What Is The Average Income Of Your Agents
While a managing broker probably does not know the exact figures for each agent offhand, he or she should have a general understanding of how much volume each agent is producing. A broker who gives you an extremely general figure and is unwilling to go into any more detail may not be as informed about his business growth.
Good answer: Many of our full-time agents make between $70 and $100,000.
Proceed with caution: They probably all make $50,000.
Real estate agents incomes can have an extremely large gap depending on the hours they work and the effort they put in. While a larger average income is definitely a positive quality in a brokerage, be careful not to base your decision on this numerical figure. Take that information into account with how many hours the agents work, the overall office culture, and how it fits with the way you will work.
What Kind Of Training Is Provided
As a new real estate agent, training and education might be the most important question for real estate agents to ask when interviewing brokers. If you dont have experience or many connections, training and mentorship opportunities can make or break your success in real estate. Some brokerages have pre-established training programs for new agents, while at other brokerages, it falls upon the agent to find a mentor.
If youre already a licensed agent but are struggling to get your career moving and find a specific direction, you may benefit from Kaplans professional development courses. The Career Accelerator was designed to help new agents create a business and marketing plan from scratch to get their career up and running quickly.
Top 8 Real Estate Interview Questions
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Question : How Much Time Are You Willing To Put In Each Week
Many real-estate agents are full-time sellers, but for others, its a secondary job. Your interviewer will determine whether youre a real go-getter with real estate interview questions like this one.
- Most brokers are looking for high-achieving agents that put in whatever it takes to reach their goals.
- Talk about your availability and willingness to work flexible and long hours and weekends and to drive long distances.
What Is Your Greatest Strength As A Real Estate Professional
Similarly, agents should have a good grasp of what they do well and how that impacts their success. Beware of a disconnect between the agents self-identified strength and your own impressions based on the interview. For example, if an agent claims to be an outgoing people-person, but you dont see any sign of this, they may have a distorted sense of their own performance.
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How Do You Find Leads
Finding leads can be intimidating for new agents, but there are many ways to drum up extra business. Beyond tapping your own sphere of influence, your potential employer might ask what your strategy for finding new leads might be. This can include things like cold calling For Sale By Owner listings, being an active member of various , or even volunteering at an organization thats near and dear to you.
Question : How Many Homes Did You List And Sell In The Last 12 Months
Agencies want to know you have a good track record before they take you on. Be prepared to answer real estate interview questions about your history with solid statistics and numbers.
- Include the number of homes youve sold on your resume.
- Talk about the types of homes, neighborhoods, buyers, etc. that are relevant to that agencys market.
- Mention any awards or advanced credentials youve received.
How You Could Answer:
Here is a list of the 53 homes I listed and sold in the past year. Youll notice theyre all in the $250,000 to $400,000 range. Most are in Highland Heights, Brookfield, and Marlboro, and my clients tend to be families with younger children. I was Smith-Martins top seller three months in a row during that time.
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How Will You Help Me Find Other Professionals
Your agent should be able and more than willing to supply you with a written list of vendors such as mortgage brokers, home inspectors, and title companies. Let her explain who she works with and why she chooses these particular professionals.
Ask for an explanation if you see the term “affiliated” anywhere. This designation could mean that the agent and her broker are receiving compensation from that particular vendor. If so, you could be paying a premium for the service.
Find Someone Who Offers Suggestions
Savvy real estate agents know which characteristics sell homes in the areawhether it’s a pool, screened-in porch, or some other desirable feature. To that end, they will make suggestions on the rooms or features to emphasize or deemphasize.
During the initial interview, ask the agent if there are any changes you could make to the house that would improve its desirability. More often than not, the best agents will make these suggestions without prodding on your part.
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What Sets You Apart From Other Real Estate Agents
This is a question youll have to ask yourself time and time again, so its always good to understand what exactly you possess that makes you stand out. Established agents typically have a good idea of why their clients choose them, but if youre new to the real estate industry, youll have to find your own unique flavor.
Consider your personality and interests. For example, if youre outdoorsy, then youll know that having storage space is important for bicycles, kayaks, etc. If youre a foodie, then youll know where the best restaurants are. If youre an automotive enthusiast, then youll know that garage space is a top priority.
Dont Hang Your License With A Real Estate Broker Before Asking These Two Questions
When most individuals first approach a real estate broker or sales manager about a position as a real estate salesperson, they dont know the right questions to ask or the right way to ask them. They are used to traditional job interviews where the person doing the hiring asks the questions, and they try to figure out the answers the interviewer wants to hear in order to get the job. With real estate sales, this process is different.
In essence, the real estate salesperson job interview is basically a person going to a sophisticated professional and proposing a partnership. The broker provides the professional environment within which the work is conducted. In return, the salesperson provides professional services and, typically, the resources and activity to make consumers aware of the professional services. Each makes a contribution, and each shares in the fruits of the endeavor.
The potential salesperson should go into the discussion knowing two things that will help both the broker and the salesperson know if the partnership is going to be successful and profitable: what they want to make in their first year and how much time they are willing to invest to earn it. With that information, the broker can answer the following two questions that should be uppermost in the salespersons mind.
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What Research Training Or Continuing Education Have You Completed In The Last 12 Months
Youll probably have a good idea of the certifications and designations the agent has earned over the course of their career, but its important to know what he or she has done lately. Find out what new skills they have developed within the previous year. Dont limit yourself to real estate topics only. Ask about marketing, content creation, financial planning, business development, management, and other relevant topics.
Operational And Situational Questions
- How will you attract new clients to our company?
- What are the most effective advertising techniques? Explain how you use social media to promote properties.
- Describe how you inspect a property. What are your main points of focus and what do you ask the owner?
- When do you identify a purchase closing as successful?
- What questions do you ask tenants to identify their needs?
- What documents are required to close the deal and who signs them?
- Do you use any tools or applications to organize your list of properties?
- How do you manage your appointments?
- If you had to sell a property in a neighborhood youve never been before, what would you do?
- When you advertise a bargain, how do you ensure competitors wont reach to it?
- A young couple is looking to buy an apartment. What kind of houses would you suggest to them? How would your approach be different from other cases?
- Do you have a network of mortgage lenders and constructors you collaborate with?
- What are your obligations as a Real Estate Agent? Are you familiar with industry best practices?
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How Long Have Your Agents Stayed At This Brokerage
Although you are not obligated to stay with one brokerage for your entire career, its highly beneficial to choose a brokerage that can help you start and grow your career for many years. Asking this question is a great way to evaluate how well the brokerage can support agents of varying experience levels.
If the brokerage does not have agents who have worked with them for more than a few years, feel free to ask additional follow-up questions. You may discover that the company has a valid reason for their high turnover rates. For instance, you would want to know if the firm has had agents who have retired after skyrocketing into six-figure salaries.
What About Technology Tools
Real estate today is a hi-tech profession. You should ask your prospective broker:
- Do you provide me with my own website? If so, what will be my cost?
- Will your firm provide me with a contact management system? If so, what is the cost to me?
- Will your firm provide me with DocuSign, DotLoop or some similar document management program that I can use to exchange contracts paperlessly? . If so, is there a cost to me?
- Does your company provide a mobile app that can be co-branded for my own name and the brokers that I can offer to prospective clients to search for home online? What is my cost for this?
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What To Wear For A Real Estate Interview
When preparing for an interview for a real estate position, deciding on appropriate attire is just as important as familiarizing yourself with the types of properties sold by the agency. What you look like is the first thing the interviewer sees, and in the competitive real estate industry, you need to project a competent, conservative, professional image.
For your interview, that means professional interview attire. Men will need to wear a well-fitting suit in a conservative color, white, or pastel shirt, conservative tie, dark socks, and dress shoes. Women can choose between a pant or skirt suit, blouse , hosiery, and closed-toe pumps. Hair, make up, and purse should be neat and conservative, jewelry minimal, earrings only in ears.
Carry a briefcase or portfolio with your resume, a pad, and a working pen.
Need Help Approaching Potential Sponsoring Brokers
Are you wondering what kinds of important questions to ask? We can help! We have compiled a long list of specific questions you can consider asking while interviewing potential sponsors.
- How many days or hours of formal training?
- Is there a cost to me?
- If so, how much?
- Who will be available to help me after the training?
- Is that person easily and readily available to me?
- What other “hats” does that person wear?
Do you offer a graduated commission split that pays me a higher percentage as my production increases? If so, and say I reach 60%, do I go back to my beginning split at the end of a designated period? May I have a copy of the commission schedule?
- Initial: Licensing, application, business cards, photo, name badge, dues, etc.
- On-going: Monthly or quarterly charges such as long distance calls, desk fees, franchise fees, voicemail, etc.
- Per listing: Sign, lock box, advertising, etc.
- Per sale: Error and Omission Insurance
- Prospecting tools
- How many do you want?
- How many part time agents?
- What is the agent turnover rate?
- What is the average tenure of agents?
- Average per full-time agent?
- Would clerical assistance be available to me such as preparation of monthly mailers, typing letters, preparing flyers, entering and making changes in listings, etc.?
- What is the normal amount?
- How many is that per full time agent?
- What is the average list price of the listings?
- What is the average sales price of the office?
- What percentage of listings are sold in house?
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What Is The Scale Of Future Commission Splits
Be wary of a manager who gives you vague answers, such as Oh, you can go up as high as 85%. Ask to see in writing the commission schedule for various volume levels or other criteria the broker may have. I once fell for this Trust me, well take care of you response, only to later discover that the manager had given agents with a fraction of my volume a higher commission split because they had threatened to leave for another broker. Have you ever been on an airplane and found the three other people in your row paid vastly different fare for the same trip? That is what is can be like when a broker or manager can arbitrarily decide each agents commission splits.
Can I ever get to where I earn 100% commission? And if so, is that truly 100%, or does the company still deduct money for franchise fees, royalty fees, etc.?
Question : Whats Your Experience In The Neighborhood
Agents can only learn so much from real estate classes. A good agent should have real-life experience in your area. If theyre new to the business, they should be part of a team led by an experienced local agent who can guide them through the sale.
When asking about experience, look for agents who know the neighborhood and its nearby attractions and someone that can demonstrate the perceived market value of certain features of your home.
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Tips For Interviewing Real Estate Agents When Selling A Home
Joe ManausaJoe Manausa
If there was just one thing that I could recommend to homeowners planning on selling a home is to improve upon their preparation for interviewing real estate agents.
Recent surveys show that nearly three of every four home sellers choose the very first agent that they interview, and the results are alarmingly poor. Even in today’s sellers’ market, home sellers are either failing to sell , getting much less than top value for their home.
Do You Have A Mentorship Program
Some states require new agents to find a mentor. Even if your state doesnt, having a mentor is great for most agents just getting their start in the real estate business. Conversely, perhaps youd like to put your experience to good use and help a new agent find their way. Regardless, always be sure to inquire about a brokerages mentorship program as its often a good sign that theyll care about your long-term success.
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How Do You Market Your Listings
Thanks to technology, marketing a listing has never been easier. It also has never been more competitive, but with the right formula, you can reach more potential buyers for less. Research common marketing techniques, and be able to show how you might use them in a real estate setting. Or, if youre already an established real estate professional, outline your most effective marketing strategies or talk about some new school strategies youd like to try.
What Qualities Make You A Good Real Estate Agent
Certain qualities can help you become a better real estate agent. Use this question to describe what areas you feel you are strongest in and how they relate to the field. One good quality you can state is strong communication skills. You can tell the interviewer how important it is to listen to a client so you understand their needs and wants. This can save you time when you only show them houses they have a better chance of buying.
Example: Not only do I listen to all of my clients, but I take the extra step by looking at the homes on my own first. When I do a quick walkthrough of the potential houses, I can spot details they may like, increasing the chances of my client liking the home. For example, I may notice the master bedroom has a walk-in closet, which the client said was important. I feel that my active listening and empathy skills allow me to select the best listing to streamline the search.
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What Kind Of Software Or Technology Is Provided
Its common for franchise and virtual brokerages to give agents free access to real estate tools, such as customer relationship management software. Boutique brokerages, on the other hand, sometimes dont have the same level of funding to provide the same tools for their agents. You can be extremely successful without having every tool on the market, but make sure you know what tools are the most important and how your brokerage will help you.
Good answer: A successful and trustworthy brokerage could use any number of tools and technology. Look for brokers who can tell you the exact tools they use and the specific reasons they chose them.
For example, when we asked Laura Rittenberg, President of Coldwell Banker Realty in Atlanta and the Carolinas, to describe the tools offered to agents, she said:
Proceed with caution: We dont use technology tools because we dont think theyre important.
