Realtors | Questions to Ask your Broker

For those of you considering a change or unhappy where you are, here are a set of questions that you should ask every prospective Broker that you may interview with beyond the commission split:

• Does your company have an Agent Policy Manual? (If they answer "I keep meaning to do that" is not a good answer, NO is even worse!)
• May I speak to some of your agents? (No -- Red Flag, Yes, be wary of their motivations -- the ones that they tell you to speak with)
• What training do you offer, are there costs associated?
• May I have an attorney review the contact I will sign with you firm?
• What are your (Broker) requirements of an agent?
• I have a question - who do I go to? (If they lay out a clear policy and plan that is a good thing)
• What is the most important designation that I should get?
• Do you have a mentoring program?
• What Marketing does the brokerage do? Do you pass rate savings down to agents?
• How do you handle Agent conflicts? (they do happen and you sometimes don't know it until it is too late and you are forced to make a move for your own sanity)
• Who in the local Board of Realtors do you admire? (This is a very interesting question and something that they will not expect -- you are looking more for their reaction than who they name. But if they name someone that has a very poor reputation in the community that should set off a red flag for you...)
• What do you require participation in? (weekly meetings, advertising in specific publications, contributions to certain charitable events)
• How many agents have been with you 5 years or more? How many under 6 months?
• What is the percentage of retention?
• What is the latest Real Estate Book you have Read? (If they are not keeping up with the industry that could be a problem)
• Do you BLOG? What is the exposure on the Brokerage's website for agents? (Do you really want to work for a firm that does less than you?)
• What has been your level of participation on the local board? Why or why not? Sometimes Board participation is extremely political and out of control, if they answer no because it got to be too political that is a good thing. They steer away from negative...
• Have you ever attended a state level meeting?
• How do you give out leads? Is there a different commission split?
• What are you planning to do technology wise to advance your company this year? In the next two years?
• Is there any support staff? What are their responsibilities?
• Can I market any listing of company? Can I sit open houses of company listings?
• What is your profitability? How many years have you been profitable? What are the costs for miscellaneous services (copying, phones, etc)
• How much time do you spend recruiting agents? Training and Mentoring agents?
• Do you compete with your agents?
• What is the mixture of teams and solo agents?
• What happens to my listings if I decide to leave your company?
• Do you do anything special for agents?

Listen to their answers of these questions. See how they react. Do they look you in the eye? Do they act nervously? Remember you are checking them out as much as they are checking you out. If you know an agent has recently left, make a call to them and see if they mind answering some of your questions. Sometimes they give you great insight to the company.

I hope this helps the few that are wondering "what should I do?" I was fortunate to have a few people who sat and listened to me. It was the people that were neutral and willing to let me work through the process of such an important decision that I listened to the most. They asked me questions to think about, many in the list above.

Remember anything promised should be in writing -- or be at peace with the fact that those promises can be broken.

Good Luck!

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For more information about Celebration Florida, please contact:

Colleen Kulikowski, Realtor
Orlando Avenue Top Team

Keller Williams at Celebration
(407) 288-0017

Media Wars....Now it is happening in the Sports World

If it is happening in the Sports World, it is only a matter of time before we see the changes in the Real Estate World. We already are seeing the changes, small BLOGs are popping up all over the country written about specific topics that the media either overlooks or does not see as profitable. And in many cases doing a better job of it.

Listening to National Public Radio yesterday, I had a moment where I actually pulled the car over to listen to the broadcast. What was said was validating everything I do in writing on three different BLOGs. Build it and they will come. Focusing on writing about Real Estate in the Greater Orlando Area. Not just anything -- consistent quality content. As a member of a team we also have a great BLOG site with great content for our buyers and sellers.

How does this affect you the Home Owner in Celebration or the Buyer looking to purchase here? Well it just cemented my commitment to writing even more now. We learn a lot of great information in the process of reporting what is going on in the industry to our readers.

How does my writing in this public forum help you? It means that I have greater exposure than other Realtors and with greater exposure, I have greater opportunities. Opportunities to draw buyers to your property for sale and in the process educate both buyers and sellers.

Listen to the broadcast and see what I am talking about, and let's talk about how the traditional media is threatened. These sports blogs are taking away money from traditional media, in advertising dollars. Less people read the newspaper, less revenue. Advertisers choosing to advertise on BLOGs instead of in the print media - less advertising revenue. This is about dollars and what made me pull over and pay attention. "ESPN Apologies for Radio Host's Attack on BLOG". This tells the story of how Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio went after a website and crashed it resulting in The Big Lead being down for 48 hours. The site was critical of ESPN before the attack. The story goes on how Cowherd stole information from a BLOG in the past and had to publicly apologize after refusing to do so in the first place.

Curt Shilling's Blog, 38 Pitches features 2,000 words after each of his starts providing all sorts of insight that was never available to the public and long before the papers hits the streets. Why read it in the paper when you did so 12 hours earlier on-line, right from the Pitcher. Not only that you don't see what an editor does to water it down, it is pure from Curt himself.

Schilling told SportsIllustrated.com that he received 400,000 visitors first week. Hello! Just think of the ad revenue that generated! Curt is using his site to bring awareness to ALS and several other charities he is involved with. But just think about the power his personal BLOG gives him. There are countless Sports related BLOGs out there and lot of them have paid advertising throughout these sites.

This is why the media is threatened, they are about to lose a lot of power and as a result a lot of money. The changes are happening all over the media. Realtors are shifting their attentions to this new media and turning their backs on the traditional advertising venues. Now do you want to work with someone on the cutting edge or the person left in the dust? The Orlando Avenue Top Team in pioneering the way Realtors connect with buyers and sellers in this new age.

Call me and the Orlando Avenue Top Team to discuss your Real Estate goals and how we can assist you in achieving those goals! Visit our other BLOGs for more local information Colleen Kulikowski Active Rain, Teri Isner Active Rain and our OrlandoAvenue site. To search all Greater Orlando listings visit our Search Page.