Teams in Real Estate??? ???????? Part 2 of 2
Size of the team can range from a two person operation all the way up to the mega team variety such as the one led by William Donahoe from Coldwell Banker in Bellevue, Washington.? His business closed a whopping $450 million in sales over the course of one year through the coordinated efforts of 37 team members – 30 of whom are licensed. In the Western New York area where the team concept is just beginning to take hold, most of the teams are of the 2 to 5 person variety.
The biggest advantage for the client of the well-organized team is ready access to someone when you have a question, broad availability to look at properties and dedicated follow-up on pending transactions. The broad sphere of influence and diverse experience that is brought to the table by the team members helps both to locate sellers or buyers for every situation and to create unique marketing approaches. ?Gail Perry from Gail Perry and Associates, the largest team in Raleigh, North Carolina, points out that ?we can huddle, discuss and work together to get the job done.? As one agent, you can only spread yourself so far without sacrificing some details. Now, there is never any down time.?
A potential drawback for consumers and other realtors with this increase in the number of teams is the group with poor communication.? When this situation is allowed to exist, the consumer is forced to explain things more than once to different people. Paperwork also can get lost and deadlines are missed on a regular basis. Every team is faced with development phases such as this and many rise above and become better. There are also those who stay mediocre or go out of business.? The quality of the organization will be apparent to most almost immediately.
Primary advantages for the realtor professional who forms or joins a team include true days off and vacation without voice mail. These steady ?refreshers? lead to a higher level of performance when on the job. Individual team members can also focus on specialty areas of interest such as investment, first time buyers or resort property without losing the leads that come to them for other types of real estate sales work. These can be easily referred within the group. Forming or joining a team is making the transition from sole proprietorship to being part of a business that runs all the time whether you are there or not. It also creates the opportunity to focus of what you love to do and leave the rest to others.