Great post Jordon, its rare to find such a well written and informative blog post as this one, it deserves to be read by a lot of people here, I have suggested it. 

I hadn't really thought of this before...well explained!  I'm sure this will be very helpful to many sellers.

Jordan,

Thanks for defining these two different types of firms you can hire to help meet your real estate goals. Many people just need a Realtor to help find them a home or sell one so they hire a Realtor, not thinking about if they are on a team. It seems to me that all Realtors who have been in the business for a while develope a network they count on who become part of their team and there is no one individual Realtor who can do it all. You really do end up hiring a team in most cases.

You did a great job explaining the good and the bad of both an individual real estate agent and a team. Now it's up to the potential buyer or seller to decide which works best for them.

I like being a part of the team, since it is a great way to jump start your business.  Some advantages being a member of efficient and well organized team: accountability, leverage, collaborative approach, more resources, combined experience. 

When teams are structured correctly everyone comes out a winner; the clients, the team members and the team owner. Win-win-win or no deal.