Starting Your Real Estate Career: Go Solo or Join a Team?

Becoming a real estate agent is the best decision I ever made! I’ve loved every minute of my past eleven years working in this business. Before you start this fantastic career, you need to decide whether you want to go at it alone or join a team of one or more people with whom you will work with. It’s important to know the benefits and downsides of both options before making a decision. Everyone is different and works better a certain way, so which is the right fit for you?

Benefits of being a solo agent:

* You get to be your own boss. You get to decide everything, you get to execute everything, and you get to reap the rewards. The key here is you!

* The only people you have to answer to are your clients.

* What your brand looks like and what type of business you want to work on is up to you.

* You will experience the true freedom of what being an entrepreneur really is like.

The downside of being a solo agent:

* At the start of your career, it is unlikely that you will have any network of clients built up.

* Expenses. You’ll have to pay for everything yourself, including anyone you need to hire for a skillset you don’t have such as branding, accounting, and marketing.

* People rarely trust a new agent without experience and referrals.

Now on the flip side….

Benefits of joining a real estate team:

* Agents who have been in the industry for a long time and have more business than they can handle can disperse it among team members.

* You can become a buyer’s agent for the lead agent of a team, therefore you are gaining experience and being provided buyers to work for.

The downside of being a part of a real estate team:

* Everything you do is working towards the team leader’s brand and business, which means it is not something you can take with you if you ever want to walk away down the line and become a solo agent.

The Bottom Line:

The solo route can pose to be more difficult for your first few years, but if you are excited about building something that is truly yours, the hard work can really pay off down the line.

Being a part of a team is a great way to gain experience and make some money while ultimately working for someone else. If you want that softer landing and support structure that comes with having a team, this will be the better route for you to take.