletin board to judge whether the office is neat, well equipped and clean. It may be a reflection of how the broker/manager runs the office.

Ask several people you know about the reputation of any company you’re considering. You don’t want to join a company that has a bad reputation or “ethically challenged”.

Special thanks to my fellow REEA (Real Estate Educators Association) members Edith Lank, Kenneth Edwards, John Yoegel, Rick Madden, Roger Smith, Rick Knowles, Chad Kumpe, Marcie Roggow, Kathy Howe, Randy Templeton, and Robert Bass for providing their valuable input. A special thanks to Kerry Kidwell for providing his selecting a real estate company checklist that you can access by clicking here.

Bonus List- 100 Questions to ask a Broker

Someone referred me to a Keller Williams company website (Click here for webpage) with a list of 100 questions to ask. Examples include:

Can I hire a personal assistant?
Do you provide software training?
Do you provide a website for the agents?
Is their an office orientation process?

This gives me an opportunity to make my final point. Each company/broker is going to put the best spin possible on their individual strengths and to downplay any weaknesses. That’s really what sales is all about so don’t just take someone at their word. I like to say “trust but verify”. Talk to people in the community, talk to other agents who’ve been at the company for 3 months, 6 months, over 1 year and get their thoughts about the company and/or the broker.

Here’s a warning. There’s always someone who will provide an unsatisfactory review, (Pull up any best selling book on Amazon and it’s likely to have received multiple negative reviews) but you’re looking for an overall theme. If every agent that you speak to tells you there’s very little training once you join the company, then the brokers claim of “Best Training in the Business” is probably false.

Bottom Line

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Investigate, research and take your time when deciding. I have a survey in my pre-license classes and ask how long people thought about getting into real estate before they ultimately decided to take my licensing class. The average response is just over 3 years so after thinking about it for that long, it doesn’t make sense to “rush” when choosing a company. One of my favorite sayings is “Measure twice, cut once”.  Sometimes the oldest advice is still the best advice. I wish you the best as you begin your real estate career and hope you find “the perfect company for you”.

Sincerely,

Todd (Renegade) Thornton
Thornton’s Real Estate Academy
Realestaterenegade.com