Do Most Real Estate Agents Really Need An Office At Their Brokers Office?

Same thing I wrote 6 months ago (I was looking to move).  Agents don't need the office, and mine is empty most of the time.  BUT, try recruiting without the fancy - private office.  If Realtors would only realize it's their split paying for that expensive office, not mine.  but convince them they don't need the high buck digs

Exactly.  Having a couple of conference rooms and a seminar room along with a couple of offices and wifi would be perfect.  I actually have a model kicking around in my head...  You'd like it.  There could be a Vette parked there.

Sam..As long as an agent is disciplined to be productive at a home office, it will work fine. However an agent that has young kids and the interruptions inherent with this situation, will find it difficult to pull off a productive home office IMO.

John, I agree... we don't go to the office anymore...everything is worked at home now...and by blackberry's....Listings have increased since there is no office to BS and sit around the internet.....

Interesting comments all the way around. It sounds like most are comfortable with a mobile solution with the occasional need for a "nice" environment.  I think more and more brokers will be moving in this direction.

I've worked primarily out of a home office for almost 20 years. It is much easier now that the kids are in college! My biggest challenge is my wife who is a nurse and has always had to "go to work", doesn't really understand that being at home doesn't mean I'm not working!

You are right on the money! I am in our broker's office perhaps once a month - perhaps less! We fax in paperwork and get our leads via referrals and the internet! Having an office space for agents is wasted money! Having a conference room is not!

Sam, I think you are right on target.  This is exactly what I have been preaching to real estate brokerages for years now.  Pushing current systems to web-based programs and moving into the digital/paperless world will save the broker a ton of money and can actually make the agents far more productive.

Sam,  I am a relative newcomer to ActiveRain who has fought the whole premise of the need for such a tool but as I came online this evening to peck around I thought "what is the big question of the day for me that maybe I can get some good advise on?" and typed in office space in the search bar and there I found your blog full of great information and advise on my most recent inter-office struggle.  My company is just shy of 5 years old and I have been giving serious consideration to "down-sizing" my current office space.  Amazingly, in the past 5 years I have watched an office full of agents who were in the office socializing and networking and meeting with clients constantly change to mobile agents who are only in and out a couple of times a week and consequently a lot of my company dollar seemingly wasted on bricks and mortar (not to mention utilities, underutilized equipment and everything that goes along with it).  With that change I also have an AWFUL time filling floor time space.  My thoughts are to downsize to a "customer center" that has a lobby, service desk and a closing/meeting room.  NO PRIVATE OFFICES....I would love to hear if anyone else has adjusted to this business model and get advise on what might and might not work for me.  By the way, I might just like this blogging thing! 

I agree.  I have all the technology I need in my home office and I prefer having the ability to work from home on a regular basis.  I go into the office when I need to and generally stop by to check my mail from time-to-time.  My office will call me when I get a fax and does a great job communicating through email and voice mail.

I think some people just need that decipline of getting up getting dressed and going to the office.

I have done it both ways, and enjoy the office atmosphere.

Jon and Richard,

Thanks for your responses.  The majority of my agents share the ideas of Jon but I have one who prefers the atmosphere like Richard.  I really hate to lose that one agent.  Any ideas on how I can keep that agent happy with the change? 

Good question, in my case you are right, the margin of profit is very narrow, in the other hand agents do not need an office, only to have a place to meet with clients, so to answer your question, yes, we need to cut down on square footage, phone lines, etc. my friend also owns an office 5000 sq., with 20 desk and 10 offices, only 2 or 3 are occupied most of the time, no need for all the space

My office is 14x13 in a highrise buildingn in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida... it does not even have parking .... you got to pay the meters ... yet we are 5 agents all living within 60 miles radius using IM, text, email and phone... I have a web camera installed at the office to check my mail and I only go when there is mail to pick up or write a contract .... the web camera sends me IMs and records all activity when it detects motion inside the office ...

Things change, I thought "the office" would be economically obsolete by now. We all can work just about anywhere so what surprises me is seeing large offices with lots of empty desks and huge overhead.  But working from "home" is not exactly the answer either - lots of distractions and though home may be very nice, do you really want your clients and agents coming to your personal residence for those necessary meetings? What works for me is the nearly virtual office - professional phone screening service, an available conference room, a copier and Internet connection.  I'm not totally virtual yet, I do still like to have a couple of desks and file cabinets in a small but very efficient office suite.