The real estate industry is made up of over 2 million agents around the U.S., but only approximately 1.4 million are considered realtors, who belong to one of the thousands of professional multiple listing services across the country.

A percentage of those 600,000 who are not part of an MLS are divided up between commercial real estate and the others, probably independent one-person broker/investors.

The balance probably don’t necessarily have the money or wherewithal to belong to an office but somehow keep their licenses active by just having the broker keep their licenses active w/o paying fees as they should and as the 1.4 million brokers, associate brokers and salespeople do yearly.

I understand that if you are a salesperson that within a two-year period you must have a sponsoring broker to keep your license active and legal, but as everyone knows there are always those who have tricks up their sleeves to somehow stay active without paying what the rest of us are obliged to do.

The dropout rate is extremely high in our industry due to the fact it’s a business and not a job and you have to listen, learn, absorb, practice and apply the information and techniques that will earn you a living.
Those who leave the business either never figured it out or weren’t a good fit for our industry.

There are new IPO-sanctioned real estate venues, however, that are popping up all the time with cutting-edge technology and supposedly better ways to serve the consumer. There is a very huge conglomerate (won’t mention their name to provide them exposure) that is now a full-fledged brokerage from what I have researched, licensed in 26 out of 50 states and probably will be in the other 24 possibly by year’s end.

I had a contract with them going way back to avail myself of their services since they began around 2006.

But over the years I found their services and the cost that we were paying so exorbitant for the leads that were provided compared to the return on investment that I began seeking out other vendors to do the same at a much more reduced cost, with a more advanced and superior way to stay in touch with those sellers, investors, landlords, purchasers and renters/lessee of residential and commercial property.

They provided a higher attraction and closing rate in a unique way and space with much more accurate information and greater transparency provided.

The former company had changed their algorithm methods of providing our leads a sufficient amount of times plus changing their program a multitude of times.

I am quite sure many other top producers were doing a superior job at picking up their phones when a call from a prospective lead/client called, but I know for a fact that the others were not and probably complained that they weren’t receiving any leads when the truth being said was that they were way too slow to answer and respond to those new leads!

So the good brokers and agents appeared to be penalized going forward as to the method and means of distributing leads and I voiced my complaints, but they went on deaf ears. We realized that the money spent wasn’t worth the efforts in the way the new business was coming in and didn’t renew our contract as of November 2018.

Now the company is a brokerage in 26 states and actually, there are things they do that, I believe, do not benefit the brokers and agents that subscribe to their services as well as the consumers looking for accurate and transparent information and guidance. It may be time for a change, but that will be up to each individual who subscribes to their lead-generating services as well as the most important: the consumer.

Based on my long-term relationship with them, they are definitely a non-rapport, non-relationship building company, just a lead-generating entity.
However, there are offices that go the same path and do an excellent job at being proactive with their clients.

There should be much more education and training in the methods of rapport and relationship building as many forget about their current “sold” clients and customer purchasers and just move on to the next client to earn a living.

When is the last time the broker or agent who literally “sold” you your home (instead of consulting and guiding you through the arduous and complicated process right through the closing and into the future), HOA, condo, co-op or even a rental called or actually reached out to you to visit, maybe a zoom call, text message, email, video email, IM message etc.? Do you even remember who represented you? Would someone use them again after not being in touch over the years?

Possibly not, but from my 40 years in the business I have heard from many that they wouldn’t consider their original person, for so many different reasons or they just don’t remember who they were! Possibly the main reason was the agent never stayed in touch to keep that every so important rapport and relationship going forward.

They may have spent one day up to one year massaging them for their future business and income and then stopped. There isn’t enough space in my column to get into it and I am not into bashing my industry or individual brokers and salespeople, which is not my style!

But there is a lot to be desired to becoming an honest-to-goodnesesatealtor, not for the short term but for the long term in building one’s career, income and brand.

Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 39 years of experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S). For a “FREE” 15 minute consultation, a value analysis of your home, or to answer any of your questions or concerns he can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com