The Basics of Real Estate Team Building

A lot of people have been reaching out to me for advice on real estate team building recently.

It makes total sense… right now is a great time to capitalize on robust market conditions and scale your business. And as I’ve been saying for years, teams are definitely the future of the real estate industry.

But here’s the thing: I can help you make the best decisions for your future, but I can’t tell you what’s best for you. If that makes sense.

Why? Because team building is a highly individualized effort.

So while I can’t give you every last answer, I can pose the important questions that will help you figure it out – and I’ll inject my advice along the way. But first, you need to decide whether you are sure you’re ready to start building your team.

Let’s dive in!

Critical Questions You Must Answer to Grow Your Dream Real Estate Team

Team-Building Question No. 1: What Type of Team Do You Want?

If you’re considering starting a team, you’ve probably already developed some sort of vision for what you want it to look like.

If you aren’t sure about that vision – or even if you are – now is the time to solidify it… because you’ll be making hiring decisions based on your long-term vision.

  • Do you want a small, tight-knit team where people are bonded by a common culture and everyone pulls their own weight?
  • Do you want a medium-sized team where you will hire a few specialists to handle some of the workload to free up your sales agents to make it rain?
  • Do you want a giant team with dozens or even hundreds of agents, a full admin staff, sales, and marketing teams… basically a brokerage within a brokerage?

Crystallize your vision and get it dialed in. Then move on to…

 

Team-Building Question No. 2: Will You Stay in Production?

This is another scenario that is completely up to you.

Do you love working with clients – everything from the difficulty of fixing a transaction that goes sideways to the ecstasy of happy clients at closing?

Or do you see yourself as more of a CEO type, ready to leave the day-to-day sales to others while you orchestrate the big picture?

It’s a difficult decision. But you’ve got to decide rather than straddling that line.

Question 3 might help you reach a decision.

 

Team-Building Question No. 3: What’s the Impact of You Leaving Production?

If you’re considering building a team, you’re likely already doing quite well for yourself.

So leaving production brings along with it all sorts of potential outcomes and consequences you must consider.

It’s really a math equation: Calculate your own current net vs. how many sales associates it would take doing a reasonable amount of volume at whatever split you’d negotiate… minus any costs associated with growing the team.

When you figure all that out… How realistic is that? And how long will it take before your income is back to where it is now?

And most importantly, can you accept that?

 

Team-Building Question No. 4: If You Leave Production, What’s Your New Role?

 

What you need to identify here is what’s your new HABU – the highest and best use of your time – if you’re no longer actively selling homes.

It will largely depend on your answer to question one above. If you have visions of a giant, ever-expanding team, you’ll need to take on the role of CEO and develop a recruiting strategy to fulfill your goal.

On the other hand, if you want a small team, you might embrace your role as a trainer and accountability partner for the small corps of agents you surround yourself with.

It’s entirely up to you. But it’s best to define it ahead of time rather than letting it evolve based on perceived needs.

 

Team-Building Question No. 5: If You Stay in Production, Who Do You Need to Hire?

If you choose to remain in production, you’ll quickly overwhelm yourself if you try to take on all the additional responsibilities of running your business AND managing a growing team.

So it’s time to make some hires.

The first role I’d suggest you bring on is a sales leader to recruit, onboard, train, “deal doctor” and coach your new agents… so YOU can focus on your own production.

You’ll also want to hire additional agents.

Then the choices become more of an “as needed” basis and may depend on your vision for what type of team you aspire to. You might need marketing staff and/or a social media manager, a showing coordinator, inspection specialists, transaction coordinators, and more.

I sincerely hope these five questions help you gain some clarity for the future growth of your business!