A Real Estate Blogging Event - Let's Write An Article, Together

Here at the Tomato, we usually take the role of educators with the aim of covering a topic from many angles and with as much context as possible.

This time we are asking for some help for you to provide us with the angles and context that will develop into an article.  We would like to use this opportunity to illustrate the power of transparent participation (A.K.A. "Mob Wisdom").

Basically, we want to write an article with our readers, for our readers.  We present the topic, and you help us fill in the body.

The topic we are presenting as a platform for discussion and participation is:

"The Power Of The Team In Today's Real Estate"

Planned directions:

1. The Business Of The Real Estate Team.

What are the advantages that come with being part of a real estate team?

What are the drawbacks? 

How does being a team affect the way you market your services?

How does the team affect the experience had by the consumer?

How does being a part of a team affect your your life, positively and negatively?

What is the best division of labor/responsibilities for a team?

And more…

2. The Blogging Of The Real Estate Team.

What are the benefits of team blogging?

What are the drawbacks?

Does more content mean more of the 'right' traffic?

Does the message of many help incubate the potential client?

How to organize massive amounts of content.

And more…

3.  Who knows?

What we are asking of you is to provide your opinions, input, knowledge, spin, comments, criticism, and support of the topics to help bring the article together.

Audience provided content (in the below comments) will be included, with due credit, in the final draft.

This Tuesday, May 22nd, we will be posting the first outline of the our article, inspired by your participation.  We have some direction in mind, but the truth is, we have no idea where this will end up. 

Our goal is to have the final draft ready to publish, here on the Tomato for the following Monday, May 28th. 

We need your help. 

So, whether you are a seasoned pro with your own well established real estate blog, or a baby blogger right out of the gates, we want to hear your input on this one!   To participate, simply make comprehensive comments below regarding the above topics.  We’ll do all the rest. 

Thanks for your participation!

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Tags:  collective+collaboration, real+estate+blogging, real+estate+team

Comments

[ElizabethWeintraub]

I am not a team player. There. I've said it. Lord knows I have tried to be a team player, but the fact is I like to captain my own ship. I don't take direction well, intensely dislike being told what to do and if others don't do what I want them to do, I fire them.

I surround myself by other professionals, whom I have carefully handpicked for their expertise, service and knowledge. These are people I can count on under times of stress and duress to perform. They come through on the 11th hour -- there are always small emergencies in real estate that require immediate attention. These professionals are a transaction coordinator, escrow officer, termite inspector, loan officer and home inspector.

I maintain a "loose" team of agents who are available to work my open houses, but I'd never formally assemble them into the Weintraub Team, for example, because I think it's pretentious. No one outside of the industry even knows what a "team" means.

In my office, agents join a team because they want a higher commission split or they can't generate business on their own or a combination of the two.

I went into real estate so many years ago because I didn't want to be part of the corporate world, I refused to conform, to be swallowed up and absorbed by the establishment. I won't surrender my ethics, integrity or individualism. To me, being a team player is like letting a hen continually peck at you, eventually puncturing the skin and taking away bits of your flesh in small amounts.

The only thing worse than being a "team player" is being part of a committee decision, LOL.

But that's not to say that real estate teams are ineffective because they obviously work for some. As a friend told me many years ago, "You've got your thinker bees, worker bees and worker-thinker bees." Decide which kind of bee you are.

[Daniel Bates]

I too got into real estate because I was tired of taking orders and wanted to guide my own path. That being said, I'm in a small office where my coworkers, broker, and I do stay in touch with each other and will pull together to help each other out.
When I last sold my house (before I had a RE license) I listed with a team and spoke at length with them. It benefited me, the consumer, by having a very streamlined process where everyone knew exactly what their job was and was very good at doing it. It was however also less personal, because every step of the game you are handed over to someone new. Everyone was very nice, but working with the same agent would have formed a better relationship. In the end it's about selling the house though and they did that quite effectively.
Sometimes as Realtors, we can't know it all (especially in the beginning) and the team approach means that you don't have to wear all the hats, just find one that suits you. For me, I got into real estate because I enjoy the challenges of being my own marketing specialist, webmaster, listing agent, buyer's agent, etc. There is always more to learn and something different every day rather than just handling closings or advertising. Of course being on your own carries a higher risk, but also a chance for a greater reward.

[Dave Lopez]

Avantages: 1) If you are new to the business or having difficulty generating steady leads, being part a strong organized team can produce a steady flow of leads to the buyer and selling agents. 2) Reduction in overhead and business expense as the team is paying for the marketing and major expenses. 3) In a right team, you would be coached and mentored in how to manage your time, sell property, best serve the client for life. 4) For some, a team environment offers support, accountability, and motivation to stick with it. 5) If you cannot help a client because of vacation or illness, there is a team member there to help you that you can trust.

Drawbacks: 1)Lower commission split due to; team leader is paying for most the the marketing and running of business expenses, most credit on sales get registered under team leader for awards, etc., 2)you have no brand as everything is under the team brand, 3) No training, coaching and mentoring by some teams. I have seen some team leaders sign up team members and then have them take the company training courses if they have one and expect the office manager to train them. 4) If business slows down (like todays market) and you are not bring in business to the team, you are history, gone, finished!

Marketing your service in a team: Very difficult in most teams as the team leader is paying for the majority of the expense as is creating a "brand" Some will allow marketing yourself as a buyers or sellers agent and a very few others will allow you to market yourself just as long as you bring in business, including splitting sales data so that you can get recognition.

Consumer experience: Properly set up, it is a win for everyone in the transaction; buyer/seller, agent and other team members. The keys are: very defined responsibilites to be understood and carried out by each team member and that information to be very clearly conveyed to the buyer/seller. A strong administrator/escrow coordinator orcastrating the events and responsibities would gratly help the porcess.

[Dave Lopez]

Real Estate Team Blogging - An interesting concept. I am going to take a stab at this and I might be way off course. The only benefit I see in this is if all members of the team could write excellent post on their respective duties or responsibilities. For example: 1)A buyers agent on the process of buying from credit to closing.2) A sellers agent on the process staging to close of escrow. 3)Escrow and transaction coordinators, and potential others. Add in the fact that there is a high turn over of team members, I think it is a risky project to take on. I like the approach of inviting other experts to comment on specific subject matters. But then, I am new to all this blogging so I have a lot to learn.

Organizing massive amount of content is something I am struggling with now. There is so much information out there for all categories that I don't have the time to collect and read it all. I am thinking about hiring someone to collect the information, sort the good from the bad and then tackle it with my spin. And then you do want to post something orginal or otherwise you end up being carbon [digital] copy of what's already out there. I do think that a variety of expert voices of many would help in the process of incubating potential clients. For me, I have my favorites who are connected to blog writers whos opinions I respect.

[Dave Lopez]

OK, my last comment, really, unless I am asked....

Best division of labor/responsibilites for a team?

SO subjective of a subject. I have seen and know of many and what doesn't work. First, to me, a TEAM must have a team leader, buyer and seller agent and an assistant as a minimum structure to be considered a TEAM. Lenders, title companies, inspection companies, etc are a given extension of our business. They are not on our payroll non receive any compensation-think RESPA.
In small teams, the team leader still list and sell properties with the buyer/seller agent given the over flow of leads and appointments. The assistance doubles as a transaction coordinator/marketing specialist/girl Friday.[No offense to guys] Mid to large teams have more worker bees, if I may, and no longer list or sell. They run a different business model completely. And of course there is everything in between.

What doesn't work is: Micro managing by team leader. This has been the kiss of death for many teams. The type A driver has a DNA gene that must controll everything. Even to the detriment of the team.

Team contracts: What is the right compensation to team members? I have seen team/agent contracts and as different are the agents, so are the contracts. For example: 1) From a month to month contract to a 5 year commitment. 2) Starting from a high commission split to a sliding scale 3) The team paying for MLS fees, lock boxes, business cards and the agent responsible for these cost 4) Personal referrals to stay with agent or personal referrals now to become teams clients for life 5) Some teams have incentives, bonus, and profit sharing but most don't. 4) Some teams reimburse for higher education [E-Pro](A fun dig at Tomato)as they see that as benefiting the over all goal of the teams revenue with educated agents. 5) As with a broker, a different split for yours and family real estate transactions.

[Derek]

Once upon a time in the land of fruits, there was a tomato named Jimmy.

Jimmy had two sisters; a younger one and an older one. Like Jimmy himself, his youngest sister, Soxey was green while his older sister Bo was red.

Jimmy didn't like feeling young and green. He wanted to be much more mature and ripe like his sister Bo. Feeling so alone, Jimmy went out to his dad's shop and opened this cabinet. Inside was some special paint. Navy blue the paint read.

"Bang"

All a sudden the door to the barn slammed shut. Frightened by the slammed door, Jimmy and knocked over the can of Navy blue paint. Running to the window, he saw his sisters Bo and Soxey outside playing. Jimmy knocked but tomatoes have no ears. Locked inside and all alone, Jimmy went missing for days. Jimmy prayed hard that one of his sisters would find him. They never did. Jimmy died a lonely death at the hands of his sisters Bo and Soxey.

The moral of the story, it's better to be a a Bo Sox(ey) fan than a damn Yankee!
----

ONLY READ THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE ARTICLE - IT SAID LETS WRITE AN ARTICLE TOGTHER. I AM NOT MUCH OF A TEAM PLAYER. I AM AN INTROVERT, SO I WROTE THE ENTIRE ARTICLE (SHORT STORY) MYSELF! SORRY!

[Jay Thompson]

I suppose my lovely bride and I are a "team" (though technically we are not registered as such with our broker). We are a team in that we market ourselves together, we list together, and we work together.

Our skills and abilities mesh well. I handle the "techy stuff" and she does most of the real work with clients. Like a good husband, I dutifully build my "honey do" list and work through that on a quasi-regular basis.

We've noted one significant advantage to working as a husband/wife team (or more accurately as a male/female team). It may sound sexist, but it's the way it is. Some people prefer to work with a woman, some prefer to work with a man. As a boy/girl team, we can satisfy the needs of either.

The biggest drawback is when we disagree on how to handle something. It's hard to tell your wife, "I wouldn't have done it that way". But the more we work together, the less often that happens, and we simply talk and work through it when it does occur.

We've had a lot of people say, "I could never work with my spouse." And that's certainly true for some (many?). Being able to work with my wife doesn't mean we have a "better" relationship than any other couple, just different than some.

[Dave Lopez]

Jay, you bring up a very good and valid point. I had a business partner (female) once for a couple of years who was also a friend and we called ourselve a team. I also noticed that the clients we helped seem to favor either her or me. Not sexist, just personal preference? The net result was we did more business as a team than as individuals for a few years.

Congrats on your husband/wife team. At large seminars when that question is asked: how many husband/wife teams are there, very ,very few hands get raised. And, after discussing the dynamics of the team, it was crytal clear that it was not easy getting started and a lot of table discussions had to take place and rules drawn up to maintain a sane and harmonious family and working relationship.

Which brings me to the next point. You know the saying: If you want to loose a friendship or ruin a family relationship, go into business with them? I will just say: Draw up a business agreement, defining duties/responsibilties, and make it renewable or cancellable (just like real estate contracts) no matter how well you think you know the other person. Trust me on this one.

OK I know I said I wrote my last one, sorry :)

[Kathy Vaughan]

Our brokerage operates on a team concept; maybe not what you had in mind for this article but, our market covers a small recreation area. When our clients walk in the door they are always taken care of. If their agent is out of the office or on vacation any available agent will step up to the plate to show them property, talk about the market or write a contract. Their agent remains responsible for the entire transaction. We have an internal policy to compensate each other for our efforts. In this way the client always receives a seamless and stellar service level. Our clients love it. They know they can come in or call any time and get answers. At the same time the agents can feel comfortable if they need some time away from the office for whatever reason. We occasionally run into a conflict with the team vs. independent contractor philosophy. However, we all believe that if every client receives the best care the result will be success for the brokerage and ultimately success for each of us. This model has proven to work well for us.

[Fran Gatti]

I was partnered with a male agent my first year in real estate. I learned a lot and it was convenient having someone to assist when we took time off, but it was very difficult when we did not agree on how to handle a particular situation. I found, just as Elizabeth did (first comment) that I am a one woman show and want to have full control over how to best assist my clients.

I have assembled a team, however informal it may seem (no one knows they are a part of it but me). I have a title/escrow officer, lender, home inspector, appraiser and handyman who do what they say they are going to do and can be counted on.

My office is similar to Kathy's (previous comment) in that another agent will pinch hit for me if I am unavailable and that client will still be mine. There might be compensation given, depending on how much the other agent had to do, but we all know that this will be reciprocated when needed. So, the only positive I found in being on a team is met by being in a good office.

[Scott Montgomery]

in regards to bloggin I find it difficult to find the time to maintain a meaningful spot in the blogging cycle- I have a blog with activerain (http://activerain.com/monty6712) and the other is www.sellingnva.wordpress.com- I wish I could figure out an easier way to keep myself "out there" without having to continually maintain the blog throughout the day. I may be hiring a staff to maintain this and isnt ironic that heads me right into your next set of questions....

[Lenore Wilkas]

My husband and I are a team, but we prefer to refer ourselves as a group (www.wilkasgroup.com). A group of two with others who are part of the services we offer. I am generally out there with the clients and he's more in the background and since he enjoys the techie stuff(I do too but it's easier to let him do things) he's in charge there. We often work with clients together. They always meet both of us and if I can't meet with a client he can. We tell our clients that they get two for the price of one and they do appreciate that additional service. As I generally write the blog, I do have to nudge him to do his part, too and he writes about wines - his picks of the week.

When we are away, we have another agent in our office watch our business and we do the same for her. It has worked out well for both of us and I guess I could loosely include her in our team, although she has her own business.

In our office there are a couple of other teams, husband and wife teams that work pretty much the same way we do. We have different jobs that we each do for purchases or listings. Back end, front end - that sort of thing. Some people prefer working with him and some with me as our personalities are different. It doesn't bother me who they want as long as they want us.

[Joanne Skeen]

There is only one agent in my large office that has a team and it is basically herself and her assistant. In our town of Chico, California most real estate agents do not have teams. I have been selling real estate for 17 years and I work at Coldwell Banker and I have operated the entire time without a team. There are times when I am busy that I wish I had an assistant, but then when I am not as busy I am happy to do all the paperwork on my own. I find that by the time I show someone else how to do it, I can usually do it faster myself. I love to give my clients my personal attention, and find that I usually feel a genuine friendship towards most of them. I like the fact that I can respond to their needs directly. Sometimes I wish that I had more time to do marketing and I would have an assistant do that for me if I decided to hire one. I love what I do for a living, and I enjoy being able to provide personal service to my clients. I just don't think the team approach would work for me. I am very focused on my job when I am at the office, and I think it would be difficult to find someone to team with who would match up with me and share in my business. I do think however it is very important to have a back up person who can cover for you so you can be gone on vacation and take a break from your business. I work with a wonderful woman who does that for me when I go away, and I do the same for her. If I didn't have that it would be very difficult to every leave my business and go out of town.

[Brian Miller]

Real estate teams....hmmm. I am a pretty good team player, maybe even a great team player, but you know what? I, for the most part don't like being on teams. You see, for me, I can do my part about doing my role and add to the overall success (hopefully) of the team. Seems to me though there is an inevitable tendency to have pretty specific and structured roles whenever a team is formed. This is where I really chaffe, as it seems there is often limited flexibility in being allowed outside your role.

For me an ideal team is where I am "teamed" up with one maybe two other persons and we all have similar personalities and work ethics. We know how to "cover each others' backs", we know what the others will think, we know when and how to give and take criticism, and the list could go on. This is a team though, that would often struggle from a business sense.

I've been told, (and think I agree) that the best team is made of differing personalities, differing strengths, etc, in order to compliment each other and therefore be more "rounded" as a group.
That's probably true, and my "dream-team" might always find itself struggling over the things that none of us are good at, but wow!...would we ever have FUN, and I would be a part of this team in a heart-beat.

[John Lockwood]

I used to be a team player until my article deadlines kept slipping. :)

Hope everything's OK in the real world.