100% Commissions! Are They Worth It?!

If you have an email account and you're a real estate agent doing business anywhere in the USA, you've probably been hit a few times with recruitment pitches to join a 100% firm. It's worth it to look closer at the 100% agencies, what they offer, how they operate, profit and service their clients.

Keep in mind that a 100% agency's clients are the Realtors that hang their license in the office, not the buyers and sellers of real estate. We, the agents, are who the broker services. Our clients are the homeowners, buyers and sellers. Your 100% broker is in business to serve you, streamline your process of doing business, introduce new technologies, solutions, software, marketing ideas, etc. It sounds like they're doing everything a full-service broker does, so how do they stay in business if they're giving back all 100% of the commission?

A typical 100% broker will charge a reasonable monthly fee (anything over $200 is too much), a transaction fee per/deal and E&O premiums for the year. That's it. The broker is not looking for a 'home-run' on each and every transaction. They're looking for lots of 'base-hits'. They need agents that work the market to death and go the extra mile to make a deal.

The business model of the 100% broker needs volume to succeed. They cannot carry the fixed expenses of an office, employees, licensing, printing, technologies, etc., with only 10 or 20 agents. They need numbers. Big numbers. And this usually means they need self-starters, agents that are highly motivated, independent, and do not need their hands 'held' buy a larger, national company.

What's the tradeoff? If you work in a 100% brokerage, you already know that you're the brand, not your broker. You know that you need to build yourself, your name, reputation, experience, without the logo of a big, multi-national agency behind you. You need to be everywhere on the internet, everywhere in your town, neighborhood, kid's school, all at once. You're pushing YOU, not your company. You're pushing what you can do for people, not what XYZ agency does for people. Today in real estate, it's all about your relationship with the client.

I'm a Realtor® with Realty Associates located in Boca Raton. I joined the company the same day I saw their ad and never looked back. The business model works. When I signed up, there were 40 agents with the company. Today, there are close to 500. The company has the most number of listings for sale/rent Boca Raton, the most number of closed sales in the past year, the highest dollar volume, according to MLS figures.

If you'd like more information about why it's great to be with a 100% brokerage or how to join one, contact me directly and follow me at: http://twitter.com/ScottSellsFL