Real Estate Teams at exp

Real estate teams are a group of agents working together with a team leader under the umbrella of a real estate brokerage.

The team leader will typically provide training, leads, marketing, and a variety of other services for the agents on the team. In return, the agents share a percentage of their commission with the leader, in addition to what they share with their brokerage.

At eXp Realty, the Group you join MATTERS, almost as much as the Brokerage itself. When you apply to join eXp, you have the option to include a "sponsoring agent", someone already licensed at eXp. Once this agent becomes your sponsor, you are given the privelege to use any of the resources, tools & marketing offered through your "upline", the 7 agents who have in turn introduced each other to eXp. This is a tremendous advantage to have, as many of these agents are in established real estate groups. The benefits of these groups are shared with any agents sponsored by members within them.

When you Join The Swarm Group at eXp Realty, you are also joining the Pathway Group, and along with our other 1,100+ agents, you will have access to incredible Unique Selling Propositions for your business that no one else offers.

TRADITIONAL TEAM – This is the most common real estate team structure, but every team runs a bit differently. If you are on a traditional team, you’ll typically receive buyer leads, administrative support, transaction coordinators, training, and accountability. Many traditional teams have a team leader and/or a seasoned agent who handle all the listings and the rest of the agents on the team only work with home buyers.

COMMUNITY TEAM – While this is less common, the community team or partnership team usually includes more experienced agents. All the Realtors work together under the team brand and they chip in a small percentage of their commission to cover the cost of marketing, signs, and lead generation. This is a good fit for agents who already have a steady stream of business, but enjoy the camaraderie, support, and work-life balance that a team environment offers.

MEGA TEAM – This is a traditional team on steroids. The mega team typically has at least 20 agents on the team and sells 500+ homes annually.

EXPANSION TEAM – This also follows the same structure as the traditional team, but the team leader has expanded the group into multiple cities or states. They all operate under the same team name/brand.

It’s also important to note that every real estate team is set up differently. Some traditional teams have a 60% split and others have a 40%. Others take a lower split but don’t provide leads. Some run like a well-oiled machine, others not so much.

Many teams have a strong lead generation system and/or a steady stream or referrals and repeat clients. If you are a newer agent with no marketing budget and don’t have a large network of family and friends in the area, being able to work the leads from the team will definitely give you a leg up and help you start selling homes faster.

By working with your team leader and the other members of your group, you’ll be able to learn from them on a regular basis. Hearing about other agents’ experiences and strategies for success can help you become a better agent and get your business off the ground much more quickly.

Many teams offer a closing coordinator to help you prepare all of your paperwork for closing. They also give you access to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to help manage your leads. You may also be able to reach out to your fellow team members for backup help if you aren’t able to make it to a client appointment.

If the team has been in business for many years, usually they have a recognizable brand and great reputation in the community. You’ll also be able to leverage the team success statistics (i.e. “sold over 100 homes last year”) if you don’t have many of your own to share. If you are a new agent and join a real estate team, this can help build your credibility — and your confidence — when talking with potential clients.

As a member of the team, you’ll be sharing a portion of the commission with the brokerage AND the team leader. While you typically won’t have to spend any money marketing yourself, you will have to help more clients buy/sell homes each year to offset the expense of being part of a team. The average agent on a team keeps between 30%-45% of the commission generated.

We highly recommend that you crunch the numbers (solo agent vs team) to make sure the team is a good fit for you and your wallet.

Most teams have you complete all of the sales under the group name (or the team leader’s name) versus your own. Initially, most newer agents don’t mind not receiving credit for the sale. But if you are the type of person who wants to publicly celebrate your successes so you can start making a name for yourself in your community, that may be quite a bit more challenging when you’re on a team.

Being on a team may be difficult if you’re a part-timer. Most team leaders want you to be in the office for the morning meeting. They may also allocate certain times each day for follow-up calls and they want you to be there “smiling and dialing” for several hours each day/week. Also, if they are giving you buyer leads, they usually need you to contact the lead within 10 minutes of receipt. If you are working another job and can’t contact the incoming leads, that may be a problem.

Have you lived in the area for years? Do you have lots of family, friends, and acquaintances? If you are a buyer’s agent on a real estate team and one of your friends wants you to sell their home, you may not be able to. The team leader would take the listing and possibly give you a small referral fee.

Do you have a background in marketing? Or do you just enjoy getting on social media, creating videos, or finding creative ways to promote your business? If so, being part of a team probably isn’t the best idea. Your team will usually handle all of the marketing on their social media pages and website and you may be limited to what and how you share online.

Do you wake up in the morning ready to tackle the day? Whether it’s following up with leads, promoting yourself online, or trying to learn as much as possible? If you hold yourself accountable and are always striving to do and learn more, you’re most likely a self-starter. If you’d prefer to have someone else map out your day for you and hold you accountable to your goals, you would probably work best on a team.

Okay, let’s talk numbers! This is an important factor when deciding if a team is right for you. Most agents on a team keep about 40% of their commission while the average solo agent keeps about 65% to 75% (after expenses and broker splits).

We are going to break down what you could earn as a solo agent vs team member and also look at the potential expenses associated with each one.

Example
Ryan and Samantha work at ABC Brokerage. Samantha is a solo agent and Ryan is on a team. The brokerage keeps 25% of the commission earned. Ryan’s team also takes another 35%. Both sold 10 homes this year generating a total of $100,000 in gross commission (i.e. before splits).

• Ryan
  • Marketing expenses – $0
    Broker split – $25,000
    Team split — $35,000
    NET TO RYAN === $40,000

• Samantha
  • Marketing expenses – $9,000 (she ran lead generation ads, sponsored a local event and sent postcards to her neighborhood every other month)
    Broker split – $25,000
    Team split — $0
    NET TO SAMANTHA === $67,000

While Samantha made significantly more, she did have to put in the work and the marketing dollars to generate more business. Ryan just focused on the leads that were provided to her and didn’t have to worry about anything else.

If you decide that you want to join a real estate team, now you have to find the right team. Ideally, they should have a fair commission split for the value they provide. Here are some important questions to ask when meeting with team leaders:

• LEADS: Do you provide leads? And if so…
  • How many do you provide each month?
  • Are they all buyer leads or also sellers?
  • Where do your leads come from?
  • Are the leads website registrations or actual buyer inquiries?

• TRAINING
  • Will I be assigned a mentor or is any outside coaching provided?
  • Can I shadow other agents on their appointments?
  • Are there required meetings or training sessions each week?
  • Will someone be available to guide me through the process when I start writing offers?

• COMMISSION SPLITS
  • What are the team fees / splits?
  • How to the commission splits work in these specific situations:
    • Family member or friend who wants to me to help them buy a home?
    • When I have friends or family who want me to list / sell their home?
    • I purchase or sell my personal home or investment property?
    • If I have repeat buyers or sellers?
    • If my buyer lead also needs to sell their home?
  • Once I’ve sold a certain number of homes, will my split improve?

• MARKETING
  • Am I allowed to market myself and/or the team on my own website or social media pages?
  • If I receive a client review or testimonial, does it have to be on the team site or can it be on my profile page?
  • Do you feature agent success stories or reviews on your website and/or social media?
  • Do you cover the cost of headshots, business cards, signs, etc?

• SUPPORT + TOOLS
  • Do you offer agents admin support? If so, what can they help with?
  • Does someone handle the transaction paperwork once it’s under contract?
  • What kind of CRM do you use?

• TEAM POLICIES
  • Do I need to sell a certain number of homes each year or month?
  • Does this role require that I’m a full time agent?
  • Are there any other requirements?