Teaming Up
More agents are switching to the team system every year, working with another agent to share duties and responsibilities and splitting the earnings that are a result of their combined efforts. There are pros and cons to working as a team. Evaluate your goals and unique situation before making a commitment to work with another real estate agent.
You and your teammate can negotiate any percentage split that suits you both. Agents working on a true team usually share their commission income equally, because workload is shared equally. Anything less than an equal split of duties might be better handled by making the person who contributes less to the effort a part-time assistant instead of a teammate.
You don't have to be best friends with your teammate but it is important that you share common goals. Are you both full-time agents? If not, do you both normally work approximately the same number of hours? If the number of hours you can work isn't comparable with your teammate's, wait a bit before joining forces. There is sure to be resentment if one of you isn't handling a fair share of the load.
Fact
Two-agent teams are common but a real estate team can be made up of more agents, if that suits the goals of its members. Try participating in a two-agent team first to see if the team concept works for you. The two of you can add more members later.
Does your proposed teammate share your ideals for customer service? Do you like the way she interacts with clients? Do you trust her ability to negotiate offers and contracts? Would you be comfortable going on vacation and turning your clients over to her? If you answered “no” to any of those questions, you should probably keep searching for a more suitable teammate. The person you choose must be someone you would trust to handle any portion of your workload.
Why Work as a Team?
Some real estate agents are more productive working with a teammate than they are when working alone. Perhaps you can handle every aspect of the job but you prefer to focus on paperwork and scheduling, while your teammate is a people-person who loves to work with clients. That scenario could produce the perfect team because it would allow each of you to excel in your own niche.
You've heard the old saying, “Two heads are better than one.” It's absolutely true in real estate. Every person brings her own ideas and expertise to the team. Sharing ideas about marketing methods and ways to work effectively with clients is often enough to trigger solutions that help you both. Teammates share expenses too, so a portion of your advertising costs and other expenses will drop if you team up with someone.
Alert
Some agents are concerned that as part of a team, they'll share all of their commissions with another person. That's not always an issue. Two working agents will likely generate more than twice as much income as one person. They may generate more by encouraging each other and working together to find methods to increase their business.
a Written agreement
Your real estate firm probably requires all team members to sign a written agreement that dictates how commissions are paid when any member closes a transaction. You can draft a simple agreement yourselves or ask an attorney to do it for you.
Team members often sign a more detailed document for each other, describing the team's entire agreement. It might include:
How commissions are shared
How clients are distributed among team members
Expectations for average hours worked, vacation time, etc.
How expenses are shared
No two agreements are alike. Personalize yours to meet the needs of your team.
If You Need a Little Help
Some people work better alone. You may fall into that category, but it's a given that there will be times you need help from another real estate agent. You might already be booked solid with appointments when a client calls and asks to look at homes or your vacation is coming up and an out-of-town prospect is flying in on short notice. No matter what the reason, it's nice to have another agent (or two) who can be called on to help when you can't be there.
Agreements between agents who only occasionally share duties are varied. You might decide to help each other out on an as-needed basis, with no money changing hands, or you can agree to share a portion of your commission if and when the client closes on a property, with the percentage determined by the level of help you receive. Put your agreements in writing so that you each understand how you will be compensated when you work with another agent's clients. Sometimes this is outlined in your office's policies and procedures manual, so be sure you are not doing anything that is against company policy.
Don't Do Everything Together
It doesn't make much sense to work in a team if you do everything together. Two people showing properties to different clients can generate two contracts — show together and a single contract is what you can expect. Each agent should be able to take over the other's tasks if necessary, but you can work more effectively if each team member is primarily responsible for achieving tasks that suit her expertise — whether it's paperwork and advertising or dealing one-on-one with clients and other agents.
It's sometimes helpful if both team members are present for listing presentations to help answer questions, offer support, and to make sure the client is aware that he has two agents working for him instead of one. There may also be times you feel uncomfortable working with a client you don't know very well. Don't hesitate to ask your teammate to accompany you if having another person present makes you feel safer.
Family Teams
The family team has become more and more common, usually a husband and wife, who work well together and complement each other's strengths. This can be a beneficial pairing, because you are already quite familiar and are working toward the same goals. You and your spouse may work well together. Perhaps you had another business before you got into real estate and know you will be comfortable. Even so, you will need to adhere to a few rules to keep your marriage and your real estate business intact: Don't bring the work home with you, and don't argue in front of clients.
Alert
An aspect to consider about pairing up with a spouse is that husband and wife teams need a backup for vacations. Other family arrangements, such as a father-daughter team or a team of brothers, can sometimes take over each other's job when one of them isn't there.
Although it can take place in all teams, one of the stresses of family teams is “who is the boss?” If the wife was a real estate agent for a number of years and her husband joins her at retirement, she may consider him a novice and want to create a set of rules for everything he does. On the other hand, if a group of siblings decides to be a team, even if they start at the same time, it is common for the eldest to think of himself as the boss. Be sure to outline how your family team dynamic is run, just as if you were not family members.
