Broker Agent

Even if you have never held a job before, you have skills that could be of use in the real estate industry. Are you good at organization? You will need planning and execution (organization) skills for your appointments and paperwork. Are you skilled at computers and other hardware? That can be a tremendous asset in real estate, as you can rely much information to clients and the office via portable and wireless modems.

What about your business background? Do you have sales, teaching, service or management experience? Any of those are helpful to the real estate business, as you will be teaching your clients about buying and selling, serving their needs, and managing their transaction for them.

What about your personal experience as a homeowner or renter? Can you empathize with people who are first-time homebuyers because of your experiences? What would you do differently? These are important lessons of experience that your future customers will benefit from.

For most people entering the profession, the biggest limitation to address is money. Most practitioners will tell you that it could be months before you make a sale. So you should have at least six months' seed money to pay the bills until you sell a home. If you are married and reliant on another's income, your partner and you should be prepared to do without your income for at least that long or longer. In addition, you should be prepared to shoulder the expenses of doing business. If you get a listing, for example, certain advertising may not be covered by your broker and may come out of your pocket, including the sign you stick in the yard. Are you ready for that?

Are you responsible for children or an elder? You will need to provide day and/or after school care just as if you were at an office job. While you can work at home on your own computer, you may find it difficult to be responsible for a family while concentrating on work details. That means that you may only be able to work part-time, and if so, you should plan your income needs accordingly.

Are you poor with math or grammar? These aren't skills that can be improved overnight, but they can be worked on little by little. Your real estate math courses will show you which types of calculations you will need to learn. Practice them over and over in hypothetical situations until you are comfortable. Grammar skills can also be improved, but in the meanwhile, be prepared to use spell-checkers in your e-mail and word processing software, and ask someone to look over your contracts until you feel more confident.

☛ Does the office look like a professional environment?

☛ Who and how are customers and clients greeted?

☛ How many conference rooms are there?

☛ How many research rooms are there? Can you look at them?

☛ How many computers for general use and what software do they have?

☛ Printer situation? High speed/ Color/ Laser?

☛ How are incoming and outgoing faxes handled?

☛ Copiers situation? Cost associated with them?

☛ Other research tools available to help you? What are they?

☛ Do you maintain a training facility? Can I see it?

☛ Do you maintain a computer lab?

☛ Is the general office cramped?

☛ Is there adequate parking? For clients?

☛ What type of desk arrangements are there? What are the specific policies on this?

☛ Are there expansion plans?

☛ Is the heating and air conditioning adequate?

☛ Are there security issues to deal with?

A good broker will expect you to be able to come up with a business plan and stick to it. He or she will want to know how you plan on acquiring clients and what you plan to do to serve them. Some brokers are putting their new hires on production quotas.

Your business plan should include your costs of doing business as well as your income expectations. This should be based on your schedule for farming (building your personal contacts) and advertising.

Have your sphere of influence ready--friends, relatives, and neighbors. Don't forget tradespeople that you see everyday, such as your drive-through banker, pharmacist, and grocer. These are the people who will begin your farm of contacts, the first people with whom you are likely to sell a home. You should have a plan that outlines how you will contact and stay in touch with these people and encourage them to use your services.

You can't make money without the proper tool set, and the broker will ask you what you have in your bag of tricks. To compete on any level, you should have your own computer, cell phone, productivity and client management software, e-mail program, and a few other basics. Remember that you will be serving clients and communicating with other brokers and salespeople who may have more sophisticated gear than you, so you have to have at least these technologies to compete. Some brokers provide salespeople with some of these things, but the more the broker provides, the less he or she will expect to pay in commission splits.

☛ How does your commission/compensation program work?

☛ Can you take me through a “live” example by the numbers?

☛ What is the office procedure for getting paid on a closing?

☛ Are agents in the office on different plans? Explain them?

☛ What is the initial and ongoing cost of my affiliation with the company?

☛ Can I hire a personal assistant? Can they be licensed? Does the company charge me a fee for the assistant? What commission program does the assistant fall under?

☛ Do you have a profit sharing program with agents? How does it work?

☛ Are their other investment opportunities with the company? How do they work?

☛ What is the policy and cost if I buy or sell real estate personally?

☛ How will you attract new clients to our company?

☛ What are the most effective advertising techniques? Explain how you use social media to promote properties.

☛ Describe how you inspect a property. What are your main points of focus and what do you ask the owner?

☛ When do you identify a purchase closing as successful?

☛ What questions do you ask tenants to identify their needs?

☛ What documents are required to close the deal and who signs them?

☛ Do you use any tools or applications to organize your list of properties?

☛ How do you manage your appointments?

☛ If you had to sell a property in a neighborhood you’ve never been before, what would you do?

☛ When you advertise a bargain, how do you ensure competitors won’t reach to it?

☛ A young couple is looking to buy an apartment. What kind of houses would you suggest to them? How would your approach be different from other cases?

☛ Do you have a network of mortgage lenders and constructors you collaborate with?

☛ What are your obligations as a Real Estate Agent? Are you familiar with industry best practices?

☛ Tell me about your training philosophy?

☛ Do you have a New Agent training program? How is it structured?

☛ Can I see the program?

☛ What is the cost of the program?

☛ Who are the instructors and what are their backgrounds?

☛ Where is it held and at what times?

☛ Is fieldwork encouraged during the program?

☛ Is there a follow-up career launch type program to help get started?

☛ Is there a system in place to encourage early accountability?

☛ What Board of Realtors training is available?

☛ What type of ongoing training do you do? Can I see your training calendar?

☛ Is there an office orientation program?

☛ What type of advanced training is available and who teaches it?

☛ Do any courses provide licensing credit?