I am continually surprised at how brokerage companies treat their best assets...their real estate agents.
Every time I think I have heard the most inane, ridiculous policy, I hear another one that's even worse.
Here's an example. This is a "prestigious" company's new policy regarding listings...
An agent takes a new listing and is charged a $200 marketing fee, supposedly to market the property to the best advantage of the client and the agent. Of course, the company makes this fee in addition to commission when the property closes and an "MLS fee" that they charge the co-op Broker.
The property is then put into an ad rotation and the company puts up a sign with the office number on it. The agent pays for any marketing materials, open house supplies, etc, etc.
Now the fun begins. When a prospective buyer, who is not represented by an agent, inquires about the property, their inquiry is given to a floor agent. Generally these are the newer agents who have often not seen the property, don't have much experience, and most importantly to the company, are on a lower split than the seasoned agents. Or, the inquiry is sent to the company's lead generation department which then distributes the lead to a "low-split" agent AND takes a referral fee off the top.
Experienced agents often receive the majority of their business from their own sphere of influence so chances are good this listing only came to the company because of the agents relationship to the seller.
The company has now charged that agent $200 for the privilege of creating buyer leads for the company.
Hmm...I'm missing the value to the agent or the client.
As the owner of a boutique real estate office in Chicago, I hear stories like this all the time from agents at other companies. I keep wondering what happened to the concept of providing great service to our agents so they can in turn provide great service to their clients so we can all make more money. When did agents go from being a broker's esteemed partner to a profit-center??
We are seeing more and more of this "the real estate market is slow, how can we get more money from our agents" mentality.
As in industry, we Brokers can do better than that. We need to think "the real estate market is slow, what can we do to empower our agents to compete better and to provide better services to their clients"
These desperate brokerage companies are turning their best asset into their worst enemy.
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