One of the larger franchises in our area has been very actively pursuing me to join their ranks. Flattery aside, they do have the best group of ethical agents I seem to work with. The manager has promised to increase my reo status by leaps and bounds, provide assistants etc, for a somewhat unbelievable split and monthly fee under 400...I, on the other hand, am a one person shop..and always have been. Not a clue how a large brokerage works, can they truly support a rather independent, virtual agent well enough to turn over some of my now 100% commission etc. What do you think, do the major banks prefer the big box companies, even though a single agent is performing the work in that frame work? I am torn between hiring a virtual assistant, or joining ranks with them
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I worked for a franchise for many years, I agree with Johnny & Jon. In my experience, I received less than I gave. The reason I left and opened my own brokerage was that on one of my REO accounts, I closed on a property and when I received my check-it was short (quite a bit), when I questioned the office manager she said "corporate took a referral fee" I asked why on my a/c that I had for 3+ years were they taking a referral- answer "because they have that a/c also" I replied that they didn't give me anything-it was already MY account. I was told to "suck it up" I did-then escaped, and couldn't be more grateful-best thing that ever happened.
Thank you all for taking the time to respond! I guess thinking about what I would be looking for from them..name recognition and possibly more established reo contacts..I have been working on that for my little company for years now. I called several current agents at their brokerage, and asked why they stay there. Name recognition is the number 1 answer, as for reo, they all said they develop their own, but that a couple teams at the place were set up by the owner. Hmmmm.. I am setting up an appointment with a virtual assistant next week to see if she can take on the tasks that are bogging me down..and if she is cheaper than the commission split, may just go that way for at least six months...
I couldn't agree with Johnny more. I've been approached by a few big shops. It boils down to your comfort and may work out very well for you if they can provide you with the support staff that you need and the potential for you to grow your team within their organization. For me personally my business has the potential to be a big shop, I'd love to have a broker like under the umbrella, because you are brining volume to the team (Big Shops Recurit Producers for a Reason). Market Share, and Numbers.
Many of my collegues that were with Big Names have gone out on their own (Johhny States Why in his response). If your not set up and don't want the headaches that come with expanding and running your own shop, I say join the team. I belive to be successful in this business you have to have a great team in place.
It boils down on how you function in a company culture. Being independent, I have my own ways and processes, however, I know that if you join the larger franchises, you will have to do everything their way (for corporate compliance). To have the manager promise REO status, well, that's what sales people do, promise things and for the recruitee to search and dig if that is the case.
My 2 cents...if you can handle corporate company culture but it does eventually increase your yearly income, then why not do it. If it's going to be more headache and you end up doing everything on your own anyways, then being independent is way to go.
I choose to be independent because I was in a corporate culture, however, I did everthing myself and taught myself the REO/short sale business. I paid for E&O, copy/fax/tech fees and splits in the big franchise. When I went independent, My costs are still the same, but I keep my splits :-)
You can always hire a team if you grow with the business. Most big box companies have their agents grow a team as well.
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Many of my collegues that were with Big Names have gone out on their own (Johhny States Why in his response). If your not set up and don't want the headaches that come with expanding and running your own shop, I say join the team. I belive to be successful in this business you have to have a great team in place.
My 2 cents...if you can handle corporate company culture but it does eventually increase your yearly income, then why not do it. If it's going to be more headache and you end up doing everything on your own anyways, then being independent is way to go.
I choose to be independent because I was in a corporate culture, however, I did everthing myself and taught myself the REO/short sale business. I paid for E&O, copy/fax/tech fees and splits in the big franchise. When I went independent, My costs are still the same, but I keep my splits :-)
You can always hire a team if you grow with the business. Most big box companies have their agents grow a team as well.