Will There Always Be A Need For A Physical Location Of Your Company?

I like having a visible office location. We still get walk-in traffic, and I have a place to meet clients. If there late no problem I'm at my office doing work.

I think the answer depends upon the individual agent...some prefer to work in a traditional real estate office environment and others prefer to work from home (even if they have the option of working at the office.)

When I got my real estate license in 1999, I worked out of the office for about a year before I found I was actually more comfortable and productive working out of my home office. When I became a broker in 2002, I wanted to start things off on the right foot by creating a professional image for my new company, so I opened up a boutique office in the heart of downtown. After a few years, I decided to work from home again since I found that the office was rarely ever used! :)

Hey Josh,

We still get some walk-in traffic, but w definitely use the office as a place to meet with clients as well as for training and office meetings but yes i do alot of work from home and alot if done through internet!

This is a great subject. 

Working out of your home can be efficient...depending on your ability to manage family interruptions.  A separate room is essential.

A brickn'mortar office has four real advantages:

Image.

Receptionist.

Contact with other brokers.

A conference room for meeting with clients.

As a part of a large company you can work at home and all of the above.

But you have to balance the cost of those advantages.

If you work at home without benefit of an office to use occasionally, you have to have a have a plan to virtually replace the advantages listed above.

The advantage to a client is that you have fewer costs and can use the savings to better promote your listings.

I too live in a rural area with listings spread over 3 counties.  I have found I am more productive working from home where there are fewer interruptions.  The office is about a 40 minute drive and located in a high traffic area where we do have quite a few walk-ins.  I like having an office to go to when I need to meet with a prospective client for the first time.  I think it gives a more professional image than meeting them in the parking lot of the local grocery store.  lol

I love technology and work from two offices. . my home and a regular office in a central location.

I see myself eventually doing it all from home one day.

Joas this is something we were just talking about at our office yesterday.  Well I was at the office and everyone else were at some remote location.  Our office will accomodate about 20 agents with workstations and at one time we were rteally struggling with what to do about making more space available for more agents as we grow.

Well that has really changed over the last 3 months.  Because of so many of our agents going "mobile" we have plenty of space at the office now.

So the questions becomes, Do we really need this much space?

The answer today would no we don't.  However like you I enjoy coming to the office and talking with other agents (when they are in the office).  I think without an office our agents suffer because they don't get all the knowledge that is passed back and forth in an office.

My need for a conference room and a place of business to meet builders and clients as well as a location for my clerical staff will not change any time soon. But in saying that, new homes are their own niche. 

I want be safe so I say both, at home when the kids are out of school I am too easily distracted. My baby (10) has me wrapped around her figure and what she says goes. But in the school months I was a listing machine.

Now I have an office across from a school and it seems to work out well. Staff runs most of the day to day and I come and go as I please.

Josh - I guess where I work, we started out working from home.  My broker has her home office, and I have worked in my own home office ever since I started.  When meeting with clients, we go where it is convenient for them, like a local Starbucks with wi-fi.  I love it!  We also get together as a brokerage once in a while, and either have an educational lunch meeting somewhere, or all meet at our broker's home.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

I believe in a happy balance of both - although I rarely work from home. I have too many disruptions at home and cannot focus clearly on my objective. I do work at home to work on the internet but my client contact is mainly through my office. They like th atmosphere of knowing we can meet there in a quiet professional setting that is set up for their needs of looking for a home as well as my need to accomodate them. I also believe that you have to be an extremely STRONG business person discipline and otherwise to work at home (which I am, but chose to use the office as my routine); I know that having the standing building has helped my business due to its presence. My clients will generally START on the internet but when it gets down to the nitty gritty, they are looking for that office to go into when they are in the area to talk to a live body. I also believe that true customer service is eventually a face to face event and I want to have that office where I know all of the tools are to help me and them with their needs. When I call a company and order a product on the internet from a virtual office - it's great right up to the part where I need human contact help..... at that point I don't have it and it is frustrating to me that I cannot go to the business and square away what I want or need or they are "lost in space". 

Possibly it is because of my niche and client base that I prefer this method as well. They want to know WHERE my office is and would prefer to come there rather than taking a chance at a local spot. I think the interaction within the office with agents is good as well, and agents tend to to not show for training and don't get their best value from their broker/brokerage when working at home. It is easy to get into a rut and not show at the office when you are not used to doing it.

Walkins are important too. Not all people carry a blackberry or some sort of internet tool while out looking around and having that presencve right there brings them in.  You have to be there consistantly and not ever day will bring a customer, but when they do show and you are not there.... well.... you lose.

Each to his own and what works best for each to his own. I myself prefer a physical location to produce the best results overall along with an internet or virtual presence.

The office has a cost to it, so if the Profit out weighs the cost then its worth it. The agents pay for the office from their commission split, so if they don't mind the split vs Value I guess its OK. I think the Internet is the new real estate office but I realize I'm in the minority and the traditional offices with their big overhead is preferred. I try to keep a low overhead although we do have a physical office.

This is an easier question for me because there is absolutely no benefit in paying for office space in my industry.  Our face to face contact with homeowners is always at the home they're buying/living in.  I worked for a third party warranty management company for almost five years before starting mine and guess how many times I saw a homeowner at our office?  Zero.  That monthly cost was 100% money in the fire.  However, I do see the benefit of having a set, professional setting in your industry.

Most real estate licensing entities require a physical location so many real estate agents are HANGING their license in an office and working from home.  The physical location of client files are also an issue for brokers; however, reduced office overhead benefits agents AND brokers!!!