How to Work With Other Licensed Real Estate Agents

Success in real estate is centered around being able to build relationships. This includes being able to work with other licensed real estate agents. Let’s explore ways that you can be successful while working with other agents in the field. Real estate is naturally a competitive profession because you get paid based on your performance: (commissions). A commission-based environment can encourage unprofessional behavior. Agents get stressed that there are not enough sales to go around and begin to panic. All members of the MLS are supposed to be working together. Remember, you can only focus on what you can control and positive to move forward. Building positive relationships with people inside the industry is the key to long lasting success. Here are some tips to do exactly that.

Build Relationships. One of the first things that you want to consider when building business relationships is putting in time and effort to build trust. You should aim to build trust with your sellers, buyers, competing agents, and other office mates. One of the benefits of cooperating with your competition is that you can learn and improve your own profession. Plus, you would never want to be put in a situation where another agent would not want to work with you. Another perk of knowing and working with other agents is that you exchange referrals. If you are on the board of two states and you don’t have your license in both, you will need a trustworthy agent, to take care of your clients needs. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, you can also receive referrals in the same way! Having friends that are agents will also benefit you if you can’t find the right listing for your client. Friends can give you tips on their upcoming listings and let you present them before they hit market. Knowing when new listing is coming to market will make you an undeniable asset to your clients.

Be a real estate sponge. In general, marketing with other agents is going to give you all kinds of different insights. Take other agents to lunch and talk to them about their business. A lot of agents have been in the industry for 20+ years and they can tell you what has worked for them. Real estate is one of those industries where you need to keep learning –connecting with other real estate agents is a great way to do that.

Be careful of other agents’ strategies. I will give you a warning, some agents have an additional job as a recruiter. Moreover, there are also brokerages that have incentivized structures where they make money if they recruit additional agents to the brokerage. If you are a new agent who just joined the industry and people are approaching you left and right, make sure that you try to target their intentions to figure out if they want to connect with you or add you to their incentives program. I encourage you to do your research on the agent and their company before you meet with them. This not only makes you look prepared, but it also raises any red flags before going into the meeting. There is nothing wrong with joining a brokerage where they rely heavily on recruiting. If you would like additional information on how to switch from one brokerage to another read this article here.

Consider joining a real estate group/team. If you are a young eager agent you might get approached by someone to join their real estate team. This can mean a dozen different things. When I first started I was approached by an agent who did over 140 transactions a year. He needed someone to be his buyer’s agent. This means I would basically get a cut of each transactions and all I would do for those transaction is open the door and show the home on his behalf. This is great because the rest of the time I could be working on my business. I did not end up taking this role because I didn’t want to be working under his brand. I wanted to build my own. However, such an experience is still a great option for someone who is having a slow start and wants to make sure they are getting the bills paid. Another option is to join a real estate team. There are so many ways you can create a team, but be a part of the team and make sure you ask all the right questions before doing so!

Attend broker open houses. This is a property showing specifically showing for other real estate agents and brokers. It’s a great way to meet new agent and see what other agents have coming up on the market. These have slowed down in the wake of the pandemic, but things are slowly coming back to normal. The point of these events is to make sure that people are talking about the property and picturing someone they know who might like to see it!

Try to always give the other agent 3% of the transaction. This was advice given to me on my first deal as a realtor. I was listing my mother’s house and I was trying to save her money by only taking 5% commission. I put in the listing contract to give 2.5% to me and 2.5% to the other agent. An agent from my office quickly called me and said, “you don’t have to listen to me, but take 2% and give the other agent 3%.” Some agents will not show a house if it’s below 3%. Living by this advice gets the house sold and it reflects the quality of agent you are as well as the quality of your brokerage. It’s best to always put your client first and the money will follow.