Real estate teams vs. Individual Agents and what consumers need to know.

Real Estate Teams vs. Individual Agents

I had my first experience with a real estate team when I sold my first home about a year before I got into real estate myself. I had no idea what a team was and I the agent that was selling our house didn't explain it at all. I left feeling like I did not get what I signed up for.

There are two obvious differences between a team and an individual agent. As the name implies a team is composed of multiple agents and/or support staff. An agent is singular and therefore solo mostly without a team of support staff. The less obvious difference is that with a team you will rarely deal with the same person for any two portions of the process.

Team structure-

Teams are structured in various ways but the typical team has at least three components: a listing agent, a buyers agent and an assistant. The listing agent and buyers agent are pretty self explanatory however the assistant is the one varies. Most of the time the assistant handles all the paperwork, contracts, phone calls and all the behind the scenes stuff. This allows the listing agent and the buyers agent to focus on getting new buyer and sellers.

Single agent structure-

With a single agent there is only one agent therefore the agent has to handle everything on their own. This means that the agent will be the one showing the buyers houses as well as the one going on listing appointments. They will also be the one doing the paperwork and giving clients the update as the process goes along.

The difference to you the consumer- 

The difference between working with a team and working with an individual agent as a consumer can be pretty dramatic. When you are working with a team you will likely have very little contact with the lead agent that you initially spoke to/met with. They are the “face” of the operation and are most of the time hands off for the majority of the transaction once it gets started. This means that you agree to list the house with them and from that point on someone else takes over. Most if not all updates will come from one of the support staff and not the agent that you started working with. 

With an individual agent you have the same agent from the start to the finish, there is no one to delegate the tasks to. The individual agent is going to have much more of a personal touch and will be involved in every step of the transaction. They in a sense have more at stake than an agent with a team, because they are more personally invested in the deal. 

Conclusion- 

In concluding there is nothing wrong with either option you choose to use. Most teams provide great service but you will lose much of the personal feel that you get with an individual agent. Both should run equally smooth it just becomes a preference of what your’e comfortable with. 

Are you looking for the best San Antonio houses?

Best San Antonio Houses

The internet and home buyers from a real-estate agents perspective. 

The landscape of buying homes has no doubt changed, loyalty is dead and buyers are now a commodity. While this may be an overstatement, it is not as far-fetched as you might think. Unlike years past many buyers in today's market do not want to commit to just one agent. They want to be free to come and go as they please.  

 

 

 

What is a real estate internet lead?

 

 As a consumer looking for the best San Antonio houses you go to a website like Zillow or Trulia and you search for houses. While this is a great way to search for homes it also turns you into a commodity. Zillow (much like google) makes its money off the searches that people run. The more searches performed in a designated zip code the more "impressions" Zillow can sell to realtors like myself. This turns almost everyone searching into potential internet leads therefore it is to their advantage to keep people searching.

When you become a “lead” to a realtor (or agent) a process of converting you from a lead into a client begins. This will mostly happen behind the scenes and you will not be aware of it. The agent will do things like set you up on email, post card or calling campaigns. They will regularly stay in contact with you in an effort to be the person you call when you’re ready to purchase. The majority of people who start their home search online are 3-6 months away from being ready to purchase. That combined with the fact that over 90% of people use the internet during the process of buying a home make internet leads the hot commodity. 

 

Why agents look for business online!

 

Some home buyers are interested in working with just one agent from the start. However for the majority of people online they just want information or to view a house. More than likely u did not go online looking for a specific realtor, you just went with whomever happened to pop up for that particular home. The odds are pretty high that if you're a home buyer searching on Zillow, Trulia or other site you are not working with an agent. This may be by choice or it may be that you are still early in the process and don't yet need an agent. In either case agents are paying Zillow, Trulia, ect... for access to people searching in a given zip code. They are waiting for people to request information about a particular property and once the consumer requests information they become a “lead" which is distributed to the afore-mentioned paying agents. 

 

Until you commit, you are will remain just a lead that everyone is chasing and will likely miss out on the best San Antonio houses since they seldom last long. The reality is that by the time a home hits internet it has in many cases been on the market for several days already and has received multiple offers. As a realtor we have access to real time information no one else does which is the difference between getting a house and getting left behind. So the choice is really yours, you can remain a lead or commit to an agent and gain the status of client.